//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Alicorn Body Sharing 
// by Nineveh Orion 
//------------------------------//

As the train began to slow, Twilight sighed, sliding her current read back into her saddlebags. While a good book had usually helped to calm her down and get her mind off things, it hadn't really worked this time.

Looking out her window, she could see the Crystal Empire in the distance. With the train car to herself, she stretched her limbs for all they were worth. If this is what came with being a princess, she could get used to it.

She giggled at the thought as she gathered up her saddlebags and walked to the end of the car, even as the train finally came to a screeching halt. Within a few moments, the door slid open, revealing the bustling platform of the Crystal Empire Train Station.

A single Pegasus member of the Crystal Guard was there to greet Twilight as she stepped out. One she knew rather well in fact. She sighed. "Cadance is doing this on purpose, isn't she?"

Flash Sentry nodded. "I couldn't say, mam. I'm just following orders." His voice lowered. "But with how much I see you like this, I think Princess Cadance is messing with us."

Twilight giggled. Ever since she had first come back from Canterlot High, Cadance had been relentless in her teasing of how she had reacted to first meeting the pony Flash.

She would be the first to admit that, if she hadn't already been spoken for, she might have tried to start something with Flash. While there were differences, of course, he was much like his human counterpart. Kind, thoughtful, and willing to stand up for somepony in trouble.

But it had never gone anywhere with them. It was common knowledge that Twilight and Cadance were a couple, and Flash never tried anything that might get him into trouble. That never stopped Cadance from doing this though. Just to torment Twilight, she was sure.

She still blamed being in a completely new body and a new universe for how much she had swooned over the Human World's Flash, and that was all she was ever going to say on the matter. 

Twilight sighed. "Let's get this over with. I don't want to keep Cadance waiting."

Flash nodded, as he fell into step next to her. "Princess Cadance already has a room waiting for you at the palace. Or if you're so inclined, you two can share a bed for some, and I quote, hanky panky."

Twilight groaned in exasperation, hiding her roaring blush with a wing. "I wish Cadance would stop calling it that."

Flash just chuckled at the embarrassment Twilight was radiating.

***

By the time that Twilight came to the Throne Room, her mind was all over the place on what could possibly be Cadance's idea for some fun. She really hoped it didn't involve something in the bedroom. She wasn't sure she was ready to go that yet.

Twilight didn't think she would ever be ready for that. No matter how much Cadance said she was, and no matter how mature she was.

Shaking her head, Twilight found that during all her musing, she had come to the foot of Cadance's throne. She really was out of it, if she hadn't noticed where she had come to.

Cadance herself was as beautiful as ever. Her smile made Twilight's heart flutter wildly as the reigning Crystal Empress walked down to her level.

Remembering decorum, Twilight bowed deeply to her old foalsitter. "Your highness."

Cadance returned the gesture. "Your highness."

The two of them held that posture for a moment, before both breaking into hopeless giggles, before Twilight all but jumped into Cadance's hooved and planted the biggest kiss she could on the elder alicorn.

Cadance was more than happy to return the kiss, but after a moment, she finally pushed the two of them apart. "Easy there, Ladybug. I didn't think we hadn't seen each other in that long."

Twilight leaned in for another kiss. "It's always too long for me Cady," but was stopped by a hoof to her lips.

Cadance grinned. "Twilight, you're going to be here for a few days, right? Don't waste all your energy when we still have so much we can do together."

Twilight pouted as she looked away. "Fine. Be like that." Her expression turned curious though a moment later, as she looked again at Cadance. "So, what was so important that you called me all the way up here? It's nothing bad, is it?"

Cadance shook her head, putting Twilight at ease somewhat. "No, it's nothing bad. But I don't want to share it out here. Not yet."

Now Twilight was worried again. "Why not?"

Cadance wrapped a wing around her younger companion. "It's complicated. Auntie Luna gave this to me a while back." She floated a scroll over to Twilight, who picked it up with her magic. "It's a spell only an alicorn can use. As far as Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna know, it's never been cast."

Twilight opened the scroll and quickly looked through it. Just from a cursory glance, it was not like any spell she had ever seen before. "So where do I come in on this? You don't need me to fix it do you?"

Cadance shook her head. "No. The spell is fine as it is, as far as anypony knows. I just," she sighed sadly, her ears dropping. "Just take a look at it, Twilight. I want to hear your opinion on it. This is something I've wanted to share with you, ever since I got it."

Twilight's worry shot through the roof. "What if I say no?"

Cadance shook her head. "I won't force you into it, Twilight. But I hope this is something we can share. Together. We rarely get to do anything together, living on opposite ends of Equestria as we do."

Twilight bit her lip. A part of her was still worried, but another part of her knew that Cadance wouldn't give her anything dangerous and that she wouldn't have even brought this up if she didn't think it was important. "Fine. I'll take a look at it. But I don't know what I'm looking for."

Cadance giggled as she kissed Twilight again. "You'll know it when you find it, love. I still have the Afternoon Court. I'll come to find you after that, okay?"

Twilight nodded. Releasing her, Cadance returned to her throne, smiling at the younger alicorn as she made her way out of the Throne Room. Step 1 was done. Now she could only hope Step 2 was a success.

***

Hours later, the Princess of Love trudged wearily through the corridors of the Crystal Palace, nodding to the servants and staff she passed along the way. One of them had been kind enough to say that Princess Twilight was waiting for her in her Personal Chambers.

It gave her hope to hear that, but she didn't let her excitement rise too much. Things could still go wrong between the two of them. She tried not to think about all the ways they could though.

Finally coming to her door though, Cadance steeled herself for what awaited her and pushed it open.

Twilight was waiting for her on the bed, a thoughtful expression on her face, the spell scroll laying next to her on the sheets. Twilight's mood lightened as she saw Cadance's weariness. "Long day?" She asked.

Cadance nodded. "Very. I don't know how Auntie Celestia and Aunt Luna do it, day and night."

Twilight giggled. "Why do you think I don't have one? I think I'd go crazy doing it every day."

That got a chuckle out of both of them. Cadance though, soon looked at the spell. "You read the spell, right?"

Twilight nodded, looking at it as well. "Yes. I didn't think this kind of magic was real. It's a-" she paused, unable to believe what she was about to say. "It's a body sharing spell. And you want us to use it? Together?"

Cadance nodded.

Twilight face hooved. "Sweet Cosmos above, Cadance. Do you know how dangerous that is? One of us could be completely absorbed by the other. Mind, body, and soul, instead of the two of us sharing the same body. Or one of us could overpower the other, and take control of literally everything we both have."

Cadance gave her a flat look. "Do you really think I would do that to you, Twilight?"

Twilight flinched, finally hearing the tone she was using. "No. I know you wouldn't do that to me, Cadance. And you know I wouldn't do that to you. But still."

Cadance nodded. "That's why I think this spell has never been used before. Because of what could go wrong. Only alicorns can ever use it, and both parties have to be an alicorn for it to have any chance to work. This is not a possession. It's the highest bond two alicorns can ever share with one another."

Twilight looked again at the spell. "Why would Princess Luna give this to you now though?"

Cadance shook her head, as she sat down next to Twilight. "I don't know. She wasn't exactly open about why she waited till now to give it to one of us. But she said it felt right to give it to me now."

Twilight could hear the hope in Cadance's voice. Her friend really wanted the two of them to do this. It was something they could both share together. What more could they ask for? And a part of Twilight was curious to see how the spell would affect them. It hadn't said, only that it would unite the two of them in one body for a time. "And if I say no?" She asked, needing to know for sure.

Cadance winced, and a part of Twilight died inside to see it. "I won't force you into this, Twilight. You know I won't. I love you too much to force something like this on you. But I was hoping we could share this. Together. It's something we can have and hold onto. Something only we can do."

Twilight fell silent, even as Cadance wrapped a wing around her shoulders. For a time, they sat like that. Twilight seemed lost in thought, and Cadance was too afraid to say something. Too afraid, she might say the wrong thing at the worst possible time.

Too afraid she had lost the only pony she had ever loved like this, forever.

Twilight finally lay her head on Cadance's shoulder and looked up at her with a smile. "Let's do it."

Cadance felt her hope renewed. "You mean it?"

Twilight nodded, scooting closer to her marefriend. "I mean it. I trust you, Cadance. I know you wouldn't do anything bad to me. And you know I feel the same for you. Besides," she grinned. "It does sound like fun."

Cadance squeed happily and pulled Twilight into a deep and passionate kiss, one the younger alicorn was more than happy to return.

"Besides," Twilight said, as they pulled apart with a goofy grin. "What could go wrong?"

After a moment, Twilight finally had a thought. "So, umm. How do we do this again? Do we just wish for it? Or is there something else? The spell didn't really say."

Cadance nodded as she pulled Twilight to her hooves. "Aunt Luna explained it to me." She crossed her horn with Twilights. "Do you trust, Twily?"

Twilight hesitated only for a moment before she relaxed. "I trust you Cadance."

Cadance smiled before she ignited her horn. Twilight did the same as well, trusting that her marefriend knew what she was doing. After a moment, their magic merged into a single glow that enveloped both of their bodies.

Twilight giggled as a feeling she had never felt before washed over her. Whatever it was, she liked it. Cadance's smile only grew as she closed her eyes. Twilight followed suit, resting her head against Cadance's own, as the spell reached its peak, filling the room with light, before fading away.

After a moment, Twilight opened her eyes and blinked in surprise. Cadance had vanished from the room, but it still felt like she was right there next to her. And why was she so big now?

She shook her head and watched in shock as a try color mane fell into her eyes. That couldn't be right, could it? "Cadance. Where are you?" Twilight called out, hoping she was just missing something.

But the voice that came out of her mouth wasn't her own. Not completely at least. It was a fusion of her own and Cadance's voice, the two echoing in perfect harmony together.

Cadance giggled, the sound coming from inside Twilight's own mind. "I'm right here, Twilight. The spell worked. We're now sharing the same body."

Twilight looked down, a growing feeling in her stomach telling her what she would see. And her gut feeling was right, as it turned out.
Cadance's body had become Twilight's own. But there were several changes as Twilight turned all the way around, trying to see her new body. Her golden hoof shoes had turned the shade of her magic aura, the edges of her feathers had turned darker, almost the same shade as her own body's. Twilight's own tail had replaced Cadance's. But it was her cutie mark that held her attention.

Cadance's crystal heart had been replaced by Twilight's own starburst and the five smaller white stars around it. The golden banding Cadance's bore was still there though. Weird.

Twilight scratched her chin, the feeling of being in a new body not that different from being in her own. "But why am I like this? Why does it feel like I'm in charge of this body?"

Cadance chuckled. "That's because you are. Aunt Celestia said that it's a random chance of which of us would come out on top. There's no way to control that. I'd have just as likely come out on top, but we would be in your body at the moment."

Twilight considered that for a moment. It made sense. As much as any of this did at least. And she, at last, began to relax, feeling more and more comfortable in her new body. She also felt her magic beginning to readjust. Now not only did she know quite a bit about magic in general.

But Twilight could also feel the power of love all around her. The Crystal Empire was saturated in love magic, and the Crystal Heart sat at the very center of it all. She grinned goofily. "I could get used to this. Is this what you feel all the time, Cadance?" She asked.

Cadance giggled. "Yep. I've had years to get used to this feeling. It was overwhelming at first, right after I got my horn. Love doesn't come with an instruction manual. And remember, I was born a Pegasus. I didn't know a thing about magic at the time."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You seemed to know what you were doing when I was younger."

Cadance rolled her eyes. "Would you believe that I was making it up as I went along? Princess Celestia could only do so much. I had to learn so much on the fly. And I stood out like a sore hoof. Just ask Sunset. She can tell you how much I struggled."

Twilight winced. She had forgotten that Cadance and Sunset knew each other. With Sunset having been in her, as she put, "Bitch Queen", phase, it hadn't been pretty. No matter how much Cadance tried to make friends with her. But that was a topic for another day. "So, now what?" She asked.

Cadance grinned as retreated further into their mind. "You tell me, Twily? You're in the driver's seat now. I've got nothing going on for the rest of the night, and I've told the staff to give us some privacy. So we have all the time in the world." She gave Twilight a playful push. "So, come on Ladybug. Take us for a test drive. I want to see what you can do."

With that, Twilight felt her control of this body become complete as Cadance pulled herself out. She was still there. But now Twilight really felt like this was her body. And she was curious to see what she could do with it.

So she decided to see what she could really do with it now. She clapped her hooves in excitement. This was going to be so fun!

***

For a while, Twilight explored the room around her, testing out everything that came with this new experience. As she had suspected, walking was no different from being in her own body. Flying was even easier than it used to be for her. She blamed Cadance having once been a Pegasus. Her wings felt like a natural part of her body now, not having been given to her.

Cadance's magic, on the other hoof, was something she was still adjusting to. Basic spells like levitation felt no different. But Love magic was something else. It was still an alien concept to Twilight, and she was afraid of what that could mean.

"I'm not supposed to use your Love magic, am I Cadance?" Twilight asked as she sat looking out the bedroom window to the Crystal Empire below. Celestia's sun was sinking low to the horizon now, and the rush of ponies below was less than it had once been.

Cadance shook her head, smiling gently. "Not unless you want to, Twilight. I know you wouldn't misuse it on purpose. But I remember what it was like when I first learned of it. I was scared to death. I eventually got the hang of it. But I'm still afraid of what could happen if I lose control of it."

Twilight gulped. She didn't even want to think about what that could mean, or what could happen if she happened to lose control of their magic. Would it be like her magic flare during her Entrance Exam at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns? Or would it be something worse? She didn't want to think about that.

She did have one question though, as a thought came to her. "Does the spell have a time limit or something?" She asked.

Cadance shook her head, giggling. "No time limit, Twily. This will last for however long we want it to. But if we do want to separate back into our normal selves, we both have to want to do so. Which leads to another thing about this spell."

Now Twilight was concerned. "What do you mean?"

Cadance sighed. "The longer we stay like this, or in a form where I'm in the driver's seat, the more and more we will want to stay like this forever. To never separate back into our regular selves. I know you can already feel that. I know I do."

That stopped Twilight in her tracks, shocked at the idea. Now that she thought about it, she could feel that. Why should they separate back into their separate halves? This was way too much fun. She and Cadance were getting along great, and Twilight was really enjoying this new body of hers. Why should she stop now?

Twilight clamped down on that thought, horrified that she would ever think something like that. But the thought would not leave her alone. Now she could see what Cadance was worried about. "Could we do the spell again if we went back to being normal?"

Cadance nodded, her feeling of relief almost palpable. "Of course we can, Twilight. This isn't just a one-use spell. We can use it, and do this, as many times as we want to."

Twilight sighed in relief. That was a load off of her shoulders. "That's good. I mean, I don't want to be together like this forever, no matter how much fun it is. But I don't want to be unable to never do this again. Maybe we should separate though. I'm starting to lose control of wanting to stop or not."

Cadance giggled, as she pulled herself back up to where Twilight could really feel her again. "I know the feeling, Ladybug. I'm starting to get just a bit too used to being like this. No matter how fun it is." She smirked. "And who knows? Next time, I might be the one to be on top."

The two of them giggled like a couple of school fillies. Together they cross their horns, and not knowing for sure if it would work, wished for the spell to be dissolved and for them to be two again, instead of one.

The magic of the spell responded, and after a moment, Twilight and Cadance felt themselves pushed apart, sending them both falling to the ground with a thud, as they returned to their normal selves.

Twilight groaned as she rubbed her head. "Ow. Does it have to feel like that?" She grumbled.

Cadance felt her friend's pain, as she too rubbed her head. "I don't know. Nopony's ever done it before that before. Maybe it's normal?"

Twilight stuck her tongue out. "If it feels like that every time we do that, I don't even want to know what it's like if we didn't. Probably would be worse than this."

Cadance chuckled. "But you did it enjoy it, didn't you?"

Twilight pouted for a moment before smiling and relaxing. "Yeah. I did. I didn't think it would feel like that. I didn't know what it would feel like."

Cadance nodded, before looking out the window. The sun was gone now, and the glow of the lights from the Crystal Empire below was beginning to come out. "So. What do you want to do now, Twilight?"

Twilight scooted over and forced herself under Cadance's wing, the older mare was more than happy to let her younger friend do so. "Let's just cuddle. I'm too sore to do anything else right now. I'm going to be here for a few days. No need to rush into anything. Right?"

Cadance giggled as she kissed Twilight's forehead, earning a blush from the bookworm, as she pulled the two of them closer. "Cuddling sounds good. I'm in no rush for anything."

Twilight smiled, before leaning her head against Cadance's neck, while the older mare did the same with her. And together, the two of them lay there, without a care in the world. Just happy to be together.