//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: How I Became An Alicorn... // by ShadowBolt94 //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Celestia’s Task (Note: From here on in it’ll start being a third person view. Mostly to save myself the trouble of writing in first person. It gets annoying after a couple thousand words.) During the summers Twilight would always spend most of her free time going through her version of Summer School, meaning that under Celestia’s watchful eye, she’d be practicing magic from dawn until dusk or spend the day locked away in a book fort in the Canterlot Royal Library. Indeed these were her favorite times of the year. But on the first day of her vacation when she reported to her mentor for her lesson she found a sight she hadn’t been expecting. Celestia was sitting waiting for her yes, but what caught her attention was the teal haired girl who seemed to be throwing the royal equivalent of a temper tantrum in front of her. “I do so have friends Tia…! You’re being un reasonable now…!!!” she protested her midnight blue wings flaring out in response to her frustrations. Celestia rubbed her temples as she pondered slamming her head into the nearest wall. “Lulu, those shady characters you play with online do NOT count as real friends… nor do any of the dolls you keep locked in your private vanity…” at the mention of this the girl who looked to be about Twilight’s age seemed to rage further. She seemed familiar to Twilight but she couldn’t place from where. Or figure out, who in their right mind would address the Princess by a pet name. “I most certainly do NOT play with dolls sister…! They are action figures and I shall have thoust know that they are priceless gems who have yet to be removed from their boxes…!!!” the voice of the girl was cracking now from what seemed to be nothing less than puberty at its worst. But in a flash Twilight realized where she knew the girl from. She had called Celestia sister. “P-princess Luna…?” she stuttered astonished at the small form of the once regal figure. Sure she hadn’t been as tall as Celestia but she certainly didn’t look THIS young naturally. Upon hearing the voice of her sister’s beloved student Luna froze in place and slowly her head turned to face the girl that was now her same age. Twilight had to hold back a rather inappropriate squeal of sheer cute overload from how Luna looked to have a giant pouty face on. Her cheeks were rosy now and her teal eyes were wide with shock at being seen in such a state of distress. Which of course only made her blush further. Celestia’s smirk was well hidden as she addressed her student having known her to be there the entire time. “Twilight Sparkle, right on time as usual. But it seems young Spike is running tardy today…” she noted as she stood and walked over to the stunned purple haired magic user. “Ignore Lulu for now, I’ll be explaining her situation a bit later. For now-“ she was cut off as the two royal doors were slammed open and a short spikey green haired boy ran in his arms loaded with school supplies and many books so that he couldn’t even see where he was going. “Twilight…! I got all that stuff you asked me to get for the lesson today, sorry I’m late the librarian was making a fuss over the number of books you still have out and… who’s the new girl?” he asked as he threw the materials down and noticed the fuming lunar princess who by now was inventing new shades of red with just her face alone. “SISTER WE DEMAND THOU TRANSFORM US BACK INTO OUR NATURAL REGAL FORM!!!!!!!!” she shouted using the Royal Canterlot Voice to effectively knock Spike back off his feet and answer his question in one loud burst. Celestia however paid her sister no heed as she escorted her pupil out of the throne room and towards her private office. “Come Twilight, I have much to discuss with you…” she stated calmly enveloping the dazed dragon boy in her golden magical aura and levitating him along beside them as the doors closed behind them leaving Luna to throw her fit with no one but the guards as her witnesses. “Uhhhh… Princess… why was… but how did you… and…!” Twilights head was hurting from the thought process and calculations she was trying to make about how much magical energy it would take to transform a regal entity like the Lunar princess into a 14 year old girl. “My dear Twilight, I think it would be best not to question these things just yet. All will be answered in time but for now, I’m going to give you a very important task that I know only you can do. This involves you too Spike.” She stated as she threw open the doors to her office and set the boy down in one of the chairs while Twilight eagerly sat down in the other one next to him. “Is it some kind of super powerful ancient spell that’ll allow me infinite knowledge like you…?!” she asked excitedly. “No, and I don't have-“ “Or is it some secret mission to a dangerous crypt under the castle that contains a relic and is guarded by hundreds of booby traps that could likely kill us in an instant if we don’t figure out their puzzles?!” she questioned further. “I think you’re reading too much of that Daring Doo series Twi-“ “Or are you planning some kind of big test on all the spells I’ve learned?! Oh no! It is isn’t it?! Spike! My index cards! I’m going to need everyone from the creation of Equestria to the notes I took last night over influxing gravi-“ the frantic ranting of the girl was cut off by a motion of her mentors hand like a zipper shutting that effectively and literally zipped Twilight’s mouth shut using her golden magic, which Spike gave a smirk at. Her bright worried lavender eyes went back to her mentor’s soft baby pink gaze. “Twilight Sparkle, the task I have for you is nothing like any of that, so you may put all those worries to rest dear child.” She stated soothingly. Twilight visibly lost the tension that her body had been building without her knowing. Celestia released the spell and her student regained use of her mouth, which made Spike effectively lose his smile in an instant muttering something about him never getting a moment’s rest. “Well… Princess, if it isn’t a test then what is it you’re going to ask of your student…?” she questioned with a confused stare, Like studying and tests were the only things students were capable of doing. Which in her mind, WAS all they did. And that was exactly the reason Celestia had brought her here. “Twilight I’m tasking you with a very similar task as the one I just gave my sister… actually to be quite frank, they’re identical.” Twilight waited in anticipation that made her stomach flip. Obviously the princess had not been pleased when she had entered. What could have made her so upset…? Wait, hadn’t she mentioned something about… “I’m giving you the important task of attending a renowned school in a quaint town called Ponyville to Make. Some. Friends.” She stated emphasizing each word. Twilight’s brain was currently over heating and turning into a pile of mush just from hearing those words from her mentor’s mouth. “I-I’m sorry, Princess… come again…?” she requested thinking she had simply heard her mentor wrong. That those dreaded words were just a terrible nightmare. “You heard me quite well Twilight, in the fall you, Spike, and my sister Luna will be attending Ponyville Academy and University in order to break you and her, for I know Spike is out going enough that I don’t have to worry over his social issues, of your terrible anti-social behavior.” She sang happily with what appeared to be a gentle and care free smile. Just then the doors were promptly kicked in by one overly powerful pre-teen Princess’ kick. “That is the sorriest excuse of a lie I’ve ever heard from you Tia!!! You’re just trying to get rid of me so you can put an end to the pranking war I have going with the servants…!” she screamed. Spike swore he saw a vein throb in irritation on Celestia’s forehead. “No, my dear sister that is just an added bonus I will be receiving from this arrangement. My true purpose is the one that I have already stated, you need friends. Both of you.” She added with a look to her faithful student whose mind was slowly starting to catch up. “B-but princess…! I have friends…!” she exclaimed a slight whine making its way into her voice. “Twilight, your parents and brothers don’t count, and neither does Smarty Pants.” Celestia sighed as she shook her head her free flowing multi-hued hair seeming to be carried by invisible solar winds. Luna’s normally did the same thing but in her younger form it seemed to revert to a blue that reminded Twilight of the day sky rather than the starry sky she ruled over. Said princess huffed and blew a stray strand of her hair out of her face. “I still do not see the reasoning for this form… I look like an infant.” She grumbled. Her older sister giggled at that. “And a simply adorable one at that Lulu. But I doubt you would blend in any if you walked into the eighth grade six feet tall and sporting a bust bigger than your entire class combined.” She noted calmly as she moved over to where the Lunar princess stood beside Twilight now and placed a gentle and caring hand on both their shoulders. “Girls, you both know I care for each of you deeply, which is why it pains me deeply to see you live your lives in such seclusion. There is more to life than studying and books Twilight, and Luna as much as you wish it otherwise, this isn’t your online world where making friends is as easy clicking ‘accept’ in a friend request. You both need to make some living breathing friends. And no Luna, the servants you torture on a daily basis do NOT count.” She added as she saw her sister begin to open her mouth in protest. She quickly snapped her jaw shut and crossed her arms defiantly looking away. Celestia gave a sigh and shook her head again. But Twilight was drinking in what her mentor said like an already soaked sponge. “B-But I… What about my studies?! If I make friends and they distract me from them I could fall behind…! And then…” her eyes widened in terror. “I’d be sent back to magic Kindergarten…” She exclaimed beginning to run her hands through her hair and get a nervous twitch in her eye. Spike saw the telltale signs of the beginning of a mental breakdown and quickly pinched Twilight’s forearm effectively snapping her out of her panicky state. She rubbed the spot and Celestia sent the boy a smile in thanks. He gave a small one in return before he addressed his thoughts on it. “I don’t know why you two are freaking out over it… it isn’t like people are gonna kill you just for trying to make casual conversation…” he said as he hooked both his hands behind his head like he was lounging while standing up. “They do so on almost a dozen of my online games…” Luna muttered to herself, but a glare from above told her that her sister had heard her anyways. “Well it doesn’t really matter anyways because all the paperwork has already been filed and accepted. And yes Twilight, your parents DID know about this about two months in advance.” She added as she stood to go back to her desk and sat down in the plush chair. Twilight gaped at her mentor and went into a furious stream of half worded attempts at a response but ended up just fainting back into the chair which Spike had dragged over for her to fall in. He gave the older Princess a thumbs up while Luna started banging her head against the wall. Celestia winced every time she did so. “L-Luna you’re going to… to damage your crest… if you keep… hurting yourself like that.” The older sibling noted as the younger did in fact do just that with a final slam of her head straight through the wall leaving a hole in the wall and sparks of wild magical energy going every which way as she fell unconscious to the floor. Spike lunged forward to catch her just as one of the larger bolts hit the light in the room and just like that knocked not only the office into darkness, but the whole of Canterlot as well. In the pitch black office Celestia sighed and rubbed her temples fighting the very heavy urge to break out her secret stash of Applejack Daniels she kept in her locked desk drawer. “Umm… Princess…?” Spike’s raspy voice called through the darkness. “Yes Spike…?” Celestia responded as she stared into the darkness not even wanting to bother with a light spell. “Doesn’t this room have a window…?” he asked. “Yes… it does.” She responded calmly. “Then how come it…” “She short circuited the Sun.” she responded without waiting for him to finish. “A-Ah… um… do I want to know how…?” he asked as he slowly shifted the lunar princess off his lap. A dull thud made him wince but he knew she was made of tougher stuff than that. “No, you do not. It’s beyond your logic, but could you do me a favor and wake her up…? Here, this should do the trick.” She said as there was a small golden flash. Spike used his night vision to see what floated in front of him and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “You do realize she’s going to kill me if I do that right…?” he said shifting his now glowing eyes to the Solar Princess. She giggled and he saw her smirk almost wickedly. “Then allow me~” she hummed as Spike saw the bucket begin to tilt. He jumped away as far as possible not knowing what would happen when she was so rudely awoken. Outside the castle it looked something like someone had just put a hammer to a nuke. The entire city of Canterlot itself jumped off the mountainside it was attached to before it seemed magnetized back to it and the sun flickered back on like a flashlight with faulty batteries. The citizens went about their daily business like nothing had happened. They were used to odd things and such going on, why it wasn’t a normal day if the sun or moon wasn’t turned into a giant confection or armies of seemingly cheerful lawn Gnomes invaded the town with their ever crafty Lunar princess at their lead. Meanwhile back inside the castle. Spike looked up from behind the shield Celestia had thrown up to block her sister’s outburst and Twilight slowly roused from her unconscious state, only to see a dripping wet and ticked looking Luna effectively glaring down her sister. “Huh…? What’d I miss…?” she asked Spike. “Luna went berserk, banged her head too hard and short circuited the sun so Celestia revived her by soaking her with ice water.” He reported with crossed arms and an amused grin plastered on his face. Luna promptly glared at the short boy. Had she not been in such a miniscule form, and had the boy not been half dragon and therefore a much harder target to injure, she probably would have slapped the smirk off his face. But slapping someone who ate diamonds like they were fruit was generally a really bad idea no matter who you are, so she refrained from doing so. Instead Luna turned her attention away from the drake and the still confused protégé and instead focused on her older sister, who was graciously drying off her younger sister using a small heat spell. “So… if you aren’t giving us a choice in the matter…” “Nope~” her sister sang happily. “Then could you at least answer me this… what in our names are those ridiculous looking outfits hanging on that wall…? Because they look like…” she was again interrupted by her sister levitating them over to them. “Your new school uniforms~” Celestia hummed with an enthusiasm that sent chills through even Luna’s icy blood. Twilight, with her rather… nerdy outlook on fashion took to them straight away mentally dressing herself in them and squealing at the look. Spike shrugged at his own not really one to care about stuff like fashion, but he was far more amused with the shell shocked look Luna was giving her sister. “You’re… kidding right? “I’m not~” “Stockings…?” “Technically they’re knee high socks, but yes.” “And those colors…” “Are the school colors, orange and brown go quite well together in this style~” she sang happily. “And… the plaid…?” “A personal choice from the board of directors. The chairman of the school actually picked these out herself this year…!” she announced a gleam in her eyes. Luna saw it and had to know. “And the Chairman of the school would be…?” “Me of course~!” Celestia replied her over cheery grin growing and a devious gleam in her eyes. “I see…” Luna replied simply. Spike was eyeing her carefully and started getting a feeling in the back of his mind. Slowly his hair started to stand on end as the feeling intensified and his eyes widened as he grabbed Twilight and without a second thought started to run out the door her in tow. “Spike?! What are you-?!” but she then noticed that the entire castle was starting to shake. “Oh for the love of-“ Outside the castle and pretty much all over Equestria mothers heard the scream of the moon princess and quickly covered their children’s ears. "DAMN YOU TROLESTIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the bright side, once Luna had again calmed down and the castle was magically forced back into its place on the mountain side, Luna learned that they only had to wear the uniforms on scheduled days, otherwise it was free dress. Well, within limitations. Students couldn’t walk around with their pants around their ankles, or with so little covering their bodies they looked to be wearing swim suits, or really any of the other ridiculous trends young people now a days tended to wear in public. There was a dress code, but it was still free dress most of the time. That put Luna at ease but Twilight asked if she could still wear the uniform anyways. Her mentor gave her a nod and she then gave her faithful student a packet containing all the lists and information packets she’d need for the school. She saw her violet eyes widen in elation as she discovered the extensive summer reading list and didn’t even bother looking through the rest. Spike instead took the packet and found their choice sheets, which in all reality was actually a booklet that was surprisingly thick, for their classes. He scanned through it and his slitted eyes grew wider as he did so. “Agriculture, marine biology, fencing, advanced rocket sciences…?! Is there anything this place DOESN’T have?!” he exclaimed as he flipped through it more. Twilight levitated the booklet away from him and in front of her face to see for herself the extensive selection of classes available. “Well the academy is famous for its wide variety of classes yes, and its low tuitions make it a very popular school indeed, but if you’ll read closer there ARE certain classes restricted for certain grade levels, some are reserved for the university students as well. Here…” she took the booklet in her own magical hold and flipped more towards the front of it. “These are all the classes eighth graders are allowed into.” She explained. Now even Luna was curious and was peeking over Twilights shoulder at the list. It was still pretty extensive, but it was considerably a lot smaller than the rest of it all. Twilight seemed slightly disappointed at the list. “Princess… all of these classes seem below my levels… are you sure you can’t put me in more advanced classes?” Twilight questioned. Her mentor snickered a bit at that. “Twilight Sparkle, I assure you that the classes listed are quite reasonable for you. You should not judge a book by its cover.” She reminded the young girl. Twilight still had doubts but she trusted her mentor more than anything so she would take her word and review the choices carefully. Suddenly a pale hand with painted blue nails shot out from behind them and grabbed the booklet from them. “EH?!?!?! THEY HAVE AN ENTIRE CLASS DEDICATED TO THE STUDY OF ANIME?!?!?!” Luna half shouted and half cheered. Her eyes were the size of moon pies and she looked about as excited as a child in a candy store. “Actually dear little sister, that is a club that takes up your last period of the day. Generally most people go for things like sports though instead of…” but her sister wasn’t listening. She was lost in the dreamy state of an Otaku who just found her own personal haven. Twilight backed away a bit from the crazed princess who was now salivating a bit in whatever fantasies she was having in her head. She seemed to snap out of it when she felt the awkward stares on her and blushed heavily. “S-sorry… it um… pleases me to know that I will be able to find entertainment in such a… dreadful situation.” She stated calmly handing the booklet back to Twilight who slipped it back inside the folder. “It isn’t so bad princess! We’ll be learning new things every day and there isn’t anything dreadful about knowledge…!” Twilight reasoned. Luna arched an eyebrow at the girl. “Twilight Sparkle, when one has lived for a few thousand years like I have anything that can be taught in schools is redundant, anything else I ever need to know is on the internet.” She countered back. That seemed to stun Twilight into silence. Her older sister how ever had a way to counter that. “I beg to differ. You lack any skill with modern technology at all, other than your computer. Don’t you remember last week when you tried to put that metal bowl in the microwave and it caused a fire that took three hours to put out…? Or when you were going for a walk in the city and you yelled at a cross walk sign for an hour because you thought it was ‘ordering you around’…? Or how about just yesterday when you touched that mechanical horse ride outside the convenience store and it blew up an entire street block…? Or that time you…-“ “OKAY TIA!!!! I get it, anything I touch explodes orbursts into flames. And anything that isn’t alive but talks is a conundrum for me. But I don’t see a practical reason behind any of that.” Luna countered. “Okay, taking a note from the microwave incident then, you have the cooking skills of a bull shark, whenever you try to assist the gardeners with their work the plants all die just from your touch, your handwriting looks like a chicken decided to moon walk on paper, and whenever you touch an instrument it usually involves peoples ears bleeding. Shall I continue?” Celestia asked as her sister’s face grew more and more flustered with each reminder of skills she lacked. “No, I get it… make some friends and learn not to destroy everything I touch. Got it, can I have my laptop and gaming headset back now…?” she huffed. Celestia sighed and in a golden flash a sleek midnight blue laptop with Luna’s signature crest on the face of it and a very expensive looking gaming headset appeared in her arms. “Whoa… sick headset, and I like that you customized your laptop, looks a lot like a new version of the Macintosh Lp500, though I custom built mine I like to keep up with the store made ones, how many terabytes of storage do you have on it…?” Spike asked the lunar princess who stared at him in shock. “You… you’re a techno nerd too?!” she exclaimed. Spike chuckled and grinned a bit. “And a level 15 Enchanted Knight in the grand world of Synthesia with over 9000 HP and Mana at my control, and… Princess why are you staring at me like that…?” he asked noticing the glazed look she was getting in her eyes. Twilight decided to take this opportunity to grab Spike by the back of his hood and promptly drag him back to their room in the castle. But Luna was after him like a starved dog to a steak. “TELL ME YOUR GAMER ID SO I CAN FRIEND YOU!!!!!!!!” she called as Twilight broke into a run and Spike fought like crazy to break free so he could have a chance at getting away instead of being slowed down by Twilight who didn’t have the advantage of being half dragon. Celestia chuckled and sat back down at her desk pleased with how the day had gone. “That went better than expected… Luna only blew up twice. And the city didn’t suffer any casualties… although perhaps I should have warned them that they’d be rooming together… Oh well, they’ll find out sooner or later.” She shrugged as she picked up where she had left off in her paper work. From the doors that were left open she could hear crashing and cries of pain all through the castle, but she just continued scratching away at the documents in front of her knowing that the guard could handle it. A wave of green fire erupted from the hallway in front of her office and she lowered her glasses at the sight of it. “On second thought… perhaps I should assist before they burn down the palace…” she sighed and opened her desk drawer to reveal a big red button covered in a protective shield of enchanted glass. She waved her hand over it and it vanished. She pressed the button with a slight smirk and somewhere in the castle she heard three screams. “Let’s see how they like my moon room for a time out box…” she smirked. She chuckled a little to herself as she pulled out a shot glass and poured herself a glass of the golden whiskey she kept under her desk. “To the Mooooooon…!” she exclaimed as she shut the drawer with a slam and tipped back the shot. The guards posted outside her office didn’t say a word but their entire bodies got chills from hearing those words from their leader. Elsewhere deep under the depths of Canterlot City in a room filled with moon rocks and with walls painted like outer space: “I hate you… so much right now Tia…” Luna muttered as a probe floated past her in the zero gravity of the room. “SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE~~~!!!!!” it cheered. Luna groaned and wondered what exactly it took for an immortal to commit suicide.