Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 12

Celestia’s Tiny Adventure

Twilight’s eyes slowly reopened as she regained consciousness. “That was such a crazy dream I just had,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

A small hoof tapped her on the shoulder. “Perhaps you would like to share what this dream exactly was about?” Celestia said, laughing as Twilight turned around to face her, flabbergasted. “Yes Twilight. It’s me, your mentor,” Celestia continued, noticing the telltale signs in Twilight’s expression. “Twilight? Twilight, please don’t panic.”

“P-princess Celestia? But but but... HOW!” Twilight screamed as Celestia was pushed several inches away by the strength of her student’s voice, wincing.

Celestia cleared her head with a shake before marvelling at exactly how much the distance between her and her student had increased. So those years of shouting, so other ponies could understand her, have apparently made Twilight’s voice extremely powerful, she thought, before shaking her head again. It reminds me a bit of the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ my sister and I had used in the past.

“A little quieter please, Twilight. There is no need to be quite so loud,” Celestia stated calmly, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment.

“It is fine, Twilight. I understand. But for now, would you like to take a guess as to why I am so small?” Celestia said, a challenging tone to her voice as she reproached her student.

Twilight thought for a short moment before answering. “You used the shrinking spell on yourself, didn’t you? I had no idea that was possible.”

Celestia gave a refined laugh. “It is more than possible, my faithful student. While shrinking other ponies would require their cooperation or, in your case, an uncontrollable power surge, casting a spell on oneself is far simpler, as you can use your own magic to supply it. The main drawback is, that you need a lot of magic to both cast and maintain the spell, but I can assure you, I have more than enough reserves for that,” Celestia explained as Twilight berated herself for not having a notepad to write all of this information down.

“But princess, why would you shrink yourself in the first place?” Twilight asked, both curious and worried. “You can’t possibly rule Equestria while being so small, and what if something happens to you, or what if somepony accidentally stomps on you, or what if—” Twilight was cut off by her mentor’s hoof.

“Ssshhh... let me explain,” Celestia said. Twilight simply nodded and went silent as her mentor began. “First, I can dispel the effects of the shrinking spell any time I want. And second, from now on, I plan on using the shrinking spell on myself whenever I spend time with you.”

Celestia paused as Twilight nodded again, listening intently. “As for why I shrunk myself,” she continued, “I just wished to see the world from your perspective. You said yourself that you find joy in your life, and I wish to experience it myself.” Celestia concluded with cheerful smile as she waited for Twilight’s reaction.

“B-but isn't it dangerous to be so small? You can’t possibly put yourself at such risk, Princess,” Twilight plead, though her expression quickly changed to one of confusion when Celestia simply began laughing again. “Ummm... why are you laughing, Princess?”

Celestia’s laughing slowly abated and she stared back into her student’s eyes, which were so much larger, now that she was the same height as her. “May I ask in return, why you can put yourself in danger everyday and I cannot, my faithful student?” Celestia asked without breaking eye contact for even a moment.

Twilight scratched the back of her neck with a hoof before answering hesitantly, “B-but I am just your little pony... I mean, your subject. Even if I get hurt, it won’t have any long-term consequences, but if you—”

Celestia raised a hoof to cut her student off. “Oh, I see! So, just because I am the Princess of Equestria, I should be sitting on my throne with hundreds of my guards and servants watching over me. Perhaps wait for that one day, when a random dragon or villain will boldly capture me and lock me in a tower, where I will need to wait for a Knight in Shining Armor to aid me?" Celestia said, clearly amused as Twilight broke eye contact without a reply. “Twilight, I may be a ruler, but I am also an alicorn. In all those hundreds of years, my magic has grown stronger, such that even now, I can face entire armies alone. My inherent magic lets me endure injuries that would kill hundreds of other ponies, and I’ll be completely honest with you, I could protect all of my Royal Guards better than they could possibly protect me.”

Twilight stared back at the princess, shocked that her mentor possessed such incredible durability and somewhat dismayed that such information was not readily available to her in convenient book form.

“Twilight,” she continued, “for hundreds of years, I have played the role of a high and mighty ruler and did what my subjects expected of me. I never used my wings, as it was expected of me to ride in a chariot.” She paused and attempted to flare her wings, only to remember that they were bound to her sides with magic ropes.

Stymied, she continued. “I never teleported or galloped from place to place as it would seem improper for a pony of my position,” Celestia said with annoyance in her voice, before she sighed and smiled again, “but today I wish to try something new, something that I could never do as a ruler, and all I ask you is to support me in this and to let me experience the world from your eyes. Let me be who I was when Equestria was not as safe and peaceful as today,” Celestia stated calmly, her irritation from earlier vanishing.

Twilight saw determination in Celestia’s eyes and smiled. “I understand, Princess, and I am truly sorry. For all those years, I tried to prove to you and every pony that I can take care of myself despite my size, and yet the moment you shrunk yourself, I dared to doubt you,” Twilight said apologetically.

“Apology accepted, though from now on, please do not refer to me as your ruler or mentor. As long as we are the same size, we are equals, just two small ponies both looking for adventure. Could you do this for me?“ Celestia asked firmly.

“Yes prin—I mean—of course, Celestia! So, what would you like to do on your first day of your tiny adventure?” Twilight joked, grinning broadly.

Celesta rolled her eyes before she pointed her tiny hoof at another pile of big books lying in front of her, “I saw how you returned a book you read back to the bookshelf without an extensive use of your magic, and I’d like to try it as well. What would you say about a race?” Celestia said, more than a little enthusiastic about the first real bit of exercise she’d have in over three centuries.

Twilight nodded, grinning deviously. “Lets do this,” she challenged before she levitated one book on top of another and crawled under it, lifting this time two books on her back. Celestia did the same, the weight of the books on her back bringing back memories of the heavy weighted vest she’d worn during the snowball war a while back. On one hoof, it was the first time she had lifted anything for many hundreds of years, but on other hoof, her inherent earth pony magic made it feel almost natural.

Their horns glowed in unison, and magic ropes once again secured the two to their loads. “On my mark, prin—Celestia. Ready... set... go!” On her signal, Twilight almost effortlessly bolted for the correct bookshelf while the laden Celestia lagged behind slightly.

As soon as Twilight reached the bookshelf, she sprang up as high as she could, the task made much more difficult by the extra weight compared to last time. Celestia took note of her student’s methods and made her best effort to emulate them, but found that more than once, she was forced to readjust the books or her hoofholds so that she would not fall back down.

A full minute passed, and Celestia had found a small alcove between the books to rest in, having climbed a good five shelves. She wiped off the growing amount of sweat on her brow and looked up to see where Twilight had gone. Her face glowed with embarrassment at her condition when she located Twilight already attempting to ascend to the tenth shelf. How does she do this so easily?

Celestia huffed in annoyance before hoisting herself back up and preparing to continue upwards. She jumped up and grabbed on to the top of the book beside her, but as soon as she attempted to use her back hooves to climb upwards, she bumped the one of the bookends, and the entire row of books slipped under her.

A loud thud of two books falling to the floor of the library was easily noticeable in the quiet environment and Twilight wasted little time in jumping back down to her mentor. Her legs bent under the additional weight from the books on her back as she landed, though she quickly sprang back up, trotting towards the fallen princess.

To Celestia’s embarrassment, she was pinned to the top of her two books by her magic ropes, not unlike a turtle that had rolled onto its back, but before she could dispel the ropes to try again, she felt as Twilight uprighted her again with a touch of magic. Celestia gave her student a brief smile before she turned away to hide her embarrassed face. “Thank you Twilight,” she said, “but we still have a race to finish.”

Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement and once again began climbing up on a bookshelf, passing her mentor easily. as she reached her destination. Without issue and quickly, she slipped her books in the right places before climbing back down to her mentor, who at this point was still halfway to her goal. “Uhhh…” Twilight began hesitantly. “Do you need a hoof, Princess?”

Celestia shook her head in disagreement as she attempted to put more strength into lifting both her little body and her payload. She made an effort to hide her lack of stamina from her student, but Twilight could easily see the strain in her mentor’s face as sweat accumulated on her head.

Celestia did make it to her goal, followed closely by a Twilight wary of her mentor’s physical capabilities. With the help of her student, she slipped the books back into the open spots before she sat back exhausted.

“Congratulations, Princess! You did it!” Twilight said enthusiastically, clapping her hooves together.

Celestia took several deep breaths, wiping the moisture from her forehead. “Twilight... just call me... Celestia... There is no need... for formality.”

“O-of course, Celestia. Would you like to take a break? You seem to be a tad winded from climbing up so far, especially twice now.” Twilight asked, looking worriedly at the heavily breathing princess.

Celestia took a deep breath, slowly exhaling before she continued. “I am quite fine, Twilight; the experience is just new to me, that’s all. I am slowly adapting,” Celestia replied before pointing her hoof down at the floor. “How about a race around this bookshelf next?”

Twilight looked down at the floor from the top of the bookshelf, nodding in agreement. Without further ceremony, Twilight jumped straight down, landing with a small tumble to lessen the impact.

Celestia looked down after Twilight, staring uneasily at the nearly six meters of distance that Twilight had just dropped without any issue. Not wishing to show fear to her student, she followed Twilight’s example and leapt off after her, her eyes closed shut and her wings instinctively straining to break free of their restraints as she fell.

In mere seconds, she landed at the bottom, though she didn’t land nearly as hard as she had imagined. Celestia opened her eyes and noticed her student smiling at her. “It may look scary at first,” Twilight stated, “but since our weight is reduced, the fall isn’t quite as dangerous as it seems, and thanks to the protection spell you cast on me, and probably on yourself as well, the risk is lessened even further.” She concluded with another smile, before she turned to pull a couple books out of the shelf to act as a starting line.

Celestia considered her student’s words. My student is correct in that aspect, but I believe she doesn’t know that as an alicorn, I have pegasus magic in me as well, which can make me lighter depending on my activity. Perhaps I can make this into a lesson at some future date...

“Princ—I mean, Celestia, perhaps you should prepare yourself for the race,” Twilight said, knocking Celestia out of her contemplation before they both approached the starting line.

Although Celestia completely expected the outcome of the race, it still didn’t sting any less when she finally reached the finish line with Twilight waiting there for her patiently, only a few signs of physical strain showing on the young mare while the princess sat there utterly exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Celestia had expected Twilight to offer her time to rest, so she quickly offered her another challenge to hide her physical ineptitude, deciding for a marathon around the library rather than a sprint and hoping that she’d have more luck with this sort of challenge.

As the marathon started, however, Celestia was a tad confused when she noticed her student running at a much more leisurely pace than she, so she slowed down, drawing even with Twilight, and asked, “Excuse me, Twilight, but why are you running so slowly?”

Twilight smiled and replied enthusiastically, “I read in a book that when you run a long distance race, it is important to save your energy and to perhaps enjoy the view along the way. When the other ponies are too tired to put on a boost of speed, you can easily pass them and sprint to the finish line.”

Celestia resisted the urge to facehoof. Despite over a millennia of experience, she had become so alien to physical activity that she had not even considered saving her energy. She quickly changed her methods, keeping the same speed as Twilight as she conversed with her on topics ranging from magic to the fun of being so tiny.

Eventually, similarly to the previous two challenges, Celestia began to tire once more, her breathing becoming labored and ragged as she tried to keep up with her student. She continued her conversation with Twilight, the light, rhythmic breathing of her student contrasting greatly with her own deep breathing. It says much about my physical condition when Twilight can overcome me so easily, even without the earth pony and pegasus magic that I have, she thought, her mind turning increasingly inwards, as she berated herself for her weakness.

“Hey princess!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. “We’re almost back to where we started. Would you like to see who can reach the finish line first?”

Celestia looked at her student, an eyebrow raised in interest. My student has worked so hard for so many years, trying to make me proud of her. I would be a fool to think that I could defeat her at her own game, especially on my first day. Then again, earth pony magic alone is worth nothing without hard work, she thought. She gave a small nod at Twilight before sprinting for the finish, a surge of determination giving her strength for one final burst of speed. Just you wait, Twilight. You have proved that even despite your weaknesses as a unicorn, you can still be a strong athlete. I shall prove to you that, even though I am restricted in my physical capabilities as a ruler now, I can be strong, too!

Celestia ran for the finish line, noticing that her student had put on her own burst of speed, grinning in delight. If her student can endure pain and suffering for her own self improvement, so would she.

Celestia unsurprisingly came in a distant second to her student, so when Twilight once again offered her a break, she accepted it without protest. After a few minutes of rest, Twilight asked, “So, what do you want to do next, Celestia?”

The princess thought for a moment, as an idea crossed her mind. “Considering that last challenges involved physical strength and stamina, I think it is only fair if I will challenge my magic instead,” Celestia said calmly.

“That’s a wonderful idea, what kind of magic will you practice... wait, let me guess, it will be levitation,” Twilight said enthusiastically, as levitating weights was her favourite exercise whenever she trained her magic.

“You are correct, Twilight. Now, what I can levitate?” Celestia asked herself as she look around. “Twilight, can you tell me how heavy this bookshelf is?”

The little mare gazed upon the bookshelf as she spent few minutes running around it, calculating its size. “I would say that it weighs around three or four tons... you aren’t going to levitate it, Princess, are you?” Twilight asked with panic in her voice, as she saw her mentor’s horn lightning up with magic.

Slowly, a golden field of magic began to encompass the giant and long bookshelf. I’m Celestia, ruler of Equestria and guardian of the sun! The steady hum of a levitation spell started to fill the air. I have thousands of years of experience and my strength surpasses even the mightiest of dragons.

Her knees began to shake, before she slowly sank to the ground; the steadily increasing pressure on her tiny body ever rising. Ten kilo. Twenty Kilo. Thirty Kilo. At fourty kilo, her legs buckled and couldn’t support her anymore. This is nothing! If my student endures this kind of pressure… By the sun and moon, so will I !

The steady Hum of magic had become so loud, Twilight had to shout a little to be heard. “Princess, you can’t levitate three tons of weight, the pressure will crush you!,” she said, trying to convince her mentor to stop. She knew from experience what even levitating a sole ton to a tiny pony could do.

Ignoring her students concerns, Celestia put more and more strength into her spell. Sixty kilo pressure. Seventy kilo. Eighty kilo. The swirling of magic around her horn now so bright, that Twilight had to look away. Ha! Now even my own student thinks me weak. I will show her that I am not. I will show Equestria that I am not. I will show them all, their princess is still… wait! “Twilight, what are you doing?”

“I’m helping you, Princess.” Twilights own horn flickered to life as she started to ease some of the weight of the bookshelf from Celestia's back.

“Cease that at once, Twilight! I can do this on my own,” Celestia shouted angrily over the cacophony of noise.

Stunned by her mentor’s outburst, Twilight let her magic slip away. The whole weight came crushing down again on Celestia, the sudden increase pressing her into the floor. Now again, with the mobilisation of her reserves, Celestia poured every ounce of willpower and magic into her spell.

Ninety kilogram. The vortex of magic around Celestia's horn effecting her immediate environment.

One hundred kilogram pressure. The bookshelf began to shake; dust falling from the book-rows.

One hundred and ten kilogram pressure. Twilight watched, as her mentor struggled with her task; fearing for her health.

Three tons of books, wood and dust were slowly rising upwards, as Celestia endured one hundred and twenty times her weight, being pressed into the floor, unable to move a single part of her body.

Twilight could only stare in awe. She had known her mentor was powerful. But in this moment, for the first time, she really had a grasp of how insignificant her own power was, compared to Celestia's might.

After one minute of keeping the bookshelf in the air, the princess slowly put it back on the floor, and the moment the golden aura disappeared, all the weight crushing the princess's body vanished as well.

Twilight ran to her tiny mentor, not noticing any visible damage on her graceful body, outside of many ruffled feathers on her wonderful wings. “Princess Celestia, are you hurt? I better get you to hospital as fast as possible to...” Twilight sentence was cut by her mentors laughter, and for a moment, Twilight even considered that the princess had lost it from experiencing so much pain

“Ummm... princess...?” Twilight said hesitantly, as her mentor was laughing maniacally while lying on the floor. And it was not the small laughter her mentor had from time to time, whenever she was happy. It was a deep, solid, out of control laughter. Similar to older stallions, when one had cracked a very dirty joke.

The princess finally got herself under control again, as she brushed a tear of joy from her eye, and then gazed upon her student, smiling innocently. It did not banish the confusion Twilight felt. “Is everything alright, Princess?” she asked with concern.

Celestia blinked her eyes several times before replying, “I've never felt better.”

Twilight was unsure if what Celestia said was honest, or if her mentor really had lost it. “T-that’s very good to h-hear, Princess,” she said hesitantly, wondering, if her mentor would punish her, if she were to levitate her to the hospital against her will.

“Oh Twilight, I already told you to call me Celestia. I really don’t like formalities, especially when I’m in company of a very close friend,” the alicorn said cheerfully as she took sitting position, her gaze focused on her student.

“Of course, Celestia, though I really think we should visit the hospital. That amazing show of raw power could have harmed you more than you would expect.” Twilight tried her best to convince her mentor to go to hospital on her own free will, knowing full well, that her mentor could remove effect of shrinking spell and defy her anytime she wished.

“Twilight, you are always worry over nothing... I feel fine, really! And in all honestly, I haven’t had so much fun in centuries,” Celestia said with relaxed voice, as she grasped her student’s shoulder with a foreleg. “Once again you were correct, Twilight. The feeling, when magic is flowing through my horn, when I push my body... it was amazing, I felt so free.”

Twilight was still afraid that Celestia should go to the hospital. But, as her mentor was able to at least move her legs without seeming to be in pain, she decided not to voice her concerns for the moment. “I’m glad Prin… Celestia. But I have a question. You got pinned to the floor by the pressure of levitating that huge bookcase, but when raising the sun or the moon, you don’t even break a sweat. Even being your regular height, shouldn’t the raising of a celestial body be even more taxing?”

“Correct once again, you are truly an amazing student.” Twilight blushed as Celestia continued, “Raising sun and the moon is indeed very taxing for my magic, but it is something I got used to, after repeating it over and over every single day. It isn’t even something I can physically experience anymore… but this... I can not remember when the last time I used so much magic to levitate something in my very long life was. And the pain I felt in my body... I've almost forgotten what pain feels like,” Celestia tried to explain to her student without restraining any emotions, almost as if she was drunk from her magic overload.

Twilight was shocked by how casually her mentor spoke with her, it was a side of the princess she had never seen before. Not a strong and mighty mentor, but a fellow pony and a good friend. “I can relate, I feel the same way when I push myself to my limits. Though, I still think we should visit the hospital.”

“Hush Twilight... I’m an alicorn, remember? I may still be pathetic when it comes to my physical condition, for now at least, but I can still survive far worse than being crushed under a weight a few hundred times my mass,” Celestia said as she put hoof on her student mouth, before spreading her wings as the weakened magic ropes broke. “I don't even remember last time I used my wings... would you like a ride?”

Twilight was stunned by her mentor request. Just a moment ago, a tiny alicorn was pinned to the floor. And now, the princess of a proud kingdom - a mighty ruler, who spend thousands of years on her throne, leading and guarding her country - was more than willing to give her a ride on her back.

The little mare looked around to make sure that they are alone, just now noticing that Spike and Cadence had left them alone, wondering, if her mentor was responsible for their absence. “I... would be honored... but, ahh,” Twilight said, but couldn’t finish her sentence, as she felt golden aura levitating her on her mentor’s back.

“No but’s, Twilight Sparkle, I am finally going to spread my wings, and I want to share this experience with you. Hold on tight!” Celestia proclaimed, giving Twilight only a moment to prepare before she jumped into the air.

Celestia, flying everywhere with a chariot, guards pulling it for so many centuries, left a dent in her flying skills, and having a passenger did not make it any easier. But she didn’t mind, only now realising how much she had missed the joy of flying. Twilight, on the other hoof, decided to ignore the weird situation that she just had ended up in, and since there was no pony to witness her flying on the princess’s back, she just played along, enjoying the flight with her mentor far more than she had expected at first.

From that day forward, during every hour Celestia had reserved for her student, she used the shrinking spell on herself and participated in whatever adventure her student could come up with, only now learning how soft she had become after ruling a peaceful nation for so many centuries. Without a worry to embarrass herself in front of her subjects, Celestia took Twilight’s example and challenged herself, steadily improving her own physical condition and skills.

A short half year of adventuring later, Celestia understood why Twilight had chosen a thorny road towards self improvement. Celestia decided to introduce Twilight to a combat magic, trusting her to a fault that she would never use it to hurt anypony deliberately - only to protect herself. She wasn't overly surprised when Twilight enjoyed practicing it, participating in training drills which, were they Twilight’s size, only the most hardcore of her royal guards would go through.

Celestia's Tiny Student

by CommanderX5

Ch12 - Celestia's Tiny Adventure