//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Growing Some Wings 
// by Madd the Sane 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight had slept well that night, the comfort of books familiar. She had slept in her old tower, the caretaker had been an old student of hers now in his fifties. He had been quite gracious despite the fact he was being kicked out on short notice. Twilight had insisted on staying at a hotel, but Luna was insistent on her having her tower back that night. Twilight still managed to pay for a week for the stallion's room at the hotel.
She woke up at ten, far later than she was used to. Groggily she walked down to the main floor, trying to remember what today's lesson with Celestia would be. It was after futilely looking for Spike did she remember she hadn't had study time with Celestia ever since she moved to Ponyville, an event that happened over a hundred years ago. But that would be changing soon. The thought of being her student again made her giddy and nervous. She had learned a lot in her studies; what more could she learn?
Moving to the door, she saw someone had pinned a note to it. Pulling it off, she saw it was an invitation to breakfast with princesses Luna and Celestia at 7:00 AM. Looking at the clock, she giggled nervously as she saw the time. "Looks like I'm going to be late."



Twilight was led through the castle's corridors by a pair of Royal Guards. For a moment she thought she would be led to the royal banquet hall, but they passed by it without a word. She soon found herself in front of what she knew as Celestia's private dining room. One of the guards opened the door and she did a double-take: half of the room was how she remembered it: bright, sunny colors accented with gold. The other half had changed to dark colors, accented with silver. Celestia was sitting in a gold-leafed throne on the day side while Luna was sitting in a silver throne by her sister on the night side. There was a chair in between them, sitting on the line between night and day.
"Twilight Sparkle, we expected you to be here sooner," Luna noted as Twilight walked into the princesses' private dining room.
"I slept in. It's amazing what the brain does when you have no responsibilities," Twilight shot back, glaring at her.
"I'm sure you will be quite busy in the following weeks," Luna brushed off Twilight's barb, either ignoring it or not noticing. It could have been the latter; she looked quite sleepy.
"Come, Twilight Sparkle, sit with us. I'm afraid that we have already eaten, but we can have some tea," Celestia said.
Nodding, Twilight took a seat on Celestia's right, purposely not sitting between the princesses. Glancing at the two Alcorns, Twilight took note of their bearing. Both were larger than her, with Celestia still the larger of the two. Celestia still stood tall and regal while Luna was slouched and clearly tired.
Pouring herself a cup, she waited for someone else to start the conversation. She waited  ten minutes before giving up. "So I guess I'll be studying under you again, Princess." When both princesses turned to look at her, she amended "Princess Celestia," she amended, making Luna scowl.
Celestia smiled. "It will be more training than studying." The smile turned mischievous. "I will be pushing your limits; physically, mentally, and magically. What my guards go through will be a stroll to what I have planned."
Twilight blinked. She had some idea how grueling the guards' training was, and what Celestia had planned was worse? She wilted. Maybe training under the princess wasn't such a good idea.
Sensing her student's trepidation, Celestia tried to reassure her. "Do not worry, my little pony: I will not push you further than you can handle. At the end of your training, you will be a far greater mare than you are now."
Luna brightened up. "Indeed, with your wings and earth pony strength, not to mention your increased magical ability, nothing can stand in your way."
"So, after I get my wings can I go back to teaching?" Twilight glared at Luna.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Even after you ascend, there are a few things I would like us to teach you."
"Such as…?" Twilight hedged.
"How to raise and lower the sun and moon."
Twilight's magical grip on her cup faltered, spilling some of the tea onto the cup's saucer. Placing the cup back on the saucer, she cleared her throat. "You expect me to raise the sun!" she shouted. "Why would you want me to raise the sun!? Are you trying to say something!?"
"Twilight Sparkle, it pains me to talk of this, but Luna and I may not always able to do our duties. Should the need arise, I want you with the knowledge to do our duties."
Twilight spluttered "B-but nothing could happen to you! You are Princess Celestia, regent of the sun! Nothing can stand up to you!"
"I thought the same thing about myself," murmured Luna. "That nothing could beat me. Then I fell into my jealousy and I used forbidden magic to strengthen myself and I knew I was unstoppable. But my dear sister was far wiser and used the Elements of Harmony to imprison me on my moon. It took your friends, who exemplified the virtues of the elements far more than either myself or my sister ever did, to purify me from my twisted self."
Twilight turned to Celestia. She hesitantly asked "Is Luna trying to tell me something about you?"
Celestia shook her head with a smile. "No, my former student. I doubt that I will become jealous of the night life enough to force the sun up." Her smile faded. "But no one knows what the future will bring. I may be struck with a powerful curse that will leave me bedridden; Alicorns from the far reaches of our planet and strike me down for disobeying some inane law of theirs; a cosmic horror from beyond the veil of space could destroy the castle with a mere thought. And how would my little ponies live without the cycle of day and night? The knowledge on the unicorn spell to raise and lower the celestial bodies has been lost in time; not even I, a unicorn who used to raise and lower the sun, remember the spell used."
Twilight chuckled. "Your worried that something can kill you? You're an Alicorn: your an immortal, unkillable pony god!"
"My little pony-"
"Twilight Sparkle-"
Both sisters looked at each other, having spoken at the same time. Celestia motioned to her sister to speak.
She cleared her throat. "Twilight Sparkle, I told you last night that we are not gods. The only being that we have met that comes close to being one is Discord. Without the Elements of Harmony, we would still be under his dominion, with the whole world suffering.
"As for us being unkillable, think on this: before our ascension there was a myth of a strange breed of ponies that exemplified all the traits of the three pony races. They were said to be above any mortal pony, ruling the land in their benevolence.
"Then, one day, they just disappeared, throwing their kingdoms into chaos. There was a rumor that a mare found a body of an Alicorn on a forest trail, but other than that there was no trace.
"Think on this, Twilight Sparkle, and tell me again that an Alicorn cannot be killed."
Twilight was speechless for a moment. Alicorns, killed? She’d seen Celestia take on a death beam and was only knocked unconscious! She shakily took a sip of tea.
Celestia interrupted her thoughts with one simple sentence: "I got a letter from Spike recently."
The tea that Twilight was drinking ended up going down the wrong tube. Coughing, she felt Celestia pat her back with a wing.
"Spike? *kaff*  How is he?" Twilight got out.
"He is doing fine. He misses his pony friends; he wants to come back," Celestia said somberly
"Can he come back? I thought dragon puberty lasted for a hundred years," Twilight noted. "I don't want Spike attacking every stallion that talks to me. It was bad enough when it happened with Rarity."
"Spike should have that instinct under control, but I would still sleep better knowing he will not harm my little ponies."
"How did Spike react to… my friends' deaths?"
"I didn't tell him."
"You didn't… princess! They were his friends as much as mine! What right–"
"He would have wanted to come to their funerals, and I would not have had the heart to deny him."
Twilight slumped in her chair. "It would have been nice to see him."
Celestia shook her head sadly. "He wouldn't have fitted through the door. And his desires would still be strong, far stronger than when he left. I fear he would have done some unforgivable act on one of my little ponies."
Twilight fidgeted in her seat. "How much longer until he comes back?"
"In about thirty years. I'm sure the time will fly."
Twilight again slumped in her seat and thought. Finally, she asked "May I write a letter to Spike?"
This time it was Celestia that had tea go down her air pipe. After a second of clearing her throat, she said "I think he would like that."
Luna cleared her throat. "I feel that my presence here is no longer needed, so I shall retire for the day." She pushed herself away from the table.
"Dear sister," Celestia called out. "I do want you present while I talk about your decisions regarding Twilight Sparkle."
Luna groaned but sat back down.
Twilight brightened up. "Will I be able to go back to teaching?" She asked with a smile.
Celestia shook her head. "While I do not agree with Luna removing you from your teaching position, I can see the merits of not having your attention split between teaching and training."
"I just wanted Twilight Sparkle to be in our company," Luna mumbled.
Her sister shot her a glare. "That and I am loathe to go back on a royal decree, especially one given by my sister. We are equal in power, and it will do no good of we second guess each other.
"Now, Luna, it is past your bedtime, and I would like to talk about some boring agendas to my faithful student."
Smiling, Luna scooted her chair back again and trotted away from the table. "Until tonight, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia." Luna said, nodding to each pony in turn. She quickly walked to the room's doors and flung them open, heading to her chambers.
Celestia shook her head in amusement, closing the doors with her magic. "Now, Twilight Sparkle, as to the matter of your training exercises…"