//------------------------------// // Back to School // Story: Wings- A Difficult Experience // by Crimson_Moon //------------------------------// My Dear student “No, that doesn’t sound right.” My Faithful Student, “There we are!” My Faithful Student, Though I have missed our personal study sessions, the matter which you regarded in your last letter is… trivial to say the least. Initially, I thought your friends would be able to help regarding your new wings. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are their names, if I recall. Regardless, I will teach you about your new physiology as best as I can, especially since I know you have prepared a needless counter-argument to the previous statement in this letter. Celestia put her quill down for a second, wondering where they should study. If Twilight comes to Canterlot, no doubt her sister, Luna, will try to start a scandal with a speed to even make Equestria Daily jealous. No offense to the tabloid, but they seem to get their information insanely fast, and the last thing the alicorn wanted was more attention. However, due to the state of the matter, I would like to go somewhere private keep you in familiar surroundings for comfort. If it isn’t too much trouble, I will be meeting you in Ponyville, at your home, Golden Oaks Library. Your Mentor and friend, Princess Celestia of Equestria “Well, it’s written, now what was step two?” she asked herself. Celestia’s personal study wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. It kind of reminded her of the Golden Oaks Library- peaceful and serene. No towers of books, though. Maybe she’ll commission somepony to put a few bookshelves in? Another indicator of where the purple alicorn got her habits from, Celestia checked her list to see what the next step was. “Oh, drat these withered eyes!” she pulled out a pair of reading glasses from her desk, and put them on. Embarrassing as it made her feel, they weren’t bad looking, and despite making her look older, they made her muzzle unbearably cute! After all, that whole “immortal” thing was nothing more than an urban legend among the nobles of Canterlot at first. They just age really, really slowly, that’s all. Glaring down at the list, Step 2 clearly read: send the dang letter, sunbutt :P. Unlike Twilight’s more… formal way of telling her to do stuff, Celestia liked to play around a little when it comes to chores and to-do lists. Oh, right. I have to actually send it! What was supposed to happen is the Princess would’ve used her magic to whisk it away to her student’s living mailbox, Spike the Dragon. Something held her back. Taking off her glasses, she concentrated on the wrapped scroll with her infamous Royal Seal on it. Any second now… Seconds passed, minutes even; still nothing. Come on, Celestia! Do your thing! It seemed her magic had different ideas. “Well, now what?” Her brain seemed to halt any magic flowing to her horn, indicating either she had a serious case of the horn flu (highly unlikely, due to the fact that she’s immune), or even worse, she had second thoughts. Well, there was no coughing fit, and her magic worked fine, indicated by her favorite tea floating towards the desk in a golden aura, so it had to be the latter of the two. A few minutes foresaw the typical 5 stages of Second Thoughts. First there was denial: No, I’m a Princess of Equestria! I don’t have the luxury for second thoughts! Followed by anger: Curse my stupid brain! If I could banish it, I would… And we can’t forget bargaining: Okay, I know we’ve had our differences brain, but maybe we could solve this together? Depression followed closely behind by a silent plethora of sobs. Maybe I’m no longer fit to be a Princess! If I’m having second thoughts, who knows what else I’ve been mucking up! Only one left to go, and Twilight is in for a surprise the next morning with her favorite teacher’s last step in dealing with the second thoughts: Acceptance. Twilight awoke to what seemed to be a normal day: the sun was shining brightly, Spike was undoubtedly making both of them breakfast, and a knock on the door this early made everything perfect. Wait a minute, rewind: a knock on the door? The alicorn thought. The knocking persisted, eliminating the theory that it might’ve been a hallucination or something. Well, I shouldn’t keep somepony waiting! “Just a minute!” she yelled to the door, while looking over her mane in a mirror. I don’t know what I do when I sleep, but it probably involves practicing braids on my hair! Come to think of it, that sounds like a good idea to test later! The knocking stopped, and hoofsteps quickly vanished. “Well, somepony isn’t very patient this morning!” Her mane unknotted, and perfect, Twilight Sparkle headed downstairs to the sweet scent of homemade buttermilk pancakes and orange juice freshly squeezed. “Boy, breakfast sure smells delicious, Spike!” she said, walking down the stairs and toward the kitchen overpowered with sweet aromas. After her bite to eat, the hoofsteps returned, this time growing louder and louder, like a locomotive heading for her door! “Ugh, it better not be Dash again! I don’t want to clean up- I mean, see the door knocked down again!” Spike was quick to recover, and not receive a glare from his essential mother figure. All he got was, thankfully, a roll of the eyes- something his emotions held better. Twilight smiled like Discord if he saw something breathtakingly chaotic. “Well, if it is Rainbow Dash, she’ll not expect this!” with her magic, the alicorn pulled the door open, smirk on her face, causing Celestia to crash through and collide with a bookshelf on the far end of her home. “C-Celestia?! What are you doing here, in Ponyville?!” “Twilight! It’s good to, um, see you!” Celestia chuckled awkwardly at the situation they both seemed to be in. Luckily, Spike ducked out before things started to escalate. As if nothing happened at all, the pearl alicorn got up to all fours, walked until she was within hoofs’ reach of her faithful student, and handed her a letter, much to the confusion of the littler one. “What’s this?” the purple mare asked with confusion obviously present within her. “A letter” the Princess smiled. “Oh oka-what for?” Well, looks like curiosity turned to intrigue. “F-for reading, silly!” Silly? When have I ever used that word ever in my life? Awkward just spiked up for Celestia- even her own thoughts agreed. “Princess, are you… feeling alright?” Twilight asked quizzically. Celestia regained her composure, and said “I’m fine, my faithful student. All will be explained in the letter” she nudged the wrapped scroll bearing her Royal Seal in Twilight’s hoof. The awkwardness vanished from the Princess of the Sun and was replaced with nostalgia when she saw her student reading a letter she personally wrote. It brought back sweet memories of when her protégé was barely a filly, still learning about magic, and going over scrolls on the subject with Celestia. “It says here that magic belonged to unicorns” Little Twilight said, peering over yet another scroll on the origins of the power of magic, and the ability to use it. “That’s right, Twilight.” Celestia smiled. “Many creatures had a small grasp of what magic truly was back then, and when they saw how easy the unicorns could master it, they all assumed it was their property.” Confusion gripped the adorable filly. “But what about you, Celestia? You’re not a unicorn, and you can control magic!” The alicorn chuckled with her hearty laugh, a trademark of hers that she started… before. “Well, let’s just say that special ponies can do special things. Didn’t your brother tell you how special you were?” she playfully poked her new student’s muzzle, eliciting a filly-like laugh from her. Silence passed for a few minutes. Then… The question happened. “Princess, what about your family? I’m sure your sister told you how special you were.” “Whatever do you mean my faithful student? I don’t have a sister.” Her mask of composure was steadily slipping from control: the corner of her mouth started to twitch behind the smile she put on. Twilight can’t find out… Not yet. She’s too young to understand. The Princess thought. “It’s just that… you take care of me, and play with me just like Shining used to do before going off for guard school.” She moved closer to her mentor. “I-it made me think you had one, a brother or sister I mean…” Celestia nuzzled her faithful student, and the lesson continued, avoiding the subject altogether. “It wasn’t until society started to learn that each creature had its own part to play in controlling magic. Moving on, the Pegasi only found about their affinity for weather when their leader…” “Celestia, are you still here?” The purple alicorn asked with concern. The Princess shook her head. “Huh, what? Yes, Twilight, I’m here. What were you saying?” Concern never dropping, Twilight repeated herself. “I said that I’m okay with you staying, but I don’t have anywhere for you to sleep. You can have my bed if you want-” “Absolutely not, my faithful student!” she looked around, and spotted a couch which should be viable enough for her needs. “I’ll sleep on this couch, Twilight.” She looked outside as a force of habit, and her internal clock started screaming at her. “It’s getting dark out.” Celestia sighed. “Looks like our lesson will have to begin first thing in the morning” she said, whilst lowering the sun to make way for Luna’s moon. There she was: Celestia pranced about her cloud of cotton candy, and swan dived into a literal mountain of cake, and at the end of the sugary dip stood her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. “Hello, Twilight! How are you this fine morning?” the purple mare smiled, and ever so seductively, stepped slowly towards the Princess of the Sun, who was still covered in cake and frosting. The way her student’s hips swayed gave the impression that the mare wanted more than just lessons this fine, sweet morning. Everything in this place was perfect, from the cotton candy clouds to the sugary cake vistas. The icing on the cake? That was Twilight, spanning her wings, and showing the greatest of pride and beauty ever seen in her. What was even more impossible to believe was Princess Celestia of Equestria, Alicorn of the Sun, co-ruler of Canterlot and its surrounding cities, was furiously blushing! The heat on her cheeks matched that of the ones found on the Sun, or so she thought. Her legs were shaking! Her heartbeat was fluttering as high as Cloudsdale! Her smile matched the quivering of her legs! All this she noticed, but was oblivious to her faithful student nudging ever closer until they were almost muzzle to muzzle. Celestia closed her eyes, leaning in ever so slightly; puckering her lips for what she assumed would be the best kiss of her lifetime. “Having fun?” a familiar voice asked teasingly. She knew that voice! Celestia’s eyes shot open like a bolt of lightning, only to see Princess Luna’s head where her student’s used to be. Even stranger, her head was still attached to that purple alicorn body that Celestia adored so much. Like a dog that got its bone taken away, she shot her younger sister a look so fierce that Tartarus would be jealous! “W-what are you doing here, Luna?!” Groaning, Luna did what was best when confronted with ponies still stuck in their fantasy. “You’re in a dream, Tia! How else do you explain this?” she gestured to the purple body her head was attached to. “I KNOW it was a dream, what are you doing in it?” Celestia fumed. “Oh, that’s simple! I popped in here to see if the lesson went well.” “You know better than that, Lulu! I thought we agreed we wouldn’t disturb each other’s dreams unless the situation was dire.” That hit the point home. Luna shuffled her hooves nervously, her normal indicator of “I know big sister, but I couldn’t control myself!” Without even speaking. The midnight alicorn was about to say sorry when Celestia’s hoof stopped her. “I know, sister, and it is okay. You were anxious to know.” “Well, what happened?” her attention was at full now, eyeballs peering at Celestia. “Nothing yet, Luna. It was too late in the day when all was explained. Tomorrow will be different.” “Tomorrow will be different.” Luna mirrored, planning something just behind the surface of the words. Celestia hadn't noticed, though: she was still in a dazed state from the scene that almost happened. A knock on Canterlot Boutique and a strange missive given to Rarity by one of Luna’s guard gave the mare full attention at 3 in the morning, or her “beauty sleep” as it were. The binding itself was sealed in a highly specific set of enchantments that ensured its reader would only be the unicorn it was intended for. Heck, even picking it up with her horn projected the big and bold letters of “TOP SECRET: FOR TRUSTED EYES ONLY” in the air. Loyal Subject and Friend, Rarity, Through a vast network of informants, I, Princess Luna, hath discovered that a certain mission of sorts requires your… efficiency in Romance. It seems that my sister, Princess Celestia of Equestria, co-ruler of Canterlot and nearby settlements, raiser of the Sun, hath been stricken with the Princess you and I call friend, Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville. Her pupil was curious of thine origins of certain appendages becoming stiff (I believe the popular term for this era is ‘wingboner’). Through the Dreamscape, and possible reconnaissance, I have learned that the origin of said Pegasus Erectus was in fact, caused by the emotions she contains for our dear sister. If she is aware of these emotions, we are unclear. So, as a token of gratitude, and your possible satisfaction of curiosity, we will provide whatever means you need to “Set up a date”. They both currently reside in Ms. Sparkle’s home: Golden Oaks Library. Signed, Royal Co-Ruler of Equestria and Raiser of the Moon, Princess Luna of Equestria Oh boy, now the fun begins…