//------------------------------//
// Morning Interlude 
// Story: To Touch the Sun 
// by RoyalBardofCanterlot 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle was swimming among the stars. Above her, below her, surrounding her was the embrace of the Heavens. She wasn't sure how long she had been floating in the void. Usually her dreams took her to libraries or a peaceful meadow like the ones her primitive ancestors had frolicked in during the long distant age of Dream Valley.

Sometimes she dreamed of being a filly again, but her friends were all fillies too. Across the great plains the filly versions of her friends and herself would chase each other and play. In still others, she was with Princess Celestia. This dream was different. For one, in those dreams she did not know she was dreaming. This time she did. Somehow, she knew she was in the dream realm. Endless, rolling galaxies floated by or maybe she was the one floating. She did not recognize the stars that rolled by. That alarmed her. She had studied astronomy and knew every part of the night sky.

She looked around, searching for familiar land marks. She thought she saw Regulus, then she made out the constellation known as Hurricane's Arrow. That landmark (skymark?) told her she was three-million light years away from Equestria. If this wasn't so very clearly a dream the fact would have alarmed her.

So, instead of hyperventilating or cursing the fact that she had never thought of making a checklist for what to do if she got lost in space she simply took a few moments to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness. A flash of whimsy struck her and she flailed her hooves as if she were swimming. A giggle escaped her lips and she continued swimming through the great emptiness. Reaching out a hoof, she touched a rainbow-colored nebula. It was warm and pulsing like a heartbeat.

The warmth attracted her and she pulled closer to it. The warmth of the nebulae wrapped around her like a blanket and she snuggled closer to it, sighing.

The nebulae was a rainbow of pastel colors, warm pink and cool blues and greens. Twilight couldn't remember why, but for some reason the nebulae felt familiar. It made her feel safe, like nothing could ever hurt her. Curling into it she let the strands flow all around her. It was impossible to fall asleep in a dream, of course, but she didn't want to leave this spot. She closed her eyes and realized she had been in here before, somewhere, a long time ago.

It probably wasn't important. Though she had stopped moving, the stars continued to move past her. The cosmos rolled past her, like some vast, living thing.

To amuse herself, she tried to find more constellations. The three stars of Daniel's Belt shone together. There was the stinging tail of the Manticore, Faust's Crown, the Sword of Bellephron, the Horns of the Minotaur and the Jewels of Princess Platinum.

There were more star patterns she didn't recognize. The nebulae continued flowing around her. It suddenly jerked away, sending Twilight adrift. Cold struck her unprotected fur. She whined and reached for the warmth, managing to pull it back to her and wrap back up in it.

Back in the waking world, Celestia stared down at her sleeping former student and now suitor. She had fallen asleep against her side while they were translating a poem about a night time rendezvous which used a great deal of star-based imagery. Celestia had fallen asleep afterwards. A sharp jolt against her skull had awoken her from a peaceful slumber.

Twilight had snuggled into her mane and was now cheerfully babbling nonsense while using Celestia's mane as a substitute blanket. Celestia had tried to pull her off, but Twilight had grabbed back onto it. She could just wake Twilight up, but the younger mare just looked so cute and filly-like.

When Twilight had first moved into the castle she was a confident, eager nine-year old (almost ten, she would boast.) That didn't stop her from occasionally having nightmares and on those nights Celestia had let her sleep with her. On many of those night Twilight had used her mane as a substitute blanket.

The thought troubled Celestia. Had Twilight conceived her attraction to the Princess on those nights? It had seemed so innocent back then. Twilight would appear in her pajamas at Celestia's door. Celestia would lift her wing and Twilight would dart under it, curling up to her. By all rights, Twilight should see her as a second mother rather than as a potential romantic partner.

It was too much to think about at this hour. Her internal clock told her that it was three in the morning. Even Luna would be asleep at this point if she wasn't frequenting a night club (she considered it her duty to make an occasional appearance at one. After all, they were in honor of her night.) Nobody wanted to see a cranky Princess Celestia so she needed to get back to sleep.

The Sun Princess laid down her head, wrapped a wing around Twilight nearly on instinct and tried to go back to sleep.

Deep in dreamland, Twilight was swimming through a rainbow river.
...
The call of the sun started out gently. As the moon began to lower it became an insistent tug that let Celestia know it was time to rise and begin the day. She opened her eyes. No light came down here in the basement. The fact that it was cool and dry made it perfect for storing and preserving ancient manuscripts, but was not a good place to raise the sun from.

Celestia rose, withdrawing both her wing and Twilight's favorite blanket. Twilight whined and kicked her hooves trying to reach for it. Celestia thought about waking her up, but didn't have the heart. After walking up the steps, she stepped outside to a world that was hinged in that place between day and night.

The moon had been lowered and the sky was a deep, dusky shade of blue. Celestia closed her eyes and focused. The sun ascended from its resting place, filling the sky with its golden light. 

"No matter how many times I see it, that never gets less amazing." A familiar voice said from behind her.

Celestia turned. Twilight was standing behind her.

"Thank you." Celestia said. "Sleep well?"

"Wonderfully."

"You should have. You had my mane as a blanket."

Twilight blushed. "Oh my goodness! I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?"

Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder to cut off the coming panic attack. "It would take more than somepony tugging on my mane to seriously hurt me. You did it all the time when you were a filly."

"I did?"

Celestia nodded. "I was always able to wake up before you and ease my mane out of your grip."

The morning light shone on Twilight, highlighting her violet fur and the pink streak running through her purple mane and tail. The light also highlighted her horn, her well-developed muscles, her shapely rump and graceful legs leading down to her elegant hooves.  The light of the dawn highlighted that Twilight was no longer a filly, but a grown mare.

"Twilight, have you been working out?" Celestia asked, not sure why she was just now noticing. She'd been visiting Celestia once a week, but they hadn't spent this much time together in a while.

"Physical exercise is good for the mental concentration required for higher magic."

"Ah, of course. I remember teaching you that, but you were never interested in it."

"I got interested when I realized I couldn't focus long enough to use a quadruple-corona spell. I got Rainbow Dash to teach me martial arts. She's an expert in five different disciplines."

"Impressive. I'm rusty, but I know some martial arts myself."

"Really?"

"Yep. Royalty had to know how to fight back in the day." 

She struck a fighting pose, rearing up and positioning her arms in a guard position. Twilight looked it over with a critical eye.

"Let's go get breakfast. I can make it myself, let Spike sleep in." She announced abruptly.

"Twilight? Is something wrong?" Celestia asked, going down on all fours again.

"No, nothing. I'm probably wrong anyway."

"Wrong about what?"

Twilight bit her lip. "I'm...I'm not an expert and, um, I'm sure you know more about it than me-"

"Twilight, if you want to be my suitor don't treat me like your sovereign or your teacher. What's wrong?"

"Your stance looked off. I might be wrong though."

Celestia reared up again and got into the same stance. They circled each other before the princess threw a right jab. Twilight parried it and Celestia nearly lost her balance, but recovered quickly. A second jab from Twilight broke through  guard and lightly tapped her chest.

"I've been afraid of this since Chrysalis." Celestia said, getting back down. "I've forgotten how to fight."

Twilight shrugged. "You don't need to know how to fight, you've got guards."

"True, but I don't want to lose all my skills."

Twilight straightened up. "First off, you need to keep your guard lower. Like this."

She reared up and demonstrated the proper stance. Celestia reared as well and they circled around each other. Celestia threw a jab. Twilight dodged it and threw a right hook that Celestia just barely blocked. They went several rounds, throwing light kicks and punches. Twilight, like everything she did, threw herself into it with eagerness. Celestia could just barely block her blows.

"I never expected you to take to martial arts, Twilight." Celestia said, blocking a roundhouse kick.

"I never did either. Dash got me hooked. It takes total concentration to do it well." She threw another kick which harmlessly bounced off Celestia's side. "It's helped me with my magic a lot!"

"Hmm, very interesting. You've lost weight too."

"Really? Wait, what do you mean by th-whoa!"

Celestia grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled then pivoted. Twilight found herself hurtling towards the ground before being stopped by golden magic.

"Like you said, total concentration. Gotcha." Celestia giggled.

"Hay, no fair." Twilight said, although she was grinning. 

Celestia released her from her magical grip. "All's fair in love and war. Want to go get some pancakes?"

Twilight eagerly agreed to this idea and they went back inside where Twilight got the ingredients to make pancakes, a bowl and a griddle. Spike was still asleep in his little basket. 

"I really enjoyed that supper we had last night." Twilight said as she sifted together the flour, baking soda,, salt and sugar.

"As did I, Twilight." 

Twilight nervously shuffled a hoof as she used her magic to pour the batter. "It's been a while since we spent a whole day spending time together like we used to. I've been busy and you've been busy."

The batter, heated by the stove, began to turn a crispy golden-brown. Twilight started flipping them.

"It has been a while hasn't it? You've grown so much."

"Would you like to...I mean...could you..." Twilight stuttered. "Would you like it if we spent the day together?"

"I'd love to, but Parliament's holding a debate."

Celestia instantly regretted her words when she saw Twilight's crestfallen look.

"Oh, that's okay." Twilight said, forcing a smile as she used her magic to lay the pancakes on a plate.

"Although I suppose I could send a message telling Luna to handle it."

"Really?" Twilight squealed, jumping around the kitchen. "Oh, I'm so happy! I'll show you around Ponyville and there's a nature documentary I know we'll both love playing at the movies and-and..." She trailed off and stopped jumping. "I mean, I'm glad." She took the pancakes, laid them on the table and sat down.

"It sounds like you have a lovely day planned out." Celestia said, taking a bite of the pancakes.