Throughout her long, prosperous rule, many scholars and philosophers have wondered what the mighty, beauteous Celestia considers to be a “perfect day.” Though countless debates and arguments have been held to discuss the mystical conundrum of what is a perfect day for the Lady of the Day, few have ever had the courage to ask such a bold question directly to Celestia.
To no real surprise, Celestia has long been aware of these debates; of the question itself to be more specific. Like anyone else, even she herself has never had a perfect answer to such a question. At least, not a permanent answer. An answer that would hold true for every single day of her life. At least, until a few months ago, that is.
“You know, Twilight, I can’t think of a better way to spend a day,” Celestia mused aloud to her lavender lover curled up beneath her wing. To her mild disappointment, Twilight only continued her scribbling of notes about some subject she’d been refusing to talk about for the past few weeks. Celestia was not in a mood to be ignored.
She craned her neck down to slowly nibble on Twilight’s ear. Her efforts only received a series of evasive flicks from her target. “Twilight, I have the whole day off for once, and you’re actually here in Canterlot and this is how you want to spend our time together?”
Finally, a notable reaction. Twilight looked up sheepishly. “Sorry, Princess–”
“Celestia,” Celestia corrected sharply.
“P–...Celestia…” Twilight’s face flushed red.
Celestia knew from the start of their relationship that getting Twilight past the years of idolizing her as the “Princess” was going to be a slow process. She hadn’t expected to still be fighting with Twilight about it over a year later. They were friends, lovers even, and yet Twilight’s natural response was always still that stuffy title. Celestia’s focus returned as Twilight continued.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve been doing some very interesting research the past few weeks–”
“And you can’t share it with me?” Celestia interrupted.
In a manner that Celestia was all too familiar with, Twilight reacted like a filly caught sneaking cookies from the royal kitchens.
“Please, Twilight, if this is something you find so engrossing, why not let me help you? You know I love doing research as much as you do.” Celestia snatched one of the pages of notes with her magic and swiftly perused it. “Oh, biology notes… and,” — Celestia snuck a sultry glance — “pictures and diagrams of me? How naughty, Twilight.”
Twilight, face redder than before, quickly lunged up to grab the note page with her hooves. She fell back down on her side clutching the note to her chest. “It’s not what it looks like!”
Celestia laughed softly. “Twilight, there’s no need to be embarrassed. You’ve had a very personal view of me from back there already; plenty of times I might add.”
Twilight glanced up to see her lover’s warm smile beaming down at her like the rays of some warm object in the sky. “That’s not the point. I’m not doing some perverted research on you!”
Celestia sighed. “I understand, Twilight. I’m sorry for teasing you about it.”
The younger alicorn visibly relaxed. “O-okay, as long as you understand I’m not some pervy delinquent…” Twilight suddenly found herself scooped up into a playful hug.
“Oh, quit worrying about it already. It’s not like I’d be upset, even if you were doing something like that.” The white alicorn rolled over onto her back, bringing Twilight for the ride. The note page was lost somewhere in the brief trip as the topic of dubious research slipped from both of their minds. Celestia was resting belly-to-belly with Twilight on top of her. Even if nothing else happened, Celestia was quite content to enjoy this feeling. There was something about being able to let somepony else take control of things that just felt comforting, and more than a bit exciting to boot.
Twilight leaned in for a kiss, stealing Celestia’s attention. All too soon, the kiss was over and Twilight was starting to look like Philomena after she snuck into the barracks that one night and managed to re-dye the guard’s coats. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
The smaller alicorn swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. “Well, the more I think about it, there’s not much reason to keep you in the dark anymore. N-not that I have some evil secret I’ve been keeping, I mean the research. Which is almost done… and I do actually, sort of, need your input on it.” She smiled nervously.
Once more, Celestia put on her warm smile. “I don’t mind if you have things you need to do by yourself, dear. But I thought we’d both learned a lesson about keeping secrets already.” Twilight wilted a bit. “Come on, no time for that.” A white hoof gently settled on a lavender cheek. “Please, just smile for me. I can’t stand seeing you sad.” Twilight immediately brightened up.
“So, Twilight, tell me about this research.”
Twilight nodded enthusiastically. “Right, so, I’ve been studying alicorn biology recently, now that there’s enough of us to be worth calling a sample-pool. During my studies, I’ve noticed something interesting about our physiques. Luna and Cadance, interestingly, share a very similar body shape, nearly identical in fact! Head and facial structure notwithstanding, of course, their physical proportions have less than a 0.000001% deviation. Then, examining me, I’ve found that since becoming an alicorn, my body is steadily becoming leaner, and my height seems to be increasing a bit as well. Both of these changes aren’t exactly fast, mind you, but I’ve compared Rarity’s files on my dress measurements before and after ascending, and extrapolated to a few years from now to find that my physical growths are trending to be in line with Luna and Cadance’s proportions.”
“I noticed you haven’t mentioned me, yet.”
“That’s because your data is the most fascinating!” Celestia suddenly found a small blush on her cheeks. “You see, your proportions are similar, but at the same time very different. Specifically, your thighs and buttocks are larger than the expected proportions, given my other data.” — Celestia frowned slightly. She didn’t like where this was going. — “So, I was curious if you could tell me how much you weigh so I could complete my data set?”
With an expression devoid of amusement, Celestia responded. “Are you saying I’m fat?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. You certainly aren’t fat by normal pony standards, and there really haven’t been any other alicorns to compare you with for a long time…” Twilight slowly stopped her mouth from committing further treason as Celestia’s face slid farther from its former glorious warmth into a look of sheer depression. “Princess—”
Celestia suddenly rolled to her side, unceremoniously depositing Twilight onto the bed. She stood up with determined lethargy and plodded her way to the door, slamming it on her way out.
As soon as the door closed behind her, panic shot through Celestia’s head. “Guard, where is my sister?” she snapped to one of the stallions stationed outside her room.
“Setting up for night court, Your Highness,” one replied with a hasty salute.
Nodding, Celestia set of down the hall at a leisurely panicked sprint.
The door to the throne room were as large and imposing as always. A fair number of ponies had gathered for Luna’s nightly court session. Each and every one with something important, or so they believed, that required a Princess’ decision. As the clock struck the top of the hour, the doors opened, granting the line of ponies their first view of the throne room that night. As the stallion at the front of the line took a single step forward, he found himself mysteriously assaulted by a mighty, yet surprisingly soft blur of white that bowled him out of the way before dashing into the throne room. The doors were promptly encased in a golden glow and slammed shut.
“All guards are dismissed,” Celestia’s command echoed as the throne room doors slammed shut. The royal guards responded immediately.
Luna was perched on the throne, as per usual for a session of court. Her posture relaxed visibly at the sight of Celestia. “Oh, sister, to what do I owe this interruption?”
A very panicked Celestia answered hastily, “I need your help! Twilight thinks I’m fat!”
Luna sat in silence as she observed the situation. It was unusual for her sister to be so worried, but then, there was something about Twilight Sparkle that seemed particularly adept at sapping Celestia’s outer walls of calm and reasoning. It was just as unusual for Celestia to request her sister’s aid without a fully detailed plan or solution already prepared.
Also, Luna had totally called it.
“I told—”
“I swear to the stars, Luna, if you say ‘I told you so’ I’m going to send your ‘M.E.I.’ collection straight to my sun!” Celestia snapped.
Luna cleared her throat. “The thought had never occurred to me...” Celestia seemed to relax a bit with that reassurance. “Cake butt,” Luna quipped with a devious grin.
The elder sister narrowed her gaze, glaring death at her younger sibling. Celestia’s horn lit with power, and somewhere in Luna’s room, a large container vanished, never to be seen again.
“Worth it,” Luna thought to herself, “I wonder if Cadenza would like to help me in crafting a new collection? Although, maybe I should be helping her start a new collection.” Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully as her mind began to wander. “Surely the blessing and enhancement of marriages is within her domain. I should talk with her about taking on those duties the next time we—”
“Luna!” Celestia shouted, derailing her sister’s train of thought. “Are you going to help me or not?”
The time for sibling quarrels was past. Luna descended from the throne with a warm smile. “Of course I shall help, dear sister. I would be remiss if I did not assist you in your time of need.”
A wave of relief washed over the elder sister. “Thank you. I-I just…”
The gap between them now closed, Luna pulled her sister into a hug. “Fret not, dear sister. We will find you a solution.” The embrace ended with a not-at-all-condescending pat on Celestia’s head from a dark blue hoof.
A tone of calmness pervaded Luna’s voice, “Now, sister, why don’t you fill me in on what has happened?”
Celestia nodded. “Well, Twilight has been doing some manner of physiological research on alicorns recently.”
“Ah, yes. I recall taking part in that.”
“Right, well after apparently crunching some numbers, she’s come to the conclusion that my best assets are notably larger than she expected, comparatively speaking.” Celestia suddenly found herself remembering that disastrous conversation with Twilight. Her gaze fell to the floor, wings drooping, as her posture slumped. She remained awkwardly silent for far longer than Luna had patience for.
“And?” the younger sister prompted.
Celestia shuffled her hooves a bit before speaking up. “And I asked her if she was trying to tell me I was fat…”
“Don’t start that awkward silence act again, Celestia. You know I can’t help if I don’t understand the situation,” Luna snapped sternly as her older sister trailed off.
The elder sister sighed before returning her gaze to meet her sister’s. “She said ‘That’s what I’m trying to find out.’”
Luna winced. Even for an utterly-socially inept pony, and Luna was confident in her own experience as such, that reply was about as catastrophic as they come.
“See!” Celestia exclaimed upon seeing Luna’s reaction. “This is terrible! She all but directly told me, to my face no less, that she thinks I’m fat! Fat!” — It was at this moment that the dam broke — “As if she even knows what fat looks like. Clearly, Twilight has never seen her own tummy in the mirror. She spent so many years fortified in one library or another that she’s grown a good bit of pudge herself. Little Miss ‘I’m getting leaner’! Bah! Who does she think she is questioning my slightly fluffy rump? I’ve been the standard of beauty in Equestria and beyond for over a thousand years! My delectably soft posterior deserves more respect! My butt has been sculpted by the finest cakes the land has ever seen! My ass is glorious! It should be worshiped! WORSHIPED!”
“SISTER!” Luna bellowed in her full royal voice, matching the volume of her sister who now stood on her two hind hooves, with a single front hoof extended into the air in triumph and a slightly crazed gleam in her eyes.
Celestia cleared her throat and returned to normal sitting posture. “As I was saying, Twilight thinks I’m fat.”
“And I can see this conundrum is going to require our full attention.” Eyes closed, for regality’s sake, Luna turned to face where her guards should have been. “Guards, court is closed for the night. Please extend my apologies to those in attendance, and ask that they return on the morrow.”
“Um, Luna, the guards aren’t here.”
Turning back to her sister, Luna opened her eyes. “Of course not, I just gave them an order to leave.”
“That’s not—”
“Come, dear sister! We have much work to do to rid you of your most worshipable features,” The younger sister exclaimed with a giddy smile. Before Celestia could get a word in edgewise, she found herself whisked away by a flash of magic that deposited her in a room she’d never seen before.
The alabaster alicorn gazed around the room to find various mechanical contraptions, some of which she thought might make excellent places to try out new positions with Twilight later, and some of which appeared to be a form of modern torture device. There were odd, puzzle shaped mats on the floor in many different colors, and several full length mirrors dotted the walls. Needless to say, she was lost.
“Luna, where are we?”
“Tis the Royal Gymnasium!”
“This looks nothing like a gymnasium.”
“Tis a modern gymnasium.”
Celestia sighed, she really hadn’t expected a useful answer, but, as usual, Luna managed to be both correct and confusing.
“This room was installed after our niece’s wedding. Tis a place for exercise and physical training. It is mostly used by our guards, though all castle staff have access to it.”
“I see. And you know how to work these machines?”
“Not at all!”
Celestia glared as hard as she could at her sister’s adorably bright smile. She briefly considered how long it might take Luna to forgive her if she knocked a few teeth out of her. Not that it would matter. Alicorns were too resilient for that. It may have been a long time ago, but Celestia distinctly remembered a choice few of their more exciting battles in their youth and how quickly they recovered from them. No, she knew Luna wouldn’t get hurt, no matter how hard she threw a hoof at her. And that would inevitably just end up in a sparring match that would last several hours, of course a good bit of the castle would suffer as a result. Never mind what all those stuffy nobles and foreign dignitaries would think of the two sisters fighting each other. Even with restraint there would likely be cries of morons declaring them crazy and out of control and… that was a far more detailed train of thought than Celestia had intended.
Stupid skinny sister!
“I’m just childing,” Luna said suddenly.
Celestia bravely fought back against a full mental shutdown. “Did you mean ‘kidding?’”
“Tis what I said!”
Celestia shook her head, not willing to go down that rabbit hole today. “So, you actually do know how these things work?”
“Of course I do,” Luna scoffed. “What would be the point in bringing you here if we couldn’t use anything?”
“Of course…”
Luna nodded emphatically. “Now come over here, I know just how to get you started,” she called after gracefully bounding over a row of the mechanical death traps.
Celestia followed, taking the time to walk around the things she wanted nothing to do with. Luna stood in front of a terribly confusing looking contraption. Having no guess as to its purpose, Celestia was even at a loss as to how she might describe it.
“This is called a ‘milltread’.” Luna quickly scrunched her muzzle. “No that sounds wrong. Let’s call it a treadmill.” — she smiled at the sound of the word — “Yes, that’s certainly what our guards called it.”
Celestia was already having a very not-perfect day. She honestly couldn’t find it in herself to care what the device was called. “Right, so how’s it work?”
“Simple. You step onto this part,” — Luna pointed at the center of the thing — “and then you press the green button and it’ll start moving so that you can walk in place. It even has higher speed settings if you want to run instead.”
That actually sounded simple. Go figure. “Alright, let me try it out.”
Luna swiftly held up a hoof, barring Celestia’s path. “Not yet. The most difficult challenge of the treadmill is the boredom of staying in the same spot for an extended period of time.”
“That makes sense, but I at least want to see if I even like using it before I worry about that.”
“No need to fear,” Luna continued as though she hadn’t been listening, “I have devised a perfect solution for this challenge. We must simply put something in front of you that you wish to reach, but cannot without dismounting the treadmill.”
“You know, I have wings. I can just fly over to get whatever it is,” Celestia quipped.
“Pah, a length of rope can fix that,” Luna retorted, summoning a rope, likely from her collection in the basement. The rope was swiftly magicked around Celestia, binding her wings to her body.
“Luna, I still have magic,” Celestia deadpanned.
Luna waved her hoof to the side. “Nothing a simple magic suppression field can’t fix.”
“There’s nothing simple about that. Suppressing alicorn magic with that method would take hours of preparation and channeling to configure it just to make sure it only affects my horn’s magic. And even then, you’ve shown that such a restraint can be shattered if I wanted to.”
“Well, then you’ll just have to show some restraint.”
Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but promptly realized that Luna actually had a good point. Still, she had to try something to get Luna to let her try the blasted device. “And what if I choose to simply get off the treadmill and claim the prize?”
“Again, restraint.”
Celestia was more than mildly irritated. What’s the use of an exercise machine if she can’t even use it?
“Also I can just lock you and the device inside a cage and hold the prize outside with a null-magic barrier surrounding the cage,” Luna added. Something about her expression told Celestia that her sister might actually be serious about that.
Holding back her growing frustration at the lack of action, Celestia decided to ask the most important question in this scenario. “And exactly what prize could you possibly put in front of me that would warrant such ludicrous preparation?”
A sly grin slipped its way onto Luna’s face. “Twilight Sparkle with a cheesecake on her croup with a can of whipped cream next to her, reading a book while you work out.”
The rope snapped and the pair of white wings were free once more.
Luna frowned. “Hmm, you’re right, too tempting. Perhaps we should just try the good old fashioned ‘because you want to’ motivation?”
With a face redder than a cherry topping, Celestia managed to squirm in place in a futile attempt to clear her mind of the sensuous image Luna had painted. “J-just give me bit to… calm down.”
“Nay! You should use that excitement!” Luna countered. “Just keep imagining your goal as you ride the treadmill to a leaner rump!”
Not the worst idea Celestia had heard today. She approached the machine and slowly worked her way onto it, one hoof at a time. She was certain that the treadmill hadn’t been built with somepony of her stature in mind. As such, she was more than a bit worried at first about it holding her weight. After realizing that such thoughts were only playing right into her current fears, she planted herself firmly onto the center track-like thing that Luna said would move. She pushed the button and sure enough, it began moving.
The sudden lurch as it started up was both surprising and unsettling, but she quickly found a good rhythm. “This isn’t too bad, but it will need to move faster if I am to get any proper exercise.”
Without a word, Luna used her magic, causing the machine to beep several times in quick succession. The pace of the movement quickened from a trot, to a canter, and finally peaked at a full gallop. As soon as she found her rhythm again, Celestia brought Luna’s mental painting back into focus.
Mmm.
Before she knew it, Celestia had completely lost track of time, her senses occupied with a most wonderful fantasy; one that she planned to make a reality. Yes. That would be the perfect way celebrate once she was done ruining… adjusting her figure.
“Sister, I do not believe the treadmill is supposed to produce so much smoke.” Luna’s words cut through Celestia’s dreamworld.
Pink eyes shot open. Sure enough, the device was producing an awful lot of smoke. Not entirely sure how to safely dismount the treadmill while moving, Celestia settled for a simple, short teleport to Luna’s side.
“Mayhap we should turn it off, Luna.”
“Not to worry you, but I have been trying. I think you have overworked the machine, sister.”
Not-perfect. That really was starting to sum up the day more than anyone could ever possibly hope for. Not that Celestia was hoping for such a day. Far from it. She was hoping for a nice relaxing— And now the treadmill was on fire. Not-perfect, indeed.
“I’m telling you, dude, ‘Night Stalker’ is possibly the worst name to have when introducing yourself to a mare,” Night Stalker, a Lunar Guard, remarked to his friend. “The moment they hear ‘Stalker’, they get all paranoid. Every. Single. Time!”
Iron Grip, a Solar Guard, continued to walk with Night Stalker down the hall towards the royal gym. “You think you’ve got it bad, you should meet my second cousin Teeny Weeny.”
Night’s jaw dropped just a bit. “You’re making that up.”
Iron chuckled. “Nah, you can’t make up stuff like this. He makes tiny little tofu weiners, you know the kind you eat off a toothpick at a fancy party.”
Night started to laugh, but managed to maintain his composure.
“And the real kicker? He’s real short, like those Shetlanders from that island up in the north sea.”
Night lost it just as the two friends reached the door to the gym. He was laughing so hard he propped a hoof up against the door to keep from falling over. He continued to laugh for a few minutes, all the while Iron just stood there, stone-faced as he usually was even when he wasn’t on the job.
Finally, the two swung the doors open once the merriment was out of Night’s system. What greeted them was to later be known as the ‘Gymnasium Apocalypse.’
Weight machines were bent, broken and twisted into piles of useless scrap. There were free weights sticking out of the walls at odd angles, and a single weight lifting bar stacked with so many weights there was barely enough room to get your hooves on it lodged firmly into the ceiling. Smoke billowed out of the room like it was on fire, which it was. Over in the corner where the treadmill used to be. And amidst all the wreckage were the two royal sisters, arguing.
“How in Tartarus does this blasted thing keep reigniting!?” Celestia shouted.
“I’m positive it has to do with some manner of lightning spell matrix,” Luna answered calmly.
“Then turn it off.”
“I tried that when you first broke it and it didn’t work. Why would it work now?”
“I don’t know! I’ve never seen one of these things before. Why would I know?”
“You don’t have to be rude about it. Just help me summon some more water to put it out.”
“No, we have to smother it, remember? The last time we tried water the flames got bigger.”
“Hmm, true.”
“Princess...es.”
The sisters quickly turned to find two of their guards staring at the slack-jawed.
“W-what happened?” the guards asked in unison.
The sisters looked at each other, then looked back to the guards. “Take a letter please,” Celestia commanded, summoning a parchment and quill in front of Iron.
“Y-yes, your Highness,” Iron replied dutifully after taking the items in hoof.
“Dear…” Celestia paused and turned back to Luna, “Luna, which committee is in charge of the gymnasium?”
“I believe it is managed by the recreational committee.”
Celestia turned back to Iron.
“Dear Recreational Committee,
Today I have learned that gymnasium equipment is not designed for alicorns.
Apologies,
Princess Celestia.”
With both mind and body relaxed and cleansed from her recent trip to the royal bath, Celestia slowly approached the door to her room. Her attempts at exercise had done naught but cause destruction. Mortal devices simply weren’t made for alicorns, it seemed. Unfortunately, it meant that the night’s efforts were mostly in vain.
Her pace slowed with every step she took towards that door. Certainly her mind had relaxed in her time away from Twilight. But with the inevitable encounter now looming in front of her, the doubts and worries began to return.
She hadn’t accomplished anything so far. Not a single muscle burned with the heat of exertion, and her rump was still as beautifully rounded and soft as when she had stormed out on Twilight a few hours ago. Celestia wasn’t sure that she was ready to show her face, or her rear, to her love after such a dismal failure to address the problem that now stood between them.
However, the fear of shame was easily overcome by her concern for Twilight’s condition. The sweet lavender mare did have a tendency to overreact to things regarding Celestia. And after the way Celestia had left, angrily, without a word, it was possible that Twilight had spent the last few hours in another tizzy. What if Twilight was freaking out again, thinking she’d disappointed Celestia? Or worse, — a shiver ran down Celestia’s spine — what if Twilight had been crying her heart out all this time? What if Twilight thought she’d been dumped?
The two royal guards stationed by the door to Celestia’s room were promptly blown away as the ruler of the sun suddenly barreled by them, blowing the door they guarded wide open. The white mare burst into the room with an echoing shout, “Do not fear, my love! I am returned!”
Twilight was perched on their bed with an open book, as though she didn’t have a single care in the world.
Celestia’s vigor swiftly abandoned her when her lover nonchalantly shushed her for interrupting ‘the best part’ of whatever story she was currently indulged in.
“Um, Twilight…” Celestia made her way to their bed, her voice much quieter, “I’m sorry for yelling, but I was worried you might have taken my earlier exit the wrong way.”
The lavender mare looked up from her novel with a grin. “Hey, give me some credit here. I’m a princess too, now. I can’t afford to freak out over every tiny thing. Besides, you’ve only been gone for about two hours. I told myself I didn’t have permission to worry about you until after I’d finished at least ten books, and I’m currently still on number three.”
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t often in recent years that her worst fears turned out to be unfounded.
“So, what were you up to?” Twilight asked, returning her gaze to her book.
“I was exercising.”
The book slammed shut. “What?! Why?”
The elder mare cocked a brow. “To lose weight,” she answered cautiously.
Twilight swiftly stood to face her. “You can’t lose weight! That’ll ruin my calculations!”
The sun’s gaze narrowed. “Why should that matter? I thought you’d be happy that I was trying to adjust my image for you.”
Lavender wings twitched. “Why would I be happy? I’m in the middle of very delicate research and you suddenly making massive changes to your body will ruin everything!”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Celestia nickered. “You don’t care about anything but your little project, hmm? Is that why you seemed unhappy that you let it all slip out? Not because you were worried about my feelings when you called me fat, but because you were worried about your research!”
Twilight recoiled, her wings drooped from her sides. “T-that’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it?”
The room fell silent as Twilight felt all of her courage whisked away.
Celestia’s horn lit up with a golden aura. From somewhere deep in the recesses of her closet, a small white square was summoned from its slumber and placed before her. “Fine! You want to know how much I weigh? I’ll just use this stupid scale Luna gave two years ago.”
Twilight was far too surprised at her lover’s sudden change of mind to even react. As Celestia stepped onto the tiny white square that was barely large enough for all four of her hooves to fit on it, two pairs of eyes fell upon the device’s wildly fluctuating display. After a few tense moments, the fluctuation ceased.
Twilight broke the silence. “Does… does that say ‘A lot’?”
A white muzzle scrunched itself in fury. White hooves clad in gold began to rise and fall in rapid succession, trampling the devious, prank of a gift into unrecognizable pieces which were further stamped into bits of metal and plastic dust. The matron of the sun loosed a primal scream before falling onto her bed in a pouting heap.
“I’m not fat!” she shouted over and over again, each sentence punctuated with a hoof slamming into the soft, plush mattress. Each impact caused Twilight to bounce in place upon the bed.
The lavender alicorn stared on at the sight of her lover’s emotional tantrum with a mixture of fear and laughter. It had been a rather humorous prank, one of Luna’s better ones she had to admit, but the timing could not have been worse. Still… “A lot,” Twilight accidently spoke aloud with small snerking sound.
The tantrum immediately ceased as pink eyes met violet. “It’s not funny. I’m not fat, I swear.”
Twilight wanted to take her seriously, honestly she did. But the that pouty little grin was too silly to see on such a refined mare as Celestia. It looked too much like one of those silly faces Celestia used to make for her when Twilight was just a little filly. The laughter came on stronger.
Unfortunately for Celestia’s dour mood, there was just something about seeing Twilight rolling around on her bed laughing that was utterly contagious. It wasn’t long before Celestia joined in the mirth.
Neither mare kept track of the time they’d spent allowing their laughter to melt away the day’s tension.
As things calmed down, Twilight managed to find the breath to speak. "Princess Celestia?"
The solar mare reclaimed control of herself and crawled over to Twilight before laying her head to rest on the upturned lavender belly. "Hm?"
For a moment, Twilight didn’t want to say anything else. She was perfectly content to revel in the the comforting touch of her love, even if the position was a bit odd. Despite that, there was still a question resting on the tip of her tongue that needed to be asked. "You’re still going to be working on losing weight, aren't you?"
Without lifting her head from its comfortable spot, Celestia turned to face Twilight. In a brief bout of inspiration, she chose to slowly rub her cheek in a small circle on Twilight’s tummy. The action elicited a wonderful little giggle from the the lavender mare that brought a warm smile to Celestia’s face. "Yes, Twilight."
Twilight hesitated, "Alright, but if that’s the case, I think I’m going to need you to keep rubbing my belly until I forget about that research.”
The alabaster smile shifted to a sly grin. “I shall do my best.”