//------------------------------// // Ch6.5 - Major Nightmare - Part 2 // Story: Ponyville's Tiny Librarian // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian - Chapter 6.5 Major Nightmare - Part 2 Two alicorns and a full sized Twilight galloped behind the Ursa Major, charging magic in their horns. Their teeth gritted as they focused their attention on the Ursa’s leg. The moment it tried to take a step forward, a powerful force swept its paw out from under it, causing it to lurch forward. It tried to scramble its leg against the ground for support, but it was already too late, and the giant fell. The royal sisters and Twilight raised their hooves defensively, their manes blown up by the sudden blast of air from the Ursa’s fall. Trees were crushed under its massive body, their roots flinging up dirt as they were uprooted. Understory and foliage joined them, and the three ponies were pelted by all manner of forest debris. “It worked, it worked!” Twilight exclaimed as she vanished her barrier and jumped a few meters upward. Celestia approached her sister and whispered into her ear, “May I ask you a question?” “Of course. What troubles thee?” “I know it may sound odd, but Twilight has impressive control over her power, strength and her voice for being normally sized. When I shrunk myself to my student’s size to adventure with her, Twilight often apologized for sending me crashing into a wall or levitating to the other side of the building because she’d failed to restrain herself.” Luna raised her eyebrow. “And thou didst not raise any concern or asked thy student to work on self-control because…?” Celestia blushed in embarrassment, hiding it behind her large wing. “My student’s progress comes from her passion. I am still waiting for her to realize this on her own.” Luna gave her sister a disapproving glare, but it softened quickly. “T’is Twilight’s dream. Her normal limitations can be overcome here if she so wishes.” “Run for your life!” Both alicorns looked at Twilight before following her hoof up to the rising Ursa Major, who looked very, very annoyed at them. Their eyes widened, and in an instant, everypony ran away from the beast in different directions. *** Celestia’s long escape from the giant was interrupted by a large cliff, her magic almost fully drained from the countless teleports. At the bottom, she could see a large ravine with pointy and sharp rocks. The trembling ground kept informing her about the approaching Ursa. With enough magic for just one teleportation, she reappeared on the other side, glancing at the monster who now stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at her with rage and hunger. “I did it, I managed to run away from Ursa Major without having access to my full power!” the princess shouted in rush of adrenaline before wiping sweat form her face. Celestia’s cheerful mood didn’t last long when the Ursa flexed its giant legs. To the princess’s horror, the colossal beast jumped from the cliff, smashing the sharp stones with its giant paws as the earth trembled uncontrollably. The princess started to lose her balance from her spot on the edge of the cliff, only for the solid stone under her hooves to break apart entirely, dropping her downward. In panic, Celestia levitated herself just before crashing into the sharp rock, which would give even her alicorn flesh a solid test of endurance, but her relief didn’t last long when she noticed the giant paw of the Ursa start to straighten towards her. Before she could make any evasive maneuver, the paw grabbed her. Celestia felt as if the paw of Ursa Major was squashing her. She gritted her teeth against the pain and lit her horn, casting a levitation spell upon the paw crushing her bones. With help from her hooves, she managed to slowly open the tightened paw of the monster, which was at least three times larger than her entire body. If Luna was accurate about me only having access to magic on Twilight’s level, then I must say she’s made incredible progress if she could free herself from an Ursa Major’s grasp at her normal size, Celestia thought with pride in her heart, only to gasp when she saw the opened mouth of the bear. Before Celestia could take advantage of the opportunity to escape, she was pushed into the giant mouth. The princess tried to jump out, but she found herself slamming into the large teeth as her only way of escape closed in front of her face. The alicorn lit her horn and put her four hooves upon two of the giant’s teeth in an effort to lift the mouth open, but to no avail. She was about to use her magic to open it, only to feel the beast’s tongue to push her between two giant sets of teeth from under and above as they pressed against her, slowly breaking shields and levitation spell that the princess used to defend herself with. After several seconds of slow chewing, Ursa Major gulped the princess. Celestia sighed with what little strength she had left. And here I was eaten. Now I experienced everything Twilight had to go through, lucky me. I hope that when I ate her by accident, the experience was not nearly as unpleasant. She closed her eyes. *** “Princess, are you alright?” Celesta heard voice of her worried student while feeling something poking her. She opened her eyes as Twilight helped her stand. A lavender aura illuminated the area. “Twilight… Luna… not you two?” She examined her student and sister in search for injuries. While Twilight had but scratches, Luna’s wounds and disheveled feathers suggested that she’d endured a similar chewing process. After looking around, she noticed that they were on top of a tree floating over the acids. Considering my smell and the fact that I am wet, they most likely levitated me from my unwanted bath. She looked once again at the ponies she cared deeply about and asked, “How?” The night princess hid a blush behind her foreleg. “T’is… embarrassing.” The Ursa Major stood on three mighty legs as he looked down at the motionless alicorn it had smashed moments ago. His giant claw poked her before it lowered its head to sniff the alicorn. Luna felt an incredibly strong urge to sneeze as the wind coming from the Ursa’s nose tickled her, but she fought against the urge. After nearly five minutes had passed, the wind stopped and Luna felt as the ground trembled beneath her body. The trembling sound became weaker and weaker until it was all but gone after another five minutes, but the night princess didn’t dare open her eyes just yet. All of the sudden, the urge to sneeze returned. Luna sneezed, opened her eyes and sat up, looking ahead first before scanning to her left and right. She sighed in relief when she saw no giant beast, but her relief didn’t last long as she once again felt a familiar wind, this time on her back. Slowly, she glanced behind, only to see the Ursa Major’s face lowered to her level, his one eye far bigger than her entire body, watching her every move. The alicorn smiled awkwardly as did the Ursa, and she could see its teeth. The beast roared and grabbed the alicorn with its mighty paw, crushing her barrier as if it was made of glass. “Princess Luna offered to distract the beast so I could escape, but I couldn’t leave her behind. When I returned, I saw how she was trying to play dead… something I tried when I faced a manticore. The moment the Ursa Major tried to eat her, I teleported into its mouth in an attempt to help, but she pushed me into the beast’s throat before we could both end up chewed, and here we are.” The trio looked at each other in silence. As exciting and terrifying as the adventure proved to be, they had still ended up inside the beast’s stomach. Most of their bones would’ve been turned to pulp if it wasn’t just a dream. After receiving a pleading look from her sister, Luna looked around to examine the area. Suddenly, she smirked. “Worry not, as We can defeat this nightmare without lifting the limitations upon our might.” “Limitations?” Twilight asked in confusion. “She meant the rules of your dream that prevent me and Luna from using our alicorn magic. In terms of raw power, we are on the same level as you,” Celestia stated, only to see an apologetic look on her student’s face. “Do not apologize, please.” Luna smiled proudly as she pointed at the unicorn. “T’is thy dream, Twilight Sparkle. Thou fears and imagination summoned this mighty beast to crush thee, yet thou art still in control.” She approached shakily and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “If thou so wishest, thou can devise various ways to fight the beast with thy rich imagination.” “Devise?” Twilight asked hesitantly. She draped her foreleg around and continued, “Imagine an Ursa Major attacking Equestria, and thou possesses the power to stop it, limited only by thine imagination.” She stomped, wincing in pain at the impact between her wounded forehoof and the wooden surface. “All thou needst is passion and determination. Thou needst to wish strongly for thine idea to come to life.” “I can… defeat the Ursa Major any way I wish?” Twilight asked before a large grin grew upon her lips. “Precisely,” Luna said as she released the unicorn. “Now show us thine imagination…” she cleared her throat, “my little battlemage.” She gestured over the sea of acid as their safe island slowly sank. “Unless thou wishest, we can fight the Ursa Major from the inside, something we may find problematic in our weakened and exhausted state.” Celestia shook acid from her rear hoof and approached Luna, keeping her distance from the green substance. “Luna,” she whispered into her sister’s ear, “I thought you were against cheating?” Luna whispered back, “We were against using our magic for an easy solution. Encouraging our savior to beat the nightmare with her own mind is another story. Tis her nightmare after all.” “I see,” the tallest alicorn said as she looked at Twilight, who was literally beaming with excitement, her energetic jumping causing the acid around her hooves to splash. “I got it! The perfect solution!” Twilight shouted, ignoring the acids burning her up to her knees. “Something I would love to do and witness, something worthy of both of you princesses.” “Thou hast gotten our curiosity,” Luna said. “What about thou, sister? Interested in the perfect solution of thy faithful student?” Celestia chuckled as she approached Twilight, her shaking legs sinking in the acids as drops of sweat slid down her face. She attempted to open her wounded wing to embrace her student, but a sharp twinge of pain stopped that quickly, so she settled with using a foreleg to embrace her student in a hug, pulling Twilight away from the acids and against her neck. “We may be separated by distance between Canterlot and Ponyville, but in the end, I am still your teacher. I always look forward to seeing what my brilliant little student can come up with.” “Thank you, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I won’t disappoint you,” Twilight said as she closed her eyes and focused. A few seconds later, the group vanished in a flash of light. *** Celestia’s eyes were closed as she massaged her forehead, feeling the start of a headache. Once the pain was gone, she lowered her forehoof, but she was still bothered by an odd, alien feeling. Something feels… different. She took a slow breath, which lasted for at least twelve seconds. Why does taking a breath take so long? With some effort, she opened her eyes, her vision becoming less blurry with each passing second. What she saw surpassed her wildest expectations. The tall alicorn gasped and took a step back, her right foreleg and left hind leg slowly raising themselves before knocking over a few trees as they once again slammed into the ground. Closing her mouth alone took a whole five seconds. Before her was a sea of miniature trees, yet to say they were toy sized would be an understatement. Full grown trees she had climbed not long ago were now smaller than toothpicks, while flying armies of Cockatrices looked more like swarms of miniature bees… no, not bees, more like ants with wings. A weak roar reached her large ears as Celestia raised her head, now staring at Ursa Major face to face like equals with only a few kilometers distance between them. Celestia raised her foreleg defensively, taking at least fifteen seconds before her forehoof was level with her chest. Even blinking took surprisingly long. “What… how?” she asked, her very words loud and strong enough to make the chicken-headed creatures scatter in fear. “Outstanding, sister. Just look upon our size and might!” Celestia turned her massive head to the side to gaze upon her gigantic sister. While Luna still only reached her muzzle in terms of height, she was certainly more than twice as tall as the tallest tower in Canterlot, closer to very small walking mountain than a princess. “I see… yet I still cannot believe my eyes.” Luna took a few moments to raise her head and foreleg proudly. “We suspected thy student viewed us as big and mighty. We find it most fitting for her to enlarge us to deal with a gigantic foe. Celestia spread her wings, no longer feeling any pain in them, nor in her previously crushed bones or formerly acid-burned legs. Each tree-sized feather appeared as if they had just been preened by her diligent student. Celestia’s pupils shrank as she started looking around, not yet used to the very slow movements of her gigantic head. “Twilight, where are you? Her ear twitched as she experienced a ticklish sensation on it. She moved her foreleg towards her ear in attempt to rub it, yet stopped upon hearing a familiar voice. “Careful, Princess! I’m here!” “Twilight?” Celestia asked, not daring to move her foreleg an inch. “How do you like it, Princess? I know you and Luna offered your help in facing my nightmare, so I thought the best solution would be to even the odds!” Twilight shouted, her voice enhanced. “I must admit. It is quite an interesting solution.” “Art thou talking to thy student?” Luna started turning towards her sister, ignoring the large bear who maintained a ready stance, watching them warily. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the itty bitty lavender shape atop her sister’s left ear. “Let us get this straight,” she started and smiled. “Shouldst an Ursa Major or other humongous beast invade Equestria, thy deepest desire would be witnessing thy princesses face it as mighty giants?” “M-m-maybe,” Twilight mumbled, her voice too quiet for Luna or even Celestia to hear. She blushed, though none of the gigantic alicorns could notice it. With each half a minute long step, Luna started approaching her sister, leaving house-sized hoof marks and crushed trees in her way. Celestia kept still as she asked, “But why only enlarge us and not yourself, my dearest student? Wouldn't it make more sense to become a giant yourself?” “Giant? Me? No way!” Twilight shouted as she leapt from the house-sized ear, her legs bending on impact with her mentor's soft and furry muzzle. She turned around and stood on her rear hooves to peek out from her mentor’s fur, which was now reaching her chest. Much to her pleasure, she was greeted with two gigantic, love-filled eyes, which were too big for Twilight to look at both at the same time. “No matter the size, I’ll always be your littlest student. It is only fair for you to be much bigger than me, and since I regained my normal size in this dream, it’s most fitting for you to become a giant!” The gigantic Alicorn of the Sun rolled her eyes. I should have known. She narrowed them to get a better look at her microscopic student, who looked more like a little lavender ant from her perspective. “Thou honor us. If thou wishest to witness a fight between titans, we art more than willing to fulfil thy wish,” Luna whispered, trying her best not to overwhelm her tiny savior with the strength of her voice. Celestia focused magic into her horn, yet only a barely noticeable aura was visible on the top of it. Noticing it, Luna whispered, “It appears our magic has not changed at all. Our bodies are big, yet too little magic flown in it to be of any use.” She turned around, now facing the Ursa. “The odds are even indeed.” She grinned. “And we certainly prefer it this way.” Twilight ran through the fur on Celestia’s muzzle before sitting on the edge of her nose, now looking at Luna who bent her legs. After taking at least a minute to lower herself in preparation for a jump, Luna shouted, “Brace thyself, foul beast, for the full might of the moon!” She jumped and spread her wings, flapping them twice with great force. The powerful wind shook the forest beneath and thousands of leaves filled the air. She passed a few kilometers before dropping her entire weight upon the celestial creature. Ursa Major gulped as its pupils shrank and ears drooped. A quiet whimpering left its mouth before a loud tremor overtook the forest. Celestia bit her lip while Twilight covered her eyes from the terrifying image. A huge rain of dirt and grass filled the air as hundreds of trees were uprooted and scattered across the place. At least ten of the flying trees bounced against Celestia’s massive legs. Twilight slowly lowered her forelegs and grinned. “That… was… amazing!” She jumped cheerfully before summoning a large silvery shining sword, which was a few times longer than her own body. “I can’t let Luna have all the action!” She made a practice swing, the sword now surrounded in her lavender aura. The tip of Celestia’s horn lit as she caught her student with her levitation, lifting closer to her eye before whispering, “Dream or not, you cannot assist Luna at your size.” “Why not?!” she asked. “I’m very agile and too small to be noticed by the Ursa, and my magic is strong enough to distract it, especially with a six meter long sword by my side!” Celestia glanced at her sister, who tried to wrestle the Ursa into a headlock. The beast pushed back, striking the alicorn’s muzzle with the back of its head. The very forest trembled, and their rolling bodies flattened hundreds of trees more. “Luna’s magic has already influenced this dream enough to make our experience feel very real. I forbid you from interfering at your current size, lest you end up like one of those poor trees, squashed like an ant under their massive weight.” The unicorn nodded. “I suppose you have a point, Princess. I wouldn’t want Luna to feel bad for accidentally crushing me!” The giant sword vanished, replaced by a bag of popcorn. In a flash, she reappeared on Celestia’s muzzle, her back perched comfortably against a spot between the two large eyes. “Go Luna! Show this overgrown bear who’s the real giant here! Suplex it into submission!” “Twilight, wake up,” Spike said worriedly, shaking his adoptive mother. It proved harder than usual since Twilight was no longer tiny. The unicorn straightened her legs, rubbing her eyes before opening them slowly. Once her vision cleared up, she lowered her head and her ears drooped. “Awww… It’s over already? No more fight between Ursa Major and gigantic princesses, no more sitting on my mentor’s shoulder and cheering up for her? Why did it have to end when it was getting so good?!” She raised her head and looked at Spike. “Is it morning already? No, it can’t be, the sun’s not up yet… What are you doing outside anyway, Spike?” “That’s what I want to know,” Spike said as he gestured over Ponyville. “Did you work so hard to fix all the damage at night that you fell asleep?” “Yes, I did!” she exclaimed, pushing Spike away with the force of her voice. She put foreleg on her lips and whispered, “S-sorry…” “Now I know how you feel whenever someone yelled into your little ears,” Spike stated as he rubbed his ear. He placed his hands on his sides and shook his head. “First, it was using Luna’s blessing to work nonstop. Now, you’re starting to sleep outside in the dirt instead of your bed. You could catch a cold.” Twilight shook her head and stood up. She levitated a rolled-up scroll she was using as a pillow into Spike’s hands. “What is it, Twilight?” “A letter to the princesses I wrote. I wanted to wait until morning before sending it. Would you be so kind, please?” Twilight whispered. Spike sighed and sent the letter with his magical flames. “Done. What was in the letter by the way?” “Just the report about what happened tonight, alongside information that I’m going to Canterlot with a request to be shrunk again, though I think they’re already expecting my arrival.” Spike blinked a few times. “But Twilight, you could just ask Princess Celestia to visit you and shrink you here and now. She can get here in ten to twenty minutes, so why?” “I’m also going to stay in Canterlot for two weeks.” “What?!” Celestia yawned and crawled from her bed, stretching her legs and spreading her wings to perform a few quick flaps. She smiled, satisfied once again at moving her wings and legs at more reasonable speed. I must say, being a giant of such size was quite a unique experience. Each body movement felt so slow, something very difficult to get used to. “Morning, sister,” Luna said unexpectedly. Celestia flinched, almost tripping over her own bed. “Luna, what are you doing in my bedchambers?” She recovered her composure, still remembering the adventure she had in her student’s dream. “We were merely seeing how thou felt after our little adventure?” Luna answered with a neutral voice. Celestia chuckled. “We ended up eaten like an unhealthy snack and you defeated the celestial beast in a wrestle between giants. I certainly would not call it a small adventure.” Luna smiled and looked at Celestia with pride. “We both defeated the beast. Thou impressed us. Thou fought for such a long time, though I mean no disrespect to thy student’s great power since we were almost powerless against it. Thou even took a powerful hit for Twilight. Indeed, thou art learning fast.” “T-thank you…” Celestia said hesitantly. I do not understand, is she trying to punish me for my mistakes, or is she actually cheering for me? Maybe both. She noticed a rolled scroll in Luna’s hooves and leveled an even stare at her sister. “You read a letter from my student again, haven't you?” Luna nodded. “We had not intended to do it, but it was addressed to the both of us,” she stated. The moment she saw her sister’s confusion, she pointed at the title. ‘Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.’ “It seems that quite a lot happened in Ponyville yesterday,” Luna said cheerfully as she levitated the letter over to Celestia, not that there was anything in it that they hadn’t remembered from the dream as the night princess ensured they would remember it with the help of her magic. After a closer look, there was one small information that filled both alicorns with joy. *** “I still find it hard to believe, even after hearing it from my student in her dream and reading it in the letter,” Celestia said cheerfully as Luna nodded. “We would not call it unbelievable, but rather ironic. The same night thy student faced an Ursa Minor while defending Ponyville, we faced an Ursa Major in thy student’s dreams.” Luna added, wishing she had been in Ponyville to witness it herself. Celestia shook her head. “That is not what I meant,” she said, getting her sister’s attention. “I did not want to say it aloud in my student’s dream, but I was unsure when she would return to her original size. She hesitated to do it even when she went to help you…” “Thy student knows that thou can changest her mighty presence, turning a powerful unicorn who can use her power to protect her friends and the citizens of Ponyville back into a tiny one where she can improve herself and prepare for the challenges ahead,” Luna lectured, taking a quick breath. “Thou shalt shrink her back, right, sister?” Celestia nodded. “Of course I will, I will do everything to make her happy, she deserves as much,” she answered, feeling pride that her student faced one of her biggest fears for the good of everypony. The feat of dealing with the Ursa Minor was not a small one indeed. “Still, I am surprised at her decision,” Celestia said, pointing at a specific spot on the scroll. “She wishes to spend two weeks in Canterlot with you. I think she is trying to have time for all of her friends.” Luna raised her head proudly. “If thy student wishes to befriend us, We will gladly fulfill her desire. Besides, outside of facing thy student as Nightmare Moon and the belly rub we honored her with, We did not have time to get to know her better. We art going to enjoy spending time in her presence.” Celestia smiled innocently as she asked, “Since you will be spending time with my student, you will give up on punishing yourself during my nightmares, right?” Luna closed her eyes. “Thou hast a few nightmares left to endure, sister, and We have our share of fault to pay for. T’is for our own good.” Celestia sighed and lowered her head. “Whatever you say.” She spread her wing, wrapping it around her sister. “Once our nightmares are over, I hope you can consider using other avenues like community service rather than these unproductive punishments to make up for our mistakes. You should not be so attached to the old ways.” Luna looked to the side and said hesitantly, “We... shall consider it.”