Ch17 - Pegasus Magic
Celestia’s Tiny Student
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Chapter 17
Pegasus Magic
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
Celestia had shed the weight of duty—along with a great deal of other weight—and was rather enjoying being the same size as her little student for a while. The little mare was laying on Celestia’s back with her hooves held tightly around her mentor’s neck as they soared through the sky, or at least around a few towers at the castle.
“A lot!” Celestia did not have to see her student to know she was wearing a smile so large it threatened to meet at the back of her neck. The shrieks of joy and tight grip around her throat told her that much, but her next words came as a bit of a shock.
“I had no idea flying was this exciting! I wish I could have wings too.”
Celestia was not the best flier. She had only begun to use her wings again a few months ago, but she was making steady progress. Turning her head to look at her student while she flew, she put on her most enigmatic smile before responding.
“Would you really prefer to have wings instead of your horn, my faithful student?”
“Why can’t I have both? If I was an alicorn just like you, I wouldn’t need to choose at all.” Twilight was giggling at her own joke, but Celestia was anything but laughing as she considered her student with a serious thought.
Could this really be possible? Could the Elements of Harmony turn her into an alicorn as they did to me and my sister? The first time we tried to use the Elements of Harmony against Discord, we were still normal ponies. But after Discord hid the Elements and took my horn and my sister’s wings, it took us years of danger and hardship to find them again, and their reward was an immeasurable life and magic. but even if she is the potential bearer of Element of Magic, the chances for Twilight to became an alicorn are slim. Would she—
“Princess, watch out!”
Celestia had barely enough time to see a wall of her own tower looming up ahead before bracing herself for impact, hoping to take the crash on herself and protect Twilight.
But there was no crash.
Instead, a wall of purple magic enveloped the two of them, bouncing her away from the wall and up into the air.
Celestia opened her eyes, only to see a purple barrier around herself, again bouncing them away from the wall. As the barrier dissipated. Celestia noticed that she was falling, and as a pair of hooves tightened their grip around her neck, discovered that her student was too. With reflexes honed by weeks of training, she lit her horn and teleported the two of them to her nearby balcony, ensuring that she wouldn’t repeat the same accident Twilight suffered years ago.
Celestia landed rather unceremoniously as her student jumped from her back. “Huh, that was close,” Twilight said with relief in her voice as she shook sweat from her head and gazed upon her mentor, “Are you alright, princess? I mean Celestia?”
It took a few moments to untangle herself from her uncomfortable position before she could look at her student. “I’m fine, Twilight. But more importantly, we didn’t fall onto the street. That would have caused quite a scandal,” Celestia said calmly, a hint of relief in her voice.
“You can say that again. It would be like a repeat of my own accident. I never want to go through that again,” Twilight replied, nodding in agreement.
“It’s not crashing into the street I’m worried about. I can endure that ten times over without a scratch. It would be the reaction of my subjects that would bother me. If they see me crash into the street at any size, it would cause a lot of unnecessary panic. But if I were that small, who knows what they would imagine. And I certainly have subjects with a lot of imagination,” Celestia added with a slight frown etched on her face, which was far different than the grin that Twilight showed.
“Imagine all the newspaper articles. ‘Pint-Sized Princess Causes Plaza Pandemonium!’ Or ‘Diminutive Demigoddess Dazzles Downtown!’ Maybe they would even make a movie, ‘Where Alicorns Dare.’ It could have merchandising, and toys, and even a doll of you just like the one of you my mother has on her dresser. It’s pink!”
Twilight had collapsed into giggles at the idea, but Celestia did not find the possibility remotely funny. Any more incidents would give her so much more unnecessary work to do, from trying to explain why she used a shrinking spell on herself, to any other questions the nobles would ask. That all would mean less time to spend with her student and less time to train herself to fight Nightmare Moon.
“Well now,” the hooded pony murmured, chuckling. “That’s something you don’t see everyday. The boss is certainly going to be satisfied with my discovery this time.”
“You’re talking to yourself again, you know. You should really stop doing that.”
The hooded pony lowered his binoculars quickly, turning to confront his new arrival. “Who goes—Oh. It’s you. Shouldn’t you be busy right now, perhaps trying to dig up some dirt on the Princess’s tiny pet unicorn? Twilight, or something?” He said sharply, before he turned and brought up his binoculars again.
“You assume I haven’t been doing such things, and well...” she trailed off, looking slyly at the pony in front of her.
“Yes?”
“Well, you remember how not long ago, Twilight paid a little visit to her parents, accompanied by her ever-present guards and her little dragon, yes?”
“So the filly misses her mommy and daddy. Big deal. Get to the point,” the hooded pony snapped, still focused on the figures in the distance.
His associate simply snorted. “I am. This is where it gets good, you see. The filly’s parents happen to be two ponies by the names of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, descendants of the Twilight House, which happens to boast of a very powerful magical lineage. Some believe that the Twilight House includes such ponies like Star Swirl the Bearded, though it’s simply a rumor at this point.”
The hooded pony perked up, turning back towards his companion. “Interesting…No wonder Princess Celestia was interested in teaching her. Anything else?”
The other pony chuckled. “Of course! I am a doctor, you know. I’m a bit more perceptive than you think me. Anyways, Twilight and her guards were not the only ones to return home. Twilight’s brother is Lieutenant Shining Armor of the Royal Guard, and he visited his family alongside a pink alicorn filly.”
“A filly alicorn?” The hooded pony said, tucking his binoculars into his cloak and turning to face his visitor. “I’m certain we’ll have to investigate whatever ties observation target number seven has with the Princess’s student sooner or later. Anything else?”
The doctor nodded, burrowing deeper into her cloak. “Yes indeed. It didn’t take long before the Princess’s nephew joined the party, and a few moments after his arrival, Fancy Pants decided to pay them a visit. It’s like all of our observation targets are making connections with Twilight’s family. Last time I checked, the little circle of ponies Princess Celestia has more or less planted in Ponyville have just about grown up too. Enough about that, though. What about you? Anything new about our dear Princess or her student?”
A grin quickly spread across the hooded pony’s face. “Today, our precious Princess decided to take her student for a quick flight. It was… Quite unusual.”
The other pony nodded. “Yes, the Princess, flying around Canterlot, especially with a tiny unicorn on her back, it does sound a bit strange, but is that it?”
A deep chuckle erupted from the hooded pony. “Celestia’s student wasn’t the only tiny pony during that flight.”
“So she had—Wait. Are you saying that...”
“Yes, I am saying that.”
The mare cocked an eyebrow at her coworker, trying, and ultimately failing, to contain her laughter. “T-that’s kinda amusing, I suppose. Do you think that a tiny alicorn would be vulnerable to a trap, or maybe even an open attack?”
The stallion shook his head, frowning. “I am afraid not. It seems that she can shrink and un-shrink herself at will. Even tiny, I have no doubt she’s still very powerful. Her student is still a far easier target, although her guards might be an issue. Both of them are very attentive, and I have no doubt that the pegasus will do anything to defend his charge.”
“Yes, but is she worth the effort? Is she close enough to Princess Celestia that capturing her would be worthwhile?”
The other pony facehoofed. “And you blame me for thinking you’re not ‘perceptive?’ She’s Princess Celestia’s personal student. Ever since the princess took Twilight in, her mood has improved and she’s pretty much happier all around. Her smile is no longer fake in public, and trust me, I’m perceptive enough to tell whether someone’s faking a smile.”
The mare simply looked at him dumbfounded. With a groan, he continued, “The princess has been spending a lot of time with her, and lately, she has even shrunk herself to play with her tiny unicorn. Not only that, I’ve just told you that she’s even willing to fly her student around the castle for fun. It’s clear that she’s developed a very strong bond with her student, and we can use this bond to our advantage. It’s the weakness we’ve hoped to find for so long.”
The mare scoffed. “Fine, fine. I get it. You’re soooo much smarter than I am. Anyway, we should report to our boss. We don’t get paid for chatting all day,” she said, departing. As she prepared to close the door on him, she gave him a final look over her shoulder, grinning. “Besides, I’m sure we’ll want to get moving right away. The sooner we capture the cub, the sooner we can make demands of the momma bear, and the sooner we’ll be able to turn Equestria back onto its correct path.”
Celestia gave a mirthful laugh as she tossed yet another pillow down at her student. The two were back in her bedchambers, and given that there was still time before Celestia needed to leave, Twilight had immediately initiated a pillow fight against the tiny princess. Although the fight itself had started with both mares using their hooves alone to lob pillows at each other, it quickly escalated, and soon, both wings and magic were involved as the princess and her student turned the entire room into their battleground, pillows flying all over the place.
Celestia dodged hastily away from a pillow, a flap or two of her wings speedily bringing herself away from the levitated projectile. She eagerly caught it in her own levitation field and was about to toss it down until she noticed the time on the clock.
“Gotcha!” Twilight shouted as another of her pillows made swift contact with the flying Princess, knocking her unceremoniously down to the bed.
Celestia dislodged herself from the pile of pillows strewn about her landing spot, laughing. “Yes, you’ve gotten me, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, exhilarated, “But I’m afraid that I’m going to have to cut our time short. I can’t be tired and out of breath in front of my subjects.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. “That’s fine, Princess! We’ve already spent a wonderful time together and that’s all that matters,” she said, smiling.
Celestia smiled warmly before she closed her eyes, focusing more and more of her magic into her horn. Twilight watched in admiration as her mentor grew back to her original size, swelling back into the loving Princess of Equestria, once again feeling like a little pony under the Princess’s majestic wings.
Celestia opened her eyes and looked down at Twilight, the powerful mentor to her hard-working little student once again. “Considering that I still have some time before I leave,” she said, lying down on the bed to rest, “Is there anything in particular you’d like to learn about today, my faithful student?”
“Yes, Princess,” Twilight said, jumping up onto the Princess’s crossed forelegs. “I was wondering if it was possible for a unicorn to fly or have wings... Well, without being an alicorn, that is?”
Celestia thought deeply for a moment. “Yes and no, my faithful student. More powerful unicorns are capable of self levitation, though it is very draining and still inferior to the flying skills of the pegasi.”
“I can levitate myself? I’ve never tried that before...” Twilight mused, before lighting up her horn and focusing on herself. Her magenta aura wrapped around her, and she slowly levitated off the bed. “Look, princess! I did it!” Twilight exclaimed, looking down at her mentor. She floated higher and higher, elated at her progress until her head made sharp contact with the ceiling a few moments later. Her levitation field popped, and she dropped back down with a small ‘poof’ onto a cushion conveniently held there by Celestia’s magic.
Celestia gave a small giggle as she laid the pillow back down on the bed, the disoriented Twilight quickly attempting to reorient herself. “Don’t worry, my little student. After some practice, you will be able to fly,” she said, before levitating over a book from her personal bookshelf, flipping through it quickly until she got to the spell she was looking for. She presented the page to Twilight, whose eyes were immediately drawn to the detailed illustration of a butterfly-winged pony. “This is another, perhaps more practical and less draining way for a unicorn to fly. It’s a spell that creates butterfly wings, but keep in mind that these wings are very fragile and are still vastly inferior to the wings of a pegasus.”
Twilight gave a disappointed pout. “Awww... But what if unicorns eventually discover a spell that could create pegasus wings? Then everypony would be able to fly as well as the pegasi, right?”
Celestia shook her head. “I am afraid that the pegasi would still be the superior fliers. Even if you could replicate wings, you cannot replicate pegasus magic,” she lectured calmly as she noticed a familiar face expression on her tiny student, a expression that Twilight showed whenever she was about to learn something new about magic.
Twilight’s face lit up, an expression that meant that her interest had been piqued and one that Celestia was far too familiar with. “Pegasus magic? I thought only unicorns could cast spells! How can pegasi cast spells without a horn?” Twilight asked excitedly, her curious eyes watching Celestia intently as she waited for an answer.
Celestia raised her head, looking at her student as she contemplated what to say. Twilight has learned so much about unicorn magic during her studies with me. Cadence has taught her basics of illusion and love magic and her brother rounded out her combat knowledge. It’s about time I teach her that there is far more to the world than simply spells to cast.
“Twilight,” Celestia began, “we live in a world where magic is everywhere around us, not only in unicorns, but in every kind of pony. Perhaps you would like to learn about the magic of the other types of ponies?”
“Yes, Princess! I would love to!”
Celestia’s mouth turned up in a faint smile, having already expected this answer. “Well, you see, Twilight, while magic can be found inside plants and living creatures, ponies in particular have developed a huge affinity to magic. Our bodies can store and use it for self improvement, and—hmmm… Perhaps it would be easier to explain with a simple demonstration, but I’m afraid it might come with a little… discomfort.”
Twilight shrugged. “It can’t be that bad. I’m sure I can take a little pain for your demonstration.”
Celestia nodded, before she removed one of her golden horseshoes and levitated both her tiny student and her horseshoe up into the air. “The first and most basic way our bodies use magic is to enhance our flesh and bones, making them several times stronger and tougher,” Celestia stated, before pointing to her golden footwear. “Next to you, my faithful student, is one of my golden horseshoes. It may look like pure gold, but it is actually made of a gold alloy. Since it is decorative, it's not quite as hard as steel, but it's still very sturdy. However, unlike you, it contains no inner magic,” she stated calmly before putting on a tiny grin. “Prepare yourself. This is where the demonstration begins.”
Twilight nodded, a determined expression on her face. With that, the Princess threw both her student and her golden horseshoe into the ceiling, a loud thud and a dull ringing of metal announcing their impact. She brought them back down lightly, setting them onto the bed. “Twilight, did you feel any pain or discomfort?” Celestia asked, her tone neutral.
Twilight shook her head. “No, Princess. I felt the impact, but I’m not exactly in any pain at the moment,” she said, rolling a shoulder experimentally and stretching any kinks out of her neck.
Celestia nodded. “Very good. Now, would you look closer at the horseshoe in front of you?“
Twilight turned to the object in question, peering at it closely before turning back to her mentor. “It’s been slightly dented, not to mention the cracks forming along the point of impact.”
Celestia nodded as she lit her horn once again. “Let’s see what happens with a bit more force then,” she stated, giving Twilight a moment to prepare before sending her student and the horseshoe once again into the ceiling, this time with a loud crack of plaster and a tiny shower of dust from the newly made craters above. Twilight shook out her head, clearing up her dazed state as she was once again set down in front of the princess. “Do you feel any pain now, my student?” Celestia asked, looking over the tiny unicorn with concern.
“Yes, Princess, though it’s just a little, so I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Twilight remarked, before turning to the golden horseshoe beside her, or rather several little pieces of gold that were whole just moments ago.
Celestia chuckled as Twilight's eyes widened. “As you can see, Twilight, the strength I put into throwing you at the ceiling did little besides dirty you up a bit, but a golden horseshoe thrown at the same speed would turn into something closer to a pancake, even with steel reinforcements,” she stated calmly, before turning up to look at the ceiling. “Not to mention the damage done to the ceiling, of course. At least I’ll always have a memory of you when I look up, right?” Celestia joked, giggling.
Twilight looked up, following her mentor’s gaze before turning back to Celestia, smiling sheepishly. “Heh… S-sorry for damage I caused.”
Celestia chuckled at her student’s apology. “Twilight, I can proudly say that you are the best example of using magic for self improvement I’ve ever seen. Unicorn bodies are designed to store and channel magic through their horns the most effective way possible, and as such, their bones are slightly more fragile to better facilitate their spell-casting abilities. In addition, their weak frame means that they are less able to support strong muscles and store a lot of energy within their bodies,” she lectured calmly, before looking at her student pridefully.
“You, on the other side, have not only been born with huge magical potential, but your training and hard work have helped your body to harness it and improve itself. For such a young mare, you have become one of the most magically and physically fit unicorns in Equestria. Well, perhaps alongside your brother too, of course,” Celestia praised, smiling warmly as Twilight attempted to deflect it onto her protection spell, a deep blush on her cheeks.
“Now, a small demonstration of what healing magic can do,” Celestia said, lighting up her horn once again. In a few, short moments, the golden horseshoe bent back into its correct shape and the bits of plaster across the bed flew back up to rejoin and repair one of the holes in the ceiling, though the unicorn-shaped indentation was left suspiciously untouched. “With the right spell, I can both repair damage done to material objects or repair the damage inside of a living creature. Our bodies are capable of using our inner magic to increase our recovery rate, sometimes even more effectively than a healing spell.”
“Excuse me Princess, but may I take notes?” Twilight asked politely. Celestia nodded, a tiny grin on her face as she levitated a tiny notepad and pen to her student, made specially for her size.
Celestia waited for Twilight to jot down what she could remember before continuing. “You already know that, thanks to our horns, we can use magic directly to cast spells with just a bit of knowledge and practice. Because of that, most books focus on unicorn magic, but there are a few types of magic specific to earth ponies and pegasi. Those, however, are much less noticeable, so literature about them is limited.”
Twilight’s note page filled rapidly as the unicorn snuck quick glances at the clock, only minutes away from when Celestia would have to leave. “If unicorn magic is used to cast spells,” Twilight asked, “what do earth pony magic and pegasus magic do?”
Celestia looked up, giving a contemplative hum before turning back to Twilight. “I wouldn’t think of it that way. In a sense, magic between the three pony races isn’t so different. Earth pony magic is more passive than the other two races, allowing it to work on its own to affect the body. This causes an increase in their physical attributes, such as strength, endurance, and stamina.
“Pegasi, however, do have some control over their magic. Like earth ponies, their magic comes from inside their bodies, though it is specifically concentrated in their wings and hooves. Because of this, pegasi can channel air currents and walk on clouds, something they are very well known for. In addition, their inherent magic will also decrease the weight of their bodies, making running and flying much easier for them.
“The magic of both races helped to establish their role in Equestrian society. With their inner magic leaking out so much, the earth ponies were able to influence crops, making them the supreme farmers of the world. Combined with their bodies’ natural healing ability and the fortitude to shrug off most illnesses, they became the most physically fit species on the planet.
Of course, the magic of the pegasi placed them firmly in control of the weather, possessing traits that gave them the ability to manipulate air molecules to create clouds, whirl wind currents into tornadoes, and create rain and snow. There are even a few rare pegasi who were capable of harnessing their magic to create lightning, though most simply find a charged raincloud for that.”
Twilight finished her notes before looking up at her mentor. “Does this mean that no matter how hard I train myself, I will never be as tough and strong as an earth pony?” she asked, disappointment in her voice. “Not to mention I won’t be able to fly like a pegasus, even if I could give myself wings, right?”
Celestia shook her head, “In most cases, yes, you will never surpass a hard working farmer or a highly trained earth pony guard, nor will you surpass a pegasus who lives for speed and agility, but despite their innate advantages, you can still be stronger or more agile than those who do not train or work hard. No matter what kind of magic it is, whether it be pegasus, earth pony, or unicorn magic, if it is not used to its limits, it cannot bloom.
Celestia took a quick glance at the clock before turning back to Twilight. “What I’ve told you only covers the basics, but you can find much more information in the Royal Library if you wish to know more on the subject. There’s a special section dedicated to research on pegasi and earth pony magic, though for now, I would suggest you to focus your studies on one type of magic at a time. I must leave now for court, so we must continue this another time, Twilight,” she said, giving a final nuzzle to her student before departing for her royal duties.
After another several hours of ruling Equestria and a solid hour of training drills in the barracks, Celestia had finally headed back to her bedchamber, only to find the entrance strangely unguarded. It was not a completely unprecedented occurrence, but it was unusual enough for her to stop and think about the situation for a moment instead of just walking into her room and dropping on the blissfully soft bed as she so sincerely desired.
Even though Twilight no longer needs any escort around the castle, or even most parts of the city, she has probably asked Steel Blade and Overwatch to accompany her to the library. After all, there is no real reason to have guards on an empty room, and for the past hundreds of years, no one has ever even tried to break into the castle, let alone my bedchamber.
Celestia opened her door carefully with every expectation for the room to be empty, only to find a very interesting scene before her. Books were scattered all over the room, many of them covering subjects from pegasus magic to weather management. To one side of her bed stood the guard Overwatch, who had been observing the contents of said bed with a smirk on her face. She quickly noticed when Celestia walked in, turning and snapping a crisp salute to her liege with a very quiet whisper of, “Welcome back, Your Highness.”
What captured Celestia’s full attention was the activity on her bed, and in particular, the ponies involved. The pegasus guard, Steel Blade, was lying flat on his back with wings outspread, covered in a tracery of carefully marked strings and measuring tapes as if he were a section of ground being prepared for construction. Lying on top of one wing was her student, fully engrossed in measuring a primary feather while recording notes on a small scrap of paper, one of many that festooned her immobile guard.
While Twilight may have been lost in her research project, Steel Blade gave a loud yelp as he noticed Celestia’s astonished face. By instinct, he rolled to his hooves to salute, apparently forgetting the circumstances of his captivity. String and notes went flying, as well as one small purple student. After tripping on the unstable footing of the soft bed, Steel Blade’s attempt to regain stability by extending his string-wrapped wings made the bad situation worse, and the whole effort ended with the two of them landing behind the bed with a loud double-thump.
“It’s not what it looks like!” called out Steel Blade from his unseen landing spot behind the bed. “Can somepony get us a pair of scissors?”
“I love this job,” said Overwatch with a grin.
Once the guards had been untangled and put back on their post outside the door, Celestia took a moment to just lay on her bed, very tired and certainly not up for another small adventure. She spread her wings out to their fullest extent, providing her student with much better study material. Twilight was more than happy to comply, gathering her leftover notes and string to continue where she had been interrupted. While studying Celestia’s majestic wings and talking with the princess about pegasus magic, Twilight noticed something odd.
“Princess, is there something is wrong with your wings?”
There was a note of concern in her voice that brought Celestia reluctantly out of her relaxed state, and she turned to look at her student as she replied, “Whatever do you mean, Twilight?”
Twilight considered her words deeply before speaking. It was not the first time she had touched her mentor’s wings, but there was something odd about them when she ran her hooves over their soft feathers. Remembering what Cadence had taught her about illusion magic and how to dispel it, Twilight decided to try something. She lit her horn and cast a spell on the part of Celestia’s wing she was standing on, only to gasp in horror at what it revealed.
“So you figured it out,” Celestia murmured. “I expected it to happen sooner or later.”
Twilight stared at the segment of the huge wing, covered with damaged feathers and tiny scratches. Panicked, she stared at her mentor with a desperate appeal. “P-princess, what are you trying to hide? Did I do something wrong?”
It only took a moment for Celestia to drop the rest of the illusion that covered her body. It said far more than words if her inquisitive little student could simply stare at her injuries instead of asking about them. Trying to ease her student’s obvious concern, she sighed and said, “After I lost the duel against you, Twilight, I understood that I was in no shape to protect my subjects if a threat were to arise, so I decided to begin training alongside the other royal guards. I’ve been keeping it a secret from you and the rest of my subjects so that you wouldn’t worry, but I can see now, that was a mistake.” She decided not to mention using a shrinking spell to make fighting her own guards seem a lot less dangerous.
“I-I didn’t mean it. I mean… I should have lost that duel.”
“Twilight, if anything, I’m grateful. I haven’t felt so alive for over a thousand years.”
***
Curled up on the bed with Twilight nestled on her chest, Celestia talked about her secret training regime and how she planned to hide it from the public’s view. When Twilight asked why the princess would even participate in exhausting adventures with her everyday while hiding those injuries, she just answered that those adventures were not only enjoyable, but also improved her condition, making training drills easier to endure.
As Twilight listened to her mentor, she could not help but feel sympathy for her injuries. Those majestic white wings were a mess, but she quickly remembered a book that might be useful.
“Princess, I think I have an idea. Just today, Overwatch gave me a book with about how pegasi keep their wings in shape, and Steel Blade volunteered to let me examine his wings so I could understand the book better.” Twilight paused while thinking. “Or at least, I think he volunteered. Anyways, the book says the best way to get wings back into shape after exercise and bathing is to preen them, whatever that is,” she stated, levitating one of the books lying on the floor over to Celestia.
“Wing Management - The Egghead’s Guide On How to Properly Preen Your Feathers. Well, my faithful student, preening is… Well, I think it would be easier to demonstrate, particularly with this much subject material.” Celestia stretched a wing between her and a very attentive Twilight, and began to work her way up the battered primary feathers, one painful nip or twist at a time, adding a little dab of preening oil from a bottle on the nightstand table whenever her lips got dry. It was slow work with as many dislodged barbs or bent pinions that needed individual attention as there were, and her sore muscles from the day’s activities did not help in the least.
“Princess, has any other pony helped preen your wings before?“ Twilight asked curiously.
Celestia hesitated, her mind recalling the dry, dusty memory of being curled up with her sister, talking about little things while working their way down each other’s wings. It took a quick swallow and a moment to dab little additional preening oil on her lips before she could gather enough composure to respond.
“Some of my servants preen them once each few months or before big events, although I do it myself whenever I have the time,” Celestia said as she spit out a loose feather. “It seems such a personal task to pass off to the servants, particularly when I haven’t been using my wings for anything useful.”
With a sigh and a pointed look at the clock, Celestia climbed out of bed while her student jumped onto her trusty pillow. “I am going to take a well-needed bath instead. Would you like to accompany me? We can relax in the hot springs together, and I’ll ensure that you won’t drown this time,” Celestia offered warmly.
“Maybe another time. Today, I really want to finish this book.”
Celestia was surprised that Twilight would refuse her offer, but understanding her student’s obsession over books, she decided to let it slide. The moment Celestia left the room, Twilight smiled and began gathering up anything she could find about preening.
She had a plan.
As always, Celestia did her routine with lowering the sun and raising the moon before spending time with her student. Feeling too tired to have another small adventure, this time she intended to have a quiet night, perhaps with some tea, teaching Twilight about pegasus magic before they both went to sleep.
Lucky for Twilight, Spike was spending a few days in Fancy Pants’ residence at the request of White Path. While the little dragon may have been a wonderful friend and companion, he had trouble keeping secrets, and the activity she planned tonight wasn’t really something he could help with.
The family reunion had been fun, but she still felt a little embarrassed about when White Path had asked to be her coltfriend, and the conflicted look on his face when she refused. She was too young and small to be anypony’s marefriend, and White Path was way too young to be her coltfriend, but when she had offered friendship instead, he had seemed so crushed.
At least Spike is playing with him. They’ll have a lot of fun together, doing colt things and stuff. Hopefully White Path will talk to Spike about our little disagreement, and maybe Spike will help him cope with… whatever he’s feeling.
After two hours of fake snoring, making sure that Celestia was deeply asleep, Twilight slipped away from her warm cushion. With a low light on her horn, she stalked her prey across the resilient surface of the huge bed, large enough that even two ponies of Celestia’s size could have slept in it. If the alicorn had been sleeping on her side, the plan would have failed, but fortunately Celestia remained laying on her belly, both wings slightly unfurled and with one hoof stretched out to the empty space to her side.
It took substantial physical strength to stretch her mentor’s wing out, since she could not use her magic to both light and lift at the same time, but eventually she had the first wing extended all the way across the bed. Keeping it there was tricky, and she had to turn off her illumination spell in order to use magic ropes to tie the giant feathered limb down in the dark, but in the end, she was victorious.
Then she had to do it a second time.
Finally, after a great deal of sweat and a false start from Celestia in which she almost seemed to wake up, Twilight looked down in triumph at her mentor, tied spread-eagled across the bed.
After a quick check to make sure that the preening oil and the book were in place, Twilight began her secret operation. With exquisite care, she approached the first feather, wetting her lips with preening oil and biting it exactly the way the book instructed. Unfortunately the book had not mentioned just exactly what preening oil tasted like, or how that taste would combine with the flavor of Celestia’s mane conditioner to coat her tongue, but with great care and effort, the first feather fell into line, just as smooth and clean as when it had been grown. One feather followed another, a job that proved slower than she had calculated due to an underestimation of remaining feathers and the difficulty of the unfamiliar task. On the upside, her small size let her preen feathers with a precision that no pegasus could even dream of matching.
Hours passed as Twilight fought sleep, keeping her illumination spell up as the level of preening oil in the container dropped. Glorious feathers marked her progress up one wing as the stars slowly passed across the window, and the Princess shifted in her sleep. More than once, Twilight had to tunnel back out from under Celestia whenever she shifted positions, or suffer a sharp rap in the face when her wing would twitch involuntarily during the preening, but she persevered, up one wing and down the other.
It took a while, but the final feather was straightened, and an exhausted Twilight fell asleep under her mentor’s comfortable wing.
Other ponies always woke up with the sun, feeling the warm glow of a friendly sunbeam across their face as an introduction to the day. Princess Celestia had never experienced that luxury. Instead, she normally woke to the moon, paused at the horizon with a gentle reminder of her responsibility to put it to bed after a long night of work, and the eager, muffled feeling from the sun, still below the horizon but ready to spring up into the sky and start the day.
This morning was a little different.
There was an itch to her left wing, just above the elbow joint. Normally that would have been the work of a moment to bring the errant wing over to a hoof for a quick scratch, and then another ten minutes or so of sleep before she absolutely had to do her royal duty. Either that, or face another dozen or so letters from the Equestrian astronomical society inquiring about her scheduling, and if, perhaps, she needed to have her clock adjusted. She had no doubt that even now, some overly-important astronomer was sitting with a stopwatch and a schedule, the letter already made out and only awaiting his signature. Still, the itch persisted, even though the moon still had a few minutes to go.
She opened one eye to regard her student. Twilight had been so helpful lately that perhaps she would be willing to either scratch or go set all the clocks in the Royal Astronomy wing ten minutes back, but her student’s pillow was empty, and even a cross-eyed look at her own horn showed no little purple unicorn mare standing on it. There was a familiar warm sensation under one wing, and after a few moments of sleepy observation, a fact trickled through her waking brain cells.
Stars, my wings look good.
And after a little longer, a second thought drifted to the top of her mind.
Why am I tied up?
It took a few gentle nudges with her wing to wake up her little student, and after a few yawns and lip-smacks, her rumpled face, complete with a bed-knotted mane, poked out from under Celestia’s flawless wing. “Yes, Princess?”
“Thank you, Twilight. This is a wonderful present, and I really appreciate it. There’s just one thing, and I know you like to do everything yourself, but…” Celestia wiggled her wings, making little squeaky noises where the ropes rubbed against the bedroom furniture.
“Oh!” Twilight’s horn flashed and the magic ropes vanished, allowing Celestia to stand up and spread her wings across the bedroom. Other than the missing feathers from the training, they were in perfect shape, glossy and smoother than they had been in centuries. Celestia examined them one at a time, extending and retracting them in the soft golden glow of her own illumination spell as they caught the air of the room and caused the curtains to flap in the breeze.
“They’re wonderful, Twilight. You must have been up all night working on them. With your size and their—well, size, it must have been so much work. You constantly amaze me with the diligence and effort you put into everything you do, but this is far more than I had ever expected.”
She turned to her bed where Twilight had remained, a line of drool still trickling down from her chapped lips as she lay on her side, snoring. Celestia could not help but smile at the sight. With a light touch of her own magic, she shrank down to Twilight’s size and kissed her student softly on her damp cheek, gently as a mother kissing her own filly.
“Sleep well, my faithful student. You deserve your rest for all that I have put you through in the past, and all I expect from you in the future.”
Slipping to the door and returning to her original size, Celestia once again covered her minor injuries with an illusion spell, leaving her wings undisguised so she could display her student’s wonderful work. There was a moon to put to bed and a sun to raise. In addition to the rest of her royal responsibilities, the sooner she got to work, the sooner she could return. There was so much information about pegasus magic that she’ll need plenty of time to explain it all. And once she had explained it all...
Celestia stopped. Maybe…
Maybe she can spend a few weeks with the Wonderbolts...
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Ponies working in the dark against the Twin Thrones... and they expect that Celestia would just roll over? If they are unlucky then they will meet the Flaming Goddess of Death.
3566353 Twilight or Celestia? Remember "Feeling Pinkie Keen"?
3566437
Keyword "Flaming Goddess of Death"
3566353
The sad thing is that they said
guess some pony never heard of the saying never get between a Mama bear and her cubs cause there will be pain.
Man, these conspirators are never gonna find work in this town again, when it gets out that they were savagely beaten by a miniature filly they were supposed to be kidnapping.
3566573
No shit
3566573 3566581
I would not celebrate just yet. Hostage situation is always a problem for the good guys, after all, Celestia already lost her sister thousand years ago, would she take a risk when another pony she learned to care about would be in danger? And beside, Twilight is not the only target, if you read about the talk between conspirators, you can easy figure out that they target every pony what Celestia care about, including Twilight's family, Fancy Pants family, and the top target, Cadence.
Do if they put a gun (theoretically speaking) on the heads of ponies Celestia care about the most, do she will cooperate or not. It is a big gamble what conspirators are willing to take.
3566574
Yes, it would seems very funny and embarrassing.
Those two were just spies. Foalnapping princess's student should be a job for experts.
3566353
Or Twilight returns herself to her full size and wrecks the place with her top-tier magic.
3566674
I'm looking forward to finding out just how you become an expert in kidnapping itty-bitty superfillies, and what skillsets such an occupation entails. I'm thinking a magically-reinforced butterfly net would be a good start.
Well, this is still quite well-written, and while I do like seeing more shenanigans with the guards, I'm personally finding myself skimming a lot. I think it's partially that this has become much too safe and controlled, so there is no tension. The stakes are very low, is the thing. It's pleasant, though, so if that's what you're going for, there's that.
I think the last point in the story I was quite engaged with was when Twilight was acclimating to her new size, and was afraid of her mentor. There was a set issue of trust and fragility there that I really liked -- in short, Twilight was in a sort of peril, and you wanted to see her get out of it. She did, by conquering her fears and reaching a new level of trust with her Idol.
I know, with the story you have now, that things are kind of locked un, and that's fine, but personally, I think I might be losing interest, just due to the overwhelming comfort and control of the situation. Nobody is in any semblance of danger, and that makes it all a bit too safe, for me. I might be alone in this.
One thing I think might be fun would be to thrust Twilight out of her saftey zone again, and put her in some kind of peril. Maybe have her try a growth spell, to see if she can move between her normal size and her small size, and have the spell backfire, shrinking her further, to the size of a gain of rice or sugar. She would then be afraid and in trouble, and need to utilize all of her magical all to get her teacher's attention.
That said, if you DO decide to continue on as you have at, that's A-OK, I just think I, personally, not be done with the story. I've enjoyed it, and it was a nice read.
3567222
It may take a few chapters, but you will get to it.
3567706
I do not understand. First you are saying that Twilight got used to being tiny so much that there is no longer a conflict for her to handle, and next you suggest that taking her away from her safely zone is not fun. Or you miss spelled your words, because if not, then I do not get it.
As for the conflict, Twilight is now being a potential target for conspirators alongside other of Celestia's friends. And now when Twilight want to discover wonders of pegasus magic, Celestia is considering sending her to learn from Wonderbolts. I hope that it may work to make this story more interesting/
3567989
Mmmm, you're right, I somehow misspelled that on my phone. Should be "One thing I think might be fun would be“
3567706
First of all, I really love how much you appreciate the guards; most of their actions and lines were my work, and it's nice to see someone loves them!
As for your other concerns, I've also noticed the story becoming more... tame, but I can at least assure you that this trend won't define the rest of the chapters. While the overall plot is pretty much cemented at this point, there's still plenty of action to be had and there are still plenty of places for silly guard shenanigans to occur, especially as some of the commenters around here continue to debate whether Overwatch is a changeling or not.
I can see where this is going.
3568058 3568123
It is true that Twilight managed to deal with most of challenges and trials what the huge world put in her way ( mastering magical power despite endless surging, becoming strong and tough enough to withstand being stomped and all kinds of injuries what were lethal for Twiny at some point, facing her mentor about her fears and even convincing her parents to let her stay tiny and stay being Celestia's student ).
I know that after overcoming all those challenges, Twilight got used to her life and it seems that despite size disadvantage she can handle everything what the big world will thrown at her.
This chapter in particular was meant to be both world building and introducing new enemies and challenges for future chapters, it was not meant to be a conflict, but a break for introduction for new conflict, bonding and tiny Twilight shenanigans.
So please, do not lose interest in the story because of this break. Now with Twilight studding new type of magic, comes new challenges for her to handle.
And also, Twilight learned how to preen wings and levitate herself, I am sure that it may come in handy at some point.
3569058
Can you explain what you meant by saying that ?
Because I am kind of curious.
3569155 how do you not know when you are the writer?
Loving this story sooooo damn much it makes me vomit rainbows and fart cotton candy!
Also can't wait for the sequel.
3604714 there's a sequel? What's it about?
3604714 3608725
The sequel to this story is ready, however there is still a lot editing to do, basically the higher level quality of editing, the long it take to update new chapters. .
The sequel will start on the same timeline what the show, where Twilight will be going to Ponyville. However considering that Twilight developed in rather huge environment, she is a bit different, so her reaction and outcomes will be different, and definitively surprising.
However there are still few chapters before this story is over, so I hope that no one is getting bored that Twilight is not yet going to Ponyville.
Actually, gold is very soft. Pure gold, twenty-four karat, can be shaped by human hands alone. You can literally just bend it however you want. That's why gold is never used for armour and weapons except where magic is concerned - gold is often considered an excellent conduit for magic, making it highly enchantable. If Celestia's royal garb is just gold, no hardening enchantments, you could twist it into a pretzel.
Now, an alloy on the other appendage... a bit of quick research indicates that a gold alloy called yellow gold looks close to pure gold, but is much sturdier.
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/211/4/7/the_more_you_know___filly_dash_by_misteralex-d41zqwy.png
4076336
In my defense, it was not mentioned in the story that it was pure gold, just gold, so since it was not easy to bend in the story, it had to be made of gold alloy.
Anyway base on your advices I changed the sentence a little, here is the new one:
“Next to you, my faithful student, is one of my golden horseshoes. It may look like pure gold but in reality it is made of gold alloy, a very heavy metal, and though it is not as hard as steel since it have decorative purposes, it is still very hard to break."
Do not it work better, also, thanks for pointing it out, if there is a grammar error or typo in this sentence, please point it out.
I just noticed... You forgot Philomena!!!
img.4plebs.org/boards/pol/image/1385/74/1385746146734.gif
In this chapter, Twilight ties up Celestia in her sleep, and preens her.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT.
4076645
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.
Split this into two sentences, separated at the comma between "out" and "if".
I was going to keep reading, but you DID ask...
I was laughing so hard at this. Of course Twilight wouldn't notice the difference between him 'volunteering' and him 'being volunteered'.
And all while Overwatch is giggling like a madmare.
4610023 ah so I'm not te only one here with a dirty mind!
4076645 I believe that whoever those mystery ponies from earlier we're are going to be Pwnd sooooooooooo badly by Twiny!!!
'tied spread-eagled across the bed...'
O///o
>/)<
GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!!!
Oh no! Twilight is one of those yahoos with Alicorn OCs!
4076645 You... You're encouraging me to correct you, grammar nazi style? I shall not disappoint. There was a grammatical error in that paragraph.
It should be "since it has decorative purposes"
3566444 HURK! BUT TWAILOGHT IS AN ALLYCORN NOU, SO IFF U THYNX ALLYCORNS R GORDESSERS, THON TECHNOCIALLY TWAILIAGHT IZ AI GORDESS!!!!!1!!! DURK! UHUHUHUH!
*performs spit take so forcefully body inverts*
...
... Well.
...That just happened.
Oh, Twilight...
Hmm... a toy franchise featuring very small ponies; I wonder what you'd call it.
Also... no offense to those two minions, but they need to cut way, way back on the expository dialogue if they want to make it in this business. Standing in a dark alley laying out the evil plan in detail... that's red-shirt work.
It's going to get shippy in here.
Aaaaaand goodnight kids.
Get it? Spread-eagled? Because her wings are tied oh god I'm leaving I'm leaving don't hurt me.
Fun fact: Celestia is pink. True fact. It's a very, very light pink, but it's pink. You can see it in her outlines - she doesn't get grey ones, like the actually white characters do, she gets darker pink ones.
7307040 Yeah. Universal truth.
This line brought to mind http://www.fimfiction.net/story/319555/celestia-isnt-real.
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needs beginning quote marks.
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Needs end " marks.
___________
Cap.
__________
7307040
7317302
Unfortunately it's a multiversal fact that stupidity knows no bounds.
Thankfully an alicorn momma bear has the ferocious power to kick someone's flank from Tartarus and back without breaking a sweat.
Epic
It's the nobles, isn't it? I call noble shenanigans. Those plotheads don't even have what's normally in a plot for brains, because it liquefied and ran out their snoots.
5429175
Lord knows we got enough of that from Luna fanart after the Tantabus episode.
One is a Changeling by the way, that could cause you some issues. Also do you think capturing a tiny mouse sized unicorn is easy, it is not.
8230942
Ponies like them never have a brain, they basically want to bring chaos to Equestria by kicking out Celestia.
8485096
I had a feeling Overwatch may be a changeling ever since she first started talking about how emotions tasted like food but i never knew for sure
9088374
As far as I recodnise I am quite convinced that Overwatch is the main character of "In sheep's clothing".
And yes that character is a Changeling.
7317302
*groan* Great it's you again.
These sorts of political shadow enclaves always rub me the wrong way.
That would make things more difficult for Starlight
'Gulliver's Travels' Anyone