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// 6: FOR SCIENCE! 
// Story: The Student and the Sun 
// by Ponycletian 
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        Celestia was standing patiently in her bedroom, waiting for Twilight to get ready. She didn’t know how long it would take Twilight, but she didn’t expect it to be very long. She doubted that Twilight would be willing to fully accept her invitation to use anything in the well supplied bathroom, which held enough grooming supplies and devices to make any professional stylist jealous. She knew that her faithful student would rush to finish so that she didn’t keep Celestia waiting, even though Celestia felt that waiting would be a small price to pay if it meant that Twilight would relax and enjoy herself. This thought made her think of the phoenix resting peaceably on her wing.

        She turned to look at her longtime friend and companion, and addressed her sternly. “You and I need to talk, young lady.” Philomena must have realized that she was in trouble because her talons began to tighten uncomfortably on Celestia’s wing. Philomena quickly relaxed her grip, and took to the air, but rather than trying to flee, she landed on the carpet in front of Celestia, eyes downcast. Still maintaining her serious demeanor, she continued, “I know that you are perfectly aware that whatever it is you did to wake Twilight, who is our guest, was inappropriate, and I trust that you will refrain from doing so in the future. Although I am curious as to why she seemed so reluctant to discuss the matter, I told Twilight that I wouldn’t pry, so I won’t, but knowing both of you as I do, I think I understand the situation.”

        “Most likely, while you were busy terrifying poor Fluttershy, Twilight somehow got involved in the mess you were making, and began to overreact. I seem to recall Twilight attempting to take responsibility for your ‘death’, and Fluttershy saying that she would accept banishment, and imprisonment in the place she was banished to, for her perceived transgression. That is the sort of wild exaggeration that I might expect from Twilight when she was panicked about something, which means that something had caused her to panic, and I think I may assert without any doubt that that something was you. Twilight probably overreacted in such a way that, upon later reflection, she realized was excessive, and you used her guilt about her behavior to convince her that whatever you did to wake her was justified. Am I close?” she asked in a cold tone.

        Philomena looked her in the eye before nodding slowly and looking dejectedly to the floor. Celestia usually didn’t mind Philomena’s pranks, jokes, and other distractions, especially since they had helped to liven up her otherwise monotonous days, but there were some things that Celestia wanted to be off-limits, and she needed for Philomena to understand that. She softened her tone slightly, saying, “Twilight said, and you agreed, that you two had come to terms with one another, and I don’t think that it would be right for me, who wasn’t affected, to impose punishment.” Philomena looked up from the floor with a look that was both grateful and apologetic. “But,” she said, voice completely serious, “from now on, I expect you to refrain from involving Twilight or her friends in any more of your games. Do you understand?” Philomena nodded her head quickly, and Celestia began to smile warmly.

        “Good,” she said, leaning down to nuzzle Philomena affectionately. “Then let us move on, and forget about this little affair.” Philomena warbled happily in her ear, which must have been what prevented her from hearing the door to the bathroom opening.

        In a slightly anxious voice, Twilight said, “I’m sorry, Celestia, if I’m interrupting, but I think I am ready now.” Celestia lifted her head and looked at her student, and adopted a kind smile. 

        “Not at all Twilight. I was just telling Philomena how impressed I was at her entrance this morning. You both looked quite regal.” Twilight blushed faintly, but otherwise, she took the compliment well. It hadn’t been long enough for Twilight to do much more than brush her mane, which it appeared that she had done with meticulous attention, for not a single strand of hair was out of place. She considered suggesting that Twilight take this opportunity to make use of some of the nicer amenities available, but knew that any such recommendation would be taken as a criticism. If she proposed that Twilight take a shower before they left, she doubted that Twilight would believe her protestations that she merely wanted Twilight to enjoy herself, but that she would likely feel bad for having offended Celestia with poor hygiene. This in mind, she settled on simply saying, “If you’re ready, then all that’s left to do is send my letters, and we can be off.” 

        Twilight nodded complacently, content now to simply follow Celestia’s lead, it seemed. Soon after she began to descend the stairs to her solar, she heard a quiet gasp of surprise from Twilight. She looked over her shoulder to see Twilight giggling as Philomena, who had flown onto Twilight’s back, started to nuzzle her neck. She wasn’t sure just how much of Philomena’s behavior was aimed at her, and how much of it was genuine affection for Twilight, but either way, the sight warmed her. She liked to see her little ponies happy, and Twilight more than most.

        Once in her solar, she grabbed the letters in her magic, sending them both to Luna. Luna would read her letter, and know to give the other to Shining Armor when possible. That last detail having been dealt with, she turned to Twilight who was regarding Philomena with awe. Philomena was flying in a circle around Twilight, demonstrating how, during flight, her plumage seemed to transform into brilliant jets of fire, giving her the appearance of a creature of pure flame. Then, to further amaze Twilight, she ceased her flying, regaining her normal avian appearance, landed before Twilight, and brushed her with neck with a wing to demonstrate that they were no hotter than before. Twilight gasped in amazement, raising her hoof to stroke the incredibly cool to the touch feathers.

        Celestia imagined that she could see the gears turning in Twilight’s mind, struggling to explain the strange phenomena that she had just witnessed. Phoenixes were rare outside the Everfree Forest, and most phoenixes were fiercely independent creatures. Philomena was an exception, in that she was willing to live within the castle and obey Celestia, most of the time, but she remained a mostly free spirit. This meant that Philomena was one of the only specimens available to study, but because Celestia had always been mindful of Philomena’s desire to remain free of the kind of monitoring and experiments that researchers would seek to perform, very little had come of it.

        “Philomena,” she said calmly to get the phoenix’s attention. “I just had a wonderful idea, and I hoped that you might agree with me.” Philomena looked at her warily, since their respective definitions of ‘wonderful’ tended to differ. “Since you and Twilight are getting along so well, perhaps you might be willing to, in the future, allow Twilight the opportunity to study some of your less understood abilities.” She smiled warmly at her pet, who likely realized that she had overplayed her friendship with Twilight. 

        Twilight, on the other hoof, was clearly thrilled at the idea of being allowed to study the phoenix, no matter what restrictions were placed on her methods. This would be one of the only times that anypony had been able to perform anything more than a cursory examination of phoenixes and their abilities, and the idea that she would be the one to do it was making her giddy. “Oh, Philomena,” she said hopefully, “that would be amazing.” She used her hoof to stroke the phoenix’s feathers gently once more. “I know that phoenixes don’t like to be studied, but I promise that I will be very careful, and that I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable.” Twilight’s earnest desire to both learn about phoenixes, and respect Philomena’s desires, appeared to have at least some effect on the reluctant firebird. She looked plaintively at Celestia for just a moment longer, pleading to be rescued from the indignity of scientific research.

        Celestia was, however, smiling encouragingly at Twilight, showing Philomena where her loyalties lay, so with a reluctant, resigned cry, Philomena turned back to Twilight and nodded solemnly. As unhappy as the phoenix appeared to be at this decision, the effect it had on the lavender unicorn was impressive. “Thank you, Philomena. I promise you won’t regret this. If there is anything I can do to repay you for this incredible opportunity...” her voice trailed off, and unable to finish her statement, she settled for embracing the phoenix wholeheartedly. Philomena still looked unhappy, but Twilight’s cheer was infectious, and Philomena’s dourness gradually diminished.

        Celestia allowed the happy moment to continue for nearly a minute, until it became clear that Twilight would need a little coaxing to pull her back to the present. Also, as a way of showing her gratitude to Philomena for agreeing, however reluctantly, to give Twilight this signal honor, she would intercede to free her from Twilight’s crushing grip. “Twilight,” she said kindly, “I know that you are eager to begin your... research, but I think it might be a good idea to plan your inquiries before beginning.” Twilight was pulled from her euphoria by this open appeal to the scientific method.

        She drew away from Philomena, looking slightly abashed by her exuberant display. “Of course, Celestia. I need to plan, and make preparations.” Her tone was becoming more serious with each passing word. “I want to make sure that I don’t perform any unnecessary tests, and I don’t even have the proper materials for documentation with me.” Philomena looked faintly relieved to learn that she wouldn’t be being investigated that day, but to hear Twilight talk about necessary preparation seemed to unsettle her. 

        Celestia spread a wing, and nodded gently to Philomena, who flew to the proffered appendage. “Thank you, my dear,” she whispered into Philomena’s ear. “And if it isn’t too much to ask, I think that a feather from you would help to make her that much more appreciative of the gift you are giving her.” Philomena looked at her exasperatedly, but did, after only a few seconds, pluck a feather and offer it to Twilight. The effect was exactly what Celestia had expected, which was that Twilight gasped again as she levitated the feather from Philomena’s talons and inspected it carefully. “Thank you Philomena,” she said again, voice rife with emotion. This time, however, it was Philomena who instigated the hug, which Twilight received with apparent disbelief. Philomena quickly ended the hug and flew for the stairs. As she passed Celestia, she gave her an almost reproachful look which Celestia took to mean that she was leaving before she could be volunteered for anything else she didn’t want to do.

        Celestia was happy with the way things had transpired, but realized that there was one final hurdle to jump before they could leave. The hurdle was that she needed to find some way to convince Twilight to climb on her back so she could teleport them to Ponyville. While it wasn’t uncommon for ponies to carry foals or pets on their backs, for grown ponies, to ride on another pony’s back was completely different. Although Twilight was, both by size and age, a foal when compared to Celestia, she doubted that Twilight would accept this rationale when being asked to do something that society frowned upon, especially when the pony asking was Celestia herself.

        She needed some way to both prevent Twilight from panicking at the suggestion, and to convince her to actually do what she asked. She thought that she knew something that would get Twilight to cooperate, but it depended on her love of knowledge being greater than her fear of societal disapproval or her fear of embarrassing Celestia. 

        “Twilight?” she asked. “How would you like for me to teach you a lesson on the theory and practice of long distance teleportation?”

        Twilight, who had probably been focused on the prospect of doing research on Philomena’s feather, which was still clutched firmly before her eyes, looked at her with dull surprise. “What was that Princess... Celestia? Did you say teleportation?”

        Celestia giggled at Twilight’s distracted comments, reaffirming gently, “yes, Twilight, I did. I asked if you would like a lesson on the theory and practice of long distance teleportation.”

        For the second time that hour, Twilight’s face lit up joyfully. “Really Celestia? There’s hardly any material on teleportation on distances greater than half a kilometer.”

        “The reason for that, my diligent student, is that very few ponies are both mentally disciplined and powerful enough to manage it. There are several principles of teleportation that are poorly understood by most because of this.”

        “Like what? The few researchers who have managed to research the subject have concluded that after a certain distance, which varies by text, the principles change. They usually treat teleportation over short distances and over long distances as different abilities.”

        “I know, Twilight, and I can tell you now that they are wrong.” She chuckled at the dumbstruck look that forced its way onto Twilight’s face. “I will be happy to both demonstrate, and explain where they make their mistakes, if you will let me.”

        Twilight was beaming and nodding her head eagerly. “Of course, just tell me what I need to do.”

        “I need for you to climb on my back so that you don’t fall in transit,” she said lightly, trying not to make it sound that important.

        Twilight’s eagerness disappeared as she considered Celestia’s request. Celestia was happy to see that Twilight had remained in control of her senses. Torn between her two conflicting desires, she was currently considering them reasonably, or so it seemed. It took her awhile to respond, and when she did so, it was in a controlled, yet hesitant voice. “You are going to be teleporting us to Ponyville, correct?” Celestia nodded simply. “But I need to be... be on your... back, so that I don’t fall?” Celestia nodded again. “But how can I fall if we are going from one place on the ground to another?”

        “You can fall,” Celestia began patiently, “because we will not be teleporting there in one jump.” Twilight looked at her with evident confusion. “I will explain the exact reason upon arrival, but I will have to teleport into the sky, and although I can keep myself aloft with wings, in the moments that we are airborne, I can’t afford to let you fall.”

        “So for you to teleport us to Ponyville, I have to be carried by you,” she said trying to avoid using the word ‘ride’.

        “Yes, Twilight. And you need not worry about what others might think, for if they see anything at all, it will be nothing but a bright flash of light. You have nothing to fear.” Celestia smiled reassuringly, and lay down gently on the carpet. Twilight exhaled deeply and took several hesitant steps towards Celestia.

        Twilight walked to Celestia’s flank, and seemed to consider climbing on in front of her wing joint, but then began to walk cautiously around behind her. Celestia waited patiently for Twilight to make up her mind how best to get on her back, but Twilight seemed incapable of choosing. She made two circuits of Celestia, failing each time to find an acceptable means of getting in position, so Celestia decided to intervene at last. “Please, Twilight, allow me.” Without waiting for permission, she used her magic to pick up the lavender mare, and placed her down so her hind legs were just just in front her wings, and her forelegs were wrapped around her neck. She heard Twilight exhale loudly, and could feel just how tense her student was.

        “Just relax a little, Twilight. Strangling me will not make this trip any faster,” she said jokingly, but Twilight seemed to think she was being serious, for her hooves immediately fell away from Celestia’s neck. “You do need to hold on, Twilight, but it wouldn’t hurt to simply loosen your grip a little.” Carefully, Twilight resumed her hold, and Celestia was ready to go. She rose to her hooves, causing Twilight to gasp anxiously. She realized that this was probably the first time Twilight had ever been flying outside of her hot air balloon, which might explain some of her nervousness. She spread her wings in preparation for the short time between jumps, and began to focus her magic. 

        It felt wonderful to call upon the Sun’s magic in such quantities. Earth ponies liked to exercise their muscles, pegasi liked to fly, and unicorns liked to use their magic. Unfortunately for Celestia, to use very much of her magic would be to invite catastrophe, so she enjoyed the rare instances where she was able to unleash more magic than normal. She felt a surge of exhilaration as a bright golden aura began to form around her horn, and a roiling golden bubble of power formed around her and her increasingly frightened passenger. When she released the building magic, there was a burst of light, and they were in the air hundreds of meters above Canterlot.

        The first spell had taken them outside of the building. Her wings, caught by the wind that was suddenly blowing around her, struggled momentarily to keep them steady, but a moment was all it took. With another burst of power, several times larger than the first, the pair disappeared, reappearing more than a third of the way to Ponyville with a flash of light that rivalled the Sun in intensity. Again, there was a pause as she steadied herself, and then another flash, of the same magnitude as before. The process repeated itself one last time, and as the light from the final teleportation died away, Celestia saw that they were hovering high above the edge of the Everfree Forest.

        She decided to fly to the ground to give Twilight a bit of time to recover from having witnessed such a tremendous use of magic. She knew that Twilight needed this time since Twilight’s grasp was almost nonexistent, and she could feel that Twilight was no longer tense, but seemed almost numb. She listened to the sounds of hundreds of frightened birds winging their way up from the Forest below them, and looked around to see if there was anypony from Ponyville who might see her arriving. Canterlot, she knew, was relatively used to her making sudden sunbursts in the sky overhead, since there were times when she needed to travel quickly, but she doubted Ponyville would be nearly so calm about what they had witnessed. 

        When she reached the ground, she gave a contented sigh, happy to be out of Canterlot, and relieved that nothing had gone wrong. She almost jumped, therefore, when she heard a quiet, almost inaudible, voice addressing her.

        “Uhm... Princess Celestia?” came a familiar voice. She looked around her, searching the field for any sign of the speaker, but to no avail. 

        “Pr- Princess, I’m over here,” the voice said from her side, and this time, its owner made herself visible by hovering slightly above the ground. Celestia was relieved to find that Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, was the speaker, and adopted a pleasant expression.

        “Good morning, Fluttershy. I hope that I have not caused too much of a problem by teleporting here,” she said kindly.

        Fluttershy looked nervous as she said, “a problem? Of course not, Princess. I just wasn’t expecting any visitors... or explosions.”

        Celestia felt a twinge of regret at having disrupted Fluttershy’s morning. “I understand, and if there is anything I can do to help, do not hesitate to ask. I had hoped to arrive without creating too big a disturbance, but I wasn’t aware that anypony lived this close to the Everfree Forest.”

        “No thank you Princess. I mean,” she started hurriedly, “I don’t think that there is anything really to do. It will be a little while before the critters are ready to come back out. All they need is a little time.”

        “I believe that you are the expert when it comes to caring for animals, Fluttershy, so I shall trust in your judgement,” Celestia said, trying to bolster the nervous pegasus’ spirits. It appeared to work, for Fluttershy slowly returned to the ground and looked at her curiously. “Is something the matter, Fluttershy?” she asked upon noticing this strange look.

        “Um, well, I don’t mean to pry, but... ,“ Celestia followed Fluttershy’s gaze to the pair of hooves wrapped limply around her neck. She gave an amused chuckle and furled her wings, revealing a stunned Twilight. “Oh, Princess, is she alright?” Fluttershy asked with pronounced concern. She took to the air and hovered over next to Twilight, inspecting her carefully.

        “Yes,” Celestia said brightly. “She is fine, or at least, there is nothing physically wrong with her. I don’t think she was expecting the teleportation to be so... explosive.”

        “Do you think it would help if she were to lie down? My cottage is just over this hill, she can rest there.” Fluttershy started move in the direction of her home.

        “Thank you for your kind offer, Fluttershy,” Celestia said as she started to follow. “I’m sorry for pulling you away from your work.”

        “My job is to care for everypony, and that includes my friends. This is no problem at all, and I’m happy to do what I can for Twilight.”

        Not knowing what to say in the face of such determined kindness, Celestia merely smiled, and followed Fluttershy in silence until they reached her cottage.