Twilight sighed as she heard a knock at the door, and looked away from her book and towards it. She knew that she hadn’t exactly been keeping the most regular of hours recently, but still couldn’t the town give her a little more time to recover?
Her wings rustled in aggravation, sending shivers down her spine. She still hadn’t gotten used to them. Nor, did she think she really would. They felt alien, strange, like a malformation. Still, this was now her reality. This was now her life.
A month had passed since her meeting with Celestia, only a couple of weeks since she’d mastered Starswirl’s unfinished spell. She was Twilight Sparkle, and she had wings.
Another knock brought her back to the moment. Clearly, it was a patron who would not be put off by silence.
Twilight grumbled under her breath and got up. Her leg felt too long as she marched towards the door. She approached, gripped the lock with magic stronger than what she was used to, and nearly tore the bolt off when she unlocked it.
Thankfully, she showed a bit more restraint and managed to gently crack open the door to peer outside.
“Hey, sugarcube,” a familiar drawl greeted.
Twilight smiled, her first genuine smile of the day.
“H-hey, Applejack.”
The mare pawed at the ground. “May I come in?”
Twilight stepped aside and very carefully opened the door, managing to do so without throwing it open with cataclysmic strength.
Maybe there was a little hope that she could actually master this body after all.
“How have you been holding up?” Applejack asked, stepping inside.
Twilight could see worry flash across Applejack’s face as she surveyed the library.
It had become a centre of disorder, in a very short amount of time. Tomes laid scattered about, many of them opened to seemingly random pages on a wide variety of topics. Scrolls intermingled in the mess. Notes covered many haphazardly, coffee or spillage stained some, and a few were currently in the midst of being drafted.
Beyond literature, there was liter, with dirty dishes and discarded take-out containers sprinkled throughout the space. Thankfully, none of them had reached the point of attracting flies… yet.
“I’ve been… better,” Twilight admitted before letting out a hollow chuckle that sounded grim, even in her current depressive state. “Finally taking a little time for myself, just like you asked.”
Applejack walked over to a scroll, reading the first few lines. “I’d hardly call whatever this is, a vacation, hun.”
“I find studying cathartic?”
“When’s the last time you’ve been outside?”
Twilight’s wings ruffled in frustration.
Stupid alien appendages, betraying emotions that were supposed to be hidden.
“I threw out the trash yesterday,” she said.
“Threw out the trash, huh?” Applejack bit her lip. “Hun, you can’t just stay cooped up here forever.”
“I know…I know.” Twilight sighed. “I’m just… I’m scared, Applejack.”
Applejack drew up alongside Twilight, nuzzling into her neck ever so carefully. Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, drawing in the familiar sweet scent of her marefriend’s shampoo.
In that moment, she was at bliss. Then, oh so cruelly, Twilight realized something.
She and Applejack were now the same height.
Of course, she knew she had gotten larger, but had she really gotten that large so quickly?
She felt tears prick at her eyes and a sob broke them free, drawing twin trails of misery down her cheeks.
Was she really going to cry over this?
Yes, yes, she was.
Applejack instantly stopped. “Sugarcube?” Her expression fell as she saw Twilight’s current emotional state. “Of gods, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Twilight fell to her haunches, wiping at her eyes with the soft fur around her hoof.
“You didn’t,” she blubbered. “I just…” Another pathetic sob. “I just realized I’m now as tall as you.”
Applejack sat beside her, placing her hoof over Twilight’s own.
“There, there, hun,” she tried to sooth, “I don’t see why that matters none?”
Twilight let out another miserable hiccup and looked away, not wanting Applejack to see her cry.
“It…it means that I’ll never get to be your small marefriend again. Now I’m just some big old clumsy marefriend.”
Applejack snorted, cocking a brow. “Now, I’ve always been the big one and that never made me clumsy or old.”
“I know, but with you it’s different.”
Applejack leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. It seemed to help slow the flow of tears, if only a little.
“I get it, hun,” she whispered. “You have a lot of changes going on in your life right now, but that doesn’t mean I love you any less. You’re still the same old Twilight I’ve always known and loved.”
“I have wings now,” Twilight murmured.
Applejack nodded, drawing her hoof away so she could stroke them.
Twilight tensed, but almost immediately relaxed as Applejack caressed them ever so tenderly. She didn’t know why, but having Applejack touch them almost made them feel normal, like they belonged.
“I know,” Applejack said. “But that just means I’ll have new and interesting places to explore and find out how to drive you crazy with. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Twilight cheeks warmed. “A little.”
“See, it isn’t all bad. Before long, it’ll feel like they’ve always been there.”
“You’re right.” Twilight sighed. “I just… I wasn’t ready for this.”
“I don’t think anyone was, not even Celestia. But hey, you can’t fight fate, right?”
Twilight snorted. “Actually, I was reading this one book, it’s called Hard…”
Applejack shut her up by placing a hoof under her chin and pulling her into a nice little kiss. It wasn’t especially passionate, but more of a comforting gesture, offering her something to anchor to in this nasty little storm that was brewing over her quaint little life.
When they broke apart, Applejack held onto her never wavering smile that Twilight found especially comforting right now.
“Do you want to talk about what’s keeping you cooped up in here?” Applejack asked.
Twilight sighed. “I’m afraid to leave and see everypony in town?”
“Why’s that?”
“Because… because I have wings now and I guess that makes me a princess and I’m worried everypony’s going to treat me differently. Like, I’m no longer Twilight the Librarian, but rather Twilight the Princess of…”
“Princess of what?” Applejack asked.
Twilight’s cheeks warmed. “Uh… Celestia and Luna still haven’t figured that out yet.”
Applejack nodded, letting out a pent-up sigh. “Twi… I don’t mean to dismiss your fears, or anything, but well… you were always a mite different from everypony else in town.”
Twilight winced.
“Now, now, let me finish. You came here as a representative to Celestia and you kind of established your reputation by defeating a literal evil goddess from the moon. That type of thing is going to stick around and set you apart. However, hasn’t Ponyville always been good to you and haven’t its ponies always treated you like one of their own?”
Twilight smiled softly. “Y-yeah.”
“So, I don’t see why a pair of wings and a tiny growth spurt are going to make that big of a difference.” Applejack chuckled, gesturing to the room. “Heck, you’re still living in the town library. It’s not like you’ve got some big fancy castle or anything.”
Twilight giggled softly. “I honestly don’t think I’d ever give this place up. It feels way too much like home.”
“And I doubt you ever will. Trees are known for living for a pretty long time. Hell, we even have a few at the orchard which are probably older than the entire Apple clan.” Applejack nodded to herself. “But yeah, as long as you don’t go pushing away the community then everything will probably go back to normal after a week or two.”
“You think so?” Twilight asked, smiling hopefully.
Applejack nodded knowingly. “I know so, sugarcube. Once you’re a part of this town, you’re always a part of it. Doesn’t matter if you move away for a few years, doesn't matter if you never come back, and it sure as hell doesn’t matter if you got wings, a horn, or both.”
“T-thanks, Applejack.”
Applejack brushed her lips against Twilight’s neck, kissing a rather receptive spot which made her wings puff outwards. This in turn, sent Twilight’s wings flying into Applejack, nearly knocking her off her hooves.
“S-sorry,” Twilight muttered, her face reddened.
“It’s all good, hun,” Applejack grunted, brushing at her chest. “I probably should’ve seen that coming. If dating Dash taught me anything, it’s that wings are deadly little critters if they get overexcited. Though…”
“Though?”
“They’re also pretty good for the old ego, let’s me know if I’m doing a good job or not.”
Applejack smirked mischievously and leaned forward. She breathed against Twilight’s wing and the warmth caressed all the wonderfully soft feathers, teasing the highly sensitive membranes that laid underneath.
Which did in fact make Twilight moan softly, her legs quivering.
“See,” Applejack said, making her voice nice and husky so each breath offered another little burst of warmth that curled against her, “they aren’t all that bad. You’ll learn to love them in no time.”
Sadly, before she went any further, Applejack drew away, surveying the room and humming softly.
“However,” she began, “before we do anything, we better get this place tidied up.”
“It isn’t that bad,” Twilight murmured.
Applejack cocked a brow. That, oh so demanding, brow.
“Alright, alright,” Twilight grumbled, “let’s get this place tidied up.”
Stupid butch powers.
Twilight walked over to her closet, pulling out a roll of white garbage bags. She then began to collect all the empty containers, pie tins, and various other debris that littered her library, shoving them in one after another.
While she did that, Applejack began to pick up all the haphazardly thrown away scrolls, collecting them together in a stack on Twilight’s desk. In total, there was probably enough scribbled-together notes to put together a whole thesis.
“What have you been researching?” Applejack asked.
Twilight sighed, tossing the collective garbage by her door. “Trying to find out all I could on alicorn ascensions. Sadly, since it’s so uncommon, there really isn’t a whole lot about it. Unfortunately, Celestia didn’t really let many doctors perform tests on Cadance when she was going through the process.”
“I’d say that’s pretty fortunate,” Applejack said. “At least for her. I wouldn’t want an army of doctors poking and prodding at me.”
“I know, I know, it’s just… it’s frustrating when you’re trying to figure something out about yourself and your best medical sources are books that are pretty much one step removed from folklore.”
“I could imagine.”
Applejack went to go pick up a plate but Twilight levitated it from her.
“How about you go get the basin filled and I’ll collect the dishes,” Twilight said.
Applejack nodded and went to the kitchen, leaving Twilight alone to collect a few days worth of dirty dishes. Thankfully, it was also a chance to hone in to her new magical power, giving her some much needed practice.
With great care, she ever so carefully picked up a coffee mug. She then tried to draw it towards herself but a surge of magic instead sent it flying against the wall where it shattered into a million pieces.
Twilight winced.
Yeah, maybe just a smidge more practice was necessary.
“Y’all okay in there?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Twilight said, “just a little magical mishap.”
With the remaining porcelaine in her aura, she walked into the kitchen, depositing it into the sink with care.
“Still getting used to whatever happened to your magic?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah.” Twilight sighed. “If I had to guess, I’d say I have close to twice the latent magical energy I had before I ascended.”
“Sounds like that could be a mite tricky adjusting to.”
Twilight chuckled and grabbed a brush, using it to scrub away at a plate. “Yeah, you could say that. Though, I better get used to it.”
“Think you’ll get stronger?” Applejack asked.
“I know I’ll get stronger. I mean, look at what Celestia and Luna are doing. They can move the freaking sun and moon, so I can only imagine I’m slowly working my way towards that.”
Applejack smirked. “Think you’ll ever need to move something that big? There really isn’t a whole lot of super big things that really need moving at this point.”
“I mean maybe? Like, what if they retire?”
“Like that would happen.” Applejack snorted. “Can you even retire from being a princess?”
“I don’t know? Maybe?”
“Gods, can you even imagine how much of a pension those two have saved up? They’ll probably bankrupt the whole freaking kingdom.”
Twilight nodded along silently, her concentration unfortunately focused on not cracking a glass under her magic grasp or flinging it against the wall by accident.
Thankfully, she managed to get all her dishes finished without any further casualties, allowing Applejack to dry them one after another.
“So, clean enough?” Twilight asked.
Applejack trotted over to a nearby window and opened it, letting the cool air flow through the room.
“Sorry just letting a little bit of fresh air into place,” Applejack commented before nodding back to the living room. “How about all those books you have laying around?”
Twilight smirked and her horn flashed. “Done.”
“No way.”
“Check for yourself,” Twilight said, her smile growing.
Applejack poked her head out of the kitchen and whistled. “How the hay did you manage that?”
Twilight walked past her and into the library’s main atrium, where all the books had magically returned to their shelves.
“I tagged each of my books with their own unique magical signature, then I marked their space on the shelf with the same tag. All it takes is a little spell and each book poofs right back into place.”
“Uh, Twi?”
Twilight looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, Applejack.”
“There might be a few kinks in your system,” Applejack said, pulling out a single volume which had at one point been two separate volumes.
Twilight winced. “N-noted.”
Applejack reshelved the joint volume by hoof and then gestured to Twilight. “So, what do you want to do now?”
“I wouldn’t mind cuddling for a little while,” she said, moving towards the stairwell. “I mean, if you’re up for it.”
“Hmmm…” Applejack tapped the bottom of her muzzle with a hoof. “Do I want to cuddle with my extremely attractive marefriend?” She pursed her lips and shrugged. “It’s a hard choice to make.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Hurry up, or I’ll hog all the covers.”
And with that she began to canter up the stairs.
Applejack waited at the foot of them for only a moment before following her. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked.
Twilight looked over her shoulder, as they entered her bedroom. “What is it?”
“As someone who has never had wings before, what's the most jarring change about suddenly having them?”
“To be honest…” Twilight chuckled softly. “They are extremely high maintenance. Like you got to preen them, and you need special cleaning products, and that’s just the stuff you got to personally worry about. Then, there’s all the extra cleaning you got to do. Like, you know how Pinkie’s mane gets literally everywhere?”
Applejack nodded. “I do.”
“It’s like that. I find feathers in my bathroom, on my bed, in my favourite chair, and pretty much every place you’d imagine. Except, unlike a mane, feathers are really pointy and they freaking hurt when they prick you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Applejack said, smiling softly.
Twilight nodded and moved towards her bed, using her magic to pull aside the covers. Thankfully, most of her moping had been done in the library proper, meaning that her bedroom had been spared, with the exception of a thin layer of grey dust on every surface. Nothing too terrible or alarming about that.
She climbed into bed first, laying down on her comfortable mattress and letting out a pent-up sigh.
A moment later, Applejack joined her. She attempted to drape a hoof over Twilight but grunted with effort, clearly having trouble with something?”
“Applejack?” Twilight asked, glancing lazily to the side, enough to catch Applejack struggling in the periphery of her vision.
“Sorry,” Applejack grumbled. “Just having a tiny bit of trouble dealing with your wings, is all. Gonna take some getting used to.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Can you pull them a little tighter.”
“I… I can try.”
She flexed her strange new muscles, and must’ve succeeded in doing something right as she felt the downing of wings suddenly press against her sides.
“Is that better?”
Her answer came as Applejack successfully draped a foreleg across her, resting a hoof against her chest.
“Much better,” Applejack mumbled softly, stroking her chest fluff in tender little circles.
Her warm breath curled at Twilight’s back, right at the spot where her two wings met.
“You know…” Applejack began.
Twilight sighed softly and closed her eyes. “I know what?”
“If you get any bigger, you might need to start big spooning from now on.”
Twilight snorted and shook her head. “Applejack, it’ll be a cold day in Tartarus before we ever let that happen.”