One night during your rounds as part of princess Luna’s royal guard, you hear a commotion going on in princess Celestia’s chambers. But you think nothing of it, since you are one of the few in Equestria who truly understand that when she’s not dealing with royal duties, Celestia can get a bit cranky. Perhaps she should get to know one of her guards so she can have someone to talk to and vent. That’s what Luna does. You know this because she goes to you personally.
Luna seems to bond with you in a way that she doesn’t with her other guards. It’s never really been clear why this is. Maybe it’s because you have a gentle nature. And of course there’s no romantic relationship. It’s purely platonic…
…right?
The reason you were chosen to be part of Luna’s royal guard was because of your special talent. You know a special type of magic. Transference magic. You can temporarily transfer the magic of one pony into that of another of a different race. For example, earth ponies and unicorns can be given a pegasi’s cloud walking ability, or pegasi and unicorns can be given an earth pony’s strength and farming skills, or earth ponies and pegasi can be given a unicorn’s ability to control magic. That magical transference can go even deeper, even to the point of an individual’s special talent.
You notice another night guard walking up to you, “I’m here to relieve you of your shift.”
Is it that time already? “Thank you,” you say as you head back to your own quarters to get some rest. Before you get in bed, you think you sense something. But it was so faint that you assume you’re just tired.
You open your eyes to see that Luna is in your quarters waiting. It wasn’t often that she came to your quarters while you were asleep. But it wasn’t unheard of if she felt she needed somepony to talk to. You also notice that it’s still nighttime, which was odd. You never wake up in the middle of the night, since it’s the middle of the night when you go to sleep.
“Anon, I need to speak with you. And it’s urgent,” Luna says, “Do not be alarmed. This is currently a dream, which is why it’s still night.”
“Well, it must be urgent if you’re coming into my dream to talk with me,” you say as you sit up, “Is everything alright?”
“No, everything is not alright,” Luna says as she hangs her head, “Last night, Discord came to talk with Celestia. Being as late as it was, She did not appreciate being woken up.”
You put your hoof to your chin as you think about last night, “I wonder if that was the commotion I heard. Perhaps I should’ve taken notice of how late at night it was,” you say, “I just figured she was being cranky again.”
“Well, she was cranky. Which is why the situation got as bad as it did,” Luna explains, “But Discord has also been getting cranky lately. Fluttershy’s attention has been divided lately. And Discord has been feeling left out because of this.”
You remember Fluttershy. Before you became a member of Luna’s royal guard, you and Fluttershy grew rather close.
“Because both Celestia and Discord were a bit cranky, their discussion grew a bit heated and…” Luna pauses for a moment, trying to think of the right way to word it, “…there was a magical mishap. And I believe it’s best if you see for yourself what has happened.”
“Before I went to sleep, I remember thinking I sensed something,” you say, “But it was so faint, I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about. I just thought it was because I was tired.”
“The fact that you sensed the magical discharge shows how alert you actually were,” Luna says, I didn’t even sense it happening. But I would like to ask if you would be alright with me waking you up early so that you can see what has happened for yourself.”
This catches you off guard. Luna has never asked to wake you up early. Whatever happened must be urgent. You’re not sure how you can help. But if it’s this urgent, you can’t bring yourself to refuse. So you nod to Luna in confirmation.
With a look of gratitude, she thanks you before leaving the dream to allow it to fade away.
You’re woken up from somepony nudging you. After a few moments, you regain your senses and remember your talk with Luna in the dreamscape. You turn to see that it is in fact Luna who woke you up.
“I do appreciate you agreeing to waking up early,” Luna says as she leads you to Celestia’s quarters. You know something is wrong. The tension is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. You also notice that the sun is only just rising. But you can’t shake the feeling that something’s off about it.
When the two of you arrive at Celestia’s quarters, What you see certainly isn’t what you would’ve expected. Granted, you didn’t know what to expect in the first place.
Laying on Celestia’s bed are two sleeping figures. One of them is a small draconequus child. And the other is…
“Is that Celestia?” you ask Luna, pointing to the small, white, pink maned, alicorn filly.
“It is,” Luna confirms. Then a realization comes to your mind.
“Then the draconequus must be Discord!” you exclaim in surprise before another thought comes to mind, “Discord is cute as a child.”
You hear Luna let out her own laugh, “Yes, it’s fascinating how a creature that can be so intimidating could have come from such an adorable form,” Luna says. But she returns to her serious demeanor, reminding you of the seriousness of the situation.
Then another realization hits you like a ton of bricks, “How is it the sun is rising if Celestia is asleep?!” you ask.
“For obvious reasons, Celestia cannot raise and lower the sun in her current condition,” Luna explains, “So I’ve taken on that duty. And this is where you come in. Raising the sun is not as easy as I expected. In fact, it’s supposed to be mid-morning by now. I’d prefer to do this with Tia’s permission. But the urgency of the matter can’t wait for her to wake up.”
“You want me to transfer her talent of raising the sun to you?” you ask, realizing what you’re needed for. You’re answered with a nod.
Seeing as you’re transferring the magic of one alicorn to another alicorn, the magic is not limited to a specific time frame like it would be between two different pony races. But when somepony receives the special talent of another, it can be disorienting at first. But since it shouldn’t be much different than controlling the moon, Luna shouldn’t have much problem getting used to it.
You begin to focus your magic on Celestia’s cutiemark. Then as you pull on the magic, you begin focusing on Luna as the target of where the magic is to go. Celestia didn’t lose her cutiemark. But Luna’s moon cutiemark was now half moon and half sun.
With her new addition to her talent, Luna effortlessly raises the sun to where it should be at this time of day. It’s then that you and Luna notice Celestia opening her eyes. When she starts looking around, it’s obvious that she’s confused as to what’s going on.
“Luna, what’s…going…” Celestia begins to say, “My voice…what happened to my voice?! And why is everything so much bigger?!”
“Tia, do you remember what happened last night?” Luna asks.
“Of course. Discord came into my room and woke me up, complaining about Fluttershy ignoring him,” Celestia says, “And then…something involving magic…” she seems to be having trouble recalling exactly what happened. Perhaps the magical discharge knocked them out.
“There was a magical discharge that affect both you and Discord,” Luna says, “The effects of which being…a regression in age.”
You can tell Luna feels awkward telling this to her own big…well, little sister. You watch as Tia gets out of bed to look at herself in a mirror. However, she didn’t anticipate how much further away the floor was now. So she falls to the floor and bumps her head. As the tears begin to fill her eyes, she starts crying the way a filly would if they got hurt. The regression isn’t just physical. Her mind is now that of a child’s
You have the feeling that this is going to be…an interesting experience.