Prologue ( updated )

Celestia's Tiny Student

Prologue

The presence of judgement pressed down on Twilight Sparkle like a thick woolen blanket in the stifling examination room, made only worse by the eyes of the four older ponies who looked down on her with matching frowns. The air was filled with the smell of failure, sweat, and tears of the previous candidates for a treasured place in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Fillies and colts ahead of her had vanished into this room, taken their test, and left to a different room as not to disturb the next candidates, but Twilight could tell from the still smoldering marks on the walls how badly they must have performed. The only friendly faces in the room were her own parents, standing in their appointed places with identical nervous smiles pasted on their faces. They had placed so much faith in her abilities, and now that the test to hatch a dragon egg had begun, she couldn’t even make a spark with her horn.

She was going to fail.

"Well, Miss Sparkle?" a stern looking mare said impatiently, waking up the filly from her thoughts.

Twilight trembled, feeling a sudden weakness in her knees. She smiled awkwardly at the instructors, only to flinch under their stern glare. Failing this test would mean she wouldn’t be accepted into the school, and she had no idea how to proceed. Despite her ever-present fear of failure she started to cast spell after spell, trying to heat the egg but with no avail.

Searching her mind for anything useful she read about, she cast another spell, leaving a hardly noticeable mark on the egg. Her heart started to beat faster, sweat dripping from her face as she tried to cast the advanced spells she had read about, but she was unable to produce even a spark of magic. In a final act of desperation she jumped on the egg, despite the fact that the heat of her fur was nowhere near warm enough to affect the lava-proof egg.

She sighed mournfully and said with quiet voice, “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Resisting the urge to cry, she shut her eyes, closing herself into her thoughts. My mom and dad... they believed in me, and I failed. I’ve disappointed them in front of all these important ponies.

She quickly glanced at the instructors. The pens in their magical auras were writing in their notebooks at alarming speeds, the combined scratching of their pens sounding so much like tiny voices whispering, "Fail. Fail. Fail." She lowered her head and stared at the floor instead, unable to look at their stern expressions anymore and too afraid to see the almost certainly disappointed looks on her parents’ faces.

The stern mare finished, setting her pen down on her notepad as she looked up at the examinee. “Well, Miss Sparkle,” she said, her voice warmer and much less harsh, “I have good n—”

A sudden reverberating explosion blared in the distance. Twilight whipped around to look out the window, her eyes wide as a great wave of multichromatic light surged across the city of Canterlot, a deep thunderous rumble following in its wake. Before she could even ponder the phenomenon she had just witnessed, alien sensations swept through her. Her magic surged, the power coursing through her body like water, building and building up until it was finally forced to find a way out of its vessel.

Her vision blurred as it swirled through her eyes. Her muscles and bones began to ache, and her horn burned as she was lifted from the floor in a blazing glow of pure white, shooting out shimmering bolts of magic only half visible to the filly as they flew off in random directions.

The room seemed backlit in strobes of violet and magenta as she writhed around, trapped in the bubble of magic that engulfed her. Power sprayed out of her horn in an unstoppable fountain of spells, but the pressure building up inside her head made her feel as if she were about to explode.

What’s happening to me? What am I doing?

The flow of magic only strengthened as she attempted to stop it and control what was happening to her. Every attempt was overwhelmed by unspeakable agony as the magic built up, only to explode out into the world even stronger than before. Through her clouded mind, she barely registered the hatching of the dragon egg, and the precipitous growth of the purple and green hatchling, crashing easily through the roof of the exam room. She barely perceived the startled yelps of her parents and the two cacti that now stood where they once did.

Stop… P-please… S-somepony, please, m-make it stop.

Twilight had never been so terrified in her life. The helpless instructors gasped as the young filly cast spells far beyond anything they could have imagined her capable of, and they could only watch in terror as the power began to consume her.

It may have been almost a thousand years, but I still remember this magic, this powerful, harmonious sensation.

Is this even possible? Are they finally...

The magical light streaming out from the tower windows above Princess Celestia was far too similar to the rainbow burst of magic in the sky to be a coincidence. Whatever was happening up there did not look good, and it needed to be immediately investigated before somepony got hurt.

The head of a dragon burst through the roof without warning, and Celestia looked on in horror as ponies around her started to scream and flee in terror from the large beast. Ready to defend her subjects, Princess Celestia flew up into the air, before she noticed something different with this beast; his eyes showed innocence, fear, and confusion, like that of a newborn.

The power coursing through the examination room was obviously to blame for the dragon's premature growth, and her eyes widened in alarm as she noticed wild surges flaring through the magical aura in explosive bursts and uncontrolled flashes. With a flick of her powerful wings, she dove through the narrow gap between dragon and intact roof, flaring her wings out to land inside.

A wave of relief cut through the panicked examiners the moment Princess Celestia landed softly inside the room. Rubble had fallen everywhere due to the prematurely aged dragon having burst through the ceiling, but the princess ignored the wreckage and went straight for Twilight, resting a hoof on the terrified filly’s shoulder.

The little unicorn turned around, trembling uncontrollably as she looked at the princess, her eyes streaming with power. Celestia returned the look with an encouraging smile as she analyzed the situation. Much to the princess’s horror, the poor filly was unable to stop the energy pouring from her body, occasionally giving a cry of pain.

"Her life is in danger. I have to do something quickly!"

With no time to waste, she spread her wings and wrapped them around the panicked unicorn, using her durable alicorn body to safely absorb the destructive bolts from the filly’s magic surge as she racked her mind for a long-term solution.

I could teleport everypony out of this room—or even from the school—and wait until the magic surge ends naturally, but at this rate, the school might collapse on top of her before that happens. There must be some way to drain this filly’s magic and reduce the damage to both her and her surroundings.

Celestia’s eyes lit up with an idea. That’s it! I can use the filly's magic surge as fuel for a shrinking spell. With her size reduced and her magic drained, the surge would end much sooner, and the damage caused by her would be minimal, she thought as her horn flashed with power. The spell she was about to cast required a great deal of magic and concentration, but despite being constantly struck by magic bolts, she didn’t dare lose her focus. After a moment, she cast her spell on the terrified filly.

Celestia carefully monitored the results of her spell, watching closely as the little unicorn shrank more and more, her magical surge draining into the shrinking spell she had created centuries ago during the war against the griffins. Unfortunately, only she and a few others had both the power and the skill to cast it, and to make matters worse, it used the target’s own power as fuel. Unless the target was willing to cooperate, or was experiencing an uncontrolled magic surge, the spell would do absolutely nothing.

The filly looked up at Celestia with fear and confusion in her eyes, though they were no longer bursting with magic. She soon fell unconscious as her surge burnt itself out, and the bright corona of light finally faded. After Celestia determined that the filly had stopped shrinking, she cast a counter-spell to reverse the effects of the surge, returning the dragon to his original size and transforming the two plants next to her back into ponies.

An age spell, transformation spell, even enough magic to hatch a dragon egg. Magic surge or not, this filly has incredible potential, perhaps even too much for her own good.

So small and fragile, yet so powerful. It would be for the best if I take her under my wing for now, so I can help her learn how to control her power. The princess laid down in front of the small filly, bringing her face to ground level to get a better look as she cast a scanning spell. Her magical reserves are very low, but thankfully her body was barely injured.

Celestia cast a quick healing spell on the shrunken pony, sending a warm wave of magic through the filly's body, and, after a moment, Twilight began to stir. The princess could see a pair of tiny eyes slowly open, quickly focusing on her face as she loomed over the shrunken unicorn, who quickly jumped back in shock.

Poor thing. She must be terrified. Celestia’s smile slowly vanished as the tiny pony seemed to be struck petrified by fear. After a few moments of silence, the terrified foal dropped down to make herself smaller, quivering as she cowered under her forelegs.

Celestia frowned. Her magic surge was far more powerful than I’d thought possible. The shrinking spell managed to reduce her mass a hundredfold before it ran out of power, making her just barely larger than a mouse.

"Hello, my little pony. Please don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you," said Celestia in a calm, motherly voice as she thought about the irony of the situation. She often called her subjects her ‘little ponies’, but this was the first time she’d said it to a filly smaller than her own snout. The filly’s parents, stunned and speechless after being turned into plants were still trying to comprehend what had just happened while wondering why the princess was talking to some purple bug. Slowly returning to their senses, they looked around the room, scanning it in search for their daughter.

The terrified filly slowly opened her eyes, looking up into the huge eyes of the princess with a fearful expression. "Y-you won't?" she squeaked, the words getting stuck in her throat.

"Of course not. Why would you ever think I would hurt you in the first place?" Celestia was determined to comfort this terrified little filly after her terrible fright, and tried to put as much reassurance into her voice as possible. The very idea of hurting any pony, let alone this tiny helpless filly, was impossible to imagine.

"B-because I didn't stop... I made you b-big... Please don't be m-mad..."

"Oh no, my little pony, you are quite mistaken. You didn’t increase my size," Celestia said, giving her a cheerful smile and a giggle. "It was I who shrunk you."

"You... shrunk me?" the filly said hesitantly, attempting to comprehend the situation. “I... understand. This is my punishment for destroying the test room." She sniffed, lowering her nose almost to the floor. "And attacking the teachers. And turning my parents into plants. And at-attacking y-you." She sniffled again, her voice dropping to near silence. "At least I won't take up much space in the dungeon."

Celestia felt sadness well up inside her chest. The poor filly had not only experienced a terrifying magical surge at such a young age, but was expecting to be punished for it. "Oh, no my dear," she said. "I am not going to punish you. It was not your fault for losing control over your powers. That could have happened to anypony. You are a very special unicorn with power far greater than others of your age, and I just shrunk you to help you deal with the magic surge and to ensure your safety and safety of the ponies around you. It was not a punishment." She stressed her last sentence, sounding almost apologetic.

Realization struck the filly’s stunned parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light eyes widening in shock as they knelt down in front of their daughter and lowered their heads to the ground. "Twilight, is that you?" Night Light asked hesitantly.

Twilight turned around to face her humongous parents, but she resisted jumping back in fear. She would never be afraid of them, no matter how big they were. "Yes," she answered slowly with a nod.

"Oh, my little filly. Whatever happened to you?" Twilight Velvet asked, still unable to completely comprehend the situation.

"I... I was a bad filly. I could have hurt other ponies, so the princess made me t-tiny," Twilight's voice squeaked quietly as she talked, and Celestia suppressed a highly inappropriate giggle at the mental picture that came to mind of a little purple mouse with a tiny horn. With guilt and pity taking over, Celestia just shook her head ever so slowly as Twilight’s mother responded in her stead.

“Oh, no! It wasn't your fault, dear. Please don't blame yourself." Twilight Velvet turned to Celestia, trying to bow and finding that almost impossible to do since she was already on her knees to talk to her daughter. Instead, she bobbed her head slightly and asked, "Could you… Your Highness?”

Celestia thought for a moment before answering. "I would like to return her to her normal size, but I’m unsure that would be wise. Your daughter has an immense amount of magic inside her, far more than she can control at this point in her life," she explained calmly, saddened at what lay in the filly’s future. “She is going to have more magic surges, possibly even more destructive than this one. As long as she is under the shrinking spell and my direct supervision, we can catch these surges with a minimum of danger to her and any surrounding buildings."

A few roof tiles took the opportunity to slip through the hole in the ceiling and shatter on the stone floor a short distance away. Celestia gestured at the devastated room. "It's painfully obvious how much damage her surges can do at this young age. As she grows, they will only become more destructive. She will be a danger to herself and everypony around unless properly trained on how to control her power. As much as I wish your daughter could have a normal life, I cannot put her and those around her at risk."

"But, Your Highness!" Night Light replied desperately, turning to face the princess. "Our daughter can’t stay the size of a bug. What if somepony accidentally steps on her? What if she has an accident? Just look how small and fragile she is now." He pointed out his hoof at his daughter, who was silently observing their conversation, now trembling more from exhaustion than from fear.

"Couldn’t you just make her a little bit bigger? At least big enough so that nopony would step on her by mistake?" Twilight Velvet pleaded, her pained expression mirroring her internal turmoil.

Celestia paused for a moment before shaking her head sadly. "I am afraid that’s not how the shrinking spell works. This spell uses its target’s magic as fuel, and should I cast the spell on her before she can learn to stem the flow of her magic...” Celestia sighed and lowered her head, “it will simply draw freely from the energy of her magical surge. The stronger the surge, the smaller she will become. I am afraid that until she learns how to control her power, she must stay that way.”

But before she could let Twilight's parents say anything more, Celestia spoke again, "Please don’t worry. I can ensure your daughter's safety and teach her how to control her power. With your permission of course, if you will grant it.” She looked into Night Light and Twilight Velvet’s eyes while lowered to their heads level as she awaited their answer.

Twilight’s parents were lost in thought until Night Light broke the silence. "B-but we can’t let you take our daughter when she needs us the most. Will you be able to take care of her better? Will you love her more than we, her own parents?" Night Light asked hesitantly before adding, “Shelter and education is not enough.”

Celestia looked to the side and spoke with saddened expression, "I won’t deny it, I will never be able to love your daughter as much as you, but I will care for her the best I can.” She raised her head and continued with regal voice, “I have the resources and knowledge to train, house, and protect your daughter. I’ll be very careful with my new student and make her feel loved. You have my word."

Before Twilight Velvet could speak, they heard a quiet, raspy, and yet excited voice, squeaking at their hooves. "Yeees yes yes yes yes ye-es y-yes!" chanted Twilight, stammering slightly as her excitement fought against her exhausted body.

Twilight's parents and new mentor looked down to the floor, and saw the tiny purple filly bouncing happily in a small circle at their hooves, still repeating her mantra of success. All three could barely stop themselves from embarrassing the filly with a simultaneous “Awww.”

“Considering our daughter’s opinion and for the sake of her future,” Twilight Velvet replied with a warm smile. “We would be honored to have you take care of Twilight and teach her as your student. My husband and I will visit as often as we can.”

Her smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a stern and threatening expression. "But I swear as her mother, even if you are the Princess of Equestria, if you hurt our daughter or let anypony hurt her, I will hold you responsible," Twilight Velvet stated, her voice low, yet determined. She finished with a small cough and made a quick bow toward the princess. With an innocent smile, she finally turned to her husband, who was staring at her, his mouth wide open.

Unoffended by the threat, Celestia lowered her head to the bouncing little filly, who looked up at her with her tiny eyes as she began to bounce higher, as if trying to reach her face. With a careful swing of her wing, she moved it under Twilight the moment she jumped again, now slowly moving her upwards to her face. She smiled as the filly kept bouncing on the wing as if it was a trampoline, still so energetic despite her dangerously powerful magic surge.

Twilight looked into her future mentor’s giant eyes, trembling and slightly unstable on her hooves, but barely able to contain her excitement. "I cannot believe you’re going to teach me! I’m so happy, I’m s-so happy!" the filly yelled with a joyous bound before landing unceremoniously on her face in the layers of feathers.

Celestia stood back to her hooves and carefully levitated her new student onto her back, the fuzzy purple ball soon concealing itself within her soft fluffy white fur. She cast small, magical ropes no larger than a thread around the sleeping filly, careful not to wake her up as she lightly tightened them enough to keep the filly from falling off.

“Did you notice?” Celestia whispered to Twilight’s parents, who now looked back with confused expressions. “Your daughter got her cutie mark. It’s very small and I didn’t notice it until she fell asleep,” Celestia whispered, careful not to disturb the sleeping filly as Twilight’s parents came closer for a better look, just now noticing the tiny magenta star surrounded by five little white flecks no larger than specks of paint on their daughter’s flank.

“That’s wonderful, Princess,” Twilight Velvet exclaimed excitedly before quickly covering her mouth with a hoof. When she spoke again, her voice was much quieter, “My apologies... would you tell this to our daughter when she wakes up?”

“I will, once she recovers. As for now, I will need to put her to bed and take care of the mess in here, but I will ensure her safety. You have my promise. Goodbye Twilight Velvet, Night Light. It was a pleasure to meet you.” As Princess Celestia was about to take her leave from the classroom, Night Light moved to block her way. “Is there anything else you wished to ask of me?”

Night Light nodded his head, his expression serious, “Yes, Your Highness,” he whispered. “It’s about the test that our daughter had to pass, the test that caused her magic surge in the first place.”

Celestia gave him a slight nod, not surprised at the topic.

“With all due respect, but hatching a dragon egg with magic would be a hard task, even for my wife and me, and I doubt that even the most experienced teachers from your school would have an easy time accomplishing it,” he said quietly, taking a deep breath before giving the princess a piercing glare. “How could you expect something like this from a filly?”

Much to his confusion, the princess just chuckled lightly before giving him a warm smile, “I would never expect a filly to accomplish such a difficult task.” With a quick look at the tiny unicorn on her back, she added, “Your daughter passed before even attempting this test.

Night Light blinked rapidly before stammering out, “But… then why?”

“It was a test of character. To see how students react when given an impossible task,” Celestia said, looking at the notes scattered over the floor, most likely abandoned by the terrified instructors. With a levitation spell, the princess brought them over to herself, ordering them swiftly into a neat pile. “I will be sure to check those notes. Maybe they will help me to understand how to teach your daughter in the best way possible.”

She smiled warmly at the two parents. “Is there anything else?”

They shook their heads, bowing slightly. With a brief nod, she passed them and walked slowly out of the exam room towards her castle. She drew many curious eyes as she left the school grounds, though a few were more interested in the wreckage at the school. With a swift gesture of her hoof, the crowd left a passage for her and bowed, not noticing the tiny filly resting on the princess’s back as Celestia considered the day’s events.

That rainbow-colored wave and Twilight Sparkle’s powerful magic surge couldn't have been just a coincidence; there are strong signs here of the Elements of Harmony, perhaps trying to find candidates for new bearers. If my theory is correct, I will have the next thirteen years to train this filly to become one of the new bearers. With that display of magical prowess, I would not be surprised if the Element of Magic chooses her when the time is right.

As for the other bearers, that rainbow wave will have touched the lives of a great number of potential candidates. I will have to track down whoever made it, as well as any other potential bearers linked to it. When the time comes, they’ll need to be close to the elements, perhaps in Ponyville. After creating her plan of action, she took a look up at the sky. Though her sun stood high today, it would soon give way to her sister’s moon, and Nightmare Moon would be back.

I finally have my chance to save you from your corruption, my sister. It has been so long, but your wait will be over soon.

Bonus Ch - Past and Memories ( updated )

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

Past and Memories

Celestia stood at the doorway to her bedchamber and regarded the room anew. There had been many remodeling attempts over the years devoted to fulfilling the need for a room of just the right size for the Princess of the Sun, and for the last century, Celestia had considered this room to be as close to perfect as any four walls and a ceiling could be. Carefully arranged throughout the room were the most insightful works of art Equestria had seen, ranging from a faded oil painting of an ancient armored stallion to a childish scribble lovingly placed in a glass-covered frame enchanted with the most powerful preservative spell she knew. Each and every one of them represented a memory of a pony, including the thick oak bookshelves that took up so much wall space, crafted by a family of earth ponies over the course of centuries. Stuffed into those shelves in neat rows were books of history, philosophy, poetry that could bring tears to the driest eye and music to the roughest voice, each a beloved gift from one of her ponies throughout the years. Even the bed seemed to shift throughout the ages as generations of the finest artisans devoted their time to creating the perfect resting place for their princess. Huge blue pillows softer than any cloud sported golden embroidery in swoops and swirls, all resting in perfect harmony on top of star-strewn sheets, lit in the blaze of sunlight that poured through her open balcony.

It was her private sanctuary in which few would disturb her, save for the filly she now brought in, still curled up on her warm back. “You deserve a solid rest, my little pony,” Celestia whispered, before releasing the ropes and levitating the filly onto one of the substantial pillows on her bed.

She sat for a moment and gazed upon her future student, now sleeping peacefully on a pillow. I never realised that my pillows were so big; this one alone could easily serve as a bed for my new student.

Celestia leaned in to take a closer look at the sleeping filly, her nose almost touching the tiny unicorn. So defenseless. So fragile. We can’t have that, now can we? Celestia thought as she lit her horn, charging a powerful spell. After half a minute of concentration, a small, yellow wave went through Twilight’s tiny body, and soon the aura disappeared.

“That’s better,” Celestia whispered to herself. The protection spell would effectively double her student’s strength, endurance, and magical power to compensate for her small size, helping her defend herself from her now oversized environment. Celestia lit her horn again, and slowly the balcony door closed and the window curtains swept shut.

After ensuring that Twilight was sleeping comfortably in the darkened room, Celestia straightened up and prepared to leave. Come on. It’s about time, Celestia. You have duties to attend and a lot of preparations to finish. Everything will be all right, she thought, but was still stunned as she continued to watch over the little filly in front of her. Move your flank already. Nothing will happen to her while you’re gone.

A few more long moments passed before Celestia managed to turn and exit the room, still feeling uneasy about the safety of her little pony. I have always been so overprotective over my subjects, but I can’t let my emotions get in my way, she thought before closing the door to her bedchamber, her gaze now focused on the guards outside.

“Guards,” Celestia ordered in a quiet but commanding voice.

“Yes, Your Highness?” the royal guards asked as they turned to Celestia.

“Many important events have recently taken place in the School for Gifted Unicorns. I will explain the details later, but the result is that I was forced to shrink a unicorn filly to a hundredth of her original weight. She is now very fragile and is resting after a very harsh day." The guards kept their full attention on Celestia as she talked, listening to every word without any signs of confusion. “Until I return, I want you to keep this filly safe. Understood?”

The guards gave a sharp salute and replied in unison, “Yes, Your Highness!”

“One more request. This filly is very tired and she is sleeping at the moment. Make sure that her rest is not disturbed by any loud noises… or loud guards.” Celestia smirked at her blushing guards before they straightened and gave a much quieter salute.

Having much to do and very little time, Celestia decided not to walk or ride her chariot in favor of teleporting from meeting to meeting, foregoing her public appearances for speed.

The first item in her itinerary Celestia visited was the Royal Hospital, where she asked surprised doctors to tend to her little student, giving concise details about what happened and making sure that Twilight’s condition would be kept a secret.

Once Celestia was sure that her student was going to be checked by professional doctors, she teleported to the School for Gifted Unicorns, making quick repairs to the building itself with a few powerful restoration spells before entrusting the care of the newly hatched dragon to specialized caretakers.

With the more evident issues sorted out, Celestia cast a quick spell to locate three select ponies. Plans had changed, and they needed to be informed.

Even with no immediate problems, Celestia moved quickly as she led the last of her three ponies to their meeting place. She trotted down the winding steps towards the ancient shelter. This place was once a refuge during the Griffo-Draconic War so many years ago. After so long, my subjects have all but forgotten such a place even exists, Celestia thought as she led a silent Fancy Pants into the caves beneath Canterlot.

A few minutes of walking later, Celestia stopped in front of an apparently featureless stone wall. She quickly located the hidden switch and activated it, causing a portion of the wall to shift and to move aside. She entered and swept her gaze over the two ponies already seated around a large circular oak table.

“First off, I would like to apologize for gathering you all on such a short notice,” Celestia apologized as the ponies in the room rolled their eyes.

“Your Highness, as Captain of the Royal Guard, I am always on duty,” replied an old pegasus stallion with two crossed blades as his cutie mark. Despite his age, he was still well suited for his occupation and a force to be reckoned with; however, Celestia mused, a new replacement would have to be found soon before his health truly failed him.

“And I am your secretary. I meet with you every day to help you schedule. It is not like I have to go very far to get here,” added a mare with a scroll, ink, and pen as her cutie mark.

“I am always glad to be at your service no matter what, Your Highness,” Fancy Pants proclaimed proudly before taking his seat.

“Fancy Pants, Silver Scroll, Brave Blade… thank you,” Celestia said gratefully, as she took her seat at the table.

“Brave Blade, what is the status of your guards? Is training proceeding smoothly?” Princess Celestia asked in a serious tone, her face carefully emotionless.

“Yes, Your Highness. An elite company of one hundred pegasi, trained in capture and immobilization, is almost ready. Every pegasus is equipped with an enchanted sword capable of cutting through any barrier, or a hostile alicorn, if needed,” reported Brave Blade, using his wing to place a manila folder on the table and pushing it towards the princess.

“In addition, fifty unicorns have been trained in stunning spells and are equipped with magic restraining rings,” continued Brave Blade as Celestia levitated his report open in front of her, this time placing one of the rings in question on the table. The restraining rings were created quite a while ago to constrain the magical abilities of any unicorn. At the very least, it prevented the captured unicorn from teleporting away. In this case, I hope that they’ll be enough to restrain Nightmare Moon until she can be contained where she cannot hurt anypony. She took a moment and reconsidered the ring, grasping it in her magic and turning it over, It’s a pity I can not use these on my new student. Even at her original size, I doubt that keeping that much energy restrained within her would be beneficial for her health.

“Are... are those soldiers truly prepared? Alicorn magic is not to be trifled with, and even with my help, capturing Nightmare Moon alive will cost the lives of many good stallions in your army,” Celestia warned, the weight of her words evident. I truly do not wish to harm you, sister. It is selfish of me to sacrifice the lives of ponies for your safety, but without them, I fear the loss will be much greater.

Celestia was deep in thought as memories flashed before her eyes.

Celestia laid on the floor, scarred from her fight with her sister, or rather, the demon that had manipulated and possessed her sister. Nightmare Moon stood proudly over the Princess of the Sun with only a few scratches marring her black fur since Celestia had tried not to hurt her.

“Cease this nonsense, Luna, before thou dost something thou wilt regret!” Celestia cried as she tried to rise to her hooves again, her wings spread to their full span to appear more intimidating.

“We are no longer little Luna!”

“Thou canst order me around no longer! Thy sole rule over Equestria ends here and now! From now on, thou wilt serve in the shadow of our moon!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed proudly, her voice booming with confidence.

“We are not the sole ruler of Equestria! We rule it together with Luna!” Celestia shouted. Nightmare Moon’s mouth curled into a devilish grin before she laughed in her face.

The door to the throne room burst open, and many of Celestia’s finest guards poured into the chamber. “You monster! How dare you lay a hoof on the princess!” the Captain of the Celestial Guards shouted as his fellows prepared to strike the demon.

Nightmare Moon chuckled as she turned in their direction. “‘Monster’, you say? Is that what thou wouldst call a Princess of Equestria?” she asked calmly, with surprisingly little venom in her voice.

“Princess of Equestria? Ha! You are naught but a demon that hath finally showed its true colours! If you won’t surrender, I shall slay you myself.”

Celestia watched the scene with horror. “No! Tis not—”

Nightmare Moon turned back to the sun princess. “We are equals, thou sayest? Ha! ‘Tis naught but a sweet lie to keep us on a leash! Remember that there is indeed a reason the Element of Honesty hath chosen me over thee!” With a snarl, Nightmare Moon blasted Celestia with a powerful beam, sending her crashing into the throne. Before Celestia could recover, her guards had already let out a battle cry, launching themselves at Nightmare Moon, their spells and swords ready.

Nightmare Moon set up a black barrier around herself to parry the deadly spells sent against her. The moment the bombardment of spells let up, she turned into mist. Swords passed through her new form harmlessly as she darted up to the top of the room, rematerialising high up in the air. An aura of pitch black surrounded her horn, letting out a deadly blossom of spells that rained over the entire throne room, just as often hitting guards as destroying the chamber.

The unicorn guards lucky enough to avoid the barrage of certainly fatal spells tried in vain to retaliate, firing off offensive spells of their own as the pegasi attempted to strike down Nightmare Moon with the swords in their teeth. Despite their best efforts, Nightmare Moon held her ground, cackling as the blades broke upon her flesh.

Celestia tried to order her guards to cease their attack, to retreat, but they were more eager to kill her sister than she anticipated, and once the battle was over, she could only stare in horror at her sister’s triumphant grin as she glanced over the bodies of what had once been her Royal Guard, broken swords and armor strewn across the floor.

“Luna, we—”

“Thou hast stolen them away from us. Thou turnest all of our subjects against us! But today, We will take back what is rightfully ours!”

“They are, Your Highness. You have been taking care of this kingdom and your subjects for hundreds of years. The least we can do is to assist you in your time of need,” replied the Captain of her Royal Guard proudly and taking Celestia from her deep thoughts back into the conversation at hoof.

“Thank you, but it still pains me to risk their lives for personal gain...” Celestia gave a quick shake of her head to clear her thoughts and continued, “Now, the real reason I called you here... I believe the Elements of Harmony are restoring themselves.”

A stunned silence descended upon the three ponies gathered before Celestia as they stared at her with eyes opened wide.

“How… how do you know, Your Highness?” the captain asked, clearly in disbelief. It was no secret to those gathered here that Celestia and her sister had used the elements to defeat many powerful foes in defense of Equestria, just as it was no secret that they were currently useless hunks of stone in the Everfree.

“Though it has been a thousand years since I last used the Elements of Harmony, I have not forgotten their aura. I haven’t forgotten the sensation of using them, and what I felt when that rainbow wave passed above me was unmistakable. I am certain that the Elements of Harmony are behind it,” Celestia elaborated confidently. She took a deep breath and paused before continuing.

“The filly who was taking the entrance exam today had an uncontrollable magic surge immediately after the wave passed. I’m positive they are connected, and just as she earned her cutie mark during its influence, I am quite certain other bearers have also earned their marks much the same way,” Celestia added to the group at large, though her attention was focused on the confused officer in front of her.

“Is it possible? Could the Elements have just chosen random ponies and give them their cutie marks? Would they really be able to wield the elements?” Brave Blade asked, uncertain and doubtful towards Celestia’s words.

Celestia gave a shrug of her shoulders. “The Elements of Harmony work in mysterious ways, much like the source of their creation. Back when I was just a unicorn and my sister was a pegasus, we’d gone through countless books in search of powerful artifacts to use against Discord, though it turns out all we had to do was follow the powerful force that led us and many others to the cave that now lies under the ruins of our castle.” I wonder why nopony has ever encountered it before; it isn’t exactly in the most secluded area, even before the castle was abandoned to the Everfree Forest.

Celestia sighed. “The Tree of Harmony tested us, and many of the ponies who accompanied us... did not survive.”

Fancy Pants spoke up, curiosity evident through his refined accent, “Tested? You’ve already told us about your Elements, like generosity, kindness, and so forth, but you’ve never told us how the Tree of Harmony tested you and your sister.”

Celestia sighed at the harsh times of her youth, “During our adventures pursuing this… mysterious force, we managed to pass many of the dangerous trials set up for us by the fruits of the tree, testing both our determination as well as how well we represented the Elements. Those trials tested the strength of my bond with my sister as well as the strength of my magic, generosity, and kindness. Likewise, it tested my sister’s loyalty, optimism, and honesty, though in the end, we were just two of many, most of which did not survive,” she said, as every pony in the room gave her their full attention.

A group of tired, but determined, ponies walked restlessly across the mountain fields, an unexplainable urge leading them to past many of dangerous trials as they journeyed to a dark cave, unmarked on any map.

“We’re here!” one of the ponies cried, a relieved smile on her face. “I can’t believe it! We’re finally here! C’mon, you guys. The artifacts of our salvation must be inside!” She eagerly ran into the cave before the others could react, vanishing into the darkness. A white unicorn with a pink mane exchanged an optimistic look with the weary dark blue pegasus beside her, though both of them stopped in their tracks when they heard a scream of pain and a loud blood-curdling roar.

Everypony watched in fear and awe as a beast emerged from the darkness, a dead pony in the maw of one of its heads. Some of ponies in the group screamed and ran away, leaving those too desperate to flee or too paralyzed by fear to face the new monster.

The white unicorn recognized the beast, her eyes widening in shock as she stepped back, almost falling over. “A-a-a chimera!”

“We are the guardians of this cave, born of the Tree of Harmony,” the goat head stated.

“Turn back or you will end up as my snacks, you brave, but foolish, creatures!” added the lion head through a mouth still dripping with half-chewed pony.

“Only those proven worthy can pass,” the dragon head finished.

“The Tree of Harmony?” the white unicorn murmured to herself before looking at her companions.

There were many brave ponies who were determined to get the artifacts that could end Discord’s reign. One by one, they attacked the chimera with swords and spells, from ground and air, but despite everything they tried, they could not defeat the beast. It let out a roar as it shrugged off their attacks, batting away ponies with its massive claws and breaking weapons with a flick of a wrist. A night blue pegasus drew her sword, a determined look on her face as she spread her wings and prepared to charge, though she was quickly arrested by the levitation field of another pony. “Stay thy hoof, sister. Tis suicide to charge in!”

The pegasus turned to her captor. “But sister, this beast is slaughtering our comrades! We cannot allow them die like this!”

“I know, and we shall not let them, Midnight,” replied the white unicorn, before she lit her horn.

A pony that was about to get flattened by the chimera was swiftly yanked away in an aura of golden magic. All the other fighting ponies were similarly pulled out of the fray as the white unicorn grabbed and placed them on the ground behind her, most of them falling into crumpled heaps due to the injuries they had sustained. The dragon head snarled, throwing a great fireball at them from his maw, but the attack was easily deflected by a golden force field.

The chimera advanced on the white unicorn, though a strong golden aura levitated him from the ground and threw him back against the stones. “I do not wish to hurt you, but I will if thou shouldst continue to hurt my friends!”

The creature shook his three heads, recovering from the impact. “Thou dost not wish to hurt us, even if we are in the way to thy goal?” the dragon head said.

“I... I do not wish to take the life of any living creature, even from a murderous beast such as thee, but I shall use all the power at my disposal to obtain those artifacts thou art guarding, for they are our only hope!” the white unicorn said adamantly.

The lion head snorted. “We shall let thee pass, but only if thou provest thyself worthy of it.”

“Two trials thou hast passed, and four more are left for thee to overcome. Thou hast shown us kindness and magic, but still more, we demand,” the goat head added enigmatically.

“If thou shouldst pass these trials, salvation for thy kind will be at hoof, but if thou shouldst fail to pass, then the artifacts shall be nothing more than junk for thee,” the dragon head finished.

The white unicorn steeled herself, planting her hooves on the ground. “Very well. If there’s a chance we can solve this without more bloodshed, I shall accept.”

“Thy first challenge will be to play a game of tag with us. Art thou brave enough?” the lion head asked with a menacing grin.

The white unicorn stepped back hesitantly, as did the others, none of them brave or fast enough to play with the beast in a game like this, expecting only one outcome from participating.

Everypony quickly turned to Midnight as she let out a loud laugh. “Ha! A game of tag? With a fat beast such as thee? This shall be easy!” she said as she darted forward to the front of the great chimera, too quickly for the white unicorn to arrest her movement in time.

She flew circles around the chimera, making sure to bump each of the chimera’s heads as she past them, gleefully avoiding the furious swipes of its claws as they swept within mere centimeters of her dark fur. Her sister looked on in horror as she risked her life and limb to play games with the beast, the pegasus happily giggling at its attempts to hit her.

The beast stopped, the lion head giving an amused smile at the flyer. “Congratulations, brave soul. It takes great courage to laugh in the face of death,” he replied as Midnight glided back proudly, a smile on her face.

“Oh sister, thou shouldst see the look on thy face!” Midnight said, laughing hysterically at her sister’s expression.

“Now, for thy next challenge, we shall ask thee a few questions. Thine answer will determine thy worth,” the goat head said calmly, before launching straight into the first question.

“Am I pretty?” asked the goat head.

“Yes, you are,” the white unicorn stammered. “Your beauty is really impressive and—”

“Tia, stop talking nonsense,” Midnight said, cutting her sister off with a roll of her eyes. “The beast is both ugly and disgusting, except for maybe the lion head. I might find thee attractive if I were a chimera myself, but no promises.”

Dragon head was silent for a moment, his face flushed red from anger. “We shall give thee one chance, pegasus. Take the example of thy dear sister and answer correctly this time, or face my wrath.”

Despite pleading looks from the other ponies, Midnight planted her hooves solidly. “Art thou expecting me to lie?” she said fiercely. “What I said was the honest truth. If thou canst not take a bit of criticism, then I am sure a solid kick with my hoof will change thy mind.”

The lion head smiled. “Honesty, even when it does not benefit you,” he said proudly. “I admire it.”

“You’ve all undergone a lot of hardships to get to the Elements. How much are you willing to pay for the artifacts you seek?” the dragon head asked.

There was a general hubbub as ponies in the group started to give offers in bits and food, but none of their offers seems to satisfy the chimera.

“White horned one. How much art thou willing to pay for the elements?” the goat head asked.

“Everything,” Tia replied, determination in her voice as she stood proudly in front of the mighty beast.

“Wilt thou payest us with all thy food, all thy water, and all the riches thou possesseth?” asked the dragon head.

Tia simply gave a curt nod as she continued to stare down the chimera.

“Wilt thou givest us half of thy blood to drink?”

Tia nodded again, though Midnight quickly drew her attention by bumping her on the shoulder. “Sister, please. Dost thou understand what thou art agreeing to?”

The dragon head continued on relentlessly. “Wilt thou allow me to eat two of thy hooves?”

Another nod.

Midnight could not take it any longer and screamed, “Art thou insane, Tia? Thou canst not possibly consider it! We can just kill this beast here and now.”

“Our creator shall only reward those worthy. If thou wishest to kill us, the way to defeat Discord will be forever out of thy reach,” the dragon head stated nonchalantly.

“And why should we believe in the words of foul beast like you?” Midnight retorted, only to feel the hoof of her sister resting on her shoulder.

“And what if he is telling us the truth, sister? We cannot risk the fate of the hundreds, even thousands depending on us. We must trust him, even if it means sacrificing our own lives.”

Before Midnight was able to protest, the beast spoke once again. “Wilt thou give up thy freedom,” the dragon head said, “and serve us for the rest of thy life, perhaps even die at our claws if I give thy companion the artifacts thou seekest?” Once again, Tia bobbed her head, much to the horror of the other ponies.

“The one called Midnight, listen well. Thou hast proven thyself worthy. The artifacts shall be thine own...” all three heads said in unison as everypony cheered, “but thy sister will become our sacrifice.”

Tia replied before anypony could comprehend what he was asking for. “I accept.”

“Art thou out of thy mind?” Midnight shouted. “I will not let thee die!”

Tia wanted to respond, but the chimera was first. “Leave thy sister and take what thou camest here for. Save thy kind and be a hero. Refuse, and thou wilt share thy sister’s fate.”

“I shall not let thee devour my sister!” Midnight shouted, shoving Tia back to stand between her and the chimera defiantly, despite her sister’s stammering to the contrary. “I will defeat thee and we shall taketh those artifacts together, thou hearest me?”

“So thou wouldst choose to defend thy sister rather than attain power and fame. Very well, the time hath come for thee to accept the consequences of thy choices.”

Tia and Midnight quickly steeled themselves for combat as the other ponies stepped back to a safe distance, but the fight never came. Instead, the cave lit up in a bright white glow.

“Midnight... honest even when it is not beneficial, laughing in the face of death, loyal to your sister when abandoning her would give you victory... thou hast proven thyself worthy,” the lion head said firmly, looking at the proud, blue pegasus.

“Tia, thou hast shown kindness to a merciless beast. Thou art willing to sacrifice everything, including thine own life for the greater good. Furthermore, thy magic hast made this journey possible. Thou hast proven thyself worthy,” the dragon head said, exchanging a look with Tia.

“Go. Save your kind,” the goat head commanded as Tia walked closer.

“We thank thee, but before we go back, we must rest and heal our wounds. Despite the lives thou hast taken today, I understand that it was thy duty as a guardian. I know a healing spell that can close some of thy wounds,” Celestia spoke with kindness in her voice.

“That will not be necessary, kind one,” the three heads replied. To Tia’s astonishment, the chimera began to glow with powerful magic as it began to retreat back into the cave. In its former place, three large bulbs sprouted across the mouth of the cave.

“Seeds?” Tia murmured in confusion as she and her sister walked past them into the cave.

The ponies behind them let out a cry of fear, and both sisters turned around to see vines and roots lance from the bulbs to block the entrance to the cave, keeping their comrades at bay. Whatever that Tree of Harmony was that the beast had mentioned, it had to be very powerful.

The sisters turned around, marching deeper into the cave and descending further and further underground. When they’d reached the end, they gazed in awe and admiration at a mighty tree waiting for them, glowing in a crystallic luminescence and reaching up to the distant ceiling of the cavern. Five gems grew on its branches and one star shaped symbol sat in the middle of the trunk. Tia walked towards the tree fearlessly, her horn lit as the star symbol called for her magic to be used.

“Art thou sure…” Midnight began doubtfully.

“We have discovered the only means with which we can defeat Discord,” Tia said as she levitated the gems from the tree, sending her magic into the star symbol to reveal the last element from inside. “This tree possesseth a powerful magic, and it hath set up trials to test whether we can represent its values of honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, kindness and magic. We have passed them, and so we shall wield its power to defeat the spirit of chaos, once and for all.”

“When we finally tried to use the Elements against Discord, he took my horn and my sister’s wings away and teleported the Elements to random locations. He gave us a map and a riddle so we could search for them as he watched in amusement. Well, until he got bored and left us alone,” Celestia scowled as she recalled the dark times of early Equestrian history.

“Losing our magic and wings did not grant us any of the benefits we had previously, and Discord made sure that nopony could aid us in our search. But despite all of the hardships we experienced, and all of the dangers we endured, my sister and I managed gather them all. The moment we had all of the elements, they activated and we were once again reborn as alicorns."

After two years of hardship traveling all over the world, Tia and Midnight had finally approached the last Element inside a dormant volcano. Covered in wounds and scratches, Tia kept a tight bandage around her head to cover her injured eye, and Midnight had a splint for the broken bones in her right foreleg, held close to her body with a loop of ragged cloth around her neck.

“We did it, sister, we did it!” Midnight said, doing a little celebratory dance before her injuries and exhaustion got the better of her.

Tia looked at her and smiled. “Yes sister, now we hath regained the means with which we may defeat Discord and free the ponies from his cruel jokes. We shall no longer be his form of entertainment.”

Midnight looked around, using her head to gesture back at the road from which they came. “It seems that we will have a bit of climbing ahead of us to get back, sister... and then another week-long walk back. I really miss my wings,” Midnight said with a mournful sigh, resisting the urge to burst into a fit of tears. For two years, she had to endure the worst fate any pegasus could face.

“I miss my horn too, sister, and the uncomfortable feeling of my magic trying to find a way out is almost driving me crazy, but I shall endure... no, we shall endure. Together, there is nothing we cannot overcome,” Tia responded as she hugged her sister, closing her only working eye.

The sisters were so focused on their embrace, they did not notice that elements had started to glow, surrounding them in a rainbow colored storm. It dissipated as quickly as it had formed, leaving only a pair of marks, one of the moon and the other the sun, burned into the solid rock inside the volcano. Little did they know, two similar marks appeared on the Tree of Harmony that day.

Tia and Midnight opened their eyes, confused about what possibly had happened. They were surrounded by wonderful white lights in an endless space. Confused and curious, Tia and Midnight walked around. Tia called it the “ethereal plane,” for lack of a better term.

Tia and Midnight were surprised at the multiple images of their past flashing before their eyes, all the challenges and hardships they endured together, the times they helped one another and other ponies endure Discord’s reign, and all the good times they had spent together. They looked around nostalgically, but the little show they watched didn’t last long as two orbs of magic escaped from their own bodies and began to fly around them.

“Tia? What is happening, sister?” Midnight asked, her confident air betrayed by a trembling uncertainty in her voice.

“Worry not, little sister. We have endured so much, and we shall endure this too. We can do this together, so do not lose hope.” Tia did not believe in her own words, but calming her sister’s fears was the best thing she could do, no matter what was going to happen.

The orbs swirled around them faster and faster, lifting them up into the air as they seemed to multiply. They grew unbearably bright as they enveloped the two ponies, and with a flash, both of them disappeared from the plane.

Tia opened her eyes—both eyes, she quickly noticed—as she slowly stood up, noticing her little sister doing the same in front of her, but she quickly noticed something was different. Her sister had both wings and a horn, and out of curiosity, she checked her own body to find both her original horn and her new pair of wings. Both of them had three crystals orbiting around them, harmonious power flowing from each shimmering jewel.

“Bravo, bravo! Now that be a show one doth not see often! You both provided some truly enjoyable fireworks!” Discord said, laughing hysterically.

With a smirk, he lifted his hand, revealing an ethereal rainbowlike tail in his claw. “How about we play ‘pin the tail on the pony?’” he said, though his amusement at having stolen Tia’s tail quickly turned into bewilderment when his prize reappeared in its original spot before the original owner could comprehend what had happened. “That’s new…” he murmured.

“Discord!” Tia shouted as she aimed her horn in the direction of her and her sister’s tormenter. To Tia’s surprise, she had unexpectedly shot a powerful magical beam at Discord in her anger. Though the beam itself was not much stronger than the magical spell she could perform as an unicorn, unlike her previous attempts that did nothing to Discord, this attack actually hurt him.

He hopped back with a yelp. “Okay, tis not fun anymore. A spell that can harm me? I do not approve,” Discord stated in annoyance as he snapped his fingers, causing both Tia’s and Luna’s wings and horns to disappear. They were gone for a whole second before they reappeared. He snapped his fingers again. And again.

Tia smirked wryly at Discord as he continued to snap frantically, but to no avail. “Ooh, look at the time,” he said, looking at them nervously. “Gotta go.” He snapped his fingers to teleport away, but he reappeared in the same place he was a moment ago, captured in an aura of golden magic.

With another snap of his fingers, he tried to teleport the coloured crystals flying around the two winged unicorns away, but when nothing happened, Discord smiled awkwardly at the winged ponies, who gave him a confident smile as they floated up into the air, glowing with power as the Elements began to revolve around them faster and faster. They crossed their horns, and from the contact, a brilliant rainbow beam flew straight up into the air, making an elegant arc above them before raining down on the panicked Discord. When the light had cleared, a statue of Discord remained, frozen in stone. Tia let out a triumphant laugh as she levitated the statue up to take back as Midnight began to fly happily in circles and loops above her, delighting in her returned wings.

A few days after Discord’s defeat, ponies declared Tia and Midnight their leaders, both grateful for their heroic deed and respectful of their fearsome powers. Tia and Midnight tried their best to refuse taking any titles, but even though they realized there had to be somepony to take charge, to unite the separated ponies together as one, why should two ponies who haven’t even found their cutie marks take charge?

The issue of proper leadership was shifted to the side as a more important problem presented itself. The sun was stuck in place, no longer controlled by Discord, and the fiery ball was starting to cause damage to the environment. Every unicorn in the land gathered together to rediscover the spell to move the sun and the moon, though when their efforts bore little fruit after a month, Tia and Midnight returned to the Tree of Harmony to seek aid and guidance. The mark of the sun and the moon on the tree flashed with power, and the sisters collapsed as they were guided from their bodies.

When Tia opened her eyes, she was only by herself, floating without a body in front of the sun. Confused at first, she tried to move around and escape from wherever she was, but when she noticed the great planet behind her, she instead looked around in wonder at the enormity of space, entranced by the beauty of the sun and the earth. Celestia looked down at the parched tribes of ponies, reaching out to the sun to relieve the ponies of its scorching heat.

Focusing her magic, Tia noticed that the sun began to move at her will. The magic she used felt odd, as if sun itself was giving her the energy to use so she could push it through the sky, almost as if she was the sun. The moon followed to take the position in the sky that her sun had occupied not long ago, bathing the land in its cool, silvery night.

When Celestia opened her glowing eyes, she was lying on the ground again in front of the tree. She shook her head to clear her mind as she slowly rose to her hooves, though she got a real shock when her sister touched her flank. “Look sister! Thou hast earned thy cutie mark!”

“And thou hast earned thine own!” Tia said, poking her sister’s cutie mark in return. Despite feeling drained and powerless, she beamed ecstatically at their newly obtained cutie marks. After being blank-flanked for over thirty years, they had finally found her destiny and moved the celestial bodies by themselves. They could no longer refuse the call for leadership when they had returned to the ponies, and with so many changes happening to them, they agreed that it was only suitable to change their names as well. Tia became Her Highness, Princess Celestia, while Midnight became the eminent Princess Luna.

The royal sisters led their little ponies through hardships and formed the nation of Equestria, building the capitol on top of the cave where Tree of Harmony was located for its protection and guidance.

Little did they know that powerful tree was not the only magical plant they would ever encounter.

“We had wings and horns that Discord could not take away, and our harmony neutralized his powers. He failed to separate us from the Elements a second time and could not escape our combined powers. In the end, the Elements turned him into nothing more than a statue,” Celestia concluded, looking down with a well-concealed frown. The Tree of Harmony choose and gave us power that ponies could only dream of. But many friends died trying to pass the trials my sister and I would not wish on even our worst enemies. I wonder... will Twilight and the other Element Bearers also be forced to walk a thorny road? Will they manage to survive?

“So why did they banish your sister to the moon rather than heal her or turn her to stone like Discord?” Silver Scroll asked, a pained look on her face.

Celestia lowered her head before she morosely responded, “I was partially responsible for that. The power of the Elements came from our trials and bonds. My sister became less and less honest with me as I failed to listen to her, while her loyalty to the country that did not respect her started to vanish as well. Her laughter was replaced with sadness born from loneliness. And I was too blind to notice.”

“Come in,” Celestia called out firmly, her full attention focused on signing or rejecting the various documents on the desk in front of her.

Luna slowly opened the door to her sister’s bedchamber and gingerly took a few steps in. “Sister, we need to—”

“Oh, tis only you, Luna. Wouldst thou be so dear as to help us with these tax laws? Thou hast been so good with numbers, and we are sure thou wouldst be able to handle this with ease."

Luna sighed. “Tia, please, we need to talk with thee. Nopony seems to want to accept our proposal to organize a holiday where we can celebrate and display our wondrous nigh—”

Celestia cut her off with a hoof. “This proposal again, Luna? We have talked about it before. Ponies truly enjoy thy nights, and there is no point to organize such a celebration,” she said, still focused on the paperwork in front of her.

“But sister... nevermind,” Luna groaned, her head hung low as she turned to leave the room, though she momentarily stopped at Celestia’s voice.

“Thou hast not planned to celebrate without consulting with us, right sister?"

Luna clenched her jaw in anger, answering her sister without even turning her head. “Of course not, dear sister. We would never dare to do anything without thy permission,” she said caustically before she abruptly left the room, slamming the door behind her.

She walked bitterly back to her own bedchamber, decorated with a multitude of stars on a midnight blue wallpaper and a silvery crescent moon at the center of the ceiling.

“‘We rule this kingdom as equals.’ ‘Everypony loves our night.’ Tis naught but lies that our sister spinneth to keep us down!” Luna shouted in anger, lashing out at a nearby vase as her coat became a bit blacker and dark magic began to envelop her like a shroud. “We will no longer live in the shadow of our sister. No longer shall we be ignored. No longer shall we be the obedient little sister!”

Meanwhile in the Royal Vault, the Elements of Harmony slowly began to grey, their bonds with the Element Bearers weakening as the bonds between the two sisters were slowly poisoned by jealousy and hostility. Even as Luna laid fitfully to rest that night, she had already begun to withdraw into herself, and the darkness responded, wrapping itself protectively around her, shielding her from the pain and the hate.

“With only three of the Elements on my side and our broken bond, the Elements could not heal her. I still do not understand how the Elements work, but I believe that they probably knew my desire to protect my subjects, and to ensure that she would not harm anypony with eternal night, they banished her. The Elements themselves turned to stone, as they have remained to this day.” Everypony in the room was silent as Celestia shed a few tears, forgetting to maintain the confident composure she often kept in front of her subjects.

After a moment of silence, Brave Blade gave a curt nod and confidently noted, “I will send my best ponies to search for the new bearers. If there are ponies who got their cutie marks when that strange rainbow wave passed, we will find them.”

“I will try to assist as well. I know many influential ponies that can help without attracting too much attention,” added Fancy Pants.

“Thank you all,” Celestia replied calmly, blinking away a few tears.

“It’s our pleasure, Your Highness.”

Confident in that aspect of her plan, Celestia turned to Silver Scroll. “Now, I also have a task for you, Silver Scroll. I wish to teach a candidate for the Element of Magic personally, and I need your help to ensure that I will have at least two hours of time with her every day. For now, I want to cancel all of my meetings for today. Can you arrange it?”

“Right away, Your Highness,” replied Silver Scroll as she opened up a densely-packed calendar and began making the appointments, already working on her assignment. Suddenly her ears perked up, half closed eyes fully opening at the realization. “Please, forgive me for questioning your wisdom, Your Highness, but considering your busy schedule, wouldn’t it be wise to hire a foalsitter?”

Celestia nodded. “You have a good point, however my student’s condition make this task nigh-impossible.”

Silver Scroll raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

Celestia rubbed her foreleg, feeling the metal scratch lightly against her fur. “In order to calm the filly’s surge and save her life, I–” the princess bit her lip, thinking over the words she should use next while three pair of eyes focused on the alicorn “–shrank her.” She held her front hooves very close together. “About this size.”

Many times what a pony said was less informative than what they did not say. The silence that Celestia heard from her trusted staff was definitely one of those times. There was a resonant 'Yes, Your Highness' in the absence of noise, along with an undertone of 'Is this something we are better off not knowing?' and a certain degree of 'Don't you trust us, Princess?' After all, trust worked both ways, and it was time for somepony besides her to learn about the spell’s existence. "A long time ago, during the war with the griffins, I created several spells to aid me help my ponies win. This one had a lot of promise, though it was too difficult for almost any of them to cast." Celestia lectured with her hoof lifted above the table. “After the war, I tasked my most talented scholars with improving those spells for public and military use to ensure safety of my kingdom. Just imagine all hopes and possibilities that this spell offered.”

Celestia stood up, her voice suddenly more enthusiastic. “Scouts and spies would be able to change their size at will, monsters and powerful enemies would no longer pose a threat, and shrunken prisoners would no longer needed huge prisons to house them. Even medicine would have benefited, since a shrunken surgeon would find most delicate operations much easier to perform than before.

Noticing questions forming on her subject’s lips, she silenced them with one gesture of her hoof before shaking her head, enthusiasm dead in her voice, “Unfortunately, the spell turned out to be a complete disappointment.”

“Just as many of spells I improvised, it had proved incredibly difficult to cast; only I and a few others had both the power and the skill to manage the feat.” Celestia let out a deep sigh, “ To make matters worse, it used the target’s own power as fuel. Unless the targeted creature was willing to cooperate, or was experiencing an uncontrolled magic surge, the spell would do absolutely nothing. The project had been abandoned since the spell really had no practical purpose… until today.”

The silence lasted for a little longer as the rest of her staff considered the consequences of Celestia's action regarding the use of a spell which had been kept secret from them until just now. The princess broke the contemplative silence by clearing her throat, "I have no choice but to keep her at this size until she learns how to control her magic on her own. Although this is a drastic measure, it is necessary for the safety of my subjects as well as the young student. Any further surges could be lethal for such a young filly, and I will not risk her life or the lives of others by reversing the spell prematurely."

“I see…” Silver Scroll murmured, before speaking up, “Although, I would think that because of her size she is going to need additional care when you are not present.

Celestia shook her head lightly. “I doubt it will be that simple. First the poor filly needs to adapt to her new environment. She needs to get used to me before she can interact with other ponies. Furthermore, while royal guards can be trusted to keep it as secret, I will need to choose carefully who to tell about the filly’s condition so no rumors can spread.” Suddenly a wide smile spread across her face, “Though I know just the pony for the foal-sitting job.”

Fancy Pants raised an eyebrow before chuckling. “Oh, right. She would do a fine job as a foalsitter, but tracking her down is going to be difficult. She is living among your subjects under an illusion spell after all.”

Celestia turn her head to the side, her attention focused on a clock. “Hopefully we will find her, or else I will need to search for a replacement. Are there any other questions?” The group looked at one another before turning back to the princess, shaking their heads. “Very good. This meeting is adjourned, and as always, our discussions are not to leave this room,” Celestia finished in a serious tone, those around her giving their nods of assent.

With the meeting over, her staff departed to their assigned tasks while Celestia went back to her new student. She soon found a honest smile working across her face for the first time in years, and she began to feel hope for the safe return of her sister.

Ch1 - Fears ( updated )

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 1

Fears

“Rise and shiiine, my little Sparkle,” said an unfamiliar voice.

Before turning on the pillow, Twilight gave a drowsy, “Shmerrrr.”

“Rise and shiiiiiiiiine, my little Sparkle,” the unfamiliar voice spoke once again.

Twilight felt something shake under her body. Unable to ignore it any longer, she asked in a pleading voice, “Can I please sleep a little longer, mommy? Pretty pleeease?”

“Wake up or you’ll be late for your first day of schooool.”

Twilight bolted upright, her eyes wide in horror. “Oh no! I’m going to be late! I have... to...” Twilight trailed off, noticing the white face to her side, its large, pale magenta eyes looking intently at her.

“AAAAAAAAHH!!.” Twilight screamed, running off the side of the pillow that served as her bed and crawling underneath it.

Celestia watched her student with a small frown while she waited for her to calm down. It’s been two weeks already and she still cannot get used to her new life. Not that she could blame her; it was a huge change in filly’s life, after all.

A half-minute later, the tiny unicorn crawled out from under the giant pillow and climbed back onto it, walking towards the princess. Her head was down, avoiding eye contact, as she sat down on the frilly edge of her pillow, saying, “I am really sorry, Princess. I didn’t mean to scream like that... I... I just forgot…”

Celestia sighed softly. “It’s fine, my little pony. I am sure that my appearance must be quite intimidating from your point of view,” Celestia reassured the tiny filly, giving a warm smile. It still saddened her that she was partially responsible for Twilight’s current state, although she hoped that she would be able to adapt.

“Are you hungry?” Celestia asked, moving to sit next to Twilight while levitating a tray of food left by the servants between them.

Twilight flinched at the sudden movement, before quickly quashing the fear she felt. The princess wouldn’t hurt me, so why am I so afraid?

Tiny filly looked back to her giant mentor, who was currently using her telekinesis to cut off tiny bits of her sandwich left for the princess by her servants. Celestia rearranged the neatly cut pieces, putting it together into a miniature sandwich as she levitated it closer to her student. Twilight took the sandwich in her shaking hooves.

“Bon appetit,” Celestia said cheerfully, hoping to brighten up the mood of her student.

“Thank you,” Twilight replied hesitantly as she leaned in to take a bite of her tiny sandwich.

Celestia’s smile faltered. To think that this filly who had studied magic so intently before was now so afraid to use it.

“Twilight.” Celestia’s voice was quiet, but firm.

Twilight turned towards the princess, swallowing the bits of sandwich in her mouth before replying, “Yes, princess?”

“I understand that it must be very hard to adapt to your new environment. Everything must seem so big and scary without your parents. My very presence terrifies you,” Celestia spoke as calmly as she could.

“N-no, Princess. I-I'm not a-afraid of you. I'm perfectly fine," Twilight replied, her voice rising into a terrified squeak. I am not afraid of you. I can’t be afraid. You are my idol! It was my dream to meet you! How can I be afraid now? Twilight thought, regretting the fear she’d shown before.

The disbelieving look on Celestia's face brought a burst of reinforcement to Twilight's courage. “I... I’m not afraid. Really! And I can prove it,” Twilight said with fake bravery in her voice, but she immediately jumped when Celestia raised a hoof towards her, dropping her facade of confidence.

Twilight frowned, realizing exactly what she had just done. Why can't I stop fearing her? I hate it. I do not want to be afraid! Why can't I be braver? Twilight scolded herself before approaching her mentor’s foreleg, still raised in front of her. She raised a hoof to touch the one in front of her, but just as she was about to make contact, she hesitated, withdrawing it slightly. Twilight attempted a few more times, but after a few ineffectual attempts, she collapsed, burying her face in her hooves.

“I don’t wanna be afraid! I wasn’t afraid before! Why am I so afraid now? It’s so unfair!” the filly bawled, still trying to hide her tears behind closed hooves.

Celestia lowered her foreleg, her tranquil smile losing just a little of its confidence. Twilight was confident back at the school thanks to her parents presence and too excited to feel fear, but now... “It is not your fault. Your fears will leave you sooner or later,” spoke Celestia calmly, restraining herself from raising a hoof to comfort the crying filly.

Twilight slowly wiped away her tears and looked back up at her mentor. “R-really... you really think so...?”

“I'm positive. Bravery is not just the absence of fear, little one. True bravery is continuing on despite your fears," Celestia said with a calming tone, pausing for a moment before raising her hoof towards her student again. Twilight came closer, mere centimeters from making contact, and then only millimeters just a few seconds later. Victory was within reach. All it would take is one little push forward...

More seconds passed as Twilight’s straightened foreleg remained motionless, without even a shake no matter how hard she tried.

Celestia breathed out in a soft sigh that swept over Twilight, making her flatten her ears against the wind and blink as her determined smile faded into a grimace of depression. It came as no surprise as the little filly sprang onto her back the moment Celestia lowered her hoof again.

“As much as I admire your efforts, I feel that they are misplaced. There is another fear you should be fighting,” Celestia spoke now in more of a teacher tone.

“Another fear...?” Twilight asked hesitantly as she climbed back onto her pillow. “You don’t mean...”

“Yes, Twilight. It has been two weeks, and you have not used your magic at all. As much as I want to give you more time to adapt, you should at least try to face your fear. After all, the faster you can overcome your fear of magic, the sooner I can begin to teach you how to control it,” Celestia continued.

Twilight’s ears flattened against her now lowered head as she scowled, diving into her thoughts. Being Princess Celestia’s student is like a dream come true, but I can’t be her student if I can’t even use magic. Twilight knew that if she could not learn about magic from her mentor, she would not be her student any longer, and this fact alone terrified her more than using magic or her mentor’s intimidating size.

"You cannot let your fears get in the way of that which you love," said Celestia, levitating a sugar cube and placing it next to Twilight. "I know that you love magic, and if you do not face your fear of it, you will never be able to truly embrace your special gift."

Twilight, still trembling, jumped back as she looked at the ordinary sugar cube, which seemed to be the size of a stone block from her diminutive perspective. Fear slowly turned into confusion as she turned her gaze to her mentor again. “I don’t understand, Princess.”

“I want you to levitate it,” Celestia spoke calmly, hoping that her student would begin to fight her fear of using magic.

Twilight just stared at the sugar cube for several minutes, as if seeing it for the first time in her life. Celestia continued to watch her student patiently, trying not to move. This was one fight her tiny student would have to conduct entirely within her own mind.

You think you are so sweet, so square. You think that I cannot lift you with my magic... I will show you... and when I am done, you will become part of my mentor's tea! Twilight thought to herself, her eyes glaring intensely as if trying to escape from her face, her neck straightened as her muzzle pressed against the target’s surface, few hairs in her tail springing out of place.

Twilight glared at the sugar cube as if she wanted to destroy it with her gaze. After a long, awkward silence, she finally took some effort to focus, trying to channel some of her magic through her horn.

Celestia watched patiently as she saw her student finally taking action. Slowly a small, purple aura was visible on her tiny horn, but Celestia’s hopes were dashed when the aura dissipated.

Hours passed as Twilight stared at the sugar cube, even though her mentor had left unnoticed some time ago to attend to her royal duties. Every time her focus began to form, images of her surge flashed through her mind and the magic she was forming would fade away. The pain of the surge. The pain she felt trying to stop it. The pain she inflicted on the princess. The two potted plants that stood where her parents once did.

“You useless. Stupid. Delicious cube of sugar!” Twilight yelled in frustration, kicking the cube with her tiny hoof. It bounced to the edge of the bed, and with one more furious buck, fueled by hours of failure, the sugar cube crashed to the floor, shattering into tiny crystals across the once pristine bedroom floor.

Twilight moved to the side of the bed, looking in shock and horror at the white powder. While it would not be a big deal to clean up for any normal sized pony, for the tiny unicorn filly it was a giant mess, and it was all her fault. “What have I done?”

Twilight started to dash in circles around her pillow. “What have I done? What have I done? The Princess expected me to levitate it, but not only did I fail to complete my assignment, but I also made a huge, enormous mess in her bedroom. The sugar will attract ants, and the ants will get into her bed, and they’ll bite her in the middle of the night, and she’ll know that it was my fault!” Twilight yelled in panic as images of giant, disappointed princesses flashed in her mind.

“I need to clean up this mess before the princess comes back,” Twilight said to herself, calming down a little before she noticed a big flaw in her plan. “But... how?”

For several minutes, tiny Twilight sat on the edge of the bed staring down at the floor. The floor that was a very, very long way down.

Twilight tried to force herself to levitate the sugar from the floor with her magic, but couldn’t get over the terrifying images in her mind. Finally in desperation, Twilight slowly and carefully climbed down to the floor, using the little loops of lace in the bedspread as a ladder.

As soon as Twilight was on the floor, she looked around to search for anything she could use to clean sugar, but did not find anything useful. Undaunted, she decided to gather all the sugar with her own tiny hooves, no matter how long it would take.

***

It took Twilight an hour to gather all sugar from the floor into a pile. “I DID IT!” she screamed in joy as she jumped, only to fall on her face, completely exhausted. She sat up and massaged her aching face. I really need to stop doing that.

Twilight’s happiness from a job well-done faded as she looked at the pile of sugar gathered in front of her. I gathered all this sugar, but now what? I can’t just hide it under the bed, and I don’t have any cleaning equipment... Twilight once again conjured images of her mentor’s disappointed face.

In her desperation, Twilight decided that there was only one thing she could do: eat the evidence. She gathered a bit of the sugar in her hooves and stared at it only for a moment before stuffing it into her mouth, nearly gagging from the deluge of sweetness.

Twilight spent the next hour in a delusional sugar high before collapsing, sick to her stomach, on the small patch of fine white powder still remaining on the floor.

After a long day of her usual routine, Celestia trotted briskly back to her room, a cheerful smile on her face, her horn lit in a bright gold. I hope that Twilight will like this little present, Celestia thought as she looked to her side at the big empty dollhouse and few boxes levitating in her magical aura. Hopefully a house fit for her size will let her relax in a much more friendly environment.

Celestia sped up, her attention focusing on the door into her bedchambers, two guards standing on each side. Maybe it would be wise to order them to guard her bedchamber from the inside?

Calm down. Twilight may be tiny and very young, but she is still a smart pony. What’s the worst that could happen?

As always, she passed her saluting guards as they opened the door to her bedchamber for her. Celestia slowly walked into her room, expecting to see Twilight reading a book that had been left for her on the bed, or perhaps sleeping on her pillow, or...

What...is that? Celesia thought with a raised eyebrow as she saw her student laying on the floor on some sort of white powder. Celestia walked closer and knelt to have a better look.

Are my eyes are deceiving me, or is my little student sleeping in a pile of sugar?

“Oh, Twilight,” Celestia smirked, placing the dollhouse and toy box in the corner. “What am I going to do with you?”

Twilight slept deeply until she felt a warm feeling inside her, spreading further throughout her body every second.

Celestia and Twilight were in the princess’s personal bathroom, which was as big as her bedchamber and even more stylish. There was a spacious bathtub opposite the sink raised to Celestia’s height. An artificial hot spring sat in the middle of the room, and behind another door there was a sauna. Gold trim and gems decorated the entire room and the furnishings, and a large mosaic of Celestia’s cutie mark dominated the space. All in all, it was more of a spa than a bathroom.

At the moment, Celestia was sitting in front of the sink sending healing magic into her student, who was lying in front of her on the countertop. The spell was supposed to neutralize poisons and toxins, Celestia thought. I never thought I’d have to use it to neutralize an unhealthy dose of sugar.

Pleased with the progress of the spell, she levitated Twilight closer to the tap and twisted the hot water on. Celestia, after removing her golden horseshoe, let the water run over her exposed hoof. Content with the temperature and pressure of the running stream, she levitated her student under the flowing water.

***

Twilight sputtered awake, shaking out her waterlogged mane and hastily clearing her vision with a hoof. After noticing the white porcelain sink under her and the golden tap above, it didn’t take long for her to discover where she was.

A bath? Twilight struggled against the golden aura trapping her under the water.

“Let me go... let... me... GO!” yelled Twilight with all her strength, which amounted to a cute squeak. Baths were evil. The scourge of all that was fun and enjoyable. It didn’t help that she was completely powerless to fight her mentor, a mere toy in her grasp.

“You know I can’t do that, my student. You have sticky sugar in your tail, mane and fur, and it is not going to clean itself,” Celestia replied sternly.

Twilight continued her pointless struggle until she got too tired to resist, grudgingly allowing her mentor to dry her wet body with a sponge before brushing her mane and tail with a tiny brush, which Twilight was positive came from a little filly’s toy set.

“That’s better. It doesn’t look like you have any more sugar in your mane or fur,” Celestia stated, satisfied as she examined her student. Twilight simply hung from her mentor’s grasp in defeat.

“C-could you let me go... p-please?” Twilight pled before giving a tiny sneeze, shivering in the cool air.

“Not yet, there is still one thing left to do,” Celestia replied as she levitated a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste over to her tiny student. Twilight widened her eyes in shock and once again struggled but soon gave up as the princess began the brushing process.

It took all of Celestia's concentration to keep a delicate grip on both her student and the toothbrush as drop of sweat fall across her face. As an alicorn, almost two millennia old and brimming with power, she had long since developed her mind to control the flow of her magic, lest it rage out of control and harm her subjects. With a subject as fragile as Twilight, it was much more difficult than one would expect to successfully brush teeth just a little larger than grains of rice with a normal sized toothbrush without harming her in the process.

Twilight closed her eyes and decided to wait it out, suppressing the terrible urge to flee from the giant alicorn holding her against her will.

Her difficult task complete, Celestia levitated Twilight to the floor and freed her from her golden aura, knowing full well that her student hated this routine. It was no surprise when Twilight immediately bolted to a nearby towel and crawled under it.

“Twilight, you know you need to take a shower from time to time to stay healthy and clean. I apologise that I cleaned you so forcefully, but it is much safer considering the size of this bathroom,” Celestia said. She’d already considered finding a way to let Twilight clean herself, but didn’t give it too much thought over the last two weeks, due to the difficulty of discreetly ordering custom-size bathroom devices.

“Go away!” Twilight’s muffled shouts emanated from under the towel.

“Did you say something, my student?” Celestia asked, feigning deafness. She moved to the towel and lowered her head towards it.

“I said... Go away!” Twilight yelled again, the towel hiding a blush on her face.

Celestia sat silently for a moment before replying nonchalantly, “As you wish. I will leave you for now and come back in fifteen minutes. Please don’t do anything reckless until I return.” It wasn’t the first time her student hid under something in her bathroom after she was cleaned, and it would likely be several minutes until she reemerged.

Celestia, content to wait until the little filly calmed down, left to prepare dinner and more reading material for Twilight.

Half a minute after her mentor had left, Twilight crawled out from under her towel. She wasn’t angry at her mentor in the slightest; she was just embarrassed of being cleaned up like a doll. And after the episode with the sugar cube, facing her mentor was the last thing she wanted to do.

“I can’t be brave for my mentor. I can’t use my magic. I can’t even take a bath by myself! Is there anything I can do?” Twilight all but shouted as she gazed upon the giant, ornate bathtub next to her.

It took only a moment before her ears straightened upwards as she clapped her hooves. “That’s it! I’m gonna prove to my mentor that I can take a bath all by myself,” said Twilight, set in her decision.

Twilight walked around the bath, searching for a way up until she noticed a towel hanging from the edge. With a flex of her hind legs, the tiny filly leapt onto the edge of the towel, hanging on to it with her tiny hooves. Gritting her teeth in determination, she pulled herself up, anchoring her rear hooves against the rough surface. Another drop of sweat fell to the floor as she scampered up, increasing the distance from the floor with every swing move of her legs until she finally reached the top. With a bit more effort, she pulled herself up and stood on the edge of the tub, breathing heavily, although her epic adventure was far from over.

Now what? Twilight took a quick look around, noticing a shower head hanging from the wall.

A smile of satisfaction grew across her lips. Without a second thought, Twilight walked towards it, doing her best to maintain balance. The situation took a turn for the worse the moment she carefully moved her hooves from the towel, placing them onto the cold slippery surface. With a glance towards the floor, it seemed as if distance was closing and increasing in her mind, the moment of dizziness enough for her legs to slip. Twilight's hind legs were sliding upon the surface as she tried to pull herself, hanging on the edge with just one of her forelegs. With some effort, the tiny filly slowly stood and gulped, her body trembling as she continued her journey, one tiny step at a time.

I am tired of being afraid. I am tired of being unable to do anything, Twilight thought as she fought against the uneasiness in her gut. She soon approached the shower head and braced herself against it, its cold metallic surface pressed against her warm belly, causing her to shiver.

As Twilight knew that using her magic would end in a failure, she pulled on the shower head with all her strength. Her eyes closed, teeth grit, muscles tensed and hind legs trembled with exertion as the object moved slightly. Gasping, Twilight continued her struggle, her face slowly turning red from lack of the air as she slid another centimeter closer to the gulf behind her

The shower head, already holding on precariously, jolted loose from its place on the wall, causing Twilight to lose her balance and tumble into the tub. Her eyes shot open, only to see the white walls of the tub closing in on her while the shower head hit the hot water knob and clattered towards her, blocking most of her vision. Her scream as she fell was quickly replaced with a weak 'ouch' when her back hit the floor of the tub. The tiny filly shrieked again the moment a huge weight hit her belly, pinning her beneath while water gushed from the nozzle and began to fill the bath, soaking her fur immediately.

Twilight quickly recovered and struggled to move the nozzle, pushing against it with her forelegs to no avail as a painful burning sensation overtook her. Feeling the temperature grow, she started to scream, kicking the heavy nozzle with her hind legs, but her hooves didn't even scratched the surface. Twilight lifted her head as high as she could from her uncomfortable position, hot water reaching her neck while steam filled her vision. The white fumes seemed almost peaceful and welcoming as if she was inside a sauna, her tired and burned legs giving up to the overwhelming heat as water reached her lips. Drowning while taking a bath, the circumstances of her end seemed almost funny, she would probably laugh. That, or scream in agony if not for deep breath she was holding as the unimaginable heat reached her muzzle, threatening to burn out her eyes any moment. Closing her eyes tightly, she lit her horn and desperately wrapped her magic around the shower head to lift it off her before the water reached her head, her fears of a power surge nothing compared to the fear and agony she now felt. The heavy shower nozzle barely budged as the water level almost reached the eyes of suffocating filly.

Twilight drew up more and more magic from her core before her wall of self-control shattered under the flood of energy. The shower head was thrown violently aside, bouncing off the wall of the tub and back into the water with a splash. Twilight shot up above, her surge shooting off tiny sparks that fizzled against the liquid below. What Twilight found odd was that, with the agony she experienced from her legs to her muzzle, the escaping magic tearing her from inside hardly made a difference. Her eyes flashed with power, but at least they weren't burned. Her mouth released a stream of uncontrollable magic, but at least she was breathing. With a sudden feeling of weakness, the filly fell into unconsciousness, blissfully free from pain.

***

Princess Celestia bolted into the bathroom, severely worried by noises coming from it that had turned her calm graceful walk into a full gallop, and not bothered in the least by the clatter of her crown falling off somewhere along the hallway. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene before her: the tiny filly, levitating just inches from the steaming waters of the tub, once again trapped in a power surge. A vortex of waves was curling beneath her hooves, whipping itself into a froth against a large dent in the side of the tub.

Slowing her breath and the rapid beating of her heart, Celestia focused with every bit of concentration she could muster. Carefully lifting her limp and fragile student away from the steaming water while fighting back her magical surge took every bit of experience she had ever learned over her long life, but the small rise and fall of a small purple chest brought hope. Wasting no time, the princess spread her wings under the levitated filly, their featherly tips catching Twilight from both sides as her horn shifted from casting the levitation spell to absorbing the filly’s magic instead. Celestia sighed in relief as the aura of surging magic surrounding her student disappeared, confirmation that reducing the size of the little filly had made the impossible job of controlling her surge into a much more manageable task.

Quickly arranging a few towels to form a comfortable surface, Celestia knelt and carefully placed her student on it, her eyes not blinking at the sight of multiple burn marks that covered the majority of the filly’s body, with only her head above the muzzle spared. Putting aside her guilt and the unpleasant feeling in her chest, Celestia lit her horn again and sent a healing wave into her student’s body before looking towards a cabinet. Throwing it open, she grabbed a first aid kit to find bandages, hydrogen peroxide, cotton and other useful items she was in need at the moment. After another dose of healing magic and weak cooling spell, Celestia began shakily patching her up: bandages levitated, rolling around the soft cotton placed around the tiny filly’s legs before doing the same with her belly. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Celestia returned to her regal posture and with a spell, disappeared in a flash.

Seconds passed, maybe even minutes before another a wave of light spread through the room, revealing the princess and a few doctors already updated about the situation, equipment levitating next to them. “I cooled her down and bandaged her injuries already with few additional healing spells, but she may need more professional assistance.” Celestia said calmly, her masterful mask hiding any sign of emotions both in her voice and on her face.

The doctors knelt before the tiny mummy, scanning the filly before levitating the towels she was placed on, carrying the small patient to the hospital instead of risking a teleportation spell. Just as two doctors left the princess’s bathroom with a blush on their faces, the last doctor to leave turned towards the princess. “Rest assured, Your Highness, we will do our best to help her.” He spoke, trying and failing to read the princess’s face. “Her injuries are severe but stable, a little rest and medical care and she will return to full health, there is nothing to worry about, Your Highness.” Receiving just a simple nod without a trace of worry, he bowed and left the room, as the door closed behind him.

Celestia stood in her regal posture, head high as she listened to the noise of the departing doctors' hooves, growing quieter with every step. Once the noise disappeared and the princess was sure that she was alone, Celestia knelt and let out a long sigh, tears falling from the eye that was not hidden behind her mane. How long had it been since she felt so many emotions bottled inside of her? With a splash of water on her face and quick action of the remaining towel, Celestia stood and walked outside, searching for her crown, her guilt and worries suppressed for the moment. She did all she could and there was no way to undo her mistake. All she could do was wait, and royal duty would not fulfil itself.

“Are you feeling alright, my little pony?” asked the unfamiliar voice.

Twilight gave a drowsy, “Shmerrrr,” before turning on her pillow. “Can I please sleep a little longer...?”

“I see you are feeling better. That’s quite a relief,” said the unfamiliar voice. Twilight took a moment to be confused before she suddenly remembered everything that had happened. She shot upright, taking a deep, gasping breath.

The filly held her panicked breath as she looked around the room, slowly realizing that she was safe from the scalding water that had threatened to drown her and remembering the surge that had saved her life. Letting her breath out slowly, she took in her bandaged body and the pillow below that served as her bed. Then she looked to her side and caught sight of a large, worried magenta eye that was watching her every move.

Celestia flinched. Her student was looking into her eyes again, a simple act that would soon lead to the screaming and the—

Her eyes widened as the small purple filly jumped from her pillow, hugging her muzzle in a vice grip. Tiny tears flowed down Twilight’s face as she clung on.

“That was… t-terrifying,” Twilight said. “I f-felt my skin melting. I couldn’t br-breathe. It was horrible.”

The princess watched the filly cry onto her nose for a moment before moving her bare hoof to hold her as lightly as possible.

“It’s all right, you’re safe now,” Celestia said, before tears began to roll down her cheeks as well, “You’re safe. I won't ever let you get hurt again.”

The embrace lasted for what seemed like hours. Celestia marveled at how the little filly was able to so completely break her composure twice in such a short amount of time, when even war and the broken, bloody bodies of slain allies couldn’t. They shared a moment and though what passed between them was for them alone, it was to define their relationship, full of trust.

Free of fear.

Ch2 - Learning ( updated )

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 2

Learning

Twilight yawned, spreading her legs to all four sides as a weak thumping sound reached her ear. The little unicorn rubbed her eyes before opening them, her blurry vision slowly sharpening. With a few quick blinks she looked at the floor before sighing and flapping her ears. Another night and she had once again knocked the toy lamp onto the floor. With a quick roll, she hopped from the bed, already missing the giant pillow on her mentor’s bed with its soft touch. The pillow had always felt a little as if she were pressing herself against the princess’s wing, the sensation of her body sinking in the comfy surface as if it was a waterbed full of jelly.

She turned her attention to the left, looking at the mirror on the wall which was right above a table with all kind of doll toys on it: tiny toothbrush, manebrush and other instruments of a daily morning routine. There was even a bottle cap filled with water for refreshment. Twilight slowed as she approached the table, fighting the tremble that wanted to spread upwards from her hooves at the simple act of merely looking at the water.

Half a year had passed since Twilight’s life-threatening experience in the bathroom.

It was no surprise that she had developed a fear of the place, to the point where Celestia had begun to bathe her regularly in her own bedchamber with a bowl of warm water. Afraid of another incident occurring without her mentor’s supervision, the very sight of water was terrifying without her mentor’s presence. The filly instead immersed herself in the vast world of books whenever the princess left for her royal duties, although that immersion did little to keep her clean.

When Celestia was present, however, the two trained Twilight’s magic. Power surges became common occurrences, yet the filly barely seemed to mind, her determination seeing her through their discomfort.

Over time, Twilight had become quite close to the princess, placing her unconditional trust in the giant alicorn. The habits of earlier times had almost died out.

That terrifying incident in the bathroom was kept as secret as that of Twilight’s condition. Only her parents, who visited every week, the two Royal Guards constantly at her side whenever the princess was gone, the doctors, who repaired the internal damage from the surges, and a few castle servants, who regularly cleaned Celestia bedchamber, knew about the tiny filly living with the Royal Princess, and all of them were sworn to absolute secrecy.

Twilight licked her lips as she put back a half-eaten strawberry and walked away from another bottle cap, this one serving as a table. Fed and refreshed, the tiny filly walked towards the door, pushing it open with one firm shove of her hoof before looking outside her safe sanctuary into a jungle called a royal bedchamber. With one quick hop, she left the wooden surface of the dollhouse and stepped out on the soft surface of an eiderdown blanket, her attention focused on a precious gift her mentor had left for her. With her horn lit, the tiny filly galloped, her magic slowly lifting the humongous tome.

For a few minutes, the happy student sat on her mentor's bed, so absorbed in the giant book propped up by her pillow in front of her that she failed to notice the door of the bedchamber open.

A middle-aged unicorn servant carrying a collection of cleaning implements in her magic peeked into the room, slipping inside with the rest of her tools following soon after. A deftly-operated mop began swishing across the floor in broad strokes while the feather duster was darting from bookshelf to bookshelf, eliminating every single fleck of dust detectable.

Twilight had continued turning pages with her magic, easily flipping over the light paper of her book before a noise from behind the literature captured her attention. The filly's eyes widened in an instant as her legs trembled and her heart pounded rapidly. Out of reflex, she dashed to the nearest hideout she could find.

Once the last shelf was spotless and gleaming in the sunlight cascading through the open windows, the maid took one last look around the room only to find a certain tiny unicorn was missing. The maid rolled her eyes before shaking her head in amusement. She called out cheerfully, "It's me, Clean Room. You can come out now."

A few seconds passed before Twilight emerged from behind the pillow, plopping down at the edge of the bed with her head low, “I uhh… I’m sorry.”

The maid gave her a warm smile, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure your size gives you enough problems without me adding to them.”

Twilight flinched as Clean Room began to approach the bed, but quickly regained her composure.

She looked warily at the approaching giant, all her instincts calling for her to run, to hide, to scream, but she fought against them. Her legs remained motionless, her eyes not daring to blink. It was annoying enough that she let her fears force her to hide from servants she met almost everyday and she was getting tired of it.

The maid took a look at the filly before examining the bed, frowning. “Again?” she sighed and shook her head a few times, “What am I going to do with you?”

Twilight blushed as she looked down at the small holes peppering the eiderdown bedding and pillow, rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry.”

Clean Room simply levitated a thread and needle out, well prepared for the common event. “How many times must I tell you? Practice your magic on the floor,” she said, already beginning her work.

Despite the shrinking spell keeping her surges fairly manageable, Twilight still felt she was having an unreasonable number of them, especially when she was practicing by herself. Even if the power surges were no longer a threat to her health and more of a nuisance than a hazard, they still wreaked havoc on the soft bed.

She watched silently as the needle swung all over the bed with Clean Room's magic tying the attached thread in tiny knots with fascinating speed. Twilight rested her head on her forelegs, before taking a breath and squeaking out, “Could you teach me?”

“Could you speak a bit louder, dear?” Clean Room did not shift her focus from the substantial rip in front of her.

“Could you please teach me!” Twilight yelled, ignoring all of the volume levels in between.

The surprised maid’s telekinetic grip on her needle faltered for just a moment before she recovered and looked at the filly, “Teach you? Teach you what?”

“How to sew!” Twilight replied with an enthusiastic jump.

Clean Room’s eyes widened, “I must refuse, my dear! Sewing requires a lot of concentration and precision. Even with magic, needlework is no walk in the park.”

“But it can’t be that hard! The needle is half as tall as I am and the holes you’re patching are easily the size of my head; I won't even need help because I can see what I'm working on so well!”

The maid frowned. “You have a point, but wouldn’t the needle be too large and unwieldy to—” Clean Room resisted the urge to facehoof as a needle and thread floated easily to Twilight’s side, wrapped in a light purple aura. Of course. How did I forget that she’s the Princess’s personal student.

”See? It’s not hard at all! I can do this easily, so can you teach me? Pleeeeaase?” Twilight looked up at Clean Room with the best puppy-dog eyes that she could manage.

“B-b-but it could be dangerous! I’ve been doing this for a while and I still prick myself sometimes. Who knows what it could do to you?” the maid stammered out, sweat dripping from her desperate face.

“I promise I’ll be careful! The princess says I need to adapt to my new life, and sewing would be perfect for that. And I can practice focusing on controlling my magic! You’ll be here the whole time, so please please please please pleeeaase?” Twilight curled her forelegs again, now standing on her hind legs as she gave the maid a puppy stare capable of breaking a stone wall.

Clean Room looked desperately to the two Royal Guards flanking the door for backup, but both of the heavily-muscled guards continued staring straight ahead, like statues, although the charcoal mare looked like she was suppressing a grin.

The maid turned back to the filly and sighed, her head down in defeat, “All right, you win. I’ll have to ask the princess for permission later, but I’ll teach you a few of the very basics now. But nothing more! I'm not letting you even think about touching a needle until I hear it straight from Princess Celestia."

Clean Room looked on with a sense of growing pride as Twilight began on a new hole. It had only been an hour since they had begun, but the filly was an exceptionally fast learner, already fixing holes with extremely high precision.

The maid frowned, suddenly worried as Twilight leaned closer to a particularly difficult tear. "Dear, I think you're getting a bit close to the needle. Perhaps you should back up a little.”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” Twilight reassured her, still concentrating on the hole in front of her as the needle continued working its way through the fabric under her close supervision, darting back and forth between her guiding hooves.

The filly’s eyes suddenly widened. “AAAAAAAAHHHH!” Twilight swung her hoof, flinging the needle that had pierced it aside and revealing a large, profusely-bleeding gash. Her screams startled the pegasus guard, who took one look at the bleeding filly before darting out of the room at high speed to summon medical assistance.

Clean Room's face was a frozen picture of shock and horror for only a moment before she quickly wrenched over the closest first aid kit, quickly extracting disinfectant and a roll of bandages from its depths.

“Ssshhh... Everything is going to be all right,” the maid cooed uncertainly as she attempted to calm the filly down.

Twilight kept her bleeding leg held out awkwardly, now bawling as she attempted to stay upright. Clean Room straightened out the leg with a golden glow of magic, resisting Twilight’s renewed attempts to yank her leg back as she began to disinfect the wound.

Twilight’s screams began anew as the disinfectant bubbled against the blood around the puncture point, but they quickly petered out as the maid swiftly wrapped a bandage around the leg, using her telekinetic hold to keep Twilight’s leg straight.

A stressed Clean Room began to cradle Twilight in her translucent yellow magic, unable to ease her pain. She began to trot in panic as the situation set in, fluctuating between reassuring Twilight and looking to the remaining guard mare at the door, who was desperately scanning for any sign that help would soon be arriving.

Princess Celestia lumbered back to her chambers, exhausted from a day of dealing with bothersome, self-serving nobles and from raising the moon. She pushed open the double doors and passed the two nervous-looking guards to see the little purple filly perched in front of a thick open book. The princess opened her mouth as soon as she entered, but her greeting died on her lips when she noticed the bandage wrapped tightly around her student’s foreleg.

It didn’t take long before Celestia managed to get the whole story from Twilight, who had threatened to break down into tears before the princess wrapped her up in a warm embrace. She made a mental note to punish her guards and the maid for such reckless behaviour, but after a moment’s thought, decided to leave them with warning and a lecture as the memory of her own mistake flashed through her mind.

"Shhh... It's all right. You're going to be fine and that's most important.” Celestia stated, nuzzling the blushing filly, “I am sure your hoof will heal in time, and while I can hardly imagine how traumatising your experience was, I am sure such an accident won’t happen again,” her half-lidded gaze now a mix of a firm teacher and worried mother. “Right?

“No. It. Won’t. Because I’m never try sewing ever again,” Twilight responded, sounding every inch like an impetuous child. She poked her bandages lightly and yelped.

Celestia sighed. “No, my faithful student. It won’t happen again because you will be careful in the future when dealing with needles. It does not mean that you should be scared of needles and it does not mean you should never try sewing again. You can’t stop trying just because of a few setbacks.”

Twilight looked up confused at her mentor’s words as she was set back down on her pillow, her hind legs sinking in its soft surface. “What do you mean?”

“Twilight, half a year ago, you nearly drowned trying to clean yourself in my bathtub, but you cannot avoid the bathroom for the rest of your life because of that. Today, you caused a serious injury to yourself because you were too hasty with your needle in an art that requires patience, but you can’t isolate yourself from danger your whole life.”

“Yes I can…” the little unicorn murmured quietly to herself, the princess ignoring it as she continued.

“I won’t always be here to bathe you or to protect you, so you will need to overcome your fears. I’m sure you’ll be great at sewing when you grow up, so don’t quit now just because of what happened today.”

“Sooo... I shouldn’t be scared of bathrooms and needles?” Twilight cocked her head to the side, still confused.

Celestia gave another sigh, “I’m just saying that you should learn from your mistakes rather than let them take over your life. I can teach you how to sew and how to use the bathroom, but that means you’ll have to confront them, one way or another.”

Twilight looked down meaningfully and nodded. It wasn’t long before Celestia put a drowsy Twilight to bed, deciding to hold off on the magic lesson originally planned for the evening. She’d already learned her lesson for the night.

Two years had passed since Twilight became the student of Equestria’s beloved princess. While she continued to improve her magic and occasionally constructed fortresses of books on Celestia’s bed, she had begun to open up to the ponies around her. She conversed often with the servants and even succeeded in starting a conversation with the stoic guards at the door. Partially. Twilight learned that the muscular pegasus stallion was named Steel Blade, who bore a cutie mark of a single intricately-decorated sword, while the lean charcoal unicorn mare was named Overwatch, whose cutie mark was, strangely enough, a single apricot with a leaf. Overwatch, who also wore a non-regulatory heavy scarf patterned with wide stripes of gold and scarlet along with her armor, seemed to have no issues with conversing openly with Twilight while Celestia was not around. Steel Blade, on the other hoof, seemed flustered whenever Twilight tried to talk to him and instead preferred to remain silent and listen, despite his co-worker’s teasing.

It became fairly obvious to Celestia that Twilight could handle having a foalsitter to keep her company, but she was disappointed to find that her trusted friend, Cadence, was already busy working disguised as a unicorn in the Manehattan Press. Despite that setback, Celestia soon found her another foalsitter that she could trust to keep a secret, even if she was not as special as Cadence.

“Now Twilight, my faithful student, I’ve found a foalsitter to take care of you while I’m away on royal business. I hope you’ll be able to get along with her, alright?” Celestia stated encouragingly to Twilight, smiling softly.

“Alright then! But why couldn’t you have found my BBBFF? Couldn’t he help take care of me?” Twilight asked to the apparent confusion of her mentor.

“B-B-B-F-F?” Celestia replied slowly, trying to decipher her student’s meaning.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever?” Twilight explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Celestia took a step back in shock. “Your… big brother?”

Twilight nodded energetically, “Yep! He joined the Royal Guard about uhhh... four years ago, I think. It was about two years before you took me up as your student.”

The princess blinked, “I-I’ll look into it. In the meantime, be nice for your foalsitter, alright?” She walked past the foalsitter at the door, only to spread her wings the moment she left the room and took flight, moving straight for the nearby barracks.

The baby-blue earth pony mare at the door entered and sat, exchanging an awkward stare with the little purple filly sitting on the pillow.

“I uhhh... Hello?” she began, giving a hesitant smile.

“H-hello,” Twilight replied quietly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

A few more awkward moments passed.

Twilight began squirming nervously under the mare’s astounded gaze until the foalsitter broke the silence, “My name is Calm Song. Nice to meet you.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you too,” Twilight replied, relieved that the awkward moment had passed.

“I’m sorry. Could you repeat that, dear?” Calm Song took a few steps closer, her ears pointed towards Twilight.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle! Nice to meet you!” Twilight yelled at the sitter, cranking up her volume to far above an inside voice.

Calm Song reeled back stunned, but quickly reasserted herself, “Errr... I’m sorry; the princess has already informed me about your condition, but I still find it hard to believe. It must be a terrifying life for a filly as young as you are.” She had watched over a wide variety of fillies and colts, but this one took the cake. She knew magic could do some impressive things, but this was the first she’d heard of a shrinking spell being used on a filly.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not that bad. I’ve had a few accidents in the past, but I’m used to it now! I spend most of my time reading books anyways, and it’s not that dangerous to read books! I don’t even need to squint at the tiny words anymore with my size!” Twilight responded cheerfully and sincerely.

Calm Song looked pitifully at the little unicorn. Awwww, poor thing. Hiding her fears like that and staying cooped up in this room all the time. She really needs to have fun. Calm Song considered her approach. “I understand that reading books is really fun for such a curious, young filly,” she started. “But I’m sure we can find something else to do.”

Steel Blade, with the encouragement of Overwatch, approached Calm Song upon hearing those words and began whispering into her ear. Calm Song listened, confused, before her eyes widened in horror.

Twilight barely had time to react as she was swept up in a carefully not-quite-bone-crushing hug. “Oh you poooor thing, getting pricked in the leg like that!” Calm Song cried. “It must have been horrible!”

“I’m fine! I’m fine! Really!” Twilight attempted to push herself out of the embrace. It was a futile effort, as her face was pressed against the soft fur on the foal-sitter's neck with the soft part of Calm Song’s hoof pressing against her back.

***

It took ten minutes of seemingly never-ending foalsitter drama before Twilight was able to convince Calm Song to release her. Still worried for the filly’s safety, Calm Song spent the next few hours playing ‘safe’ games with Twilight, such as glue-the-tail-on-the-pony, hide-and-seek, and several rounds of checkers.

After a long day and a bit flustered with her nearly continuous losing streak, Calm Song tried to keep her temper under control as she asked the filly, “Are you tired, Twilight?”

“Nope!” Twilight yelled, not wanting to be sent to bed quite yet, “Best out of seventy-five?”

“Please no,” Calm Song plead quietly before resuming more cheerful tone of voice, “I mean, perhaps we should go out and explore for a bit?”

“B-but what if I get hurt?” Twilight stammered, suddenly a bit frightened.

Calm Song paused momentarily, thinking of a response to convince the filly to leave her gilded cage. She took a look around and noticed the guards at the door, “I’m sure it’ll be safe. After all, you’ll have these two strong guards here to ensure your safety.” Steel Blade shifted uncomfortably in his stoic stance. The blush blossoming across his face did not escape the notice of the mare next to him, who gave him a wry grin.

Calm Song smiled and continued, “Now then, Twilight, is there anywhere that you’ve always wanted to visit, but never had the chance to?”

Twilight responded quickly, a wide smile across her face, “THE LIBRARY!”

Calm Song’s hoof swiftly met her face, This filly really needs to find a hobby outside of reading, but at least she won’t be in Celestia’s bedroom all the time.

Steel Blade flew swiftly to the barracks where Princess Celestia was scheduled to make some sort of inspection, returning with permission from the princess to visit the library under the condition that Twilight’s size be kept secret and her safety certain.

And so, Twilight sat comfortably in Calm Song’s saddlebags as they were escorted to the Royal Library. Curious, the little filly peeked out of a small opening at the top of her hiding place, noticing as they passed pockets of disinterested nobles, busy servants, and statuesque guards.

Twilight’s brow furrowed as something caught her attention. All of the pegasus guards had white coats and sported dark-blue manes, exactly like Steel Blade, while the unicorn guards had grey coats and bleached manes, exactly unlike Overwatch, whose amber mane and golden eyes contrasted greatly with her dark coat.

When the group arrived at the library and Calm Song approached the librarian to explain the situation, Twilight poked her head out and called quietly for Steel Blade. Once she had his attention, she asked, “Why are all the guards the same color?”

Steel Blade thought for a moment before tapping his armor with a hoof. “Enchantments on the armor. They change our appearance as soon as we put them on,” he smiled, sounding much more confident than his other interactions with the little filly. “The uniform of the Royal Guards goes beyond just the fancy dress.”

Twilight glanced over at Overwatch, “So why is she a different color?”

Steel Blade shrugged, “No one really knows. Transformative magic just washes off of her. Hasn’t stopped her from being an exceptional guard.”

Twilight gave him an innocent smile, “Like you, right?”

A blushing Steel Blade was saved from responding when Calm Song turned back to them, stating that the library would be closed as long as the Princess’s Student wished to stay. The mint green librarian with a blonde mane gave them a warm smile, reaffirming the foalsitter’s words before trotting to herd the rest of the ponies in the library out and placing a “Closed” sign on the massive doors.

It took the good part of the hour before the group maneuvered through all of the rows, looking over the contents of most of the shelves. When Calm Song asked Twilight where she wanted to begin reading, the tiny filly guided them into the aisle devoted entirely to books about magic.

Twilight scanned the shelf in front of her quickly from her new perch on Calm Song’s head. It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for, and with a surge of pink magic, she selected the thickest, heaviest tome from the top shelf and dropped it roughly on the table with a loud thump.

Twilight hopped down to her prize, an encyclopedia of nearly every subject in magic, and popped it open to the table of contents. It took a moment of complete silence before the filly looked up and into the astonished face of Calm Song.

“How did you do that?” Calm Song asked, clearly still impressed, “Most of the unicorns I know can barely lift their own body weight.”

“Um... Practice? Princess Celestia makes me levitate heavy objects a lot. This book isn’t really that bad.”

Calm Song looked at Twilight in amazement. If Twilight was the same size as a regular pony, she’d probably have no problems levitating a giant brown bear. Slightly embarrassed at the attention, the tiny filly turned back to the book in question, flipping rapidly through the pages on Transformation and Transfiguration. She turned back to the shelf and attempted to float out a large mass of books on the same topic, but was soon stopped when her field of vision was blocked.

“Only one book at a time, miss,” Steel Blade stated. “You know what happens when you try to carry too much.”

Twilight huffed and put back the books, selecting only one to begin flipping through. The librarian was nice enough to reserve the entire library for her, and she didn’t need to have a magic surge next to all those precious, vulnerable books.

For the next few hours, Twilight spent her time reading books she had picked out. Calm Song felt more than a little bored as she watched the little filly reading the literature with an impressive speed, although her boredom was replaced with awe every time Twilight seemed to effortlessly float a book through the air with her magic. After all, if she were as small as the tiny filly, such a feat of strength would be well beyond her abilities.

To the relief of Twilight’s companions, no accidents occurred throughout the reading session outside of the one minor incident where Twilight had lost her focus over her magic, causing a book she was levitating to land on her instead of the table that Twilight had annexed. Thankfully, neither Twilight nor the traitorous book were harmed outside of a scuffed cover and a bruised pride. The guards had never felt so grateful for Celestia’s protection spell as they had then.

It was not long before the moon was raised. Calm Song returned the book that Twilight was currently reading to its correct spot and tucked the filly back into her saddlebags, motioning for the guards that they were ready to return to the princess’s bedchambers. Twilight gave little more than a soft whine, already lost in magical dreams of the adventures of Fort Book.

Ch3 - The Dragon and the Knight ( updated )

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 3

The Dragon and the Knight

A silent Shining Armor strode through the hallways of the castle, lead by a formal Princess Celestia.

He’d gotten the news only yesterday that his little Twiley had become the personal student of Her Highness and he was still in a state of shock about the whole reveal. He’d barely heard the princess’s offer to allow him to visit her as he dug through piles of unread letters from his parents. He was generally too tired by the end of training to even think about them, and now he was regretting that he had not read those letters when he had the chance.

“Sergeant Shining Armor,” Celestia formally began, drawing Shining Armor out of his contemplative silence. “First of all, I deeply apologize for forgetting to allow you to visit your sister until two years after I took her in as my student. I had wanted to give her enough time to adapt to her new environment and my duties as the Princess of Equestria demanded much of my attention. Although I allowed your parents to visit her anytime they wished, I did not realize that Twilight had a brother to whom I must also extend the privilege. Please accept my apologies.”

Shining Armor sighed. “I understand, Your Highness, but I feel that part of the blame is on me. I was too preoccupied with my training that I’ve completely forgotten to read through the letters that my own parents have been sending me. They were quite ecstatic about Twilight’s future as your student, and if I had known, I would have asked for your permission sooner. Please do not blame yourself for my carelessness; you already have plenty on your mind without concerning yourself with me.”

Celestia gave a small frown, “Have they told you anything else about Twilight?”

“Ummm... No, Your Highness,” Shining Armor shot a confused glance at Celestia. “I don’t know much else outside of Twilight becoming your student and a small portion of her ongoing studies, which I didn’t know until yesterday. Better late than never, I guess.”

Celestia grinned despite herself. It sounds like he doesn’t know about Twilight’s little condition. It’ll be amusing to see his reaction when he discovers how fitting the term “little sister” is. The two arrived in front of princess’s chambers and the two guards outside opened the door to allow them entrance.

***

Twilight waved to Calm Song as she left before levitating a few books over to the bed. As good as she was at keeping Twilight happy and occupied, Celestia decided that she needed a foalsitter that had the ability to help her student improve her magic. Cadence was still busy with the Manehattan Press, and it seemed that there were a few bumps that she had run into that she wanted to resolve, so word on that opportunity may be late in coming.

An hour and several books later, Twilight’s Serious Study Period was interrupted when the doors opened with a glow of magic.

“Hey Twiley? It’s me, your BBBFF,” Shining Armor stepped carefully into the room, though his excitement at seeing his sister quickly changed into confusion as he looked at the books piled on top of the large bed with no sign of the purple filly.

“Hey Shiny!” a small voice drew his attention to the little purple unicorn now bouncing on the bed, waving energetically at him.

Shining Armor slowly approached the bed, his eyes wide in surprise as the object of his attention crystallized into a tiny version of the little sister he had known. “Twiley? Is that really you?”

“Of course it’s me! Who else could I be?” Twilight replied, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She’d expected him to sweep her up in a warm hug, but the detached expression on his face was starting to worry her.

Shining Armor turned back to glare at Celestia. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked harshly, forgetting that he was speaking to the princess.

“I shrank her, Sergeant Armor,” Celestia replied, slightly amused. It was completely reasonable that he’d be a bit peeved that something happened to his sister that he didn’t know about. Then again, it was his fault that he didn’t read his parent’s letters very carefully.

“Yes, I can see that! But why?” Shining asked, beginning to lose his composure. The guards at the door had already begun watching him closely, and Steel Blade began to approach the officer until he was blocked by alicorn’s wing.

Celestia gave a chuckle. “So that she would not hurt anypony with her magic surges,” she replied calmly and simply.

Shining Armor let out a huff, but seemed to visibly calm down. “Magic surges? You’re going to have to explain that.”

“I’m not very good at controlling my power, Shiny,” Twilight interjected, causing her brother to face her instead, “The princess shrank me so that my surges wouldn’t be a danger to anypony. She accepted me as her student so that she could teach me to control my magic, but until I stop having surges, I will have to remain at this size.”

Shining Armor frowned, “But there has to be a better way than just shrinking you. There are too many things that could harm you when you’re so small.”

“Don’t worry, I have Princess Celestia and two of her guards to help keep me safe. The princess even casts a protection spell on me often, to compensate for my size.”

Shining Armor cast a glance at the alicorn and the two guards in question before turning back to Twilight, “Are... are you really okay with this?”

Twilight responded by nodding energetically. “Mm hmm! I can read as much as I want, I’m learning a lot about magic, and I get to spend time with the princess.”

Shining Armor continued to stare at Twilight, already relaxing. His sister seemed to be taking this well and if she was happy with the situation, well, it wasn’t his place to tell her otherwise. If anything, Princess Celestia would probably be the best choice in keeping Twilight safe.

A moment of silence passed before Shining Armor sighed and embraced the tiny filly in a careful hug, “Alright then, Twiley. If there’s anything you want to talk about or anything you need from me, just ask, alright? I’ll try to visit as often as I can. Love you, lil’ sis.”

“Love you too, BBBFF. Hey, wanna play with me for a while?” Twilight asked, beaming up at him.

“Uhhh, sure. What do you have in mind?” Shining Armor asked.

“Hide and Seek!” Twilight exclaimed, happy that her BBBFF was back to normal.

***

A half an hour later, the two of them, Twilight and Shining Armor, rested comfortably on the bed while Twilight began to recount the past two years under Celestia’s tutelage, telling her brother what she had studied and everything that had happened. Everything. Celestia did not fail to notice the twitch in sergeant’s eye when Twilight went through the bathroom incident and the fake smile he wore when the needle accident was mentioned, and it pained her to recall these episodes of her life. Twilight concluded on a good note with a visit to the Library, smiling as she finished her recollection.

“Wow, Twiley. You have had a very interesting time here. I’m so proud that you’ve managed to adapt so well to your difficult life.” Shining Armor forced a grin onto his face and shot a glare at Celestia, who turned red and gave a weak smile, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“Well, it wasn’t that hard,” Twilight replied, oblivious to the discomfort of the others. “I mean, the first couple weeks were the hardest, but they’ve already passed. Now, I can even visit the library and go through the books there, though I’m not allowed to visit for very long. Brave Blade said it was because I’m a classified pony, whatever that means!” Twilight finished cheerfully, though she made a note to look up what “classified” meant later.

“That’s good, Twiley. Anyway, could you pardon me for a second? I need to have a private talk with the princess, right?” He turned to look at Celestia, who pointedly did not meet his gaze.

“No problem, BBBFF! Just don’t take too long; you still need to tell me about what you’ve done!”

Shining Armor and Celestia moved outside, leaving Twilight to return to her books. As soon as the doors shut behind them, Shining Armor cast an opaque dome around the two while Celestia soundproofed it.

Certain that everything was in place, Shining Armor dropped his false front, scowling at the princess. “I don’t believe you’ve told me about the multiple times my sister almost died,” Shining Armor growled between grit teeth. “My parents left her under your care because they trusted you to keep her safe and this is how you honor that commitment?”

Celestia gave a deep sigh. “I am truly sorry that I had allowed her to place herself in such danger,” she admitted, lowering her head in apology. “But I did everything in my power to ensure your sister’s safety.”

“Everything in your power? You raise the sun and the moon every single day and yet you can’t keep one filly from almost drowning?” Shining Armor said, his words biting and harsh, “I don’t believe you are paying enough attention to her as you should.”

Celestia straightened up, looking gravely at the stallion, “I cannot watch her all day. I am doing my best to teach her and keep her safe, but even I can make mistakes.”

“Then perhaps you need better help. Ponies that are smart enough not to let my little sister play with needles.”

“I have already hired an experienced foalsitter and I have two extremely well-trained guards keeping an eye on her at all times. I even cast a protection spell on her daily. What else can I do?” Celestia replied, stern and unwavering.

“How about actually keeping her away from danger? How about actually caring for her safety? I bet you don’t even care about her any more than you care about the other countless subjects you rule over every day,” Shining Armor snorted loudly. “I bet you left her alone, hoping that she’ll have to use her magic to save herself from some danger that you—”

Shining Armor was cut off by a solid hoof to the face by Celestia’s golden horseshoe. “Do you think that I do not care about her? That I enjoy keeping her small and vulnerable? That I enjoy keeping her in a world suddenly filled with danger wherever she goes?” Celestia shouted, her voice cracking. “Yes, she is one of my subjects, and I try to treat all of my subjects fairly, but do you have any idea how I felt when the filly that I’d promised to nurture and protect almost died while I wasn’t watching her?”

Shining Armor shrank back, his anger giving way to guilt as he realized exactly what he had just accused the princess of.

Celestia took a deep breath, calming her nerves. “It broke my heart to see her nearly die in front of me, but returning her to her original size will only make things worse. As of now, she is safe from the magic surges that would otherwise tear her apart, and that means that she’s already safe from her greatest danger.”

“Then... perhaps I can assist? I know plenty about barrier magic and protective spells. Maybe I can—”

Celestia cut him off, her voice returning to its former calm tone. “And what would you do? Resign from the guard and spend every day and hour looking after your little sister? You can’t keep her in a bubble, and she won’t be happy that you’re interfering with her study of magic.”

Shining Armor turned away, and Celestia continued, “I encourage you to keep visiting; she needs the company. But don’t throw your own future away. She is in good hooves now.”

Shining Armor gave a nod, dispelling his shield after multiple reassurances that his words would not affect his life in the Royal Guard. They were greeted by a smiling Twilight Sparkle, who was perched on the head of a similarly grinning Overwatch and accompanied by a slightly surprised Steel Blade.

“See?” Overwatch commented to Twilight. “Told you everything would be fine. Call it a mare’s intuition.”

Twilight nodded and turned to look at the puzzled faces of Celestia and Shining Armor, “She said that there were a lot of bad feelings between you two, but it looks like it all worked out!”

Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief and the group re-entered Celestia’s chambers, “Indeed they have. C’mon Twiley, I still have to tell you about my time in the guard!”

A year later, Calm Song returned from another fruitful day in the Royal Library with her charge safely tucked into a book-filled saddlebag. It may not have been fruitful for the foalsitter, but it had certainly been fruitful for Twilight.

A distant sound of running hooves echoed down to them as they trotted through the corridor. A baby dragon hurtled around the corner at top speed, closely pursued by a multitude of older unicorns. Calm Song stopped suddenly, blinking. Dragons were not exactly common fare, but as a foalsitter with plenty of experience working with others, it was clear that this little creature looked terrified, not terrifying. The dragon collided with her forehoof while it was looking backwards, knocking Calm Song out of her stupor. She looked down at the little dragon and asked kindly, “I’m sorry, little one. Are you alright?”

“We have you now, you little menace,” shouted one of the adult unicorns, a note of triumph in his voice as he dashed up and wrapped the little dragon in a magical spell. The little dragon fought against his magical bonds, but no avail, going limp as he looked up at the foalsitter with tears in his eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing to that poor baby?” asked Calm Song, sounding anything but calm as she tried to wedge herself in between the unicorn and his captured dragon.

A second older unicorn came panting up and shoved her aside, adding his magic to the little dragon’s magical bonds. “Look, miss,” he began, straightening up and catching his breath, “We’re the university’s experts on draconic culture here, and Princess Celestia put this dragon into our care because of that fact. We treat him properly, but he refuses to stay put, scurrying away whenever our backs are turned. Quite ungrateful, if you ask me.” He shot an irritated glare at the little dragon, to which the dragon responded by sticking out his long forked tongue and hissing.

As Calm Song and the unicorns argued bitterly over the proper treatment of the draconic youth, Twilight peeked out from her foalsitter’s saddlebags, instantly recognizing the baby dragon.

“Hey, it’s you! I remember you!” shouted Twilight as she tried to attract the dragon’s attention. Surrounded by the unicorn’s magical bonds, the little dragon stopped struggling and turned to the source of the new voice, his eyes alighting with a glimmer of recognition as Twilight climbed out of the saddlebags onto Calm Song, beginning her precipitous ascent up her foalsitter’s mane.

The unicorn professors went silent as they noticed the tiny unicorn climbing across Calm Song’s back, up her mane, and to her nose. Their fascinated gaze alternated between the tiny filly and the little dragon being levitated between them.

“It’s you!” the second unicorn gasped and staggered back, pointing a shaky hoof at Twilight. It wasn’t easy to forget the filly that had shown such a display of raw power during her entrance exam.

Twilight Sparkle looked over at the speaker and recognized him as one of the evaluators she had unwittingly assaulted during her entrance exam, although now, he looked terrifyingly huge. She blushed with embarrassment and, finding nothing to hide behind on her foalsitter’s nose, she settled for a timid wave and a meek, “H-hello?”

She quickly retreated to her foalsitter’s saddlebags as more of the university’s professors showed up, hiding away from the barrage of questions that quickly ensued. Despite Calm Song’s best efforts, the university professors hauled away the little dragon, still struggling and screaming inside his magical bonds until his voice faded into the distance. Twilight’s guards, aided by a few other guards who had heard the commotion, quickly dispersed the crowd of curious professors from interfering with Calm Song and her tiny charge, and they all went their separate ways.

Later that evening, Twilight recounted the events on the way back from the library to her mentor. Princess Celestia, concerned about the exposure of her faithful student, made a special note to visit the professors in question to remind them about their promise to keep Twilight’s condition secret.

However, Twilight’s questions about the baby dragon bothered her more. The little filly was very concerned about him, asking how he was being taken care of, what he was being fed, and if he had enough playtime to assure adequate physiological and psychological development in the critical formative years of draconic youth. Her reading quickly included several books on the subject, and after seeing how the university’s professors treated the little dragon, she was quite adamant about assisting with his proper care. After all, he had recognized her and calmed down in her presence in the hallway. She reasoned that a reassuring presence should make him much happier.

Celestia began to mull over the situation. It was Twilight’s magic that hatched his egg, and since she was the first living creature he saw after being hatched, he may even think of her as his mother. Now that he’s seen her again, it will be even more difficult to keep them separated, and the last thing I need is a baby dragon crawling into our bed in the middle of the night.

Perhaps I should visit his caretakers and make it certain that they are to take their important task seriously. If they can assure me he will behave, I shall allow him to visit Twilight under my close supervision.

Her plan of action set, Celestia gave her ruling on the subject. “I’m afraid you cannot raise a baby dragon by yourself. You are far too young and far too small. He could easily injure you by accident,” she began, trying to ignore the pleading expression on her student’s face. “However, I believe I can permit him to visit when I will be around to ensure your safety.”

“Huzzah!” Twilight bounced happily around the bed, doing the occasional flip as she hit a particularly springy spot. She jumped back over to the princess and wrapped the royal muzzle in her tiny hooves, bringing a welcome smile to Celestia’s face.

“You are very welcome, Twilight,” Celestia responded, waiting patiently for the filly to stop hugging her nose. Once the little filly had returned to her happy bouncing around the bed, she asked, “Are you hungry?”

Twilight suddenly stopped. ”Maybe a little,” she admitted as she trotted over to the edge of the bed and looked at the food spread around the endtable, brought in only moments before when she was distracted by her glee. Before Celestia could levitate the food over to her, Twilight quickly called out, “Wait, could I try?”

Celestia blinked in surprise, but quickly realized her student’s intention. “You want to eat on your own, don’t you, Twilight?” With an energetic nod from her faithful student, Celestia smiled and nodded back. “Go ahead, but please be careful.”

She watched carefully as Twilight prepared to use her magic. It had been three years since she had taken up Twilight Sparkle as her personal student, and her magical control had advanced greatly as she matured into the extraordinary ten-year old filly she was now. That said, Celestia still kept an eye on her faithful student, hoping to prevent another accident before it could even think of occurring.

It was not a problem for Twilight to levitate each part of the meal individually; she certainly had the strength behind her telekinesis. Her main problem was control, and the teacup to the side of the meal represented her ultimate challenge in telekinetic finesse.

The heavy porcelain teacup levitated slowly over to Twilight before stopping an inch in front of her. Seeing an impending disaster about to occur, Celestia quickly cast a chilling spell on the boiling hot tea, cooling it down to room temperature. It tipped slowly in Twilight’s direction as she stood on the tips of her hooves, sweat dripping from her brow as she leaned in farther and farther.

She stumbled, and the cup quickly upended over her. She gave a quick yelp before the cup dropped down, completely trapping her beneath it.

Celestia burst out laughing as she quickly grasped the teacup in her magic, revealing a dripping wet unicorn filly trying to hide her reddened face under her hooves. Celestia levitated Twilight up from the wet spot on the bed up to her face, grinning dastardly as she stopped her laughing.

"Twilight, while I admire your rather novel approach to bathing, I believe that tea is not quite as effective as good old soap and water,” Celestia stated. “Which is what I think we’re going to need more of.”

Twilight’s embarrassment had threatened to turn to depression, but she soon perked up. “Bathtime?” Her heart started to beat faster at the very thought of that dreadful activity. Celestia sighed as she carefully lifted the filly’s little head with her bare hoof, giving her a warm smile while looking into those little terrified eyes. "If it will help calm you down, why don't we try taking a bath together. It could be fun."

Twilight flinched, falling on her back and quickly grabbing her tail with her forelegs before holding it tightly against her shivering body. ‘N-no, please…”

The princess’s enthusiasm didn’t leave her as she carefully nuzzled Twilight’s belly, tickling it as the filly giggled despite herself. “I promise nothing bad will happen. You have my word.”

Twilight stopped giggling, her shivering gone as she look into her mentor’s soft eyes, staring for seconds without blinking. “You won’t… you promise?”

Celestia nod her head as Twilight stand, her forelegs straightened upwards as if trying to reach her, “Just… don’t leave me…”

The filly’s fear of the terrible bathtub slowly faded once Celestia allowed the little unicorn to share the bathtub with her, turning the once-dreaded ordeal into another time to play. In a few short minutes, the princess had run a nice, warm tub of soapy water and climbed in, levitating her little student into its sudsy embrace. With an expansive wing on either side to keep Twilight from sinking and a little yellow rubber duck as large as the filly was, Twilight splashed and played on a giggling alicorn’s barrel until she was forcibly removed and dried with a fluffy towel.

After a final magical training session while the two waited for their coats to dry, Celestia tucked her exhausted student into bed, smiling.

The tiny filly lay curled up the pillow like a kitten with her knees touching her muzzle and her tail covering her face. She had sunk into the pillow's soft surface without a single complaint, preferring it to her sleeping spot in the dollhouse. It was hard to believe that this was the same student who had caused so much damage during her entry exam, nearly ruining the examination hall and smashing a giant hole in the roof.

Celestia suddenly perked up, “I almost forgot, Twilight. Since you were the one who hatched the baby dragon, perhaps you should be the one to name him. What do you think?”

Twilight raised her head and blinked sleepily. “Spike,” she declared after a few minutes thought, “His name should be Spike.”

“Spike. That’s a nice name for a dragon,” Celestia smiled and gave Twilight a gentle kiss before turning down the lights and leaving to raise the moon. The warmth that filled her heart was a strong reminder of the times she had spent with Luna, especially now that her hopes for the safe return of her little sister seemed closer than ever.

Source

Ch4 - Stargazing

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 4

Stargazing

Eight years before Nightmare Moon's return

It had been five years since Celestia took Twilight Sparkle up as her faithful student.

In that time, Brave Blade had easily tracked down Rainbow Dash, the pegasus filly who had created the Sonic Rainboom. She had created it during an impromptu racing event and had earned her cutie mark soon after. Her involvement in the whole event, however, was obscured behind the wonder of the event itself. It was not easy to convince the filly to keep it quiet, but Rainbow Dash was quickly compliant when Fluttershy was mentioned.

The whole situation with Fluttershy had shocked Celestia. Perhaps it was assumed that all pegasi enrolled at the academy could fly, but that was little excuse for the lack of safety measures that nearly led to the death of the pegasus filly, who was nudged off the safety of her cloud by a speeding Rainbow Dash. Fortunately and quite remarkably, she had been saved by a passing cloud of butterflies and had earned her cutie mark soon after the Rainboom.

Fancy Pants had managed to track down a unicorn filly by the name of Rarity, who had gone missing a day before the Rainboom, having given a quick shout to her parents about destiny while being dragged away by her glowing horn. She had returned the late afternoon after the Rainboom with an unexplained massive stock of gemstones that she used to beautify the costumes used in the pageant the next day.

Fancy Pants had also received word from Manehatten that concerned a young farm filly named Applejack. The upper-class Orange family had lamented Applejack’s sudden conviction to return to Sweet Apple Acres soon after the Rainboom, where her cutie mark had appeared.

There was still one possible Element missing, but there was still eight more years left to find it. At the moment, the other four possible bearers had already settled or had prepared to settle in Ponyville. Rarity had been absolutely entranced by the Carousel Boutique, which was left to her rural family after retirement of a fashionista relative. Fluttershy had expressed her desire to settle near a forest filled with critters and Celestia had quietly provided a nice, cheap cottage next to the Everfree forest where the old castle crumbled away. To her parents’ surprise, Rainbow Dash was prepared to leave with Fluttershy on the day of her birthday, deciding that flight school had little else to teach her, and was already building her own cloud house with spare materials from her temporary internship at the weather factory. Applejack was already living at the edge of Ponyville and needed no intervention. Twilight, of course, was right with Celestia and could be sent to Ponyville whenever she wished, and with her resources, it would be easy to gather the bearers in Ponyville even if they eventually decided not to settle there.

It was not the most honest thing, Celestia knew, to manipulate her subjects like this, but if the Elements had already chosen them, they would need to be together. She just needed to make sure that they were together by the time Luna returned.

Nightmare Moon herself would be strong and experienced in combat, but with the resources of Equestria, Celestia would have no issues taking her down. The problem lay within defeating Nightmare Moon without hurting her sister inside, and since Nightmare Moon would never accept defeat, such a task was indeed formidable.

It was a gamble to rely on being able to activate the Elements of Harmony again, but if there was a chance that it could end the conflict without Luna or anypony else getting hurt, it was a gamble worth taking.

Celestia, as usual, was the first to wake, quietly stretching out the kinks in her back before lighting the darkness of the night with her horn. She looked at her faithful student curled up on the pillow next to her.

It still bothered her that she was forced to keep her student tiny. Even after so long, Twilight was still unable to withhold her surges whenever she overexerted her magic and as a result, she had to remain at her size, hidden away from any other ponies her own age.

Celestia turned on the lights and next cast her daily protection spell on Twilight with her magic before nudging the pillow on which her student rested. "Rise and shine, my little Sparkle."

Twilight woke with a quiet, “Shmerrr.” She yawned before straightening up and turning to face her mentor. “Good morning, Princess!”

Celestia gave a warm grin to her student when a quick rapping on the chamber’s doors drew their attention. She gave a quick, “You may enter,” and the doors slowly opened with a glow of magic, allowing a few servants bearing breakfast and tea to enter, accompanied by a professional Steel Blade and a yawning Overwatch. The servants each left their offerings on the endtable, giving a quick nod before retreating back to the kitchens. The two guards took their posts at the door following a short acknowledgement of the Princess and a polite bow.

Twilight wasted no time levitating the teapot and a pair of cups. “Tea, Princess?” she asked cheerfully, determined to take every opportunity to practice her magic.

Celestia gave a nod, watching as Twilight slowly poured the tea. None of this was beyond her ability, but Twilight had proven consistently that she wanted to do everything she could to help out and this was no exception. She allowed the teacup to get close enough to touch with a hoof before taking it up in her own magic and taking a sip.

The princess set her teacup down with a slight rattle as she surveyed the rest of the table. The castle’s kitchen had prepared a wide variety of foods, ranging from a deceptively simple hay sandwich to an elaborate cake that should never be eaten at breakfast. Ever. If there was a reason that Celestia may have put on a few pounds over the centuries, it would have mostly been the kitchen staff’s fault for waging war on her with delectables. It would not have been very sporting of her if she did not have a taste or two or three of everything they had cooked up.

Celestia cut out a suitably small enough to be considered restrained but still large enough to be enjoyed slice of cake and began eating as Twilight, who had moved onto the table itself, levitated her own small piece of food to eat. It was unnecessary for the kitchens staff to cook for two ponies since Twilight needed little more than an fiftieth of what normal ponies needed, and the princess was more than willing to share.

The moment Celestia levitated another piece of cake over. Twilight had levitated over a large cup of tea before carefully and deliberately tilting it so she could take a sip herself. It was a far cry from a few years back, when the cup itself would spill half of its contents on its way to her and the other half when she tried to drink from it. It was good progress, but Twilight needed to be challenged, and the teacup held little else for her to benefit from.

Celestia finished her breakfast, setting an empty teacup down as she lowered her head beside Twilight. “It’s time to raise the sun. Would you like to watch?” she asked, already knowing the answer to her question. Twilight gave a quick nod before clambering onto Celestia's head, ducking and dodging as the Royal Accouterments floated into position and taking her place behind her mentor’s crown.

Twilight had always been impressed by the Princess' graceful gait, even more so since she had begun to ride on her head. There was not even the slightest bump as Celestia strode purposefully to her traditional spot for the sunrise, even with the addition of one last piece of cake floating in her magical field behind her as she walked.

It seemed to take a little longer than usual for the princess to get situated, finishing off the last of the cake and positioning herself in the direction of the glowing moon. The dark patches on the celestial orb looked darker this morning as Twilight stared in fascination, engrossed in the soft flow of her mentor's power. Ever so slowly, the moon slipped below the horizon, seeming somewhat reluctant in its journey, but once it had been put to rest, Twilight turned to the other horizon in anticipation.

The sun surged up in a blaze of warm light, making Twilight suck in a breath despite herself. Despite having seen the process every day for the last few years, it still brought an infectious excitement to her heart as well as a string of excited babble every time.

Celestia paid little attention to her student’s praise as she looked to the horizon where the moon had disappeared. She lingered there on the balcony for a few more seconds before slowly turning to walk back to her chambers.

“It appears that our time for today is nearly over,” Celestia announced to her exhausted student, “I will have to go attend to my royal duties now, but if you wish to go anywhere today, just tell me now and I will have your guards escort you.”

The hour of magical weight training felt like it had lasted a lot longer than it actually had and Twilight was already exhausted, though she had managed to lift more than sixty times her weight before surging, a new record for the moment. It was as good a reason as any to bend the rules a bit.

“Well, could I play with Spike then? Please?” Twilight replied.

Celestia gave Twilight a nod. “Of course you can, but be careful though. I’m sure your two guards will help keep you safe, but they won’t be able to protect you from everything. He may have good intentions, but he’s still a young dragon and unaware of his own strength.” Spike had been able to visit fairly often now, much to Twilight’s delight, and at the age of five, Spike was a fair bit more careful than when he was an infant drake. It was yet another friend for Twilight to have, a rarity since she needed to be kept isolated from the dangers of the world.

Twilight nodded energetically. “No problem, Princess! I’ll be careful,” she offered before plopping back in exhaustion.

Celestia gave a warm smile, levitating Twilight over to her pillow. “I’m sure you will, but for now, you need to rest from your training. I will ask the guards to summon Spike, so take care and enjoy yourself,” she said gently before departing, leaving her student alone with her two guards.

A light rapping on the door sounded, drawing Twilight’s attention. Steel Blade opened the door, revealing a pair of guards outside, Spike sitting happily on the back of one of them. After a round of formalities, Spike happily hopped to the ground, scurrying into the bedchamber as Steel Blade moved aside to grant him access.

"H-hi Twilith!" exclaimed Spike. The young drake did not take long to begin learning Equestrian, though he was advancing at a somewhat slower pace than young foals his age. It was assumed that since dragons lived to a longer age, draconic development also advanced at a slower pace, and although Spike had difficulties with language, Twilight understood him easily.

"Hey Spike! C’mon, wanna come read with me?" Twilight asked excitedly, sitting up on her pillow.

"Susss-sure" Spike slurred a bit, already attempting to climb up onto the bed. Twilight wished she could help him up with her magic. His diminutive size was betrayed by his scales’ combined weight. Spike was nearly thirty kilograms, which was extremely close to Twilight’s weight limit before she triggered a surge. It did not help that her magical reserves were now low, almost completely drained by her training. The issue was neatly solved, however, when Overwatch lightly levitated Spike up, placing him next to Twilight.

"Thank you, but could you please pass me that book over there?" Twilight asked, pointing to a book on a nearby table.

Overwatch looked to where she was pointing and levitated the book in question over. It was a colorful book filled with various foal-friendly tales and myths, perfect material to teach the young drake.

Twilight thanked the guard as the book was propped up in front of her and Spike. Though her magic was weakened, she still had no problems turning the light paper of the pages. "Okay Spike, say Equestria," she ordered softly to Spike, showing the baby dragon a drawing from the book. It was a beautiful hoof-drawn rendition of the country with the name “EQUESTRIA” written in large, flowing script at the top.

"Equesria," Spike replied.

"Almost! Try again. Ee-ques-tri-a."

"Ee-coo-est-ia," Spike sounded the word out slowly, trying to make sense of Twilight’s teachings. Unsatisfied, Twilight prompted him to try again.

"Ee-que-stra," Spike repeated, looking at Twilight, still unsure as to whether he got it correct this time.

Twilight smiled. "Very good Spike." His pronunciation was not quite perfect yet, but it was good to encourage him, and Spike loved her for it. His caretakers had taken to trying to teach him the language, but they seemed distant and distrustful, more interested in studying him than teaching him.

The guards returned to their spots around the door. This was not the first time Twilight had given Spike lessons in reading and writing and if the pattern continues, this session was going to last a few hours. They gave a collective sigh, but managed to smile warmly at the scene in front of them. This was going to be a long day.

Celestia finished with her duties late into the day, but had unfortunately gotten no word on the last Element Bearer, who she had surmised to be the Bearer of Laughter after looking through the files on the other bearers. Despite the best efforts of her agents, none of the organizations related to entertainment had reported any strange events following the Rainboom, and Celestia was running out of ideas of where to look. Her thoughts ended as the two guards opened the door to her chambers to allow her entrance.

"You're back, Princess!" Twilight exclaimed cheerfully, looking up from the book she was reading, "How was your day?" She was surrounded by books that were for foals far below her current age and Celestia quickly deduced what had occurred in her absence.

"My day? Nothing special, my faithful student," Celestia answered, looking as disinterested as she felt. "I signed a few good ideas into play, politely rejected several bad ideas, and spent a while talking with nobles."

Not that I am complaining too much. An uneventful day means that Equestria is peaceful and that my ponies are happy, though those nobles could do with a bit of shaping up. Elite of Canterlot, my flank. The vast majority of them are arrogant and useless, but with the immense influence that bits can get them, all I can do is make sure that they don’t try to pass any stupid laws. She sighed. Keeping with the feudal system all those centuries ago had been a remarkably bad idea.

At least I have Fancy Pants. He’s been able to help out immensely on the nobility front and thankfully, his popularity could sway anypony to his side, whether he’s aware of it or not.

"Oh. That’s disappointing," Twilight noted with a frown, but quickly cheered up. "Maybe we can have some fun together?"

Celestia smiled genuinely. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, but let me raise the moon first," Celestia explained, picking up Twilight as she walked over to her balcony.

Outside, Celestia raised her horn and prepared to set the sun, making place for the moon to raise in all it’s glory. It wasn't quite her element to be doing her sister's job, but daily practice over pretty much the last millennium had given her plenty of experience, and the moon moved smoothly to its rightful position in the sky.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Twilight asked. She caught Celestia's attention and pointed a hoof upwards, "Your night sky is so wonderful. The stars are so bright and though ponies see them every night, there’s so much still unknown about them. I found an astronomy book about the constellations and though there were many things I didn’t understand, I’m sure that when I grow up, I’ll be able to learn everything about the night sky and the constellations that you’ve made." Twilight smiled, continuing to gaze up at the night sky.

Celestia gave a weak smile, thankful that her student could not see her face easily from her perch. I am so sorry, sister. I’ve succeeded too well in keeping you a secret from the ponies that would hate and fear you and now my faithful student has praised me for your work, even though I haven't changed it in the slightest since the day of your banishment.

But it needed to be done. No one would have ever seen you as anything other than a monster if the story of the Mare in the Moon was thought of as anything but a fairy tale. Please, forgive me. Forgive me for being so blind. You’ve done so much for Equestria, from protecting it from monsters that lurk in the darkness, to bringing about a beautiful, serene night to allow it to rest, yet our subjects...

No, not even I had shown you the love that you deserved.

I had done nothing when you needed me the most and I failed to realize it until it was too late. Celestia lost herself in her thoughts, gazing at the moon, hoping that her thoughts would travel to her sister so far away.

In the end, I am still unable to correct this mistake, having to resort to using a filly to help redeem myself. She will have to be my means to an end, and all I can do is make her happy and prepare her for what is to come. Celestia’s eyes watered, but another smile soon worked its way onto her muzzle.

I’m sure you’ll have much to talk about with my faithful student. She seems quite interested in your art, Luna. I’ll see you soon. She turned to re-enter her chambers when a voice stopped her.

“Could we stay out here for a little longer?” Twilight asked. She was trying to look down into Celestia’s eyes, “We could read that complicated book about constellations together.”

Celestia turned to stare at the unused telescope next to her on the balcony, disuse and dust tarnishing its once former beauty. A moment passed before she swept it into position, calling for a guard to bring her the astronomy book that Twilight had mentioned.

Perhaps it is finally time for me to learn something about you, dear sister.

Bonus Ch - Twiny's Flu

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

Twiny’s Flu

Seven years before Nightmare Moon's return

Celestia walked back to her bedchamber, though it was more of a nervous trot as worry about her student overtook her. Twilight was already fourteen years old, however, the past six years she had spent by Celestia’s side as a tiny student had taught her that Twilight was not only vulnerable, but also prone to getting herself into trouble.

Being interrupted from her paperwork by a panicked Steel Blade and being called back into her bedchamber could only mean that something bad had happened, which Twilight was no doubt at the center of.

Slowly reaching her bedchamber, she noticed Overwatch standing next to an open door, quickly examining the features of her guard. Her helmet was no longer pressed on the unicorn’s head, her left ear was replaced by a banana, and a long beard was visible under her muzzle. Overwatch’s tail was pasta. The rest of her armor had a few dents and cracks, aside from a half-melted chestplate. Her body itself had a few scratches and burn marks, and smelled of burned hair.

While the transformation magic was working only temporarily and never caused any negative side-effects, Twilight’s parents turning into the plants being the first of many examples, the pony responsible would no doubt be Twilight Sparkle under the effect of a powerful magic surge.

Not wasting time to ask questions, Celestia stepped into her bedchamber in search for her student, her eyes widening upon seeing the mess.

An eiderdown blanket, star-strewn sheets and two large blue pillows were filled with small holes. Some had pieces torn off, some had black burn marks. The carpet on the floor was turned into a jelly. The lamp laid broken on the floor, its parts gathered into a pile with a magical yellow gem on the top.

After taking a few slows nervous steps inside to examine her surroundings, her breathing and heart-rate skyrocketed, she noticed small marks of damage on a nearby desk. The thick oak bookshelves and their contents were unharmed, as well as the various paintings.

It was understandable that the paintings had survived the magical surge, as these things were irreplaceable and protected by Celestia's personal preservation spells, and kept behind magically enhanced glass. The surprising part was how the thick oak bookshelves and the books thereon were unharmed, not sharing the room’s fate despite lacking any significant protection.

She gave Overwatch a quick glance and asked, “Did Twilight ask you to protect the books?”

“She pleaded for me to protect them as my top priority, Princess,” Overwatch said with a nod.

“Is my student in the medical wing recovering from her magic surge?” Celestia asked.

Overwatch shook her head.

“Is she hiding, afraid of punishment?” she asked. It wasn’t the first time the little mare hid in embarrassment after causing unintentional damage, though never on such a scale.

“She is hiding, but fear of punishment isn’t the only reason,” Overwatch started, pointing at her own helmet lying in the corner of the room. She sneezed before levitating a tissue up to her nose. She blushed and tapped her forehooves together. “She may have… kind of… caught the flu.”

“The flu?” Celestia asked before slowly approaching the helmet. She lowered herself and called, “Twilight, please, do not hide from me. I am not going to punish you.” Her voice was as motherly and caring as she could muster. A moment later, her ears picked up a noise of metal shaking on the floor. It was caused by the helmet. She lit her horn to levitate the damaged helmet away, only for it to shatter into small pieces.

Celestia blinked in confusion before glancing down at the trembling Twilight, who looked up into her eyes in fear.

“P-princess. I’m sorry!” The little unicorn bowed, head pressed against the floor.

“Please stop apologizing and tell me if you are hurt,” Celestia said, taking off her gold-like shoe before levitating Twilight, placing her on the softer part of her forehoof. “Are you sick?”

Twilight nodded hesitantly, her cheeks and forehead red. Suddenly, her nose twitched before a weak little sneeze escaped her mouth. Much to the alicorn’s surprise, a thin beam shot from Twilight’s horn, hitting the ceiling. Small bits of rubble fell down onto the princess’ head.

In an instant, the pieces of the puzzle came together, and she looked around. So that’s what happened. Even after six years of training, she can only control a small part of her magic. Being sick weakens her control. She looked at her student in pity before sighing and shaking her head.

It’s not everyday I can say that a fourteen year old filly managed to damage a guard’s armor and ruin my bedchamber... unintentionally… because of the flu… at such diminutive size. I can only imagine the destruction she would cause at her full size.

With the help of a few repairing spells, Princess Celestia salvaged both pillows, partially fixed the rest of the bed while the jelly on the floor changed back to carpet.

"Um, princess?" Overwatch called, blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh, of course." Celestia turned her her attention to Overwatch, bathing her in a soft light. The guard sighed relief as the banana turned back into her ear and the pasta became her tail again.

After carefully placing her student on the blue pillow which served the tiny mare as a bed, Celestia glanced at the guard-mare and asked, “What was the cause behind my student’s sickness? Was it result of the cold as she played on the balcony? Or did somepony infect her?”

Overwatch rubbed back of her neck, her nose twitching as she smiled awkwardly. “Well… Your Highness…” She took a few quick breaths before sneezing, wiping her nose with a foreleg right after. Upon seeing a suspicious glare, she said, “It may… kind of… be my fault.”

“Explain?” Celestia said, taking a comfortable position on her bed next to her student.

“There is a flu epidemic in the castle… nothing serious. I probably caught it from others and spread it to Twilight. The symptoms started showing up earlier today, resulting in…” Overwatch’s explanation was interrupted by Twilight’s sneeze as little beam of magic struck the side of the alicorn’s neck, splashing harmlessly against an unnoticeable golden aura. “... that.”

A flu epidemic? Now it makes me wonder if my subjects at the castle are prone to hiding their illnesses from me, or am I so focused on paperwork and day court that I’ve stopped paying attention.

“Should I call the doctor?” Overwatch asked.

Celestia frowned thoughtfully, looking between her trembling student and the embarrassed guard-mare. She placed her wing over her student to warm her. While she’d ensured that the medical wing would be ready for Twilight in case of injury or accident caused by a magic surge, sickness was another story.

Spells to cure sickness were rarely used as they weakened the immune system, making the patient more vulnerable for many months. The best solution would be to help Twilight recuperate with some warm soup, basic medicine and care. With doctors most likely dealing with the flu epidemic, she wouldn’t want to burden them with uncontrollable surges of the tiny filly.

“That shall not be necessary, Overwatch. I need you to inform the kitchen staff to prepare some carrot soup and hot chocolate,” Celestia ordered before looking at head of Steel Blade peeking from behind the door. “Steel Blade, would you please summon my secretary and the doctor. I will need to ensure more openings in my schedule to take care of Twilight; have instructions of what medicine she should be taking and in what dose.”

Both guards saluted and followed her orders, closing the door behind them. If the nobles complain, I can always say that the castle is temporarily closed due to the epidemic. Celestia glanced at her surprisingly quiet student, who had a few feathers rolled around herself and was deep in sleep.

A cheerful smile grew on the princess face as she always found her sleeping student adorable, especially if she slept on or under her wing. She cast a quick spell, called health bubble, to prevent any outside force worsening the situation. Now I will need to focus on you, my dear student. As a nearly two millennia old alicorn, nursing you back to health shouldn’t be all that difficult.

Ch5 - Lost

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 5

Lost

Six years before Nightmare Moon's return

“That’s enough for today my little student,” Celestia stated calmly as Twilight finished her eighth magic surge in the past hour, under the supervision of a medical professional. It had been seven years since Twilight had become her faithful student, and in the past few months, Twilight had demonstrated a powerful urge to succeed as she shifted from the theory of magic to the practical application of it.

“N-n-n-no. I c-can s-still—” Twilight demanded shakily. She attempted to rise, but her body failed to comply with her demands, and she plopped down on the blackened spot on the table, damaged through years of surges.

Celestia watched her tiny student with a smile. “Twilight, I am so very proud of you. You have worked far harder than I ever expected, and once again, you have exceeded my expectations,” Celestia stated before moving in to nuzzle Twilight warmly. Twilight returned the gesture as well as she could, despite her exhaustion. Celestia praised her faithful student often and enjoyed seeing her student beam in response. Her approval meant everything to Twilight, and the fact that Twilight pushed herself farther only made them all the more special.

Celestia straightened up and offered, “As a reward for your hard work, I will teach you a new spell.” Chuckling as Twilight immediately sat up beaming with excitement, she continued, “And considering your progress, I’d say we can move on to the more difficult spells.”

Twilight raised her hooves in celebration, giving an energetic whoop before collapsing on her back.

Celestia gave a mock look of worry. “But perhaps that should wait until you recover. You’re too tired to be trying advanced spells at the moment,” she noted, much to Twilight’s evident disappointment, “but while I’m gone, you can have a quick read through the subject and I’ll help teach you when I get back.”

A book flew over from the shelf, wrapped in Celestia’s golden aura, before presenting itself to Twilight and opening to the first page.

“Teleportation: A Study of the Theory and Methods Behind the Manipulation of Space,” Twilight read aloud before turning to Celestia expectantly.

“Yes, my faithful student. This book is a basic guide to short-range teleportation. You are making remarkably quick progress through your basics, so I decided to up the difficulty as it were,” Celestia stated as Twilight turned back to the book, speechless.

“You see, Twilight,” Celestia continued. “Unlike your general set of spells, the theory behind teleportation is so complicated that it requires a little less than one hundred pages to explain. That’s not even counting the ten extra pages detailing how to perform a successful casting.” She looked amusedly at Twilight, whose mouth still hung open.

Twilight failed to find words to express her excitement, instead bringing her hooves to her cheeks and giving a loud “Squeeee!” before attempting poorly to contain her jittery excitement.

Celestia levitated her student to her pillow and propped open the book in front of her on a nearby pillow, “Read through as much as you wish. I hope you’re not too tired to turn the pages with your magic.”

She turned to the nearby unicorn doctor as Twilight quickly began turning pages, asking, “How is she?”

“Better than I would expect,” the doctor replied. “Although her body is being damaged more and more often, she’s built up a very strong resistance to it. She will be all right, I believe, and I don’t think she’ll have to be admitted to the hospital this week.”

Celestia smiled, “That’s good to hear. You are dismissed, doctor; I do not believe she’ll be getting into any emergencies any time soon, as long as she’s distracted by that book. It’s very difficult material, and I’d be amazed if she manages to get through page twenty by the time I return.”

“You’re halfway done,” Celestia spoke in a flat monotone.

Twilight nodded energetically. “Mmhmm! Though I would have gotten farther if there weren’t so many complicated words and theories about submolecular transportation. Do you have any books on that subject? Also, did you knew that all teleportation spells have fail-safes to prevent the caster from teleporting into an object?” Twilight spoke quickly, moving from one topic to the next in rapid succession.

Celestia shook her head and chuckled, deciding to demonstrate the technique behind the spell instead, modelling for Twilight as she teleported a few feet inside of the bedchamber a couple times.

It did not take long before Twilight had finished the book. And finished re-reading the book. And re-re-reading the book. And reading all of the material on quantum materialization and transportation. By the end of the month, Twilight had all but completely memorized a number of texts that other unicorns took a full year to learn.

And she could not wait to try it out herself.

“I knew that spell was trouble!” Overwatch shouted as she pulled out all of the books on Celestia’s bookshelf to scan behind them. She neatly placed the books back in, briefly admiring her work before lifting the entire bookshelf up to check underneath it.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?” Steel Blade was panicking, his restless hooves doing a little dance as he looked desperately around the room. He jumped at a distracted Overwatch, shaking her back and forth as the bookshelf in her telekinesis smashed against the floor, “She disappeared ten minutes ago! What are we going to do!”

“Don’t worry, you blubbering blockhead.” The charcoal-coated mare pushed the panicked pegasus guard back before continuing, “Look, she’s not here right now, but I’m confident we’re gonna be able to find her, so just calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm down!” Steel Blade was hyperventilating, “The Princess’s personal student just disappeared from right under our noses. She could be anywhere right now, and we can’t keep her safe if we don’t know where she is! Oh sweet Celestia, we screwed up baaaad and we’re gonna end up banished! Or locked in a dungeon for the rest of our lives!” Having completely abandoned the stoic composure of the Royal Guard, he fell back, rolling around on the ground and already bemoaning his terrible fate.

Overwatch groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Nrrrrgggg...”

Twilight groaned as she sat up, shaking her head back into clear consciousness.

“What... just happened?” She blinked the double vision out of her eyes and looked around. She was now lying on the side of a cobblestone road flanked by rows of buildings that towered up over her. In her immediate vicinity was a large group of tables and chairs under a cloth overhang.

A small group of giant ponies had gotten up from their seats to stare at her curiously.

Think, Twilight, think. Okay. I was training my teleportation spell. So I looked around for somewhere to test it. And then I tried to teleport to the balcony. And then... She gasped, bringing her hooves to her muzzle. I accidentally teleported underneath the balcony. And then I fell. From the tallest tower in the castle. Twilight suddenly made a quick pat down of herself, wincing from the fresh bruises that mottled her damaged, but surprisingly unbroken, body. And I’m... still alive.

Chatter buzzed among the growing crowd as Twilight craned her head up to look at her tower. That’s impossible. I’ve been up on that balcony twice a day to watch the Princess raise the sun and moon and it was a loooong way down to Canterlot. No regular pony could ever survive such a...

Well, wait a second. I’m not exactly a normal pony, am I? Princess Celestia does cast a protection spell on me every day, and Mareleo Mareilei’s ‘Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences’ says that a small creature can fall much farther without injury than a large creature due to the Square-Cube law. She stood up shakily, but without any piercing pain, stretching out the kinks in her back. Urrrggg... That still doesn’t mean I should make a habit of this.

“Indeed. It is a unicorn. A unicorn the size of a small rat.”

Twilight jumped, suddenly aware that she was not alone as she looked up into the crowd of lavishly dressed ponies. Nobles.

“I disagree. It’s closer to the size of a young rabbit,” the stallion replied in a nasally voice as he adjusted his monocle.

“I must say, this is quite the rare encounter. I had no idea that foals could be so small,” a unicorn noble stated, leaning in closer.

“It looks more like a young mare to me,” stated another noble in an arrogant tone of voice as he casually levitated the tiny unicorn up to face level and began examining her from all sides.

“A young mare? Don’t be preposterous. No normal mare could ever be that small. It must be a genetic disease or some magical curse of some sort.”

The unicorn who was levitating Twilight leaned closer to her. “Who or what are you?” he asked, his pompous, booming voice causing Twilight to cringe.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight shouted, hoping to be heard above the crowd, “the personal student of Princess Celestia.”

Silence descended over the crowd as they looked at her, shocked.

The crowd suddenly began laughing uproariously, and Twilight yelped as she fell from the grasp of the noble unicorn, who had been taken by an uncontrollable fit of laughter. She fell with a grunt and barely had time to stand up again before she was swept off her feet again with a glow of magic.

“How delightful that a clearly defective pony like you could have anything to do with the beloved Princess!” the lead noble laughed, “We both know that can’t be true, so I shall ask again: What are you and how did you get so small?”

“I’m not lying! The Princess shrunk me with a spell so that I could learn magic as her student without hurting myself and others!” Twilight shouted.

Silence descended over the crowd again, though this time, they began murmuring amongst themselves.

“Well, if the Princess can raise the sun and the moon, I suppose shrinking ponies wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for her.”

“I’d heard rumors that Celestia was keeping a big secret. Y’know. Reserving the entire library for hours at a time.”

“I knew that I’d seen something falling from the Princess’s tower. Maybe she threw the little creature out herself.”

“And why would the Princess do that?”

“Maybe she got bored of her little plaything.”

Twilight scowled at the crowd. “How dare you! The Princess would never do such a thing! She’s kind and loving and way better than any of you will be! And I am not a toy!” she raged, though it was soon clear that none of the ponies had heard her or even bothered to pay attention to her.

With a cry of frustration, Twilight teleported out of the magical aura of the lead noble to the ground a few meters away, landing with a soft clack of her hooves on the cobblestones. It only took a moment for the curious ponies to notice their entertainment was missing, and with hope of a reward from the princess for returning her toy, they quickly began pursuit in an unexpected game of hide-and-seek that she found herself enjoying.

It was quite fortunate that the majority of the Canterlot nobility were soft and clumsy. Even though they managed to spot her and give chase, their fumbling hooves were easy to evade and their telekinesis even easier to teleport from. It was not long before the group began to tire, lagging behind the tiny Twilight as she dashed into a crowded marketplace.

Twilight dashed back and forth through the forest of hooves, hearing the sound of two Royal Guard landing behind her, most likely to control the strangely excited nobles. Lost in the heels of the market crowd, she hopped up into a nearby stall filled with various fruit, finding a good hiding spot between two melons near the back of the display rack.

It did not take very long for the commotion to cease, and Twilight passed the time by munching on a grape that had rolled behind the melons and probably would be thrown away anyway. Victory tasted delicious, and the grape fairly exploded with flavors that never seemed to exist around the plain grapes in the castle. Perhaps it was the exhilaration of the chase, or the excitement of surviving such a long fall, but her aching muscles and joints felt even better after the grape had been finished off and the seeds tossed to one side.

Once Twilight had caught her breath and was certain that no pony was watching, she squeezed past the watermelons she was hiding behind and prepared to return home. It had been a long run for the little unicorn, and despite her snack, she was too exhausted to attempt to teleport again with any degree of safety.

She looked determinedly at the castle, which had moved much farther away during her frantic escape. It was a long journey through back alleys and side-streets, but that was the only way to avoid the foolish ponies that would otherwise attempt to cage her away from her beloved mentor. Besides, she had survived the incredibly long fall with few injuries and the subsequent chase without a scratch, so a little trip across town should be easy.

Right?

Overwatch clung tightly to Steel Blade as he landed next to a large group of nobles. It was not difficult to tell that something was up when she spotted a group of weak and generally unathletic nobles attempting to run a marathon through the city. She landed unceremoniously with a clang of armor on cobblestone as Steel Blade stomped towards the nobles, who were now attempting to push their way through a marketplace.

“Alright! What’s going on here?” Steel Blade’s authoritative voice stopped the out-of-control nobles and they stared at him uncertainly. The rest of the ponies in the market backed away, unenthusiastic about messing with Royal Guard business.

A haughty unicorn noble trotted to the front, attempting to look like a figure of respect even as he gasped heavily. “Nothing... You need to... Concern yourselves over... Officers.” The noble straightened up and took a deep breath. “We’ve been pursuing a filthy rapscallion unicorn who claims that she’s the personal student to the Princess.”

Steel Blade narrowed his eyes, “And what does this filthy, rapscallion unicorn look like? Hmmm?”

“Ooh, a little lavender thing with two bands of color in her mane. Pink and a dark shade of purple, I believe. I hope you’ll be able to apprehend her, officer.”

“I sure will, but first things first,” Steel Blade forcefully swept up the noble in his grip, pulling the offender’s face uncomfortably close to his own scowling visage. “You do not assault Twilight Sparkle! Ever! Do you have any idea just how much trouble you’re in?”

The noble responded with an incoherent blubbering, trying to cower away from the enraged guard.

Overwatch pushed Steel Blade back roughly. “Tsk tsk. You can’t be doing that. Shouting will get you nowhere,” she scolded him, much to the relief of the noble that had dropped to the ground. “Here, let me show you how to do it properly.”

She fiercely looked into his eyes while pulling his head with her telekinesis up to her own face, “Let’s assume that what Twilight said was true. How do you think Princess Celestia will react after finding out that you and your friends were being mean to her student? I can already see your reputation crumbling like a tower of cards.” Noticing the noble gulp, Overwatch smirked. “So how about you tell me where she has gone and we will keep this little incident as secret? Unless you would like me to inform the princess how uncooperative the nobles are with her guards. So, do we have a deal?” The noble nodded hesitantly. “Perfect.”

For over three hours, Twilight snuck around the back streets of Canterlot, attempting to get back to the castle. What seemed to be such an easy task at first had turned into such a maze of blind alleys and wrong turns that she started to feel just a little mousy under her purple coat, thinking unwelcome thoughts of cheese. Whoever had designed the streets of Canterlot had been a military genius, because any invading army would be broken up into many smaller groups as they wandered the confusing streets, thinking the entrance to the castle was just around the corner, or over this decorative bridge. Without being able to teleport to a rooftop to get her bearings, Twilight Sparkle found herself getting farther and farther away from the golden spires of home to a section of town she had never seen before.

It was a much longer walk for her little hooves than she had expected, and after much fruitless exploration and hiding, Twilight found herself beneath a table in an outdoor restaurant, looking for a few fallen crumbs the pigeons had overlooked. She was unsure Princess Celestia would ever be able to find her before some little colt with a glass jar would bottle her up, and she would be trapped in a glass terrarium with a turtle and some limp lettuce for the rest of her life.

If only Princess Celestia would swoop down from the sky to rescue me. I miss her majestic white wings, so warm and soft, just like her caring voice—

“Hello, little one. Do you need any help?” Twilight startled and turned to her new visitor.

It was a mare who was speaking to Twilight, she had a beautiful face with a long white horn and violet eyes, but there was no familiarity in her soft voice and the Prench accent made Twilight pause for a moment to figure out just what she had said. A growing fear tightened around her chest as she looked back into the concerned mare’s face and she wanted to flee as fast as her tired hooves would carry her, but there was something familiar about that compassionate look that held her motionless.

“Do not be afraid, little one. My name is Fleur de Lis, and I’m a friend.” The white unicorn smiled gently as she spoke, keeping her distance away from the terrified little unicorn. “I’ve been hearing that a small unicorn was thrown out of Princess Celestia’s tower, and I’m sure she’s going to be looking for you.”

“She didn’t throw me out of the window,” Twilight said quietly, causing Fleur to lean a little closer to hear. “I just... teleported. It was an accident! Honest!” She stomped her little hoof on the sticky floor of the restaurant and shouted, “It’s just so frustrating! Why does this happen to me? I just want to... make her happy.”

“I know you must be upset, but I shall make certain you are returned to Princess Celestia as soon as possible. I don't have time to approach the Princess during a day court, but I know somepony who does. Would you accept our assistance?”

“Yes!” Twilight danced around in joy, leaping up on the surprised unicorn’s nose to give her a hug. “Thank you!”

“You are most certainly welcome,” replied Fleur, looking at the unicorn on her nose in a very cross-eyed way. “But I think you need to find a less obvious mode of transportation while we go to meet my husband.”

Twilight tried not to poke her head too far out of the ornate purse while Fleur trotted daintily along the street, but she was too excited to keep quiet. Her depression had turned to elation at the thought of meeting yet another famous pony in one day, and she could barely keep from jumping up and down to get her transportation to hurry up.

“Fancy Pants is your husband? The same Fancy Pants my mentor talks about all of the time? I can hardly wait to see him.”

“I am quite certain he will be overjoyed to meet you too, ma petite friend. Although I must ask you to please do not jump so inside my purse. It is an original, and quite expensive. We shall arrive quite soon.”

As promised, in a few minutes the two of them approached a huge mansion, decorated in soft curves of snow-white stone that drew a gasp of admiration from the little passenger. “That’s original pre-classical architecture in the Andrea Palomino style, with the original pillars and soffits, and it’s merged almost perfectly into the Roaman and Colthic styles of the Canterlot buildings surrounding it. I’ve never seen anything like it other than in photographs. Can we—”

Fleur laughed as they approached the building, “My, my. Such an impressive store of knowledge for such a young mare! Fancy Pants had always spoken in glowing terms of your advanced studies under Princess Celestia, and now I can see why.”

The impressive building began to seem more like a fortress than a house to her diminished size as they passed through the double gate and the outer yard, Twilight taking in every bit of the artistic elegance of the manor in open-mouthed awe, from the marble statues to the graceful fountain, lifting herself higher and higher on the purse until she was in danger of tumbling out.

“I take it you like our humble city home?” inquired Fleur, holding one hoof against her purse to prevent a certain young mare’s fall. “It’s a bit smaller than our country estate in Prance, but we enjoy it.”

“It’s huuuuuuugee,” gasped Twilight in wide-eyed wonder, trying to look in all directions at once. “I spent so many years inside the castle since I was shrunk, and I know everything is really just normal and I’m tiny, but look at that tree! And those gates!

Fleur was too slow to stop Twilight as the young mare dove out of her Gucci purse and onto the ground. Moments later, the little unicorn was dashing from interesting spot to spot through the outer yard. The older unicorn thought about chasing the little one before running a hoof through her mane-style and pausing in the gentle breeze. After all, grass stains took forever to get out of a proper hooficure, and perspiration would ruin the permanent wave in her mane. She really only had a limited amount of time before the evening photo shoot, and even though Twilight Sparkle was as cute as a button, Photo Finish needed a more mature mare to model.

“Ma petite, could we please... Can you come down from... I don’t think you should be doing... Can you please calm down juste une minute?”

“But there are so many things here!” called out Twilight from the top of a topiary bush. “I’ve only seen that kind of plant in books, and this sculpture over here is an authentic Pegasolopian Cloud Sculpture, I mean, you don’t see many of them still around without erosion marks and premature precipitation indentions. And over here, you have a....”

Fleur de Lis checked her watch as she followed the tiny unicorn around the grounds. For objets d'art outside of her own home, there was an astonishing amount of history she had never heard until now. She found herself getting caught up in the excitement, much as she herself had once been an energetic little filly just like Twilight, pestering her grandmother with questions inside her painting salon. However, after an hour had passed and a certain amount of calming-down had occurred with the tiny filly, she called a halt to the artistic expedition, and brought her inside the mansion.

“Welcome back, Lady Fleur. I hope your day was enjoyable. Please, come in.” The unicorn servant that met them at the door was the color of newly-poured bronze, and had nearly the same flexibility to his emotionless face. His blue eyes swept over Fleur once, and stopped at the tiny purple unicorn peeking out of her purse, looking back in his direction with rapt attention. “Pardon me, ma’am. Your doll appears to have become soiled with grass stains. Shall I send it out to be dry cleaned?”

Twilight did not respond, staring up into the crystal chandelier hanging over the entranceway. Tiny sparks of light crawled through the lines of crystal and wire, nearly duplicating a view of the night sky as it would appear if the sun were not out. The spell that drove the arcane mechanism was a thing of beauty, and she traced its delicate lines in the air, searching for the tiny flaw that made Orion nearly a meter too far to the south.

“Thank you, but no, Mister Tea. I had a most interesting day and have invited a most extraordinary guest to our residence. Twilight Sparkle, I would like to introduce you to our butler, Hot Tea. Mister Tea, this is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s private student, a fact that shall remain within this household.”

“Welcome, Miss Sparkle,” said Tea, giving a short bow and looking around for Twilight, even going so far as to remove a pristine kerchief from his jacket pocket and polish his monocle for a second look around. “Ma’am, are you certain you have not mislaid your guest?”

“Huh? Oh. Pleased to meet you!” shouted Twilight, making a startled Tea hop back a step.

“Good heavens! It talk—” After a brief pause to pick up his monocle and gather his wits, the servant bowed politely to Twilight without a hint of embarrassment at addressing a guest the size of a small rabbit. “Good afternoon, young miss, and welcome to Maison de Pants. Might I offer you some refreshments before dinner? A spot of lemonade or a drop of iced tea? It is my specialty, after all.”

Fleur nodded. “She shall be joining us for dinner. I shall wish to speak with my husband at once about getting this young filly back to Princess Celestia. She must be so worried.”

Tea gave a terse bow. “I shall inform a messenger and meet you in the dining room. Good afternoon, ma’am. Young miss.”

This was the first time Twilight had been in somepony else’s house for years, but she still knew her manners. She was supposed to wipe her hooves, but the only thing she could find inside the purse was a kerchief, which turned out to be very absorbent.

Twilight was supposed to go into the bathroom to ‘tidy up’ before dinner, but at her current size, that involved a precarious porcelain perch above a large bowl of flushable water. Fleur was very understanding of her predicament and helped hold her steady for the embarrassing procedure nearly as well as Princess Celestia could have, gasping in fright when Twilight explained her accident in the bathtub.

“Such a dangerous and frightening thing to happen to a young filly. How generous of Princess Celestia to help you through this troubling time. I heard about the events of your exam, and I’m not certain I could have taken you into my own home after that. I would have been too frightened, afraid that you might hurt somepony in one of your surges, and afraid I might hurt you by accident.”

“I understand,” Twilight admitted, flattening her ears and rubbing against the rough washcloth. Fleur could not hear the little filly’s mumbled voice, but she could see the distress and she smiled gently as she stroked the washcloth down Twilight’s back, straightening her streaked mane and removing the last fragments of loose grass.

“My little Twilight Sparkle, you have come a long way from your fragile beginnings. You fell from the tower, and ran all through the city without getting seriously injured. I think you are stronger than you or even Princess Celestia realize, and I am certain she is quite proud of you. I am quite positive she will be overjoyed when you return, because I feel much the same way in your presence now.”

“You do?” Twilight had to repeat it twice in order to make herself heard, but she grinned happily when Fleur nodded. “Then let’s go meet your husband!” she declared as she bounded onto Fleur’s nose and climbed into a perfectly coifed mane for the trip to the dining room.

The dining room was smaller than she expected yet absolutely enormous in her eyes. There were only four chairs around the dark table, set for an intimate dinner for three, although it was still too early for dinner to be served. At the head of the table sat a unicorn stallion of impeccable grace, perusing a few papers at his side. Upon their entry into the room, he stood and smiled, his mischievous blue eyes switching back and forth between his wife and his tiny houseguest riding on her head.

“I say, my dear. Your new hat looks positively ravishing. I understand we have invited Princess Celestia’s talented young student over for dinner this evening. Perhaps you have purchased it in her honor?” he added with a lifted eyebrow and a growing smile.

Both Fleur and Twilight giggled as Fancy Pants wiggled his eyebrows. “Such a dashing fashion statement. I say, every mare in Canterlot will be wanting a Twilight Sparkle hat.”

Twilight’s giggle turned into a laugh, as she bounced down to the end of Fleur’s nose to get a better look. “He knows my name!“ The laugh turned into an impromptu dance as Twilight hopped in a circle, chanting “Fancy Pants knows who I am! Fancy Pants knows who I am!”

With a gentle nudge, Fleur bumped the happily dancing tiny unicorn onto a large stack of books sitting on a chair, and went over to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. “This little filly was in big trouble. How could I ever abandon her?”

“Of course, my love. I would not have it any other way. Princess Celestia should receive the messenger I sent within the hour and I’m sure it will lift her spirits immensely.” Turning his attention to the little unicorn who had stopped dancing in joy and was attempting to read the titles of the books underneath her, Fancy Pants put a note of concern into his voice.

“Young lady, the Princess places great store in your abilities and your intelligence. How in Equestria did my wife find you wandering about Canterlot unescorted?”

“Um. These are some uhhh...interesting books you have here on this chair.” Twilight looked sheepishly at Fancy Pants with hope to change the topic before giving a defeated sigh. “Do I have to?”

“Please do, miss.”

Steel Blade and Overwatch walked briskly down the road, neither speaking a word as they entered the neighborhood for the upper-crust families of Canterlot. The soft clop of their light steps seemed much louder than in the bustling marketplace, echoing in the widely empty neighborhood streets.

“Y’know, I didn’t think you’d do that.” Overwatch broke the silence as she scanned the various manors and mansions.

“Neither did I,” Steel Blade stated simply before stopping, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath.

Overwatch chuckled, "If it wasn't for me, you would turn this interrogation into a fight, acting like a knight defending his lady's honor. Hopefully the princess will forgive you for slapping that noble into powder for insulting her student."

“And the noodle vendor?”

“Collateral damage,” Overwatch opened her eyes again and turned the corner. “Come on, I got a feeling it’s this way.”

Steel Blade trotted after her, “What is it exactly? Aren’t we supposed to be looking for Twilight?”

“Uhh, yeah. But we can’t be doing this blind. Two guards are never going to be able to find a pint-sized pony in all of Canterlot by themselves, so that’s why we’re going to someone who can.” Overwatch stopped in front of the Maison de Pants. “C’mon, Fancy Pants has a lot of influence around here and he’s a lot more likely to be able to locate Twilight. Celestia also trusts him with information about her, so this way we don’t risk spreading rumors about the Princess’s student any more than we already have.”

Steel Blade narrowed his eyes at her, frowning. “Still seems like a strange idea to suddenly have. There’s no guarantee he’ll be able to help us.“

“Oh hush, you. I’ve got a good feeling about this.” Overwatch rapped a few times on the door before readjusting the ever-present scarf around her neck.

“Mare’s intuition?”

Overwatch gave him a grin. “Has it been wrong yet?” she asked smoothly. “On that note, you’re absolutely dripping with concern and puppy love for our little charge. It’s really kinda sweet actually. Like chocolate.”

Steel Blade sputtered, “What in Tartarus gave you that idea?”

“Well, chocolate’s freakin’ amazing. But you don’t have to agree though.”

Steel Blade facehoofed, “No no, not that. The whole, ‘I have a crush on Twilight’ bit. I’m at least twice her age!”

“You don’t have to be her age to care for her. I mean, c’mon, it’s not like you made your emotions any less obvious. Blushing... acting all awkward whenever she talks to you... Not to mention that little scene at the market. It’s not often I see you flip the buck out and it’s obvious that you’ve begun to genuinely care about her well-being. Trust me when I say that the intuition is just icing on the cake. But don’t worry, Steelie; I have a bit of a sweet tooth, you see.” She gave him a sly wink. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

The door opened to reveal a unicorn servant in a formal black suit. Overwatch turned quickly towards him before Steel Blade could answer. “Evening, sir! Could you please get the master of the house here? We’d like to speak with him.”

Twilight concluded her tale of the unfortunate chain of events that left her down in the lower city of Canterlot, having woven a daring tale of suspense and excitement. She finished with a smile at the faces of the two ponies present, Fleur de Lis and a blank flanked white unicorn colt who had wandered in partway through her story. Fancy Pants was unable to hear the very end, having politely excused himself from the table after Hot Tea called him away only moments earlier.

Once she finished her story, the fascinated little colt applauded, beaming with excitement. “That was amazing! You must be like... super pony or something to have fought off all those meanies and survived the fall from Princess Celestia’s tower. Can you teach me how to do that?”

Fleur blinked in obvious concern, placing a hoof on the top of his snow-white head and stroking his soft blue mane. “Now, White Path. You know roughhousing is for the guards. Those misguided colts who chased Twilight Sparkle were wrong to have gotten so worked up that they forgot even the basic rules of civilized behavior. And I don’t want you jumping off any tall towers either.”

“Aww, mom.”

Twilight giggled at his look of chagrin. “She’s right, you know. Falling off my tower was terrifying, and it hurt a lot. I’m just lucky I didn’t break anything. But playing tag with those big clumsy nobles was kind of fun.” She giggled again at the quelling look Fleur gave her. “I wish I could stay longer and look around your amazing house, but the guards should be by in a little while to take me home.”

“Speaking of guards,” Fancy Pants interposed himself into the conversation as he walked back into the dining room, accompanied by two very familiar guards. “These two have been looking all over for—”

He was cut off as Steel Blade dove for Twilight, sweeping her off the chair with a wing and embracing her tightly. “Don’t you ever do that again! Ever!” he exclaimed after rolling upright from his short tumble along the dining room floor.

“Alright, you two. Break it up,” Overwatch said as Twilight popped her head up through the feathers of Steel Blade’s wing. “I hope this bumbling baboon hasn’t aggravated your injuries, Twilight.”

“I’m fine!” shouted Twilight, spitting out a feather and grinning.

“I must say, you are one of the most enthusiastic guards I have ever seen,” Fancy Pants noted with a small smirk. Steel Blade blushed and tried to hold his normally stoic expression, though he definitely saw the mischievous glint in Overwatch’s golden eyes as she traced a tiny heart in the air with her hooves.

The unicorn colt looked at Twilight and her two guards in awe. “You have two guards? Awesome! Can you tell them the part of your story where you ran right between one of those mean pony’s hooves and made another one crash into him? That’s one of my favorite. Or maybe the part where you ran up the stuffy stallion’s coat and made the other one hit him, that was cool too!”

Twilight giggled before replying, mostly because of the feathers surrounding her. “I think you just told them for me. But I wouldn’t mind filling your father in on the spots he missed. Or should I start from the beginning for Steel Blade and Overwatch?”

“As much as I would love to listen to this delightful young filly chat all evening, I’m quite certain Princess Celestia must be worried about your well-being, and these two gentleponies can hardly wait to reunite you both.” Fancy Pants slowed as he finished, the mournful expression on Twilight’s face matched by his own son.

“But dad!” whined White Path, trying his best mournful eyes expression. “Can’t she stay here just a little longer? I just met her, and we haven’t even had a chance to play or to eat dinner or anything. Please? Just for a few hours,” he pleaded.

“Son,” replied Fancy Pants with a sideways glance at the guards, “It’s not our decision. Twilight Sparkle is Princess Celestia’s ward, and as such, it is Her Highness’ decision to make.”

Twilight watched the discussion with great interest, and found the idea of staying for dinner more exciting than she first thought. It had been many years since she had even seen other little fillies and colts, let alone played with them, and even though he was a little younger and a lot bigger than she was, the idea excited her.

“Oh, please, Mister Fancy Pants? I’m sure Princess Celestia wouldn’t mind letting me spend just a few hours here. You have such a nice house and everypony here is so kind. I haven’t been able to get out of the Princess’ bedroom in like forever.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” muttered Overwatch.

“Well, I suppose it could not hurt to ask,” replied Fancy Pants, as his wife contributed her soft eyes to the pleading looks from the little ponies. “I’ll send another message, but I’m not promising anything.”

“Yay!” Twilight leapt out from between the feathers of Steel Blade’s wings, jumping around on his armored back with a clatter of hooves before stopping to bow formally at Fancy Pants. “I would be honored to accept your kind invitation, if my mentor agrees. Could I stay overnight some time?”

“Certainly,” beamed Fancy Pants, ignoring both of the guards who were silently mouthing, “No” and shaking their heads. “I’ll add it to the request to Her Highness, and we shall see what happens."

Once the messenger was off to the castle, Fancy Pants settled down to watch his son and the Princess’ tiny student play, despite the looming presence of the two guards who seemed to be quite determined not to leave the little unicorn out of their sight again. He made White Path promise to be very careful with Twilight, due to her size and relative fragility, and made both of them promise to avoid any tall objects, just in case they wanted to reenact Twilight’s terrifying fall on a smaller scale. Fleur had to depart before dinner for her modeling session, but not before the messenger returned from Princess Celestia with a very qualified “Yes” to their request for an overnight stay.

Dinner was a bit shorter than expected. Twilight sat on her tower of books next to White Path, giving a demonstration of just how precisely she could use her magic at the dinner table, though it was clear that both of them were eager to leave. In the end, Fancy Pants gave up on trying to hold the two impatient young ponies to the boring dinner table with the boring old ponies and allowed them to gallop off to the playroom, but not before making sure Steel Blade and Overwatch were situated securely inside the room with orders not to interfere unless either of the little ponies was in danger.

Once Fancy Pants had left the group to their own devices, Overwatch leaned in conspiratorially towards Steel Blade, a playful lilt to her voice as she whispered, “My my, it looks like you’ve got competition, lover-boy. You’d best keep your eye on him.”

Steel Blade groaned and rolled his eyes.

Bonus Ch - The Return of Fort Book

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

The Return of Fort Book

Twilight looked around the bedroom as her two guards settled into chairs for the evening, becoming as silent and obtrusive as statues, though one time, Overwatch had leaned in to whisper into Steel Blade’s ear, provoking a hilariously histrionic grimace out of his usually stoic composure. White Path’s bedroom was not nearly as big as Celestia’s, and although he did not have nearly as many books, it was quite neatly packed with such a huge variety of toys that her eyes sparkled with joy.

“So, what fun and cool stuff do you do at the castle?” asked White Path, hesitation and embarrassment in his voice. He had other little colts over to play before, but never a young mare, and the fact that the mare was far, far smaller than him did not make the situation any less awkward.

“Maybe we can read something together,” Twilight stated cheerfully, trying to break the awkwardness of the situation with the most exciting and fun activity she could imagine.

White Path did not share her enthusiasm, pausing to look at his collection of nearly untouched books. “Reading... I suppose, we could. But I was looking for what fun stuff you would like to do.”

***

After a short debate where Twilight had tried to convince the reluctant unicorn colt how exciting and fun reading was, she slowly came to the realization that not every pony shared her attitude towards books. However, an idea did come up that she had never tried back at the castle, and she decided it was worth a try.

“When I was a very little... I mean young filly, I tried to build a fort out of books. What would you think of that?”

White Path’s annoyed expression vanished as he smiled widely, diving for a well-worn box. “That’s a great idea! We can build forts and play a wargame! I’ve got some soldiers, and some catapults. We can wad up scrap paper for ammunition and I can show you the rules I worked out. It’s easy, but I never can get mom or dad to play.”

Twilight was a bit hesitant about the whole war game idea, but accepted nevertheless. With the similarly reluctant acceptance of the guards, and a sincere promise that they would not damage any of the books used, they began to pull books off the shelves. White Path was fascinated at Twilight’s ability to levitate even books many times her size and, after several false starts attempting to levitate the books himself, decided to ask outright. “How do you do that?”

“You mean levitation? It’s a basic spell for every unicorn,” Twilight answered as she rolled her eyes.

“I know, I know. But I can’t even levitate anything as heavy as me, and yet you just levitated all those books like it was nothing.”

Twilight sighed. She had gotten used to the new guards or servants asking over and over how she could levitate objects other unicorns could only dream to move with their magic. “It’s a long story. I will tell you all about it later if you want, but for now let’s just say that Princess Celestia would not take me as her personal student if my magic was not very strong.”

White Path was quite impressed, and despite the unusually small size of the young mare, the idea of playing with Princess Celestia’s personal student was thrilling. Every other filly or colt would love to be in his situation. “That’s so cooooool...”

Both Twilight and White Path busied themselves with their own book forts, drawing on a pile of around forty books in a heap between them. Twilight made good progress, a feat that would have been impossible without her powerful magic, although she was slowed by having to peek at the titles of each book that went into the construction project. Fortunately, she had read all the books so far, and her tiny size gave her a great advantage in precision placement of the walls, as she could put the massive slabs in place with near millimeter accuracy.

While Twilight levitated another book on the top of her fort, she noticed that White Path rarely used his magic, using his physical strength instead. It raised Twilight’s curiosity. “Excuse me, may I ask you a question?”

The young colt just looked back and smiled at the funny sight of the little unicorn looking out of a window in her book fort. “Shoot.”

“I noticed that you rarely use magic. Why?”

White Path patted his neck with his hoof several times while he thought. “I’m not sure. It’s not because my magic isn’t strong enough yet, it’s just easier to use hooves instead.”

Twilight thought deeply for a moment, while White Path watched her curiously. “Interesting. I’ve always relied on my magic to compensate for my small size since I became Princess Celestia student. I almost never use my strength at all. Maybe...” Twilight gave a determined look at a large book lying in the middle of the floor.

“Umm... What are you doing?” White Path asked curiously, caught off guard by the little unicorn marching across the floor in the direction of the large book. “That’s too heavy, you really shouldn’t...”

Twilight ignored his words as she shoved her head under the edge of the book, lifting it up as she crawled underneath it and standing up with a grunt.

White Path could not help but stare at Twilight in awe. “Wow... You are strong. Are you sure you’re not a super pony?”

Twilight tried to look up at the giant book she had now precariously balanced on her back, easily several times her own weight. There had to be more to her relative strength than the Square-Cube Law could adequately explain. Her additional lifting power was most probably due to the protection spell that Celestia had been casting on her every day.

Now that she thought about it, this kind of strength was, in all likelihood, completely necessary for her training under the Princess. Levitation was not a free lunch, after all; about four percent of the levitated weight became additional pressure on the unicorn casting the spell. In addition to the strain of casting, and with the weights she had been lifting—upwards to a hundred kilograms—Twilight had been experiencing forces of easily up to eight times her own weight.

By extension, that meant that if she wanted to improve her magic and levitation skills any further, she needed to be strong enough to withstand the strain, and that means a physical training regimen in addition to her magic sessions.

Slowly and with considerable care, Twilight managed to turn around and face White Path with the heavy book on her back. One cautious hoof in front of another, she walked up to the white colt, saying, “I’m starting to think I should not rely so much on my magic either. I’m going to need exercise too, if I’m going to be the kind of student Princess Celestia expects.”

As they continued to build their forts, Twilight began to use her magic to lift heavy books only when it was absolutely necessary. For the rest of the construction, she used her own strength, much like the little colt, who she glanced at frequently to study his technique. Being a unicorn left Twilight far weaker physically than any earth pony of the same size, but levitating heavy weights in the past along with her growing determination made Twilight both physically and mentally strong, and she would only get stronger the more she challenged herself.

Once both forts were ready and the little military toys were properly deployed, the combatants began their battle. Using magic to maneuver their respective forces around both forts, they fired paper ammunition in great barrages to provide cover for their feints and raids. White Path launched an aerial assault on Fort Book with his pegasi guards, but Twilight evacuated her soldiers into encyclopedic shelters, and moments later launched a counterattack from her unicorn forces hidden behind a wall of alphabet books. Tiny blobs of paper blasted into the air, peppering the wobbling pegasi and allowing her earth ponies to roll out a catapult so large it took two pages of paper to load. After a quick check of the rules White Path had shown her earlier, she fired, knocking a battlement of ‘Little Duckling’ books to the ground and scattering the forces who had taken refuge there. A momentary pause in the combat ensued as each side double checked their rules, marking the appropriate forces stunned, wounded, or almost-killed-but-not-really according to their posture on landing. Other little ponies might have cheated on those rules, tilting a soldier upright to show they had not actually been struck, but both little generals hewed to their morals with precise judgement, even though it cost White Path three more pegasi and a unicorn in losses than his honorable opponent.

The resulting war was relentless. Every time White Path marched his forces on Fort Book, Twilight’s brilliant strategy allowed her to counter each assault until the defeated warriors were forced to retreat. There may have been just the smallest of advantages to her defensive plans, due to a few well-timed “huh-uh” and “uh-huh” noises from her otherwise immobile and very attentive guards, but both little ponies were so tied up in their game they did not even notice the rapt attention of their audience.

Finally Twilight spotted a flaw in her opponent's defenses, bringing her reserves out from their concealment in a puppy book bunker to strike across the battlefield. Airborne and ground forces stormed the paper-littered grounds of White Path’s fortress, and soon he was forced to draw and raise a white flag over his conquered territory.

They played several more games that night after a drowsy Hot Tea dropped by to deliver a late-night snack and notification that Princess Celestia had approved an overnight stay, provided both of the little ponies were on their best behavior. Twilight was already making notes for her return the next day, planning out an exercise schedule and interview questions for the guards and servants on how she could repay the Princess for her generosity.

Furthermore, she made a commitment to train not only her magic in the future, but her own relatively minor physical strength. While she would never be a strong as an earth pony, she would at least be in good shape and not so defenseless even if her magic should fail.

As a symbol of her new commitment, she spent the night sleeping on a cushion in Fort Book. In some way, she was no longer just a defenseless filly, but a warrior of very small size. But even warriors were never too old to play with a fellow pony.

Ch6 - Games, Missteps, and Miscreants

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 6

Games, Missteps, and Miscreants

Five years before Nightmare Moon's return

"Rise and shiiiiine, princess!"

Celestia groaned and tried to ignore the hoof that was now prodding her energetically in the cheek. Rise and shine... that seems quite ironic, considering I am the princess who raises the sun every day; I can’t believe it’s been about a year, since I’ve had to actually wake my student up in the morning.

Uuggghhh. I do not envy those ponies who have to wake up to go to work in the middle of the night.

She opened her eyes groggily to see the beaming face of her little student watching her with a smile. “Tea? Food? Or maybe just some refreshments, Princess?” Twilight’s voice was entirely too cheerful for this time of day, a perfect antidote for her morning apathy.

How the times have changed. "Yes, please," she answered drowsily before giving her student a good whiff of her morning breath with a long yawn. Twilight frowned as Celestia’s head plopped down on the pillow again, as always. She used her magic to lift the princess’s head back up, and levitated a cup of tea to Celestia’s mouth, hoping to rouse the princess from her slumber. With a drowsy murmur, Celestia opened her eyes again, wrapping the cup in her own magic before taking a delicate sip of its rejuvenating contents. Though many didn’t know it, the very fate of Equestria often rested on whether or not the Princess of the Sun got her morning tea.

She sat up, watching as her student trotted off towards the food waiting for them on the endtable. I don’t know why she decided to act like a servant towards me, but I really can’t complain. She’s obviously enjoying helping me out whenever she can, and who am I to keep her away from that?

Perhaps I need some of her energy. With nearly a thousand years of peace and a plentiful number of servants and government workers, I am nowhere near as fit as I should be, nor should I be as lazy as I am now.

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia replied with a smile, rolling off of her bed and walking over to the mirror on top of her dresser. She took a few sips from her teacup as she brought a brush to her mane, which had formed an unruly corona around her head. The thing may be beyond the clutches of gravity, but it was certainly not going to be cooperative all the time.

Satisfied that she looked presentable and wiping the last of the crust out of her eyes, Celestia looked back to her student at the table, who was already levitating the first of her golden horseshoes. With a small smirk at her enthusiastic student, Celestia raised a hoof and allowed Twilight to fit the shoe on before repeating the process for the rest of her royal garb. It was not long before she had both her gorget and her crown on. After a quick casting of Twilight’s protection spell, she briskly trotted over to the balcony where her faithful student had appeared with a flash of teleportation.

With a burst of magic, Celestia began her daily ritual. The sun rose, spreading its warming embrace over Equestria, as the first tendrils of its rays crawled over the vast horizon.

Even after having seen it so often, Twilight still applauded briefly before looking to the princess and asking, “So, what are we going to do today, Princess?”

The princess’s eyes trailed upwards as she pondered the question, “Well, perhaps we should do something other than our magical training this morning.” She gave Twilight a devilish smile. “How does a game sound to you?”

“That sounds wonderful, princess! But what kind of game did you have in mind?” Twilight asked excitedly.

Her question was swiftly answered when Celestia’s giant hoof flew over to poke her lightly on the nose. “Tag! You’re it!” she called out, before rushing back into the room.

A large grin stretched across Twilight’s face. Tag was nothing new for them and the rules had been very clearly set to give both of them a fighting chance. The area of play was always confined to Celestia’s bedchamber—though considering the size of the room, “confined” was being applied fairly liberally—and Twilight was the only one that was allowed to use her magic. Celestia was to remain earthbound and without spells, but with her reach and stride, she was still a tough target.

“Not for long!” Twilight shouted, before teleporting back to her pillow on the princess’s bed.

She took a quick glance around as she landed softly, quickly spotting her mentor standing to the side of the bed away from the balcony. With another bright flash of teleportation, Twilight relocated herself to the night stand behind Celestia, leaping off towards the princess as soon as she could get her hooves under her.

With a grin, Celestia jumped wildly to the left as soon as her student disappeared and was rewarded when Twilight landed unceremoniously on the floor where she had stood. She quickly retreated while her faithful student shook out the stars in her vision.

Twilight quickly recovered from her daze, and after realizing her mentor had torn off out of her line of sight, she gathered up her magical energy and teleported to the bed again.

She found the princess standing next to the large double entrance doors, with a smirk still on her face. Wasting no time, Twilight again drew up the energy to teleport onto Celestia’s back, but as soon as she reappeared, she realized that the princess was no longer there. She gave a yelp as she dropped into thin air but managed to reassert herself enough to tumble out of a bad landing, soon galloping after her mentor.

Celestia jumped back slightly every time Twilight came closer, even bounding over her tiny student once she had backed herself up into a corner, blowing Twilight a raspberry as she prepared for whatever the tiny mare was about to do. Twilight had given an adorable pout, but had not begun to chase after her immediately. She decided to trot after Celestia, rather than sprint after her, and the princess was fine to play along until Twilight disappeared in another flash.

Celestia once more jumped to the left, only to be surprised as Twilight landed squarely on her muzzle, having teleported not directly above Celestia, but above where she was going to sidestep her attempts to tag her. With a bop between the eyes, Twilight stated smugly, “You’re it.”

"Excellent work, my faithful student, but I’d start running now if I were you," Celestia commented, and without any further prompting, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light.

Celestia scanned the room quickly, but found no sign of where her elusive student had gone. “Hmmm, I wonder where my faithful student has gone this time,” she mused playfully, before she began trotting over to her bed smiling. Twilight may have been small and much better at playing hide-and-seek, than playing tag with the giant Celestia, but she was sorely lacking in imagination when it came to her hiding places. She bumped her shoulder against her bed, lifting it easily to find a tiny purple filly gaping at her from under it. Sure, she could have taken a quick glance down there as always, but the look on her student’s face was priceless.

“Gotcha,” Celestia boasted as Twilight bolted from her hiding place. The princess dropped the bed and began pursuing her target, trapping her in a corner of the room. Twilight looked around for someplace to hide, and in a panic she gathered up her energy to teleport away once again.

Without missing a step, Celestia looked to her bookshelf and, after seeing a flash from behind a few books, quickly removed the obstacles and extended her hoof into the opening, bopping her student in the nose.

“Tag. You’re it.”

A good part of the hour had already passed, and both of them were exhausted. "I will get you, my faithful student. You can’t escape from your mentor that easily," Celestia declared as she took a few steps towards Twilight.

"You won't get me that easily!" Twilight yelled back, before desperately running straight towards Celestia. She’d long since run out of magic to teleport, and for now she was forced to rely on her size and agility to avoid her mentor's grasp.

Celestia’s attempt to stop Twilight failed, and her faithful student dove between her legs. With a yelp of surprise, the alicorn attempted to reassert her four limbs on the ground, as to give her a good view of her prey under her. Her own efforts caused Twilight to squeak a few times in fear as the mouse-sized mare was forced to dodge a tangle of hooves stomping down all around her.

Twilight dove left and right, as the massive horseshoes shifted all around her, sometimes missing her by only half a hoof’s length. She tried to suppress her fear, hoping to predict where each hoof was going to move, but with all four of them moving at once, she failed to foresee the single hoof stomping down directly in front of her.

Twilight stumbled back, landing supine on the carpet in shock. She took a moment to shake out the disorientation from her surprise.

Just in time to see the shadow of another hoof directly above her.

Twilight's eyes opened widely while her pupils shrank, her ears dropped and her mouth opened agape as if ready to scream, but whatever noise was about to leave her mouth was swiftly silenced by intense pressure on her body and a loud thump, as her mentor’s hard horseshoe-clad hoof pressed down against her. Feeling as squashed as a bug and unable to move a single limp, Twilight hoped that her mentor would mercifully lift her mighty hoof away soon, as the pain was making it impossible to focus on any kind of spell to aid her escape. The hoof’s pressure on her began to increase as her life flashed before her eyes.

***

Celestia looked under her stomach for her student, who had managed to disappear from her line of sight while she was fumbling around. It was not until she felt a squirming under one hoof, that she had realized what had happened.

She jumped back horrified as she looked upon the prostrate form of her student on the floor. “Twilight!” she exclaimed despairingly, before plopping down and sending a stream of healing magic into her student’s tiny body. “I’m so sorry, Twilight! I didn’t mean it! Please be okay! Please...”

Seconds passed, and there was still no movement. Celestia hung her head and shut her weeping eyes as a single tear slide on her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Twilight." She then looked back up, more tears forming in her eyes as she continued, "Please... Don't leave me."

"W-why would I... leave you...?"

Celestia exhaled a deep sigh of relief the moment those precious words reached her ears.

My most faithful student. Barely a fifteen-year-old mare, and already tough enough to withstand an alicorn-sized weight, not to mention having survived falling out of this tower all the way down to the Canterlot streets.

A quick scanning spell revealed surprisingly few injuries, both internal and external, that could not be fixed with magic or with a little bed rest. It’s truly a miracle from whoever designed this protection spell. Celestia gave another, quieter sigh. It wouldn’t be necessary if you were your original size. You don’t deserve any of the punishment that you’ve taken over the years. I long for the day that you’ll be able to control your surges, and I can finally restore you to your glory.

Twilight slowly raised her head off the floor, smiling weakly. "Please don't worry... I'm f-fine. It was... not y-your fault... and... we had some f-fun, didn’t we?"

Celestia shook her head, but she managed to smile. Oh Twilight... Only you could forgive me so easily for hurting you. She carefully levitated her student with her magic and turned to place her on the bed...

That was now lying sideways, on the other side of the room. Against the wall.

Celestia stifled a sudden snicker before levitating the bed back to its original spot and straightening it out. She dropped the pillows back onto the bed with a fluffy plop and placed Twilight gently upon her designated resting-place.

With that matter concluded, the princess then took a brief look around the room. Many of the room’s furnishings seems to have relocated themselves during their game. Books littered the floor and the bookshelf was now laying on its side, far away from its original position. Most of the paintings that were adorned the walls were no longer upright, and her dresser was an absolute disaster with the contents of its drawers scattered about on the floor. We’ve... made quite a mess here. Celestia took a quick glance at a nearby clock, which also happened to be slanted. There’s still a good amount of time left. It’d probably be a good idea to clean some of this up so the maids won’t faint instantly, when they come to tidy up. Or worse, so Twilight won’t try to clean it up herself when she should be resting from today’s events.

Celestia quickly began cleaning up the room, turning it into a whirlwind of golden magic as objects flew back to their rightful positions in the room, though she had to consult an extensive list for the exact order of the books on the bookshelf; Twilight would most definitely notice if there was even one book out of place.

Celestia had just finished triple-checking the list when the clock had chimed the hour, announcing an end to her time with her faithful student. She straightened up in surprise, before turning towards Twilight, who was now alert and observing her every step.

“Please don’t be frightened by me again, Twilight. I was careless today, but I promise to be more careful with you, so such accidents don’t occur again. You have my word.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it too much, Princess. I know it was an accident, and I’ve already forgiven you,” Twilight affirmed and gave the princess a sincere smile.

Celestia returned the smile, her mood already rising. I’m so proud of you, Twilight. It takes a strong pony to forgive somepony who has just hurt them. It makes me glad that you trust me so. I wish I’d been that way the last time I traveled as an ambassador.

Celestia gave a mental sigh as certain unpleasant memories began to resurface. Dragons. I don’t think they’ve ever been especially friendly with Equestria, but back during the Griffo-Draconic War, they’d been especially insufferable. It had gotten to the point when I couldn’t trust them to not lay a single claw on my ambassadors, and I had to go myself to impress upon them the might of Equestria. I still can’t believe that they’d pass off crushing me under a claw as an ‘accident.’ Twice.

She smirked slightly. Their attitudes had changed quite drastically when I dealt with them in their own language. Apparently, they could respect somepony who can stand for herself against a delinquent dragon. Regardless, it still took a long time before I began to trust them again, and—oh dear, I’ve been spending too much time here.

“Thank you for your kind words, Twilight. You have no idea how much they mean to me,” Celestia assured her student warmly. “However, I’m going to have to attend to my royal duties for now. Cadence and Spike will arrive shortly, to spend time with you so get your rest while you still can.” With that, Twilight gave a smile and a nod, and the princess departed from her chambers.

Twilight watched as the great double doors to Celestia’s bedchamber closed gently, with a soft click. A quiet exchange occurred behind them, which the little unicorn surmised to be the princess telling her guards about what transpired just moments ago, in her room.

Twilight laid her head down between her forelegs as the giant golden horseshoe that had threatened to grind her flat into the floor started plaguing her thoughts. In that moment, her fear of Celestia had returned in full force. That fear of the monster that could swat her away like an insect or crush her to jelly, with even her smallest movements.

Twilight sighed. It was one thing to know that she was small. It was another to actually feel it. It truly hammered home the concept that, at her size, she was nearly inconsequential to the world around her, like a mouse among mares. The thought that the warm and gentle hoof that had comforted her these past several years could so quickly turn into an unstoppable force of nature was horrifying. Being so completely helpless without her magic was very frightening. A single misstep could end her life, and that was terrifying.

Twilight frowned, knocking on her head a few times to clear her thoughts. There was no point in thinking these thoughts, when she’d already genuinely forgiven her mentor. A single misstep in the princess’s years of love and kindness could leave no malice in the young unicorn. The freedom of those same years, the freedom from the fear of the giants that inhabited her world, could not be besmirched by a single, ultimately inconsequential incident. There would be times to dwell on the past, but for now, it was time to move on to the future.

And with that, she curled up on her pillow and slept.

Princess Cadence hummed a little peppy ditty as she trotted towards Celestia’s bedchamber, loaded down with items for her new position as the royal foalsitter. This assignment was the latest in a long line of jobs to occupy her idle time, and to be completely honest, finding odd jobs here and there was a bit of a downgrade, compared to her original status as the Princess of the Crystal Empire. The nightmare that had poisoned the Crystal Heart and removed her realm from the planet’s surface gave her little choice in the matter, even with her aunts’ assistance in removing that... thing.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There were more than a few unpleasant memories in their long lives. After all, Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna had given her all of their love, and a permanent home in Equestria. While she could not will herself to take up a job governing the Equestrian populace, helping out wherever she could was the least she could do to repay for their kindness.

I spent so much time learning illusion magic to blend into Equestria society as a common pony, but I only wish I had been with Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna when they needed me the most. Instead, I was away at my lessons when they fought in the darkness...

Guilt tugged at her heart from the memory of finding her aunt at the ruins of the ancient castle, their beautiful palace torn to shreds by their battle and only Celestia left in a pool of tears, looking up at the moon and unable to let it go. She was the very symbol of love, she should have been able to see the fading bond that triggered the conflict before it flared up, there should have been something she could have done to prevent that horrible long night. It had taken hours for the two of them to raise the sun together, weeks worth of long sorrow where the wheels of government turned untended while the two of them grieved, only taking time to bring forth the day and night between their tears. Celestia’s bond with her beloved sun had weakened with her sorrow, and Cadence found herself with the difficult task of not only aiding the evening raising of the moon when Celestia’s will weakened at the thought of touching her sister’s place of imprisonment, but with the sun as well.

In the years that followed, Celestia rose from the ashes of her despair to both raise the sun and moon unassisted, and also to take over the governance of Equestria. It was Celestia’s land, her little ponies, and Cadence could not find it in her heart to step into the shoes of her lost sister and rule at her side. The irony of it all grated at her somedays, for while the royal sisters failed to save the Crystal Empire and took care of her in the wake of their failure, now it was Cadence’s turn to take care of Celestia after her failure to save Luna.

Today is not the time to dwell on the failures of the past, but to look forward to the future.

Cadence had passed the throne room and prepared to open the door to the rest of the castle, when a golden aura beat her to it, revealing a surprised Princess Celestia standing on the other side.

“Auntie Celestia!” Cadence exclaimed happily before wrapping her aunt in a tight hug, much to the princess’s sudden discomfort. “It’s been too long!”

“H-hello Cadence,” Celestia replied in a strained voice as Cadence released her. “Did you have fun in your last job?”

“Well...” Cadence murmured, shuffling her hooves and looking away from Celestia. “It wasn’t exactly fun, per se, but I learned an important lesson. That, and I’m pretty sure somepony else did too,” she looked back to proud alicorn, smirking.

"Oh? What lesson have you learned?"

"I learned that Manehattan Free Press is no place for an Alicorn of Love. I got really tired of writing those dirty articles after a few years; The boss there had no respect for other ponies’ privacy at all." Cadence gave a stomp of her hoof for emphasis before continuing.

“And when I tried to argue with him about it, he not only threatened to fire me, but also insinuated that he would ruin my reputation, and make it impossible for me to find another job if I’d left,” Cadence growled angrily before giving a triumphant smile. “Of course, I was still disguised as a regular pegasus when he said that. You should have seen his face when I dropped my illusion. Looked just about ready to sink into the floor, he did. Sounded like it too.”

Both of the princesses snickered.

“Let’s hope it’s a lesson he won’t forget anytime soon,” Celestia chuckled. Her tone turned inquisitive as she asked, “Now, just one more question: Why do you look so young? And why don’t you hide the fact that you’re an alicorn?”

Cadence looked back at her form. She did look exactly like a younger version of herself, complete with a subtle change in height. She looked back at Celestia and shrugged, “Well, you said in your letter that I’d have to foalsit your student; I’ve found that small fillies tend to be more relaxed around me if I look younger, perhaps only a few years older than they are. It’s all about less intimidation from size difference. As for hiding that I’m an alicorn, your student already gets a lot of exposure to you. I see no reason to apply an illusion spell on top of my temporary age-reduction spell, which already takes quite a bit of my energy to maintain.”

Celestia gave the filly alicorn a sly grin before smoothly replying, “I think you’re going to need much more than an age-changing spell, Cadence, to reduce the size difference between you two.”

Cadence gave her a blank look and tilted her head to the side slightly before asking confusedly, “What do you mean, auntie?”

Celestia simply chuckled in reply. “Don’t worry about it, Cadence. You’ll understand soon enough,” she said before trotting past the confused mare. She stopped suddenly and looked back. “ By the way, my student is really tired and is resting at the moment. You may start your foalsitting in about two hours. I will be busy for most of the day, but the guards may bring Spike along to play with you two, and I’m sure you’ll have a good time with both of them.”

She continued trotting along, leaving Cadence alone in the doorway thinking, Who’s Spike?

The Day Court began as usual for Celestia, but it unfortunately did not stay that way for long. Prince Blueblood had managed to secure an early spot in the line to see Celestia, and when his name was called, he approached the throne as the crowd of nobles in the benches watched him closely, with some even sitting up in interest as he proceeded down the center aisle.

Celestia gave a mental groan. Prince Blueblood, as a chosen representative of the upper-crust of Canterlot, was insufferably arrogant and selfish in public. It was one of the only ways he could secure such an influential spot in royal politics, what with the nobility as it was currently, but he had not always been this way. When he was under Celestia’s care several years back, Blueblood had demonstrated notably good character and poise, but his time among the bit-hoarding upper-class had forced his personality to change for the worse. The worst part about it was, it was an act he needed to play, both to gain the admiration of the nobility and to chase away any gold-digging mares chasing after him.

“Princess Celestia,” Blueblood stated, standing firmly in front of her with only a token bow of respect.

Not a good sign; it means that the nobility are not likely to take no for an answer here.

"Greetings, Prince Blueblood," Celestia said, nodding in return. "Why have you requested an audience with me today? I find it odd that you could not speak to me in private about your petition."

“Oh, please. I’ve already tried to do that several times, and more than once, you changed the subject once I’d brought it up.” He had an arrogant tone in his voice, but Celestia could see through his facade, and knew his arrogance was just for show. She could notice some desperation in his behavior as well—Blueblood felt thrown away, since every time he had wanted to visit Twilight or had asked for permission to do so, his request had been politely denied.

“Is this about my student, Blueblood?” Celestia’s face was impassive. It would not do to show weakness in front of the nobility.

"Indeed, it is," Blueblood replied, holding his head high. "The rumors that you’ve taken on a student have gained credibility once several nobles claimed to have seen her nearly a year ago. I have requested to see her multiple times, but your guards have turned me, a Prince of Equestria, away at your door. Not only that, there have been rumors that you’ve been keeping a pet dragon as well. Unless you are finally going to introduce your student and this dragon to us, I do not believe the nobility will look upon you as anything more than a tyrant who toys with her subjects. You’ve been hiding your student away from us for too long. I expect that you’ll come to your senses and do what is expected of you.”

Celestia suppressed the urge to massage her forehead. It’s one thing to deal with nobles when they’ve always acted like morons. It’s another to know that the nobles are forced to deal with you like morons. When exactly did politics change so that Blueblood needs to act like a prick to keep his status, again?

“Very well. I will allow you, and only you, to visit my student, but only under one condition,” Celestia replied authoritatively. “Twilight Sparkle, as my student, is both an intelligent and a powerful unicorn. She deserves your respect as an equal. This means that you will not attempt to harm her, nor will you tell her of the frankly ill-humored rumors spreading about her. If I find your meeting satisfactory, I will consider introducing my student to the public, but should you break this rule, I shall have to find a fitting punishment for your transgression.” Celestia raised her head slightly so that she was looking down at Blueblood, hopefully making it clear that she, not the nobility, was in charge here.

Blueblood translated Celestia's words in his head, My student is young and innocent, and I will let you visit her only if you'll be kind to her. Don’t be an arrogant snob around her, or I will personally spank your flank. He then snorted as he replied, “I’m offended that you’d think me so low as to take action against a filly. Don’t think that I will not show respect towards your student, even if she did come from a family of low breeding with an... imperfect bloodline.”

Celestia sat back slightly as she translated his words, How could you think I would abuse a pony you care so much about? I may act like I am a mean and arrogant pony, but you know I would never abuse those close to you. She dutifully ignored the quip about her student, barely. There was a reason that the nobles’ concerns were attended to separately from the rest of the populace. Still, it was disappointing that the upper-class had fallen so far as to promote this sort of language. "Good," Celestia replied. “Speak with my secretary, Silver Scroll. She will assist you in scheduling a time for you to see Lady Sparkle. You are now dismissed.”

Cadence trotted towards Celestia’s bedchamber, eliciting a bow from the two guards flanking it as she approached. She eyed the large, ornate double doors for a moment before raising a hoof to open it.

"Lady Cadence?" one of the guards on duty, a white pegasus, turned his head towards her. "I’m sorry, but you may not enter at this time. Her Highness, Princess Celestia, gave strict orders to keep anypony out who does not have her authorization."

Cadence gave him a nod as she replied, "I understand, sir, but I do indeed have permission from the princess. I’m here to foalsit her student, Twilight Sparkle." She drew a rolled piece of parchment out of her saddlebags with her light blue magic and presented it to the guard.

The charcoal unicorn guard on the other side grabbed the scroll with telekinesis before the pegasus could get a good look at it. She took a few seconds to scan the letter’s contents, particularly Princess Celestia’s signature at the bottom, before giving an affirmative nod. “Yep. She’s good to go. Have fun on the first day of your job. Twilight should be sleeping on her pillow right now; She’s had a rough morning, so be gentle.”

Cadence gave a curt nod, and the guards quietly opened the door for her. She trotted in confidently, despite the guard’s worries. After all, she had centuries to work on her foalsitting, and if Twilight Sparkle was growing to be a young mare, like Celestia told her, what’s the worst that could actually happen?

Cadence swept off her saddlebags with a glow of magic, placing it gently in the corner next to an old dusty dollhouse before surveying the room. She frowned. That’s odd... They said that Twilight would be sleeping on her pillow, but I don’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’s hiding?

“Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?” Cadence called as she walked slowly towards the center of the room. “It’s Cadence, your new foalsitter. You don’t have to hide, dear.”

"Twilight?” she repeated, stopping beside the bed and glancing towards the balcony window.

“Shmerrr...”

Cadence jumped several leg lengths away with a yelp, her eyes darting about as she looked for the source of the unexpected noise, before she noticed the large pillow on top of Auntie Celestia’s bed. And the little spot of color turning on top of it.

Is that... a purple mouse?

Ch7 - Cadence, Blueblood, and BBBFF

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 7

Cadence, Blueblood, and BBBFF

Twilight sat up on her pillow, rubbing sleepily at her eyes. Someone unfamiliar had just called her name, waking her from her slumber, and she assumed that the voice belonged to her new foalsitter. She blinked against the sunlight beaming in from the balcony, and as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, the bright pink blob in her vision slowly condensed into an alicorn the size—and age—of a filly. Twilight blinked again, this time in confusion.

I thought Cadence would look a bit older, considering that the princess told me that she’d been a guest in Equestria for hundreds of years.

***

It’s a unicorn.

A tiny... purple... unicorn...

Cadence stared at the ‘purple mouse’ in disbelief, her mind drawing up blanks as she searched for something to say. The tiny unicorn simply stared back at her before rubbing the back of her head nervously.

At least I know what Celestia meant when she told me that this size difference is one I wouldn’t be able to account for.

Oh my, I must look like a giant monster to her right now. I can’t believe she’s not running away from me.

"Uhhh...Hello! You must be Princess Cadence! Nice to meet you!" Twilight shouted cheerfully before giving a respectful bow. "My name is Twilight Sparkle!"

Cadence looked back stunned before slowly approaching the bed, all the while still staring at Twilight. She’s actually not afraid. “H-hello. It’s nice to meet you too, Twilight. I am indeed Princess Cadence, former princess to be precise, and I shall be your new foalsitter.”

Twilight clapped her hooves in excitement, “That’s great! So, do you have anything planned for today?”

“Of course, but could I just ask a few questions first?”

"Umm, alright. Go ahead."

"Are you afraid of me?" Cadence asked curiously.

Twilight chuckled, "Why should I be afraid of you? That's just silly."

“Because I’m uhh... like several times your size? I’ve been a foalsitter for fillies and colts your own age, and they were cowed even when I was just twice their height. They didn’t really think of me as a friend until I used my magic to make myself look younger.”

Twilight gasped loudly. “You can do that? Are you doing that right now?”

Cadence waved the comment off. “Yes and yes, but it requires the strong magic of an alicorn, and it’s only temporary at best. But back to what I said earlier: Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmmm... I guess I don’t really have a reason to be. The princess has always put in a good word about you, and you look like a nice pony. Besides, everypony is bigger than I am.”

Cadence gave a sigh of relief. I’ll have to remember to thank Celestia later for that. It’s so much easier to work with fillies when they aren’t intimidated by my size. "That's good,” she nodded, “but could you answer just one more question for me? Why are you so small?"

“Princess Celestia shrank me after I had my first magical surge. Do you remember the incident at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns about... eight years ago?”

“Of course I do. Back then, one of the applicants to the school had unleashed a dragon, and almost destroyed the examination room during her entrance exam because... of...” Cadence gasped in shock and pointed a hoof at Twilight. “That was you?”

Twilight nodded energetically. “Yep! The princess didn’t want me to cause any more damage if my magic goes out control again, so she used the energy from my first surge to cast a shrinking spell on me. She took me as her student so that I could learn how to control my magic while I’m tiny enough that my surges won’t be harmful.”

Cadence nodded in understanding. I can’t believe I forgot about the Shrinking Spell. I’d thought that that spell was lost since nopony besides me and aunt Celestia was strong enough to cast it. To think that Celestia could still remember it... and to think she used it over eight years ago on such a young filly!

“Oh Twilight,” Cadence began. “I can’t imagine how difficult your life must be, being so small. And to be confined to this room the entire time as well! I’m sure there has to be another way.”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t think there is another way. Unless I want buildings collapsing whenever I surge. And besides, this isn’t really that bad. I can read as many books as I want, and I can practice my magic all I want without being afraid of leaving a line of transformed potted plants in my wake. Celestia spends time with me every day and allows me to go out, as long as I’m escorted by her guards. I get to see Spike often, and now I get to play with you too! It’s really not as bad as you’d think."

Cadence gave a reserved nod. Well, as long as she says she’s happy... Still, I should be careful around her, and I will need to remember to talk with Celestia about this. She should have more interaction with other ponies than just her guards and... Spike?

“Who’s Spike? I don’t think I’ve met him before.”

“Spike’s the dragon that I, quote-unquote,” Twilight raised her hooves to trace mock quotation marks in the air, “‘unleashed’ on the school, though he’s back to the size he should be, as a baby dragon now.”

Cadence’s mouth was agape. “A dragon! Celestia lets you play with a dragon? Aren’t you afraid he’ll... I don’t know... sit on you or eat you?”

Twilight’s face turned quickly into an angry frown. “Whoa whoa whoa, princess. Time out.” Twilight made a quick ‘T’ with her forelegs. “Spike would never do that to me! He’s really nice and caring, and he knows to be careful whenever he plays with me, not to mention that he loves it when I teach him, so don’t say he’ll do something like eat me before you’ve met him!”

Cadence gave a sheepish smile. “I’m... I’m sorry, Twilight. I didn’t mean to offend you by saying that. It’s just... I’ve had some bad experiences with dragons, and I was really worried about you.”

Bad experiences? ”Bad experiences” is putting it a bit lightly, Cadence, if you’re referencing the time when a horde of dragons decided to see if crystal ponies tasted like gems. Her poor parents paying a huge price for their curiosity.

The pink alicorn gave an involuntary shudder.

Twilight gave the former princess a reassuring smile. “Just wait until you meet Spike. I’m sure you’ll like him! And please, don’t worry too much about me. I’m already fifteen, and Celestia casts a protection spell on me daily. I’m perfectly safe! And I can provide empirical evidence!” she exclaimed before disappearing in a flash of teleportation.

Cadence looked around in surprise before noticing another flash from above her. She looked up, and gasped, her eyes widening, as she noticed the tiny purple unicorn reappearing at the top of the room, nearly five meters up.

“Twilight!” Cadence screamed, before launching herself under her charge, spreading her wings to catch the unicorn just before she landed on the unrelenting floor. The doors burst open and Overwatch and Steel Blade came in, alerted by the shout, just as the filly alicorn caught Twilight in her feathery embrace.

"What were you thinking!" Cadence yelled as she wrapped Twilight up in her wings, holding her pressed against soft surface of her belly. "You could have broken something or died doing things like that! What possessed you to drop yourself to the ground from that height?"

After taking a few quick breaths, Cadence opened her wings and slowly levitated Twilight back over to her pillow while she herself jumped onto the bed, both of them looking a bit frazzled after the experience.

Twilight stammered as she attempted to put together a response, “I-I’m sorry. I guess I... didn’t quite think that one through. I didn’t mean to worry you, really!” She looked down at her pillow, drawing circles on it with a hoof.

Cadence closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to the two guards. “I’m sorry for disturbing you two. You may return to your posts now; the situation is under control.”

Overwatch shot a glance at Steel Blade before turning back towards Cadence. “No need to apologize, princess. It’s just part of the job.”

She gave a deep bow and trotted back out, muttering, “Celestia knows how we’re being more useful keeping Twilight safe from prissy nobles rather than herself. Girl’s a walking disaster area.”

Steel Blade gave the alicorn filly a sheepish smile and a quick bow before joining his co-worker outside.

The door clicked shut, and Cadence turned back towards Twilight. She took a moment to compose herself before saying, “It’s okay Twilight. I forgive you, but you really can’t be putting yourself in danger like that.”

Twilight looked back up at her foalsitter again before hesitantly asking, "Y-you're not mad?"

"No, I’m not angry, but you really caught me off-guard with that stunt. Why would you do something so reckless anyway?"

“I-I-I just didn’t want you to worry about me,” Twilight said uncertainly, “I’ve taken much more than this, and I managed to get through those without any issue.”

“Really? Like what?” Cadence narrowed her eyes at Twilight.

“Like that time I almost fell... off...” Twilight trailed off. Deciding that this was perhaps not the best time to tell Cadence about the time she fell all the way to the streets of Canterlot, she quickly corrected herself. “N-Nevermind. The point is that I’ll be fine. Honest! I have the protection spell and everything!”

Cadence brought a hoof to her forehead. “Regardless, you’re still small and you could still get seriously hurt doing such things.”

“I may be small, but it also makes me very light, so the kinetic energy I gain in a fall is reduced as well. Also, being small means that air resistance will slow me down more since I have more surface area per unit volume than a regular-sized pony, allowing me to fall at a slightly lower terminal velocity, like...” Twilight shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts. “That doesn’t matter right now. I just don’t want you worrying so much about me, is all. It bothers me that others look down at me because they think I’m so small and fragile.”

“Hold on a second. You mean you tried to fall all the way from the ceiling because you didn’t want me to worry about you?” Twilight nodded eagerly, but her response was interrupted when Cadence swept her up in between her hooves, holding the unicorn tightly as she gave her a soft nuzzle. “Oooh, you silly filly. You’re just making me even more worried.”

Twilight nuzzled her cheek and then pushed Cadence’s head back a little with all strength she could muster, creating a little space within the alicorn’s hug as she looked up into Cadence’s eyes, “Hey! I’m not a filly anymore! Don’t worry about me so much!”

Cadence chuckled as she released the little unicorn, placing her back on her pillow and sitting down in front of her while lifting her foreleg, “I’ll make a deal with you then. I won’t try to coddle you and worry so much about your safety as long as you don’t give me a reason to be worried. Just give me a little time to get used to your limits. Deal?”

Twilight gave Cadence a suspicious stare. “What about Spike?”

Cadence blinked. I’d almost forgotten about Spike. Maybe that’s the reason she was so adamant on her safety. “I won’t try to keep you away from Spike, as long as he doesn’t try to wrestle you into the dirt or flambé you. Deal?”

Twilight gave a wide smile before grabbing the giant pink hoof while shaking it energetically as she shouted, “Deal! So, what are we going to do now? Have anything fun planned?”

Cadence smiled back. "Of course, Twilight. I bought you some toys, but I'm not sure whether they will be of any use now, though. Auntie Celestia didn’t exactly tell me about your size when I met her earlier today," Cadence explained, although Twilight had already teleported to the saddlebags she had put aside earlier and was curiously looking through them with only her rump visible. With a grin, the filly rose and trotted over to oversee her new charge.

"Hey, what’s this doll? It looks cute," Twilight asked, levitating up a stuffed doll that was slightly larger than her from inside the bag. The doll itself was dark-grey and its laced mane and tail were only more so. A pair of mismatched buttons, one a navy blue and the other a washed-out maroon, acted as the doll’s eyes and around the doll’s rear and hindlegs was a greyish-blue pair of pants speckled with white polka-dots.

"Oh, that one?" Cadence replied, examining the doll over Twilight’s head as the tiny mare's tail was shaking energetically. "I made it myself, a really long time ago. It’s a bit old and ragged, but it has really held together over the years. I must have brought it by accident."

"Y-you made it... I understand," Twilight spoke in disappointment as she lowered her head, her ears drooped while her no longer flapping tail fall against the floor. The doll quickly levitated the towards Cadence as the little unicorn looked to the side and bit her lip.

“You really like this old doll, don’t you?” Cadence asked curiously. Noticing a sad nod, she smiled and spoke cheerfully, “Then I will gladly pass it to you.”

“I can keep it, for real?” Twilight asked, turning to Cadence while giving her best puppy-dog eyes with her bottom lip quivering in a pout.

"Of course you can keep it," Cadence replied with a smile. "I just hope you don't mind it being a bit worse for wear."

"Yay! I have my own doll now!" Twilight exclaimed enthusiastically as she jumped in circles, the doll levitating beside her as if being part of a dance. "We can have tea together and... and... and study together! What should I call her?" Twilight looked up in contemplation for a moment before her face lit up with an idea, “I know! I’ll name her Smarty Pants! Like Fancy Pants!”

Cadence gave a loud bark of a laugh, “I approve! Fancy Pants had always been a delight to talk with, and I’m sure Smarty Pants will be the same way. Now, is there any other toy you want to play with?”

Twilight placed her newest doll next to the entrance to the massive dollhouse before she dove back into the depths of Cadence’s saddlebags as she began levitating the contents of the bag out above her, keeping them in her hold while she dug further. Once she was sure everything was out, she climbed back out to pick and choose, happening to glance at Cadence’s flabbergasted expression at her magic.

Twilight looked back at the large cloud of toys around her and gave a shy smile. Perhaps she could tone down on the magic just a teensy bit this time around.

Over the next few days as Cadence foal-sat Twilight, the unicorn was more than happy to play various games with her. Twilight’s favorites were either puzzles or logical games, as they were similar to reading, with the added thrill of competition. In the beginning, Cadence had been glad to simply read alongside her charge, as it was far safer than any game they could play, but hours and hours of non-stop reading soon changed her opinion.

Cadence could only smile while feeling warmth in her heart whenever the tiny Twilight tried to throw several dice without help of her magic, or would walk herself across a board as one of the playing pieces. They had also played chess a few times, and Twilight usually pushed the chess pieces around with her own hooves or played the role of a king. Whenever Cadence had asked why she was acting as a pawn on the game board, or why she didn't use her magic, Twilight claimed it to be more fun that way.

They had also played a role-playing game occasionally where Twilight would wear a toy-sized dress and play as a princess, while Cadence moved plastic knight-pony figures and a dragon toy around with her magic. Sometimes Spike joined their gaming sessions too, and took on the role of the dragon himself occasionally. He didn't really like the idea of playing the villain of the story though, and had even asked more than once to play the role of a knight in shining armor—which only made Twilight think of her own brother.

There were of course some more exciting games too that Twilight has learned from White Path, where the little unicorn and her giant foal-sitter would use their magic to levitate the knights, and a bunch of soldier-pony toys, imagining the room as their battlefield. But whenever Cadence was about to defeat Twilight's army, Twilight herself just rushed into the front line kicking Cadence's toy soldiers down, or knocked them over with magic bolts. No matter what, in the end Cadence was always forced to surrender and join in the post-victory cookie feast.

As Cadence had spent more time with the little mare and had talked with Celestia about her situation, she had started to be more comfortable about Twilight's safety. On occasion, she even let Twilight play some more risky games too, though Cadence herself was still very careful around her, and always watched the young mare playing in case of accidents.

Still, Celestia didn't want Twilight seen by any nobles while Cadence prefered to keep being an alicorn away from public eye, so the foal-sitter snuck her little charge around the castle grounds under one wing while pretending to be a pegasus or tucked up into her mane as unicorn or earth pony while hiding her wings or horn under the veil of illusion. With a fake cutie mark under each of her disquises while trusting only some royal guards and few servants who swore to kept her and Twilight's secret safe, Cadence was making frequent trips into the garden and even more frequent visits to the library. After all, Twilight was a student who needed the exercise and experience of frequent outings, not some prisoner to be held behind the castle’s walls.

Prince Blueblood trotted briskly towards the Royal Gardens in the warm afternoon sunshine, his fine white coat resplendent with a recent grooming and his blond mane billowing in the breeze. Despite the beautiful landscaping surrounding him and generations of the finest flowering shrubs and plants filling the air with a breathtaking scent that defied description, his mind was far away, and a fierce scowl occupied his handsome face.

My one appointment to see Twilight Sparkle would have to be on the same day she decides to leave Celestia’s room without giving any warning.

He increased his pace as he drew within sight of his destination, ignoring his verdant surroundings with the determination of a pony on a mission. This was one opportunity he was not going to miss because of some silly oversight, no matter how inconsiderate it was.

One of the Royal Guards, a white pegasus, stood near the entrance gates and, as soon as Blueblood approached, snapped out his wing to block the prince’s passage. Maintaining the impassive expression of the Royal Guard, the guard spoke firmly, “Apologies, My Prince. The garden is currently closed by order of both Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence.”

“Yes, yes. Of course.” Blueblood waved off the order. “But I believe that Lady Twilight Sparkle is inside the gardens, and I have written permission from Celestia to visit her.” He presented the document in question, levitating it up to the guard for perusal. Blueblood took a quick glance around as the pegasus read through the document to himself. Unusual. I was under the impression that the Royal Guard worked in pairs. Perhaps Celestia believes that one is enough?

The guard gave a nod and an affirmative grunt, bringing Blueblood’s attention back to him, “You are clear to proceed, Prince Blueblood. You may find Lady Sparkle enjoying the gardens with Princess Cadence, as well as with the dragon, Spike. I believe they are playing hide-and-seek at the moment.” He withdrew his wing and dropped into a curt bow.

Blueblood strode briskly into the garden entrance, scanning for the young unicorn as he walked among the statues dotting the area. Beyond a quick physical description, he really did not know much about her, besides that she was a powerful unicorn shrunk by Celestia and taken in under the princess’s wing as her student. Of course, there were still rumors that Celestia simply shrunk the unicorn for her own amusement. Considering the princess had ruled Equestria for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, there may have been a bit of merit in that rumor, although others meant it as a jab at the monarch. Then again, he also found himself wondering why Celestia would shrink the filly if she just wanted a bit of company. After all, it seems like it’d be difficult to play with a filly the size of a mouse.

Just my luck that of all things, they’d be playing hide-and-seek today. It’s going to be impossible to find such a filly of that size here. Perhaps I should focus on finding Cadence or that dragon. Spike, was it? They shouldn’t be too far behind her and I can’t be wasting time now.

“Twilight?” he called out loudly. “Cadence? Dragon?”

“Y’know, if you’re looking for someone, you could just ask rather than begin shouting.” Blueblood jumped and turned towards the source of the voice, looking upwards at the statue representing victory, to find an alert charcoal-black unicorn guard mare perched at the top, apparently very relaxed despite resting on the hard stone.

“Then again, nopony really tries to ask me anything,” she muttered, before straightening up and scanning the area. “Spike is on the completely opposite side of the garden from Twilight and I’m pretty sure Cadence has gotten herself lost in the hedge maze. By the way, if you’re looking for the princess’s student, you’d have a bit more luck over by that oak tree there.”

Blueblood turned towards the oak tree she indicated, murmuring thanks before trotting towards it. So Celestia did assign two guards to Miss Sparkle, though I’m surprised she would assign such an unprofessional guard to her very own student. Wasn’t there some big complaint in the nobility about a guard a year or two ago? I’m surprised they haven’t gotten stricter with the guards’ behavior these days.

He approached the oak tree, scanning the leafy depths of its expansive foliage. “Twilight?” he asked. His search was interrupted when a single acorn, held in a lavender aura, floated in front of him, waiting until it had his full attention before moving away.

The acorn floated up towards the other side of the tree, which Blueblood obediently trotted towards, before stopping next to a small lavender shape huddled in a crook of a branch.

“Ahh, Twilight Sparkle, I presume?” Blueblood called up to her. “Could you please come down so that we may talk more easily?”

With a flash of light, Twilight quickly relocated herself to Blueblood’s muzzle, startling him into nearly knocking her off as she bounced of the tree and landed back on his nose. The little unicorn reasserted herself and sat down squarely in the prince’s vision before speaking. “Sorry, I guess I should have provided more warning when I do that. Anyway, my name is Twilight Sparkle. You must be Prince... Blue’s Blood? I think the princess mentioned you before, but I didn’t quite catch your name. Nice to meet you!”

Blueblood blinked as he looked at the young mare perched on his nose. My... she really is tiny. I wonder if the rumors of her power were also true, such that Celestia needed to shrink her to keep it under control.

"First off, my name is not ‘Blue’s Blood.’ It’s Blueblood," Blueblood corrected her. "Anyway, it’s nice to meet you too, Twilight Sparkle. I can see why Celestia waited so long before granting me permission to visit."

“Permission to visit? How long did you have to wait?” her expression shifted into one of confusion as she tilted her head.

“Just about a year. I’m surprised it wasn’t longer.”

“Really? That’s kinda depressing. Why won’t Princess Celestia let you visit me? That seems a bit unfair,” Twilight said, now frowning.

Blueblood shrugged noncommittally before stating, “Politics. Don’t worry too much about it,” he said, before deciding to launch into an inquiry of his own. “I was wondering, though. Is it true that Princess Celestia shrunk you because you were too powerful?”

"Yes. She did it so I could learn how to control my power without hurting anypony. My magic is really strong — or at least that is what the princess says — and I sometimes have issues reining it in."

“Could you give me a demonstration, then? I find it hard to believe unless I can see it with my own eyes.”

"Of course!" Twilight replied cheerfully with a wide smile before jumping from Blueblood’s nose and landing with a practiced tumble on the grass.

Turning back to Blueblood, Twilight’s horn lit up as she focused more and more magic into it. Blueblood gave a very slight frown as he watched the tiny mare. I hope that whatever spell she is going to cast will have big enough effect for me to notice, he thought, before noticing the pink aura around him and that he was getting ever so slowly farther away from her. Upwards, to be precise.

Blueblood flailed his legs around slightly, not quite realizing that the ground was not where it was supposed to be. She’s levitating me? But I must weigh at least two hundred times her weight! If she can handle the strain when she’s that size...

A few seconds passed, and Twilight looked as if she was straining harder and harder, clenching her teeth in a tight grimace. Twenty seconds passed before Blueblood began getting impatient. “Twilight Sparkle,” he began. “As impressive as your show of raw power is, I’d appreciate it if you could put me back down.” The sooner, the better. She’s starting to worry me, and I’m afraid I might hurt her if I use my own magic to escape.

A few more seconds passed before Blueblood noticed something was definitely wrong. With a sudden bright burst of light, Blueblood was punted several yards back, landing clumsily in the lawn. He shook his head blearily before looking back to see Twilight levitating in the air, the bright corona of a magic surge easily three times normal size enveloping the young mare and shedding off magic bolts in all directions. No wonder Celestia shrunk her. A surge of that size, not to mention tossing me like a ragdoll, could cause irreparable damage no matter where she goes.

“Twilight!”

Blueblood turned towards the distant voice, spotting an unusually young pegasus he recognized as Cadence flying over to them as well as the guard mare from earlier galloping from the hedge maze, likely coming over after finding the foal-sitter. She landed a short distance from tiny unicorn before backing away uncertainly from the bolts emitted from Twilight’s surge and nervously fidgeting with her hooves.

“Stay back and do not interfere. Twilight’s magical surge will fade out on its own, but there is nothing we can do to stop it ourselves,” Blueblood commanded, earning a glare from Cadence.

“I know what this is, Prince Blueblood. This isn’t the first she’s had under my care,” she warily replied before approaching the surging mare as a blue aura appeared around her invisible horn while a stream of lavender magic was drained into it, watching as Twilight’s surge slowly shrank in size as it consumed her magic reserves. As it ended, and the tiny unicorn slowly stopped floating above the ground, Cadence caught Twilight in her own magic and deposited the little mare on her back.

Looking back worriedly, Cadence asked, “Are you feeling okay, Twilight?”

Twilight gave a sluggish nod, “Y-yes. Just a bit tired. I tried to hold my surge back, but I think I overextended myself there.”

“Well, Twilight. Why don’t you just rest on my back for now? I can cover you up with some of my mane while I go find your more age-appropriate playmate Spike, and by the time we get back to Celestia’s room, you should be rested enough to play something a little less strenuous.” Twilight barely nodded and curled herself into a ball, in exactly the same position she had been sleeping every day since she had been shrunk. Cadence giggled a little at the sight before tucking a few curls of her mane over the sleeping filly and heading out to locate the hidden dragon.

To Cadence’s annoyance, Blueblood decided to accompany them on their relatively short trip. After a quick check to make sure the little unicorn on her back was really sleeping, she decided to at least get some current information out of the stuffy stallion.

“So what happened back there, little cousin?”

Blueblood huffed at the reminder of their relationship, and regarded Cadence rather coldly. “I don’t appreciate your tone of voice, or your negligence towards Auntie Celestia’s rather special young—”

“We were playing hide-and-seek, cousin. The game isn’t nearly as much fun if you never get out of sight. Now what happened back there with you and my little charge?” Cadence lifted the branches of a low bush and looked under it for a sign of the little dragon, still amazed at the ability of a purple creature of that size being able to hide in the middle of so many green plants.

“I’ve been wanting to meet the student that Auntie Celestia has been hiding from me for this long, so when she finally gave me permission today, I hurried right over. I’ve always wondered just exactly why Aunt Celestia would use such a peculiar spell on her, and never really did believe her story about Twilight having so much raw power, so I asked her to show me just how strong her magic really was.”

“Show her power?” Cadence cocked an eyebrow in curiosity, her search for the little purple lizard momentarily lowering in priority. She would have been angry at Blueblood for making Twilight perform tricks for him, if it were not for the obvious fact that Celestia had done the same thing to her many times now for many years, and it felt interesting to see the horseshoe on the other hoof. “So what kind of spell did you have her cast, Professor Blueblood?”

“Nothing fancy, really,” replied Blueblood with an irritated scowl. “She just lifted a heavy — I mean an average weight. Perfectly average.”

“Really? I would think from the reaction she had, she must have been lifting something extremely heavy,” remarked Cadence with a sly wink, keeping from laughing only by the light weight of the sleeping student on her back. “So what, or who was she lifting?”

“M-me,” Blueblood replied with a glance around to make sure nopony was listening. “She levitated me above the ground,” his blush grew as Cadence tried unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle, saved only by her not wanting to wake the little sleeping unicorn who was using her as a mattress.

Once the fit of suppressed laughter died out, realization struck her. “Wait a minute. She actually lifted you off the ground? But you’re so heavy. I mean really heavy. And compared to her present size—”

“I’m not fat,” protested Blueblood, with a quite noticeable sucking in of his gut. “I have a large frame.”

“With very few miles on it, and quite a few doughnuts. Just because you’re Celestia’s nephew doesn’t mean you can eat more than her. She lifts the sun every morning, while all you do is lift drinks with your friends all night. I’ve told you to get some exercise before you turn into a blob.”

Ignoring Blueblood’s look of disbelief, she continued, “Anyway, I had no idea she had enough power to lift a full-grown pony. Alicorn magic and their raw power built up over hundreds of years is about the only thing that could make her look weak by comparison. I really can’t think of any other adult unicorn who could match her power now, let alone exceed it.”

Blueblood sniffed. “I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss over her. I can levitate far more than my own weight.”

“I know you think you’re strong, Blue, but do you think you could lift a couple times your own weight? Or a few hundred times your own weight, like Twilight, who has not even come close to her full potential yet?”

After Twilight’s short nap and a trip to Celestia’s bedchamber, the four of them settled down to much more sedate activities. Spike was set to work coloring an ornate line drawing of a dragon hoard with a huge box of gem-tinted markers while Twilight bounced on her sleeping pillow, feeling recharged and ready for the answer to the question that was just bursting to get out.

“So, how did I do on your test, Mister Blueblood? Did I pass? Do I need to do any extra credit work?”

The look of annoyance that had finally been purged from the proud stallion returned in full strength. “Please, young Miss Sparkle. You really should address me by my title.”

“Oh.” The little unicorn drooped as she whimpered slightly, “Will this cost me points on your test, Mister Prince?”

“No!” he spluttered. “You are to address me as Prince Blueblood, Duke of Canterlot...” Blueblood trailed off at the look of anguish on the little unicorn and the quelling glare he was getting from Cadence. “But as you are my Aunt Celestia’s student, you may simply call me Blueblood, in private.”

“You really need to learn the correct form of address for the nobility, for there are many insensitive louts who would take offence, if you do not use their correct title. As for your test?” Blueblood glanced at Cadence and allowed the faintest trace of a smile to slip onto his face. “I shall be forced to give you full credit and top marks, provided you continue to work on your control—”

“Yippeee!” Twilight gave a high bounce off the pillow, vanishing in mid-air to reappear on an astonished Blueblood’s nose, causing him a slight hesitation before continuing.

"I must say I didn't expect to witness so much power from young mare of your size," Blueblood replied in a neutral tone, considering the powerful subject of his words was still perched on his nose. "I may not be an expert in magic, but I must say it was quite an impressive display of power. I can see why my aunt was so interested in teaching you. Now I am better equipped to deal with the foolish rumors about you that some of the nobles have been spreading, as most of them are quite inaccurate."

“Rumors?” Cadence asked in confusion. “What rumors?”

Blueblood raised his eyebrows. “You haven’t heard? They’ve been fairly common talk among the nobles in Canterlot, and—”

He paused with a frown before suddenly blinking in understanding. “Ahh, you haven’t been in Canterlot these last few years, have you? No matter. You would be better off not knowing. Trust me,” he continued, with a wave of his hoof, once again looking cross-eyed at Twilight. “So, what would you like to do now, Lady Sparkle?”

He considered that it would probably be a good idea to stay on the tiny unicorn’s good side. Twilight was going to return to normal size one day, and when that day arrived, she would not be a pony he’d want to mess with. Hopefully by then, she’d have stopped teleporting onto other pony’s noses too.

Twilight was confused by the praise from Blueblood, but didn't know if she should be worried about whatever rumors were being spread about her. She didn't often have a chance to meet any new ponies — not that she really minded anyway, as she still had her mentor and enough books, and her family visited her from time to time too — but after meeting with Cadence and Blueblood, she was wondering if Celestia would begin to allow her to talk and play with other ponies as well.

"Um... maybe you, or Princess Cadence could tell me more about yourselves," Twilight answered his question. "My mentor has not told me much about you two, and I'd like to get to know you better."

Over the next few hours, both Blueblood and Cadence told her some stories from their respective pasts, while Twilight and Spike listened intently. Of course, Cadence didn't want to traumatize the filly, and left out the frightening details about how Sombra had taken over her empire and banished her. Blueblood, in turn, avoided any stories which could leave a bad impression for Twilight, as he believed the young mare wouldn't likely understand how life worked when it came to politics and social classes. After they had already shared several stories together, another guest approached the room, unbeknownst to them at the moment.

***

"Lieutenant Armor, sir. I assume you are here to visit your sister? Feel free to enter, sir," the guards at Celestia's bedchamber saluted before opening the door for the young lieutenant. Shining Armor snapped back a quick salute before entering.

Although he had at first visited his sister as often as he could, Shining Armor quickly realized that his little Twiley was not as fragile as he had once assumed. As such, he decided to focus more and more on his training, though he still paid visits to Twilight every so often. He still enjoyed his sister’s company, but his quick advancement through the Royal Guard’s ranks gave him much more than mere physical training to worry about, and his visits to Twilight waned.

As Shining Armor passed the guards into Celestia's bedchamber, he noticed that Twilight was not alone. In fact, she seemed to have quite a lot of company with her this time. He first noticed Spike, a now common visitor for his little sister though initially, he had tried to convince Celestia to separate the two for Twilight’s safety. It took a long while and nearly constant surveillance by either him or Twilight’s guards before he began to trust the little dragon and welcome his visits.

The next pony he saw made him somewhat annoyed. It was Blueblood. While the guards in general didn't like him, Shining Armor himself absolutely loathed him. Whenever Shining was appointed to ensure the security of the nobles in Canterlot, he was annoyed to no end by his arrogance, and he hadn't expected that Celestia would let him visit Twilight in the first place.

The last pony in the room Shining didn't recognize. He had never been informed about there being more alicorns than Princess Celestia, and she seemed to be quite a young filly too. The filly in question looked back at him with an awkward smile as her wings spread and covered her head as if trying to hide the horn. He would find more about her later, but there was the other pony he liked to deal with first.

"What is the meaning of this?" Shining Armor yelled at Blueblood with authority in his voice. I don't know how he got here—maybe he blackmailed the guards to let him in or something—but I will kick him out personally and make sure he would stay out. As for that alicorn filly, I will need to ask Celestia who she is, and whether it is a good idea to let her be near my sister, Shining Armor thought, anger building in him as he walked in Blueblood's direction. The guards outside decided not to interfere. Even if it was technically their job to ensure the safety of the royalty in any situation, fighting their respected lieutenant to protect the arrogant prince was not worth it.

Twilight, Cadence, and Blueblood were stunned by his outburst and had no idea what to say. "You!" Shining Armor pointed his hoof at Blueblood, fire in his eyes. "Get out of this room, or I will kick you out myself!"

Fluffing up with anger at the clear lack of respect from the familiar Royal Guard officer, Blueblood looked Shining Armor straight in the eyes and snapped back, "How dare you threaten me, lieutenant? Aunt Celestia herself gave me a permission to visit her student, and I will not stand aside when a mere commoner shows a lack of respect for your proper superior."

"And why should I believe you?" Shining Armor replied, pushing close enough so that his nose made contact with Blueblood's. "An arrogant, worthless snob like you would never receive permission to visit my sister."

"It wasn't easy, but I convinced Aunt Celestia how unfair it was to keep me from meeting her student," Blueblood replied, trying to push his nose against Shining Armor's to push him back. To his disappointment, his lack of physical activity left him considerably weaker than the hard working, well trained officer, and his head was pushed back by Shining Armor's muzzle instead, forcing Blueblood to take a step back.

"I won't believe a word of that unless I hear it from her myself. Now get out!"

"I... w-won't," Blueblood stammered, fear obvious in his voice. "I waited too long to finally meet her, and I won't let a hot-blooded, disrespectful officer throw me out." Truthfully, he was afraid of what was going to happen, but he stood his ground. If anything, he was stubborn in getting what he wanted. It had taken a year of talking and asking to meet Aunt Celestia's student just this one time, and he was not going to give up that easily.

Cadence and Twilight watched the two unicorns yelling at one another with a growing sense of unease. Cadence finally decided to end the foolishness, but when she started to light her horn, she noticed a purple aura already encasing both unicorns, throwing them away from one another. Surprised, the alicorn filly turned her head to see Twilight with an angry expression on her face. Had Candence not been several times larger than the angry mare, she would have been quite intimidated by her.

Twilight's horn lit again as she teleported onto Shining Armor's muzzle. "Twiny?" Shining Armor asked his sister, using his new nickname for her shrunken form, but closed his mouth as he saw his sister angrily stomping her tiny hoof on his nose.

"You stop being a meanie right now, Shiny!" Twilight demanded, punctuating her words with a stomp of her hoof. "I never expected to see you being so mean and impolite to other ponies! Apologize, now!"

Wow, why is Twilight so angry? I guess I really shouldn't have acted like that in front of her, but apologizing to this jerk... why would I ever do that? Shining Armor thought. "But Twiny, I can’t let this jerk bully you!"

Blueblood was now sitting silently where he had been thrown, staring back at Shining Armor and his sister. How amusing, a big brother being lectured by his tiny little sister. I guess Miss Sparkle has not only more intelligence, but also more nerve than most of the other ponies in her family, he thought with amusement as he watched the scene unfolding in front of his eyes.

"He wasn't bullying me, but you were bullying him," Twilight replied, even angrier than before, barely keeping her balance on Shining Armor's nose. "And calling him a jerk was very mean of you! Now stop being mean and apologize!"

"But he entered without permission," Shining Armor retorted, before being cut off by his sister’s yell.

"He had permission! My mentor told me that he would visit me, and she hoped that we could get along. And I must say, I find it unfair she didn't allow her nephew to visit me in the first place."

Shining Armor was shocked beyond words. If what his sister said was true, not only had Princess Celestia allowed this jerk to visit his sister, but he also ended up assaulting Blueblood for no reason. He had jumped to conclusions and let his personal grudge take better of him, and that kind of hastiness was something a good Royal Guard Officer should have avoided at all cost.

"Now be nice and apologize!" Twilight ordered, pointing a hoof in Blueblood’s direction. Her anger started fading slowly as she saw her brother was starting to relent.

Shining Armor was silent for a moment and slowly walked to Blueblood, who was now watching him with a smile, laughing inside of his mind at the scene he had just witnessed. "I..." Shining Armor tried to apologize, but words refused to leave his mouth. Still, he was encouraged by a stomp of his sister's hoof on his nose, and continued, "I'm sorry."

Blueblood clearly enjoying the situation, asked mockingly, "You are sorry... for what, if I may ask?"

Shining Armor felt a bit of anger building inside him again, knowing Blueblood was just playing with him now. He decided to play along before he got another lecture from his sister. Small or not, she was good at lecturing. "I am sorry for assuming that you entered this room without permission, for thinking that you had ill intentions towards my sister, for insulting you with my words, and for not showing you any respect," Shining Armor admitted, trying his best to keep his composure.

"Good," Twilight commented, smile finally returning on her face. In a flash she was gone, and reappeared on Blueblood's nose in turn. The reason why she liked teleporting onto ponies' noses was because from there she could speak to them easily without yelling, and the pony whose nose she was sitting on was forced to speak slowly and quietly to prevent her from falling. And, as much as Twilight hated to admit it, her tiny ears were sensitive, and she didn't want other ponies to speak too loudly when she was nearby.

"Prince Blueblood, would you please forgive my brother?" Twilight asked with a pout on her face and forelegs together in a pleading gesture. "I know he was very mean just now, but inside he is kind, brave, and caring. I'm sure that all was just a big misunderstanding."

Twilight resolved herself to ask Celestia later why he wasn’t allowed to visit sooner, but certainly her mentor had hoped that they would get along, and they were doing just fine at that until her own brother appeared and started bullying him out of nowhere. At this point she felt pity for the poor prince, and hoped to make him and her brother get along.

"Considering that he apologized, and since you asked so nicely, I will forgive him... this time. But I expect that events like this will not be repeated in future," Blueblood replied with a little arrogance in his voice. He spoke carefully since Twilight was sitting on his nose, but inside he was laughing. I must say, this mare is actually much more entertaining than I initially thought.

"Oh, I'm sure this won't happen again," Twilight replied, a smile adorning her face. She turned her gaze on Shining Armor, her expression turning to a more stern and serious one. "Isn't that right, brother?" Twilight yelled so her brother could hear her loud and clear, causing Shining just to nod his head in agreement.

Content that the problem was solved, Twilight teleported back on Celestia's bed. Shining Armor turned away from Blueblood, and walked closer to the pink alicorn filly, who had been silent and rather thin-lipped during the whole argument.

"Greetings, young miss. My name is Shining Armor, lieutenant in the Royal Guard. I see you are an alicorn, just like Princess Celestia. I had no idea there were more than one of your kind. May I know your name?" Shining Armor asked politely. He had made rather bad first impression just a moment ago, so he tried his best to fix it.

"My name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence like everypony else. It is nice to meet you... I think." She had no idea what had happened between Blueblood and Lieutenant Armor, but she was still shocked by the scene she just saw, not to mention that she dropped her ilusion spell the moment she entered the bedchamber, and now he knew her secret. I had no idea Twilight had such a handsome brother, Cadence thought, taking an appraising look at the young lieutenant.

"Nice to meet you too," Shining Armor added. "Please forgive me for asking, but are you possibly Princess Celestia’s daughter by any chance? One whom she has been hiding from public eye? I had always thought Celestia was the only alicorn in Equestria."

Of course he would get that idea. Time and a desire to ease the pain through forgetfulness had erased nearly every trace of Luna, and Celestia has never spoken of the past to anypony in centuries. But her daughter? Nopony in Equestria—save for me, and Celestia herself of course—knows that alicorns are not born, but are ascended from once normal ponies. I guess my age changing spell isn't helping either.

The mental image of Celestia as a mother made blood rush to her cheeks. If she was Celestia's daughter, who was supposed to be the father then? Of course, even if Celestia would have a son or a daughter, he or she wouldn’t be an alicorn, just a regular earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn, and her daughter or son would probably be a crystal pony.

Having a filly of my own actually sounds like an interesting idea... wait a minute. What am I thinking? Just because my special talent is spreading love, I can’t make a family for myself, as the pain of losing them would be too heavy once I would inevitably outlive them. But Shining Armor seems like a nice hunk of a stallion... oh, WHAT AM I THINKING?

Cadence started to shake lightly as her mind betrayed her. Shining Armor continued to watch her with his warm, blue eyes, still waiting for an answer to his question.

"W-well, I'm sorry if my question was too personal," Shining Armor apologized hesitantly, as he realized what he had just asked. He was about to say something else to relieve the tension, but his attention turned to his sister when she spoke.

"She's not Princess Celestia’s daughter," Twilight answered, ignoring the awkward silence between the two. "She is a guest, and she is a princess too!"

"P-princess?" Shining Armor asked with confusion while considering do he should bow to a filly. "But if you are a princess, why have I never heard of you before? What country you are ruling? I thought Equestria was the only pony kingdom on this continent."

Cadence's mood darkened as she heard what Shining Armor had just uttered, memories of losing the Crystal Empire flashing back in her mind. They must not know. I have to distract them somehow.

"Oh, I am a former princess," Cadence replied with a fake smile. "I no longer hold any power, but Celestia let me stay in Canterlot so I can live my life away from politics. My subjects merged with Equestria a long time ago, and since my kingdom was small, I wasn't needed to rule anything in Equestria."

Shining Armor was confused, so Twilight decided to explain what she had learned from Princess Celestia. "My mentor didn't tell me anything about Cadence's kingdom, only telling that she no longer ruled it, and during the last hundreds of years she had tried to start a new life in Equestria. Princess Celestia said that she was helping Princess Cadence to find different jobs, and two weeks ago she agreed to be my foal-sitter!"

Shining Armor blinked a few times as his brain tried to figure out how an alicorn filly would be hundreds of years old, and a princess at that. He quietly stammered, “B-b-but you look so young, h-how?”

Cadence let out a sigh. "Well, when Celestia asked me to foal-sit her student, I used an age spell to make myself younger. It has always helped me to get along with other foals easier, and I hoped it would help us to get along too," she explained quietly, not wanting to hurt Twilight's fragile ears.

Cadence turned her head and looked at Twilight with a smile. “In the end it didn’t matter with such a large size difference. Did it Twilight?” The little mare nodded her head in agreement with a smile of her own.

"Wait, if you used an age spell on yourself, how do you really look?" Shining Armor asked casually, but with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

After a moment of thinking, Cadence decided to answer. "I suppose there is no point in maintaining this spell, now that I know Twilight is perfectly comfortable with an adult as her foalsitter, and it is a drain on my magic that I can do without.”

Blue magic encircled the young filly as Cadence lit her horn, her aura growing in size as she aged before their eyes. In less than a minute, the transformation spell was complete and Cadence shook her mane and tail out in a cascade of violet, rose and golden hair that coiled up just short of the floor. She was still significantly smaller than Princess Celestia, but she now stood just barely taller than Shining Armor, looking him straight in the eyes as she fluttered her eyelashes with a smile.

“So, Lieutenant Armor. How do I look?”

The Royal Guard was unable to reply, frozen into an entranced stare at the newly revealed princess, with his sister perched on his nose, waving a hoof in front of his eyes.

“Princess Cadence, I think you broke my brother,” Twilight said, unaware of one sentence repeating itself in Shining Armor's mind, She...is...HOT!

Ch8 - Snowball War

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 8

Snowball War

A thick blanket of snow covered the Royal Gardens, transforming it into a beautiful and wonderfully fluffy world, if a bit on the chilly side. Animal dens lay beneath the snowfall, filled with hibernating animals, and the tree branches were bare, save for the icicles and snow hanging from them. It would be a perfect, untouched world if it weren’t for the mass of guards, composed of ten pegasi and ten unicorns, in formation in the middle.

“Errr... Does anypony know why we’re here today?” a guard asked uncertainly.

“I don’t believe so, but it must be something really important if Lieutenant Armor asked us to be here. Did you see how serious he looked?” a reply came from one of the pegasi on the other side of the group. A low murmur spread through the crowd until they caught sight of the pony in question approaching.

“Attention!” snapped Shining Armor, who was decked out in his officer’s armor, though he left his electric blue mane free of the accompanying helmet. Certain that he had the attention of all of the guards present, he continued, “You’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today.”

The guards carefully maintained their impassive expressions despite their growing anxiety.

Shining Armor gave a snort and grinned, “I thought so... You see, I have gathered you here by the order of Princess Celestia herself.”

With impeccable timing, the princess took the opportunity to land next to Shining Armor just as he sounded the words to the suddenly nerve-wracked guards. “Have you gathered all of the guards that I’ve requested, Lieutenant Armor?” The princess’s tone was authoritative and steely, offering no room for pleasantry.

“Of course, Your Highness. I’ve chosen them personally for the upcoming battle,” Shining Armor gave a sharp salute, before turning his gaze to the other arriving guests. “And I see that the others are here as well.”

Despite the cold, the guards began sweating. None of them had been in an actual battle yet; Equestria had been at peace for over three hundred years and the most they had in battle readiness came from practiced drills and simulations. It didn’t help that Lady Cadence and the Captain of the Guard, Brave Blade, had joined the lieutenant and the princess at the front, along with Prince Blueblood, Fancy Pants and his wife Fleur de Lis, and a baby dragon, of all things.

They were accompanied by several servants and two more guards, a pegasus guard and the unusual charcoal black unicorn whose ever-present scarf finally fit with the season. They joined the group already gathered there, but to the guards assembled in formation, these ponies weren’t nearly as important as the many important figures present. All of the guards looked warily between the two princesses and the Captain of the Guard, wondering exactly what prompted this collection of authority.

With a curt nod, Celestia began speaking firmly, “Yes, it appears that everypony is here, Lieutenant Armor.”

With another sharp salute, Shining Armor turned to address his guards, only to be interrupted by a magenta flash and a tiny lavender unicorn landing on his head. “Is everypony ready, BBBFF?” Twilight asked excitedly, barely able to contain her grin.

The guards turned to look with confusion at the tiny pony standing on their superior officer’s head, though those more knowledgeable about Celestia’s prized student were already frantically attempting to figure out her role in the upcoming battle. Many worried for the safety of the tiny mare, though this was slightly overshadowed by the relief of fighting alongside one of the most powerful unicorns this side of Equestria and many more wondered if Celestia would finally dispel her shrinking spell to allow Twilight the use of her full power, for the good of Equestria.

“Yes they are, Twiny, but it’s still their decision whether they would like to participate or not,” Shining Armor replied warmly to the dismay of the guards present, who quickly realized that they were about to take volunteers for whatever mission they needed completed, a sure sign of a suicide run or something equally likely to separate them from that nice thing called ‘breathing.’

It didn’t help that Overwatch had the most devilishly evil grin plastered on her face, happily telling the guards around her, “Lighten up, it’ll only be the biggest battle you’ll ever have in your life.”

Shining Armor gave a loud, annoyed huff, quickly drawing the attention of the assembled guards, who were quite willing to ignore the crazy mare leisurely talking about their impending death. “Don’t think I can’t hear you, Specialist Overwatch,” he called, before continuing in his normal tone of voice. “But she’s right about this being one of the largest engagements you’ll ever have. You can back down now if you wish, but know that only the side with the stronger will to win will emerge from this battle victorious.”

“That’s right! We’re going to war!” Twilight added courageously, standing on her brother head and pumping her hoof into the air. Many of the gathered guards, sweat pouring from their nervous brows, eagerly took a step back, leaving those few who had either mustered up the courage enough to fight for the tiny unicorn or those who were too frightened to step back.

Shining Armor opened his mouth to speak, only to be beaten by his little sister, “Awww, only six? A snowball war would be a lot funner if more of you join, you know. It said so in my book,” Twilight began tracing tiny circles mournfully with her hoof on her brother’s head, oblivious to the fact that many of the assembled guards had suddenly decided that stumbling into the snow was much more preferable to figuring out exactly what the tiny unicorn had just revealed.

Silence reigned for a long moment, until one of the assembled guards raised a hoof and asked, “Is this a joke?”

Overwatch burst out into uproarious laughter, falling backwards into the snow as the gathered guards quickly aimed death glares at her, though Steel Blade simply rolled his eyes.

Shining Armor gave a synchronized facehoof with Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence, “Great job Twilight. Way to ruin the prank.”

“Prank? What prank?” Twilight asked, looking down at her brother cluelessly.

Shining Armor could not help but smile at the anticipatory look on Twilight's face as he explained the events to his soldiers. The idea of a huge snowball fight in the sacrosanct Royal Gardens that not only was permitted, but would have a princess on one side took a little while to soak in, but eventually they all agreed it made a delightful change of pace from their normal drills. When Princess Celestia offered them two free days of leave as an apology for the prank, none of them refused the opportunity.

***

With the circumstances clarified, everypony gathered around in a large group, save for the two team leaders standing in front of them, each wearing a distinctly colored band on a foreleg. The leader of Red Team was none other than Princess Celestia while the leader of Blue Team—to everypony’s surprise—was Twilight Sparkle, who was perched comfortably on top of the princess’s head with a band no larger than a piece of thick thread tied around her foreleg.

“As with any game,” Celestia began, peering at the attentive faces of the crowd before her. “We must cover the rules before we start. Twilight? If you would.”

Twilight gave an affirmative nod, “The goal of this game is to hit the opposing team’s flags, which, as you can see, are scattered throughout the Royal Gardens. Whoever can hit all of them will be the winner, but no one is allowed to gain an advantage by moving the flags to a more defensible position. You can only use snowballs to hit the flags or anypony on the other team.”

“And finally, we’re all going to be playing on equal ground, meaning that unicorns will not be allowed to use magic and pegasi will not be able to fly,” Twilight elaborated, levitating a large collection of magic-restricting rings as well as several sets of bindings.

Celestia continued Twilight’s explanation, “Indeed, all unicorns will have to wear an restraining ring and all pegasi will have their wings bound. In addition, because Earth Pony magic inherently increases their strength and stamina, all Earth Ponies will wear weighted vests to compensate.” She smiled warmly before continuing, “Just think of it as an extra workout.” She then levitated the leaden weights onto the ponies in question, nearly tripling the weight of the ponies wearing them, yet causing very little discomfort.

Celestia then turned to her own weight and eyed it warily. I feel like I’m going to regret this, she thought as she levitated on the large vest made specially for her, weighed specifically in tons rather than kilograms. She groaned as the weight settled on her. Oh dear, I haven’t been lifting anything during my time as a ruler, have I? What did I just agree to?

“As for me, I’m allowed to use my magic to compensate for my size disadvantage,” Twilight declared loudly as the ponies busily began putting on their handicaps. She reared up onto Celestia’s horn, standing on her two hind legs as she flipped through a tiny, but exorbitantly long, checklist that rolled down Celestia’s forehead and formed a little curl right over one royal eye. Satisfied, she looked up, and once she saw that most of them were finished, she continued, “If everypony understands the rules, we can begin forming teams. You can choose first, princess.”

With that, she hopped down to Celestia’s left with a soft crunch on the snow and moved farther to the side as the princess scanned the familiar faces of her ponies, once again with a hidden smile.

“I shall choose Lieutenant Shining Armor.”

“Whaaaat! P-princess, why did you choose my BBBFF?” Twilight exclaimed, a pout on her face as Shining Armor hesitantly trotted forward, unsure of which side would win the upcoming battle for his body, but quite certain he was going to lose either way.

“It’s very simple, my faithful student. Shining Armor is one of the strongest ponies here, even without his magic,” Celestia explained plainly, before she noticed the disappointed pout on her student's face. “Errr... but since I chose first, would you like to choose two for your team since I had my pick from everypony?”

“Sounds fair, I guess.” Twilight’s pout remained, but she quickly capitalized on the offering, already running through who best to choose for her team and who she personally wanted. Two immediately popped into mind as she declared, “I choose Spike and Princess Cadence.” With that, Spike began energetically skipping to her side as Cadence followed at his heels, happy that she would not have to peg the tiny unicorn with a snowball while not bothering to hide her wings and horn behind an illusion among trusted ponies.

Celestia raised an eyebrow as Twilight’s group exchanged smiles and hugs, “An odd choice, my faithful student. You know that choosing Spike will leave you at a disadvantage, correct?”

Twilight simply shrugged, “We’re here to have fun, aren’t we? Does it really matter who I choose?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her student before turning back to the group at large, tapping her hoof to her muzzle in thought. “If that’s how you want to play it, my faithful student, then I shall choose Fancy Pants.”

Fancy Pants raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I say, I was rather expecting to be chosen last, given my shameful lack of interest in physical activities, but I appreciate being chosen so early, Your Highness,” he said before trotting over to Celestia’s group.

“Aww... I wanted Fancy Pants on my team. No matter. I choose Blueblood then,” Twilight exclaimed loudly as she pointed out the surprised prince, who had just then been staring at Fancy Pants in envy. He looked unsteadily at the heavily-muscled Shining Armor on the other team, but managed a weak smile as he walked over to Twilight.

Celestia gave a nod. “Very well. I choose Overwatch.” The mare in question smiled and trotted soundlessly through the crisp snow.

“Hmm... Who should I choose?” Twilight asked aloud to the very attentive faces of the guards present. A few even raised one of their hooves, but Twilight managed to spot one familiar pegasus in the back, “I choose Steel Blade.”

Steel Blade trotted over shamelessly, giving a warm smile at Twilight before looking over to the other team, soon noticing that Overwatch was giving him a knowing, wolfish grin while idly tossing a snowball in the air. Steel Blade suddenly looked very self-conscious as his eyes flickered between Twilight and Overwatch before he gave himself a solid facehoof and a small groan.

Celestia looked amusedly at Steel Blade before turning to pick the stallion’s father. “Captain Brave Blade,” she stated, though she felt a bit guilty for taking the brilliant aerial mastermind and more than a bit dismayed at how one-sided the teams were starting to look, even with the advantage she’d left Twilight prior to the event.

“Fleur!” Twilight exclaimed, and the mare moved elegantly to her side, exchanging a sporting grin with her husband on the other side.

Celestia looked thoughtfully at the rest of the group before pointing a hoof to choose a guard near the front. Between Twilight and Celestia, the rest of the group was quickly split between the two sides, though many of the stallion guards and servants seemed strangely eager to be on a team with Twilight, Fleur, and Cadence.

With teams finally established, both sides quickly split up, ready to make the most of their one hour of preparation time.

“What’s the status on the fort, Cadence?” Twilight asked sternly, perched atop Spike’s shoulder as she levitated another block of ice over.

“The fortress is almost ready, General Sparkle!” Cadence replied cheerfully, a smile plastered on her face. “Thanks to your freezing spell, we’ll have a solid defense against the enemy’s assault. I never knew Celestia taught you such advanced spells, Twilight.”

Twilight blushed with pride, “She taught it to me after I levitated her for more than five minutes without having a power surge. I remember like it was week ago.”

“It was a week ago, Twilight,” Spike mumbled. “I bet the princess taught it to you just for today’s game.”

“I’m sure it was just a coincidence,” Twilight replied, dismissing it with a hoof before once again concentrating on freezing another bubble of water into an ice block. Spike shot her a deadpan stare before he turned to look at the pile of innumerable buckets of water left conspicuously beside every one of their flags.

Steel Blade trotted up, snapping a salute to the tiny unicorn. “General, the time we had to prepare is almost up. As you ordered, we have stockpiled snowballs behind each barrier near our flags, and we are ready for their assault.”

“Thank you, sir,” Twilight replied politely, checking a small timer. Noting its time, she cast a quick sound-amplification spell and shouted, “Everypony to your stations! The battle will commence in two minutes.” Her command instantly mobilized her forces, and though she lacked the military experience her brother had, her battlements were neat and organized, allowing her team coverage of nearly every zone.

Cadence watched as the other ponies galloped to their places for a while before turning to Twilight. “You know they have both Princess Celestia and Shining Armor in the lead, right? And not to mention the Captain of the Royal Guard, Brave Blade, as well. Even if your brother has only just begun his training as a leader, he’s still smart, strong, and a wonderf—” Cadence paused, shaking her head “— experienced officer. We’re up against the Princess and two of the best officers in Equestria. Are you sure we can win, Twilight?”

“Of course we can! I read all about it! And besides, we’re here to have fun, right? So let’s do our best!” Twilight shouted, to the enthusiastic whooping from the guards as they prepared for the oncoming onslaught.

“We are in position and ready to attack on your command, Your Highness.” Brave Blade snapped a practiced salute, along with a squad of pegasus guards right behind him.

Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Brave Blade. And just call me Celestia, please. This is just a game after all, not a real battle. There is no need to be so formal.”

“Yes, Your Hi—I mean—yes, Celestia,” Brave Blade quickly corrected himself before turning to the battlefield, scanning it with an experienced eye. “I must admit though, your student seems to have inherited the same defensive nature as her brother. I’ve never seen such a powerful defense prepared in such a short amount of time, even under pressure.”

Celestia beamed at this compliment. “I must agree with you, Brave Blade,” she replied pridefully. “She may lack formal military training, but she’s smart and has good instincts. I wouldn’t be surprised if she learned about fighting with a home advantage from her books. Or even from playing games with her friend...”

Celestia frowned slightly. “What was his name again?” she mused, before her face lit up in recognition. “Ah yes. White Path, Fancy Pants’ son. Twilight told me they’ve played a few war games together, though you can imagine my surprise when I heard that she was interested in such coltish activities. It’s a shame we weren’t able to invite him, but I’d fear too much for his safety to allow him to get pelted by a guard.”

“Perhaps it is better that he isn’t here then, Your Hi—Celestia,” Brave Blade remarked offhandedly. “I’m a little disappointed that we won’t be able to concentrate our attacks to take down her flags sequentially though. As much as I would like to blitz the entire game, it now appears that Shining Armor’s suggestion that we leave a few troops behind to defend has some merit, to defend against backdoor threats if our attacking forces are stuck sieging those fortifications.”

Celestia looked concernedly at Brave Blade. “You say that there is merit in his suggestions now, but did you find an issue with his plans when he first suggested them?”

Brave Blade shook his head. “No, Celestia. It’s likely just a difference in our methods. His plans are as solid as mine are, but we might have a few issues if two officers try to give contradicting orders to the same body of troops, especially in a group this small.”

Celestia simply nodded. “We shall have to work those out as we go along then; our time for preparation is up. Are you ready, Captain?”

Brave Blade stood straighter, looking powerful despite his age as he replied, “As ready as these old bones of mine will let me.” He looked over at Shining Armor near the front lines, already commanding soldiers to their correct places as a strong, charismatic leader. Such a vast improvement over these last few months, he thought, smiling. Carefully crafted by Celestia’s subtle hoof to such a fine, young stallion. I have no doubt he will become a suitable, nay, a superior candidate for Captain of the Royal Guard in the coming years.

If it weren’t for Nightmare Moon, I’d be able to rest easy hanging up my sword.

Red Team wasted little time in heading an assault against the first flag, with Princess Celestia herself at the helm of her little vanguard. They numbered eight Red Team ponies against the two Blue Team members, a pegasus guard and an earth pony maid, currently behind cover. Though the defending side had plenty of snowballs stockpiled, they were given little time to aim as snowballs continually pelted their little outpost. As four of the Red Team ponies provided covering fire, the other four were able to move up and so repeat the process to move the rest of the squad up. Blue Team wasn’t without their victories however; there was really no need to aim when there were eight targets on the field and the bounty of snowballs meant that they could simply continue throwing snowballs in the general direction of Princess Celestia to score hits on Red Team. Despite their numerical deficit, they were managing to hold their attackers at bay.

Princess Celestia quickly blew a bit of snow off her muzzle and shrugged off any hits made to her leaden vest as she hid behind some makeshift cover. She gave a pout at the withering barrage from the fortification before ducking to make more snowballs for her team to push up, all the while cursing the extra weight she needed to carry around. As a mostly stationary pony, she was never as fit as she should be, but dodging snowballs was nearly impossible when she was the largest and heaviest target on the field. That, and she was afraid she might crush one of her teammates with her increased weight if she tried to roll out of the way.

She felt a hoof tap her side as she finished with a small pile of ammunition and turned to see a pegasus guard, who spoke quickly. “I think we have enough for now, Your Highness. We’re ready to cover your initial push whenever you’re ready.”

With a quick nod, she turned towards the edge of their cover, tensing her legs. With a sharp “Go!” she sprinted from cover, a sudden barrage from her side forcing the two defenders to stop their enthusiastic bombardment. Quickly closing another few meters to the fortification, she jumped, curled up, and hurled herself through the air, leading with her broad back. She landed with a heavy skid, quickly piling up snow in another makeshift barrier, and her troops quickly moved up to their new cover. Just another stepping stone forward.

She grinned at her work, just before another snowball grazed the back of her neck and scattered little fragments of ice down the few warm parts she had left. With a convulsive shiver, she peeked over the edge of the barrier and blinked snow out of her eyelashes. Too bad this cover couldn’t stand to be just a teensy bit taller.

***

“Are you really sure that it’s proper for us to assault the princess like this?” the earth pony maid asked nervously before haphazardly chucking another snowball over the cover.

“Of course it is! Didn’t you hear her? Today’s the day I don’t have to act like a stupid statue all the time, and if the princess wants ponies to treat her like any other, I shall not refuse!” he exclaimed, throwing another snowball at the approaching ponies before ducking down again, avoiding the several frozen projectiles that just flew over his head. “And who else is going to be able to say that they pegged Princess Celestia with a snowball? This story’s going to be passed down through generations, I tell you!”

The maid quickly suppressed a laugh, chucking another snowball over. She ducked back down, taking a quick glance around before her eyes suddenly widened in shock. “Watch out!” she shouted, jumping at the pegasus guard just as he rose to fire off another shot. The guard face-planted into the snow under the leaden weight of the earth pony mare, who was now conveniently three times heavier thanks to her vest. A hail of snowballs pelted the side of their fortification that Princess Celestia was decidedly not on.

The pegasus guard spit out a muzzle-full of snow with a groan before peering over the cover at the new attackers. “It’s Captain Brave Blade. He’s flanking us while the princess pushes forward,” he stated to the mare before looking at their meager supplies of snowballs. He gave a defeated huff, “This post is lost. Get the rest of these over the walls at them and we’ll get back to the next defensive position.”

The two worked through the rest of their stockpile exceedingly quickly, stomping out what they couldn’t throw before fleeing and allowing Red Team to take their first flag.

“General, we’ve lost most of the flags on our front lines, and most of our forces have been pushed back to their secondary defensive positions,” a pegasus guard reported to the tiny mare perched on Spike, looking out from their central fortress.

“Do we know how many are attacking?” Twilight’s voice was calculating as she tapped her hooves together in a tiny pyramid.

“I counted six pegasus guards, five castle servants, and a single unicorn. Captain Brave Blade and Princess Celestia are leading the charge.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “That’s a majority of their forces, though if I know my brother, he will probably be defending their flags at their base, which just makes things harder,” she mused aloud. “But if they keep pushing like this, they’ll be extended too far from their base to defend it. It’s a lost cause to hold our first line of defense, but they’ve brought us enough time to prepare for our offensive. Prince Blueblood!”

Blueblood flinched. “Y-yes?”

“I need you to take the majority of our remaining forces on a special mission. Your orders are to circle around into the rear of enemy territory and take out their flags from behind. It won’t take long before this fort is surrounded, but with most of their forces here, you should be able to overcome any of their remaining defensive forces,” Twilight stated authoritatively.

Blueblood’s eyes widened in shock. “You can’t be serious! Everypony on their side is just waiting for the opportunity to peg me with a snowball. I’m sure that all of them will ignore the rest of my guards to aim for me!” Blueblood replied incredulously, not looking forward to facing the accurate snowy wrath of Shining Armor at all.

Twilight gasped. “That’s brilliant! If you can distract the troops they’ve left behind and draw their fire, the rest of the strike team will be able to tag all of their flags with barely any resistance! That’s a wonderful plan, Blueblood!” she exclaimed happily before turning her attention to the ponies left in the base. “Everypony, Blueblood has offered to act as a decoy so that we can win this war! Let’s give him a big ‘hurrah’ before he goes!”

Blueblood’s eyes opened further, but anything he was going to say was drowned out by a resounding ‘Hurrah!’ throughout the fort. He simply groaned, muttering a quick, “Thanks.” He straightened up after a moment and departed from the fort at the head of his chortling soldiers, determined to get through this with at least a few shreds of his dignity, if not his frostbitten well-being intact.

With Blueblood gone, Twilight turned to the dragon she was still using as a perch. “Do you understand the importance of your mission, Spike? I’m counting on you to bring us a win!”

Spike gave Twilight a wide grin. “Of course I’m going to bring us a win! With Spike on the job, we can’t possibly lose,” he said proudly before handing Twilight to Cadence and departing after Blueblood.

Cadance looked around at the ponies still left in the fort, a small group of volunteers including herself, Twilight, and Steel Blade. “So it’s our job to buy Blueblood and Spike more time, right?” Cadence asked Twilight hesitantly. “Just remember that even if you can use magic, you’re still small, and what would be a harmless snowball for us may actually hurt you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes on top of her new perch on Cadence’s head. “You promised you wouldn’t worry about me.”

“And you promised you wouldn’t do anything I’d have to worry about, and allowing yourself to get hit by a speeding ball of ice bigger than you are doesn’t exactly fall in that category,” Cadence replied firmly.

Twilight pouted and opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by a shout from the sentry, “General, the enemy is advancing!”

With a nod, Twilight teleported to the observation tower where she scanned the attacking forces, quickly spotting her mentor at its head. “Listen up everypony,” she called. “The time has come for us to make our stand against them! They may have taken down our outposts, but as long as we hold this point together, we can hold out long enough to win this! So LET’S WIN THIS!”

She was answered with a resounding cheer from her gathered forces, and they prepared to unleash their avalanche of snowballs.

“Hold on a second,” Celestia said, hiding behind a bit of cover as her forces prepared to move on the fort. “Exactly how many of the Royal Guards are hiding crushes on my student?”

Overwatch grinned widely. “A lot. Dead serious. And can you blame them? She’s soooo cute, and she’s growing to be a fine, young mare. If it weren’t for the fact that she’s your student, and well, the size issue, I’m sure she would have received a polite request for a date by now.”

Celestia blinked. “And you’re sure about this?”

“Princess, you and I both know that stallions are terrible at hiding their emotions. You just need to take a look around, and it’ll be painfully obvious,” Overwatch spoke sagely before her mouth curled up in a sly grin. “But hey, at least you won’t have to worry about her love life. I imagine she might even have a cute line of candidates when she—”

Anything Overwatch might have said further was cut off as she quickly ducked under a snowball speeding past where her head was. She raised a hoof in anger, shouting over her snowy barrier, “I saw that, Steelie! You get over here and fight me like a stallion!”

She was quickly beset by a few more snowballs, one managing to pelt her right on her muzzle. She shook off the snow and narrowed her eyes at the fort, “Oh it is on, Steelie.”

Celestia focused her concentration on the suspiciously well-aimed barrage that was pinning down her forces instead. There’s no way they should be able to hit us at this range, she thought, before noticing the light-magenta aura around each of them. “Watch out everypony. These snowballs are being levitated somehow.” She watched as several of the snowballs thrown by her own side landed miserably short while the enemy’s snowballs actually changed direction in mid-air to fling themselves at exposed ponies, easily making the distance. So she’s actually redirecting the snowballs rather than throwing them herself. No wonder they’re so accurate at this range.

She was quickly distracted by a speeding snowball from her own side, which flew like a laser directly at an unfortunate pony on the fort. “Bam! Right in the kisser, Steelie! How'd you like me now?” Overwatch shouted, before doing a short victory dance and squinting for her next target.

Celestia gave a confused blink.

***

Steel Blade wiped the snowball from his muzzle and shook out the stars dancing around his head. He looked up at Twilight on her observation tower. “Permission to engage the sharpshooting unicorn?”

“Permission denied, Steel Blade,” Twilight replied. “You know as well as I do that we cannot spare any more ponies merely to chase down just one of their—”

The snowball that hit Twilight plucked her off the observation point so quickly that Steel Blade thought for a moment that she had teleported away. That is until Twilight came burrowing out of a loose snowdrift behind him, sneezing twice to clear her nose of impacted snow before looking him straight in the eye.

“Get her.”

Steel Blade gave her a salute, “Yes sir!”

A distant call echoed over the snowcovered battlefield. “You afraid of getting your flank handed to you by a mare, Steelie?”

Steel Blade quickly straightened up, furrowing his brow and quickly returning to his snowball pile, flinging them with renewed vigor at his distant target.

There was a certain nervous prance to Blueblood’s trot as he led his mismatched forces on a circular route in the direction of the distant enemy flags. Even despite a dusting of snow, perspiration beaded his flanks in anticipation of a sudden ambush or assault that would pound him into a frosty heap while his soldiers merely laughed at his predicament. Or worse, joined in.

“Nervous, Prince?” asked Fleur softly while trotting by his side. There was a natural grace in her tone that meshed perfectly with her effortless gait as her pace matched the prince’s unsteady hooves. Even though her presence was a welcome distraction from his thoughts, when she brushed up against his neck in a manner that was supposed to be comforting, the reaction was anything but relaxing.

Blueblood jumped away as if he had been stung, but he recovered within a few steps and gave a short laugh that had not a single trace of humor inside it, only worry. “Nervous? Moi? Why would I, a Prince of Equestria, be nervous while playing some silly game created by low class ponies?”

Fleur laughed, reading Blueblood just as effortlessly as if he were an open book with large print and little drawings on each page detailing his exact actions. “Oh! My dear, brave prince. Of course there is nothing to be nervous about! It is not like every pony on both sides would love to see you buried. Under snow, that is.” Fleur chided him softly, swishing her tail over his back while laughing in soft tones that brought involuntary smiles to the rest of the strike force.

Blueblood rolled his eyes, “Fine... I am tired of acting. You and Fancy Pants could always see past my facade. So what if I fear the slings and snowballs of outrageous fortune today. Why should you care? Are you not concerned for your own safety? Admittedly, it is only snow, but do you think none of those handsome stallions would even dare to throw a snowball at your beautiful face?” There was a bit of annoyance in his normally snobby voice that only grew as he noticed the stallions trotting along with him all shaking their heads at the thought of actually assaulting the beautiful fashion model.

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Fleur asked innocently, pausing to toss her mane back and take a dramatic pose alongside a male servant, who blushed and almost fainted. Although some of the guards may have had a crush on little Twilight for being such a brave and strong mare, every male in the city just seemed to lose their mind when even looking at Fleur. Even some of the female servants tended to long, speculative looks when they thought she was not paying attention.

***

To Blueblood’s immense relief, his conversation with Fleur was disrupted by a short barrage of snowballs from a nearby bush. To his regret, they nearly all struck him instead of his followers.

“So, you were brave enough to show your pretty face on the field of battle after all,” said Shining Armor, hefting a sizeable snowball on one hoof as he emerged from behind a tree, along with several other well-armed stallions. “I had expected you to hide inside my sister’s fortress or just run away with your tail between your legs. Now you have blundered straight into my ambush! Attack! For Celestia!”

As Blueblood and Shining Armor’s forces began to engage in battle, it quickly turned into something more like target practice than an actual fight. Besieged by a constant bombardment of snow from the enemy’s forces (and the occasional snowball that fell ‘short’ from his own), the handsome stallion quickly turned tail and fled. Unwilling to allow Blueblood to depart the field of battle unvanquished, Shining Armor and several guard pressed their pursuit, following him with a great deal of enthusiasm (and snow).

“I may lose this game,” shouted Shining Armor, heaving another snowball at the hated rump of his nemesis, “but this is a once in a lifetime chance to repay this jerk for his behavior. Generations of snubbed mares and embarrassed colts will long remember this day, when justice finally caught up to his craven actions. Forgive me, Princess Celestia…”

Taking a dramatic stand on top of a low snow mound, Shining Armor pointed at Blueblood and bellowed in a voice that could be heard outside Canterlot castle.

TODAY WE BURY THE PRINCE IN SNOW!”

As the stampede of enemy forces departed in pursuit of the rapidly accelerating Blueblood (taking a few friendly ones too), Fleur gathered her remaining soldiers and struck out for the field of red flags, now nearly defenseless.

“Stallions,” she scoffed with a flip of her perfectly curled mane.

The battle in front of Twilight’s fortress turned into a siege once the outlying fortifications had fallen, forcing a general retreat of the defenders to the final refuge of their icy walls. Twilight did her best to coordinate the defensive fire by way of levitation-guided snowy missiles while using her small size and teleportation spell to evade the few snowballs that wound up directed at her, but the situation was grim indeed and about to get worse.

Unluckily for Twilight, a fortress made of ice did not make for firm footing, and eventually the inevitable slip occurred. Surrounded by the enemy and unable to teleport for freedom, she quickly used the shielding spell Shining Armor had taught her as she became the target of the entire attacking force. A veritable blizzard of snowballs bombarded her barrier, bashing and beating against the magical pink bubble until her knees trembled and sweat dripped from her face. The relentless assault continued without pause, keeping her pinned down just a few yards from relative safety.

“Back! Back you fiends!” shouted Cadence, attempting to provide covering fire for Twilight by a steady stream of ammunition that took a heavy toll on the exposed attackers. But even as she attempted to jump outside the fortress walls on a suicidal rescue mission, the same slippery ice that had so rudely interfered with Twilight’s stability made her slip, the heavy lead vest she was wearing only making her embarrassing slide backwards on her rump down the inside wall of the fortress even more humiliating.

Celestia hesitated for a moment in her throwing to admire how well her student was keeping her barrier up despite the constant attack. Although she did not want to fight against the tiny brave unicorn, she steeled her will to continue. It would not be fair to hold back her efforts, for both her ponies who were depending on her to lead them to victory and her student would not want her to play favorites, even if it was just a game. With a steady eye, she took aim at her student’s magical shield and raised her well-packed snowball for a powerful throw.

I’m sorry, Twilight. This is going to hurt me a lot more than it’s going to hurt you.

Despite the massive load of lead on her back, Celestia’s strength made the snowball fairly sizzle through the air, obliterating itself against the pink shield protecting her student and causing a spiderweb of little cracks to splinter across the impact point. The shield spell jerked back in recoil from the kinetic energy released, plowing Twilight’s little hooves backwards through the densely packed snow beneath her before she tripped and landed on her back.

Ever so slowly, the little unicorn opened her eyes. The pounding of snowballs against her fractured shield spell had ceased when Celestia had put a crack in it, but now the huge white alicorn towered over her student, with snowball in hoof.

“Please, Twilight. Surrender. Your forces fought long and hard, and there is no shame in surrendering when the odds are against you.”

“No!” shouted Twilight, scrambling to her hooves as the shield spell resonated with her voice so everypony could hear. “I have ponies who are counting on me. I will not surrender! Do your worst, Princess Celestia.”

“Very well.” Celestia raised her snowball high above the cracked shield that still protected her student, and threw it straight down with no small amount of worry. The tightly packed ball of snow hammered the magenta hemisphere down into the surrounding snow, and when Twilight struggled back to the surface, there were cracks all the way through her battered shield, even though she still held her head high.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” she shouted, the cracks in the shield making her voice sound warped and distorted. Bracing her hooves against the snow, Twilight nodded at the princess and shouted, “Again!”

Packing up yet another snowball, Celestia took a step backwards and aimed, trying her best to estimate just exactly how much was left in Twilight’s shield as to flatten it without hurting her student. Certainly once her shield was down, she would surrender. Right?

A splatter of snowballs from the rest of her forces speckled the damaged shield over Twilight before Celestia spread her wings and commanded, “Hold your fire! This is between my student and myself. Do not interfere.” Hefting her own snowball once, she leaned back and flung it with calculated force at Twilight, feeling a sense of relief as the shield shattered under the impact without hurting her student.

“Princess, is that the best you can do?” Twilight shook off the dusting of snow that had sprinkled her coat and braced her hooves. “I can take that all day,” she mocked with a note of challenge in her voice that matched the look of concentration in her eyes.

“Surrender, Twilight! Your shield is down, and you are defenseless!” Celestia punctuated her demand for surrender with a snowball, thrown as gently as she could manage.

Twilight did not even bother to evade the attack, lowering her glowing horn and meeting the missile in an explosion of snow that left her coat and mane tipped with little crystals of frost when the remains of the snowball had cleared.

“Is that the hardest you can hit, Princess?” shouted Twilight, shaking her coat to scatter little bits of snow in all directions. “You’re stronger than that. I can take it. Don’t hold back on my account. I can take whatever all of you can dish out!”

Nearly crushed beneath my hoof by accident a year ago, and you are still trying to prove yourself, my wonderful little student. After this, no pony will look down on you because of your size. I will respect your wish, even though it will hurt both of us.

“Very well, my student. Catch!” Hefting another snowball, Celestia flung it at her student with more force than she felt comfortable using. A sense of pride filled her chest as the impact threw the little unicorn over a meter backwards, making Twilight land on her hind legs but still managing to maintain her balance.

“More!” Twilight’s voice echoed across the battlefield, bringing a barrage against the small target that Celestia would have been horrified about just a few minutes ago. Due to her small size, many of the enthusiastically flung missiles actually didn’t hit Twilight, and those that did, she met head-on, in explosions of powdery snow that caused more than one sneeze to emerge from the obscured target. “Are you even trying, Princess? I’m right here!”

Ignoring a twinge in her back that a more rigorous exercise program would have prevented, Celestia hefted a last snowball and took careful aim. It was time to put an end to this before Twilight got hurt, and even though this might be dangerous, it was far better if she did it then one of her soldiers, for she would find it far harder to forgive them than herself.

Twilight spotted the determination in her mentor’s eyes, as well as the massive snowball in her hooves, and prepared herself. With hind legs braced firmly, she lowered her head and steeled her will for what was coming.

The snowball was launched.

It flew in a straight line, kicking up a rooster-tail of loose snow in its wake.

Unstoppable.

Until it hit.

This time there was no simple explosion of snow upon impact. The purple target flew backwards, far harder than before as she smashed into the unyielding icy walls of the fortress and remained pinned there, surrounded by tiny cracks in the ice.

“G-good one, Princess,” said Twilight, coughing out a little snow and shaking her head.

“Are you prepared to surrender now, Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia spoke with all the authority of her position, but behind the mask she felt disappointment at having hurt her student when they should have been having fun instead. Certainly there would be other times when they could cast aside the burdens of their positions and just enjoy themselves in simple things like she and Luna used to do before…

“N-now there’s the strength I hoped to f-feel f-from you princess,” said Twilight firmly, her breath showing in little white clouds as she was trapped against the ice. “B-but I am not g-going to surrender y-yet.”

Celestia shook herself from her memories and made another snowball while she looked at her trapped student. Oh, Twilight. You are so much like her. If only I could make you happy without hurting you like this.

She hefted the snowball and threw, a much more carefully calculated toss that did not meet its expected target, but instead stuck a much larger pink obstacle as Cadence dropped down in front of her student.

“If you want to get Twilight, you must pass me first,” Cadence growled, fierce determination in her voice as her wings snapped forward, launching two large snowballs into Celestia’s surprised face. As if that had broken an informal cease-fire, Celestia’s forces responded in kind, peppering the pink alicorn with precisely propelled projectiles, preventing a proper rescue of her pinned prodigy by the pretty princess.

Not to be outdone by a foalsitter, Steel Blade and six guards followed right into the withering fire, returning snowballs as rapidly as they could despite being severely outnumbered.

“What are you d-doing?” stammered Twilight, still stuck to the icy wall of the fortress and unable to see the fight due to the number of defenders who had flung their bodies in front of her. “You’ve opened the door for the enemy!”

Cadence spread a wing to shield her little charge while laying down a pattern of fire against several of Celestia’s soldiers. “We just couldn’t leave you face Celestia alone.”

“And we’re not going to leave you hanging,” said Steel Blade, carefully freeing her from the ice wall and tucking Twilight under his wing to keep her warm, despite a sudden twitch when tiny icy hooves met warm pegasus underwing. The twitch was only amplified as a snowball caught him right upside the head, the voice of Overwatch giving firm indication as to its source.

“Steelie! You’re doing it all wrong! You’re supposed to buy her dinner first! DINNER!” The final word was punctuated by yet another snowball finding its mark on Steel Blade’s muzzle.

The pegasus stallion stood flabbergasted for a moment, blushing deeply as Cadence took a break from her barrage to giggle at the guards’ antics. Twilight simply popped her head up from under his wing, diving out of the warm feathers for other cover as Steel Blade quickly recomposed himself and rushed towards the source of the taunting.

He quickly scooped up a pile of snow on the run, not once breaking stride as he boomed, “You asked for this!”

The whirr of flying snowballs faded for a bit as the two sides watched Overwatch and Steel Blade fling themselves into a running battle, diving for cover and returning deadly accurate fire as they vanished over a nearby hillock with only the sounds of mortal combat filtering back. For a brief moment, all eyes were on Brave Blade as he shook his head over his son’s abrupt disappearance, and faint snickers and snorts could be heard across the battlefield.

The moment of levity was broken, however, by Celestia’s abrupt call.

“The doors are open! Now is our chance! Charge!”

It didn’t take long for the rest of the flags in Twilight’s fortress to fall as what seemed like the entire Red Team rushed in. A ceasefire soon came into effect once the last flag was hit, and both teams began relaxing around the site of their battle, with some of the unicorns lighting small fires here and there. Hot chocolate was provided by a few servants who had not chosen to participate and the atmosphere loosened up as bodies began to warm.

Celestia wrapped her cold student in her expansive wings, fluffing them out to release the warmth trapped within its feathery layers as she spoke reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it too much, my dear student. You may have lost, but the odds were against you from the start. I’m still proud that you still put your all into this game.”

Twilight beamed up at her mentor from between the feathers. “I don’t think you’ve seen our all quite yet, princess.”

“Indeed, I say. Princess, I have some err… bad news for you,” Fancy Pants spoke as he approached Princess Celestia from behind, a considerable amount of snow clinging to his winter clothes.

Celestia looked up from the fire in front of her with a note of concern, made only stronger by Twilights suppressed snort of laughter from under her wing. “Report, please,” she commanded, her tone sharper than she intended due to the distraction of tiny frozen hooves warming themselves in her underwing.

Fancy Pants flinched at the stern tone from his princess, but quickly composed himself. “But of course, Your Highness,” he said, his refined accent calm and collected. “While you all were attacking this fort, Twilight’s forces launched their own counterattack on our flags.”

Celestia eyebrows drew together, although there was a sparkle of laughter in her eyes caused by a faint squeal of joy from under her wing. “What about Shining Armor and his defensive squad?”

“He led a squad to chase down Blueblood when he appeared near our fortifications. When the bulk of Twilight’s forces attacked after he left, I was left the task of regrouping our rather meager defense. Needless to say, it didn’t quite work out in my favor,” Fancy Pants said apologetically, becoming slightly dejected as he continued to talk.

“Very true, my love.” The light, airy voice of Fleur caused all heads to turn, and one stallion to be pounded on the back as he accidentally inhaled a few marshmallows from his hot cocoa. The Prench unicorn was gracefully trotting in the direction of her husband, a large snowball balanced on the top of her head and a look of mischief in her eyes. “I’m hurt that you ran away before I could give you my little gift.” Abruptly she burst into a run, darting for her husband at full speed.

“Stop her!” shouted Brave Blade, and a few weakly thrown snowballs lofted through the air at the fashion model, who dodged them all without even disturbing the ball of snow balanced on her head. Some of the female combatants put more effort into their throws, but even then, Fleur danced through the line of fire unharmed, showing more agility than anypony had expected.

“How careless of me, my love,” called out Fancy Pants, quickly scooping together a large snowball of his own. “I must find a gift of my own to return your—” The two meet in an explosion of snow as their mutual missiles found their respective targets, and when the icy flakes had finished flying, both snowcovered ponies were wrapped in a passionate embrace.

“How romantic,” said Cadence, so stunned by the open display of love that she nearly dropped the cocoa she held in one hoof. Other ponies blushed, and Celestia turned her head to give her trusted subjects at least a little bit of privacy.

“We won!” shouted Twilight as she burst out from under Celestia’s feathers and began leaping from soldier to soldier to their surprise. Even Fancy Pants and Fleur could not help but snicker at the ecstatic little unicorn, in particular when she bounced off their own heads on her leaps of joy.

“Twilight? Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia attempted to get the attention of her student, finally resorting to simply shouting. “Twilight! My forces took out all of your flags before yours.”

“I don’t think so.” Spike climbed up the ice fortress with his sharp claws and took a dramatic stance at the entrance. With his announcement, he became the focus of every pony’s attention even as the rest of Twilight’s forces began to straggle in behind him.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Oh, that’s simple. Before the battle even started, Twilight ordered us to make a small igloo over one of the flags and cover it in snow, a flag which you all missed,” Spike stated with a sly grin.

“Twilight and the rest of the defenders tried to buy as much time as possible while Blueblood was acting as a distraction so that Twilight’s army could take out all of your flags,” Spike explained.

“And what about fortifications that Lieutenant Armor ordered to build?” asked Brave Blade, looking up at the little dragon with a growing sense of unease.

“Oh, those? I melted them with my flames. After all, the rules stated that we could only use snowballs to attack ponies and flags, it didn’t say anything about using flames against fortifications,” Spike replied proudly.

Brave Blade chuckled and walked towards Twilight. “While we were busy attacking fortified positions one by one to take all of your blue flags, we expected that every one of your flags had a fortification. We didn’t expect you to hide one. To think, the ruler of Equestria, in addition to two of the most brilliant officers in the Equestrian military were outsmarted by a miniature-sized mare.”

A bright red blush that had nothing to do with the cold snow rose around Twilight’s cheeks. “T-thank you. I am trying my best.”

“Hey everypony, did we win? Did I miss anything?” Shining Armor asked as he trotted up to his sister’s ice fort, looking around the ponies gathered around drinking cocoa and laughing. For half of the ponies, the laughter abruptly stopped, while for the other half, it grew.

”We won... right?”

“No, we did not win, you imbecile,” growled Brave Blade. “You cost as the victory. While you were off throwing snowballs at Blueblood like some happy foal, your sister outsmarted us.”

Shining Armor glanced through the angry expressions of the ponies around him in mild shock before simply smiling contentedly. “Worth it,” he proclaimed with a broad grin to the begrudging agreement among the soldiers of both sides.

Twilight relaxed in a small nest between Celestia’s wings, using a small mug of cocoa for both internal and external warmth. It had been a remarkable day, topped with a triumph, and even though Brave Blade was chasing her brother around with a mutual snowball pelting, they were both laughing nearly as hard as Celestia. It was a warm sensation that filled her heart, only partially from the amount of cocoa that was spilling whenever her mentor laughed, and it was a day she would treasure forever.

So, despite his flaws, Blueblood really did do everything he could to distract my brother and his forces to give us the victory. When I grow up, I hope to become as brave as he is, ready to sacrifice my own good for good of everypony else.

* * *

Celestia’s laughter slowed as her two officers finished their snowfight. Twilight went over to her brother to help brush the snow off his back as Celestia went to Brave Blade instead and pulled the old pegasus up out of the snowdrift where the younger and stronger lieutenant had eventually dumped his commanding officer.

“Captain, before we both take our old bones inside and sit in front of a fireplace for the rest of the day, we seem to be missing some ponies.”

Brave Blade quit knocking snow out of his ear and looked around, slowly beginning to smile as he took inventory of the missing. “Your Highness, I don’t think you should worry. My guards are off-duty as of a few minutes ago, and there are more than a few budding romances among our armies.” Both of them carefully turned away from where Cadence was helping brush the snow from Shining Armor with Twilight’s assistance, with the older ponies trying their best to keep from breaking out in giggles at the sight. After a while, Celestia suddenly blinked as a thought occurred to her.

“Brave, where do you think your son and Overwatch have gone?”

Brave Blade merely shook his head in a motion that had become quite familiar.

“They’re probably just hanging around somewhere with each other.”

Meanwhile, deep within the Royal Garden…

“I thought you weren’t allowed to use magic!”

“I didn’t.”

“Then how did you set this up so quickly?”

“Tut, tut. You’re just not thinking broad enough, Steelie.”

Steel Blade scowled as he swung slowly back and forth underneath the spreading willow tree, its broad snow-covered branches providing an effective cover preventing any noise he made from reaching the rest of the garden.

Regrettably, its branches also gave a stout tie-down point for Overwatch’s scarf, which had been somehow wrapped around his body during the treacherous ambush. Now with his legs and wings pinned together, he was experiencing the ‘joy’ of being upside-down and helpless, with the smirking unicorn giving him little pushes to make him continue swinging to and fro under the branches. In desperation, he decided to use his absolute last option.

“We’re missing the cocoa.”

Overwatch gave the hogtied pegasus an extra push with just the slightest rotation, before she hopped down from the tree, landing with a soft crunch. “Nope. Just you, dear Steelie!” she called back as she trotted away. “But don’t worry, I’ll be back with your cocoa soon!”

His shout of frustration was just out of hearing range from the rest of the celebrating army, headed back into the castle for warm fireplaces and great steaming mugs of delicious cocoa after a long day filled with excitement.

Bonus Ch - Dolls and Adventures

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

Dolls and Adventures

“Would you like a little bit more tea, Lady Mi-Amore Cadenza?” Twilight asked, imitating Blueblood’s snobbish accent, her head raised proudly as if she was looking at the ceiling. A toy teacup half-filled with tea was between her hooves.

She was perched on a bottle cap covered by bits of cotton wool for additional comfort. Before her was a toy-sized rounded wooden table covered by a white tissue with lavender stars decorating it. On top of the table laid two additional miniature teacups, three strawberries with bits of cream on the top and three slices of one cookie. Twilight’s tea party was located on the floor of her mentor’s bedchamber, with a dollhouse nearby on the right and a large bed on the left at a more considerable distance.

On the other side of the table sat filly Cadence, her eyes closed and a warm smile on her face. “Why of course, Lady Twilight.” She spread her little wings, carefully grabbing the tiny teacup with the tips of her pink feathers before placing it on the sole of her raised forehoof.

Twilight looked to her left, her attention now on a large kettle resting on the floor next to her. She bit her lip and lit her horn, her lavender magic slowly raised the teapot towards the table. The filly alicorn lit her own horn as well, ready to aid Twilight in her endeavour in case of an emergency.

Drops of sweat fell down Twilight’s cheeks as she slowly tilted the teapot, letting a few drops of tea fall precisely into Cadence’s teacup. “S-sorry,” Twilight said in panic as some tea escaped the cup right onto Cadence’s hoof. The steam coming from the teapot indicated it was still very hot.

The alicorn giggled. She raised her forehoof up to her face and tilted it, pressing the little teacup against her lips before taking a sip. Despite her reduced age and young body, using toys to drink tea proved somewhat challenging.

Twilight looked to her right and then up, glancing at the washed-out maroon and navy blue buttons, or rather at the eyes of her newest friend. “What about you, Mister Fancy… I mean, Smarty Pants. Would you care for a bit more tea?” The aura around Twilight’s horn grew in size as her magic surrounded the doll’s head.

“Yaaay… pweesee…” a fake colt’s voice similar to the voice of White Path echoed from the doll as his head nodded.

Cadence raised a forehoof to her mouth and giggled. “I see you’re getting better with that spell I taught you,” she whispered, only for the little mare to shush her.

“More tea coming right up,” Twilight said, adding a few more drops into the third teacup. After lowering the teapot, she wiped sweat from her forehead and levitated Smarty Pants’ forelegs, carefully wrapping his fake hooves around the teacup. Her breathing became deep but slow while her mind focused purely on raising Smarty’s legs up to his mouth, tilting the cup as drops of tea created a little stain on the grey material.

With additional effort, she levitated Smarty’s foreleg towards the tissue covering the wooden table, raising the tip of it to wipe his mouth clean. Twilight gave a quick glance at her foalsitter before smirking.

***

Cadence blinked, now staring at Twilight curiously. I recognize that smirk. What kind of crazy idea came into your mind this time, little missy? With her attention on Twilight, she was caught off guard by a soft poke on her shoulder, only to notice Smarty Pants surrounded by lavender aura, standing on two legs while holding a strawberry.

“Woulz yo… cawe… for a tasst… Mwilady...”

Cadence blushed as she looked to the side and hid behind her wing. Oh Twilight. Your ideas are just adorable. She lowered her wing before saying, “With great pleasure, Mister Smarty Pants.” Her horn lit as she levitated the gift over to her mouth and she released a satisfied ‘mmm’ upon feeling the taste of the cream before finishing the strawberry with a second bite. Upon noticing a half-bow from the doll, she gently patted his head. “Thank you. You’re such a gentle-doll.”

She observed as the doll approached Twilight, gifting her with another strawberry while towering over her. The doll looked like a young colt from Cadence’s perspective, reaching only her muzzle when standing on two legs. Yet, when compared to Twilight, he looked like a tall stallion in front of a young filly. Oh, to be young again. Literally and hypothetically. With a bit of focus and the help of her imagination, Smarty Pants gained features of Twilight’s brother in her mind. She quickly restrained her laughter with a forehoof. Grey Shining, wearing blue pants with polka dots decorating it, surely an image to remember.

Cadence tilted her head as she looked at Twilight, who kept biting the strawberry and licking the cream, her little eyes were closed while a large satisfied smile radiated from her face. Said strawberry was one-third of the unicorn’s size, already half eaten. With a pleasant feeling overwhelming her heart, Cadence poked Twilight’s cream-covered little muzzle playfully. She then licked the bits of cream which had ended up on her forehoof.

Twilight levitated the cream from her muzzle. Instead of eating it though, she levitated it towards Smarty Pants, creating a tasty mouth made of white cream across his grey face. “Bon apetit.”

Cadence grinned. “We shouldn’t leave it at that. There’s more improvements that can be made.” She lit her horn, surrounding a slice of a cookie with her magic before levitating over a toy-knife, using it to turn her tasty snack into a shield-like shape. She levitated it towards Smarty Pants’ flank, placed it against his pants, and next levitated a bit of cream from the last strawberry, decorating the shield with a white tasty star.

Twilight fell from the bottle cap onto the floor, now lying on her back and holding her belly as she bursted into laughter. “Good one... Cadence!”

Their fun was interrupted by a noise of door opening. Both the young alicorn and the miniature mare turned to look at the entering giant: a tall presentable pegasus with two boxes of paint held between his wings, alongside some paintbrushes and canvas.

“Your delivery has arrived, Twilight,” Steel Blade said, placing the required equipment next to a teapot.

“Delivery?” Cadence asked as she pointed at the paintbrushes. She held her forelegs on both of her sides and asked, “What are you planing? Hmmm…”

“Just a little art, is all,” Twilight said with an innocent smile while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Art, you say?” Cadence asked suspiciously.

“Is this supposed to be Shining Armor?” Steel Blade asked as he lowered his head to the floor, taking a closer look at the cookie-shield with star-cream pasted upon doll’s pants.

“Pretty much,” Cadence said with a firm nod.

Steel Blade resisted a chuckle as his mind provided him with an image of a fellow guard wearing blue pants instead of armor. “I can’t wait to tell Overwatch about it. She’s going to have a field day making jokes upon hearing this.” He stood to his full height and continued, “Speaking of our favorite lieutenant, he got leave today and wanted to ask you if you would be interested in meeting him at the Donut Joe’s.”

Cadence stood up and looked up at the guard curiously. “He wants to invite me to the donut cafe?”

“He does. Since you’re now Twiny’s permanent foal-sitter, he wants to get to know you better… you know… to make sure his younger sister is in good hooves.”

“Is that so?” the young alicorn asked as she stood up on her rear hooves and placed her forelegs on her sides. Her head now reaching Steel Blade’s chest armor. “And may I ask why he didn’t invite me personally?”

Twilight giggled, which sounded almost as if a mouse was squeaking. “That’s Shiny for you. He likes to act like a big tough stallion with lots of self-confidence, but deep inside he’s a gold-hearted and overprotective brother. He tends to be shy at times.” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s growing into a mature, responsible and brave pony, but I still remember how he invited a few colts over to play all kinds of role-playing games when we were younger. I bet there’s still some part of it left in him even after all those years.”

Cadence nodded before rounding the little table and lowering herself to the tiny filly. “Since I’m your foal-sitter, I think it is only fair for me to get to know your family better, not to mention that we didn’t meet each other on the best of terms the last time,” she whispered.

“Oh, right. He got a bit too overprotective and was mean to Prince Blueblood,” Twilight said before standing on her rear hooves and anchoring her forelegs on Cadence’s muzzle. “I’m sure you’ll like him a lot once you get to know him better. He’s really nice.”

Cadence carefully retreated her muzzle from Twilight’s grasp while catching the little mare with her wing. With the filly now perched between her feathers, she pointed up at the clock. “The issue is that we still have a few hours before my foalsitting hours ends. I wouldn’t want to leave you alone.”

Twilight shook her forehoof dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll just spend time with Smarty Pants and paint something.” She pointed at the stallion behind her. “Besides, Steel Blade, Overwatch and Spike will keep me company.”

“Are you sure?” Cadence asked. Upon receiving a firm nod, she lowered her wing, letting Twilight slide onto the floor.

***

Twilight stood in the shadow of her foalsitter, observing her intensely as the alicorn filly enveloped herself in powerful magic, growing in size before Twilight’s very eyes. The shadow she stood in became larger, the alicorn’s legs grew longer, violet coloration appeared on the tips of Cadence’s wings, and soon Twilight ended in the presence of a once-again mighty giant. She stood on her rear hooves and waved at her foalsitter, who responded with a thankful smile.

The floor trembled under Twilight’s hooves, caused by both her foalsitter and guard’s loud steps towards the door. She looked around and charged her magic, making Smarty Pants gallop towards the door, jump onto the handle to press it open. Smarty Pants then jumped onto the floor, pushed the door further and performed a half-bow.

“Why thank you, Smarty Pants,” said Cadence. “You’re such a gentle-doll.”

“He’s indeed,” Overwatch said as she peeked into the bedchamber, now looking at her partner. “See, Steelie. You could learn a thing or two from him.”

The pegasus groaned before closing the door, leaving Twilight alone with the doll and paint. Yet, something about such combination sounded like a receipt for disaster.

Twilight looked at Smarty Pants with a warm smile. “It seems we’re alone.” She lit her horn, making the doll nod his head. She grinned widely and spread her forelegs. “Let’s have some great fun and go all out, only you and me!”

“Fuuun… I l-like… f-fun…” Smarty responded, waving his forehooves cheerfully. He looked down at his owner and asked. “What fun?”

Not wasting a moment, Twilight ran towards the box with paint, pressing her tiny forehoof against the opening mechanism and next pushing it open with all four of her hooves. “Would you be so kind and open the other one?”

Smarty Pants nodded before walking shakily on his four hooves towards the second box, mimicking the unicorn in opening it.

Twilight examined the rich variety of paint color present in both boxes and nodded. “Perfect.” She galloped towards a paintbrush and pointed at it. “This is a paintbrush.”

“Pain bruise?” Smarty approached slowly and massaged blue material on his foreleg, which served as a bandage after the needle accident. “No bwuise, pweesee.”

“Not pain bruise.” Twilight shook her head and gently stroked the blue bandage on Smarty’s foreleg. “Say it with me, paintbrush.”

“Ant… rush?”

“Not ant, paint, paintbrush.”

“Pain… crush?” He pointed at the little unicorn, examining her for injuries.

“No, nopony stepped on me.” Twilight massaged her forehead and said slowly, “P.A.I.N.T”

“Pain...t.”

“B.R.U.S.H.”

“Brusssh.”

“Now say it. Paintbrush,” Twilight said slowly.

“Paint… brush.”

“Perfect,” Twilight said, receiving a happy smile in return as Smarty clapped his forehooves. She stood on her rear hooves and wrapped her forelegs around the handle before picking it up. After taking three steps, she carefully placed it between Smarty’s forelegs. “Let me show you how to paint. Hold this and follow me.”

Smarty Pants nodded, following Twilight on his three hooves while holding the paintbrush with his left foreleg.

Twilight levitated over a canvas, supporting it against the wall of the dollhouse. She followed it by levitating a paintbrush into her embrace, now struggling to maintain balance on her rear hooves. “Watch this.” She bit her lip and her ears drooped as she lowered her paintbrush into a grey paint. Once it was soaked enough, she lifted it towards the canvas and started painting Smarty Pants without the help of her magic. She added a bit of black and grey color into the two-toned, some maroon as the right eye, a bit navy-blue as the left eye, and greyish-blue for the pants with polka-dots..

With her brush supported against the paint box, she wiped sweat from her forehead and smiled encouragingly. “See, easy peasy. Your turn.”

“Sssuuure…” After soaking his paintbrush in lavender color and a few firm swings, he took a pose of a proud guard holding his spear. “It is you.”

Twilight laughed awkwardly, observing one circle with 5 lavender lines representing belly and four legs. “You certainly… caught my features. I must’ve lost a lot of weight lately.”

Smarty soaked his paintbrush in pink before adding another circle, five big lines and several tiny lines. “Ca...dence.”

“Very nice, but you forgot about something,” Twilight said as she looked away from the tiny lines imitating wings to the colors inside the box. With a few quick improvements, she said, “Our portraits can’t be completed without tails and manes.”

She pushed the canvas to the side before levitating over a normal size notepad, ink and quill. “You gave me an interesting idea, but before I try it out, I need to look into your education.” She opened the door into the dollhouse and went in.

Smarty followed, gritting his non-existent teeth as he tried to get through the door. After a few moments of struggle, he whimpered and waved his legs.

The little unicorn walked towards the exit with a small blackboard by her side, only to facehoof. “Not again…” Upon seeing a sad pout on Smarty’s face, she said warmly, “Here, let me help you.” With four hooves anchored against floor of the dollhouse and head pressed against Smarty’s chest, she pushed, combining their strength. After a few tries, Smarty flew away from the door, bouncing on the floor before shaking stars from his head.

Twilight sighed as she supported the little blackboard against the little table, levitating the notepad, quill and ink next to Smarty Pants. She grabbed a miniature chalk and used it to draw a period with a number one next to it. “This is one,” she said, pointing at the blackboard with a match, Smarty nodded. After drawing two periods and a number two, she said, “That’s number two.” She continued until reaching number nine, her taller friend kept making notes in the notebook.

“Now here’s a simple calculation. If four times four is sixteen, how much is five times five?” Upon seeing a clear confusion, she asked, “Maybe something easier. How much is 2+2*4?”

Smarty Pants started to look around in panic, his ears drooped.

“How about 2+2?” she asked. After a moment of waiting, she rolled her eyes and wrote on the blackboard number 1+1 with three question marks and pointed at it with the match.

Smarty Pants wrote it in the notepad and rubbed his forehead, brows scrunched in thought.

Twilight lowered the match onto the floor and grabbed a chalk. “This is one.” She drew a period. Here’s another one. “She drew another period next to the previous one. She added a circle around two periods and asked, “How many periods do we have together?” Upon seeing how her friend was thinking even more intensively, she said, “Think about it and call me if you come up with something.” She walked away from the blackboard and grabbed the paintbrush, her attention now on the doll house. Time to put the idea into action.

***

“Nice,” Twilight said while holding a large paintbrush with her foreleg by her side. Only the windows were spared the lavender paint, yet the same couldn’t be said about Twilight’s muzzle and forelegs. A portrait of Smarty Pants was visible across the lavender background.

Now time to cover another wall with grey paint and draw Cadence, while the third wall will be pink with myself upon it. Her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle poke as she looked back, quickly seeing a proud Smarty Pants holding a notepad, 1+1 = 2 with two hearts wrote upon it.”

“Great work, I’m proud of you,” Twilight said as she levitated over the quill and wrote ‘2+2 = ???’ under it. “Think of it as your long-term homework. You can do it later.”

Smarty Pants nodded before looking upon the wall. Not wasting a moment, he ran to grab the second paintbrush, now looking at the little mare expectantly.

The door into the bedchamber opened as Steel Blade peeked inside. “I’m back and I brought Spike, sorry to keep you waiting. I hope you’re not bored yet or anything.” Upon hearing no response, nor seeing the little mare, he went inside and scanned the area. His attention quickly focused upon the oddly colored doll house with a few stains on the floor.

“What happened?” Spike asked as he jumped from Steel Blade’s back.

Feeling a ticklish sensation on his cheek, Steel rubbed it with his armored forehoof. He narrowed his eyes and pointed at the floor. “Hoofprints.” He sighed. “I should’ve know leaving Twilight alone with paint will end up in a mess.” He picked up Spike with his wings and placed him on the bed, petting him. The young drake frowned in return. “Wait here while I’ll search for her.”

“Don’t worry. She’s not alone, Smarty Pants is with her.”

“That’s even worse,” Steel Blade said before walking towards the exit. “Ever since Cadence started taking care of Twilight, she’s been sneaking outside the bedchamber with her newest doll. To make matters worse, she seemed way more distracted than usual.” Once closing the door, he was greeted by a chuckling Overwatch.

“If you’re looking for Twilight, she went this way. I bet the bathroom was their destination.” She pointed at Steel’s cheeks and said, “Nice whiskers by the way.”

“Whiskers?”

“Princess bathroom have mirrors, you can see for yourself,” Overwatch said, gesturing for him to follow her.

In a flash of lights, Twilight and Smarty Pants appeared behind a pillar half a meter above the floor. The little mare fell onto her belly with a quiet thump, Smarty fell on her. After a moment, Twilight crawled from under her doll and massaged her forehead, whimpering. “Lesson to be learned… teleporting with passengers is so much more difficult and draining than teleporting alone.” She turned around and helped Smarty stand. “Especially with a passenger bigger than me.”

“I’m sowwwry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Twilight said as she peeked from behind the pillar, making sure the way was clear. “A patrolling giant, hide!”

Both Twilight and Smarty pressed their backs against the pillar, staying out of sight. Their ears were straightened, picking up noise of loud steps. The floor shook under their hooves.

Once they could no longer hear the hoofsteps, Twilight jumped onto Smarty’s head and pointed ahead. “Let’s hurry up before we get caught. To the bathroom!”

Smarty nodded, almost shaking the unicorn off his head as he galloped, hiding just once more from another giant before stopping in front of the entrance to the bathroom.

“Alright, now do as I taught you,” Twilight said before jumping from Smarty’s head. The doll took a moment to prepare a jump, bending his legs. He jumped, grabbing the handle with the tips of his forehooves, barely reaching it. Remembering Twilight’s lessons about opening doors without magic, he anchored his legs against the door while pressing the handle.

“Great job!” Twilight shouted as she ran over and pressed her forehooves against the wall with her hind-legs against the large door, pushing it open with some struggle. “Let’s go.” Smarty nodded and jumped down, following her inside.

The bathroom was as big, if not bigger than Celestia’s bedchamber. The spacious bathtub itself was like a canyon, and while Twilight still felt a fear of water, she managed to suppress her bad memories and got used to her mentor’s bathtub.

Gold trim and gems decorated the entire room and the furnishings, and a large mosaic of Celestia’s cutie mark dominated the space.

Twilight examined herself, noticing a mix of pink, grey and lavender covering the fur on half of her forelegs, while stains were present on her fur, tail and mane. She suspected the top of her head didn’t fare any better. Smarty Pants was in a similar situation, though the fur-cloth on his back was covered by more varieties of colors, a side effect of losing his balance next to an open box filled with various paints.

She looked up to her left, pointing at the sink. I could teleport, but it would be too easy. I’m actually starting to enjoy not using magic in some challenges. With a firm jump, she grabbed the edge of the sink, only for her forehooves to slide against the wet surface. With trained reflex, she landed on her rear hooves and jumped again, this time landing in the middle of the sink.

“Whaaa!” Smarty shouted in panic as his attempt to reach the sink failed, only to be caught by Twilight’s magic and levitated over next to her.

“Now, now, you need to be careful,” Twilight said, nuzzling Smarty’s foreleg and next his chest. She gave a quick glance upon the bathtub, one she used to climb for minutes to get into, only to drown in hot water. So much has happened ever since I was shrank by the princess. Such dangerous scenarios suddenly doesn’t seem all that dangerous any more. She smiled warmly. Now I can get into the tub of such size with one jump. I bet I could escape the trap I ended up long time ago without breaking a sweat.

“Bath, bath!” Smarty said, clapping his forehooves cheerfully.

Twilight looked up and nodded. “Oh, right, let's get this over with.” She lit her horn, levitating over a shower head as warm water showered them with thousands droplets. “Now, time for some cleaning magic.” She cast a spell as magical aura enveloped them both. The paints were washed away by the water in an instant.

Smarty Pants splashed his forelegs against the water cheerfully.

“You like it?” Twilight asked.

The doll nodded energetically. “More water, more water!”

“Alright, more water it is,” Twilight said as she send more magic into the hot water knob. Much to her horror, the knob broke off as a massive stream of hot water followed, filling both the sink and the tub. “Oh, come on!”

“Hot, hot,” Smarty shouted, grabbing Twilight before jumping onto the floor. His hooves slid upon the watery floor as he fell into an empty artificial hot spring.

Hot water turned into lava as it started escaping the bathtub, streaming onto the floor and into the spring.

“Lava, hot!” Smarty shouted as he climbed up, getting out from the spring. He galloped outside with Twilight’s forelegs wrapped around his neck.

Upon seeing Steel Blade and Overwatch from the corner of her eye, Twilight lit her horn as she charged a teleportation. Relocating both herself and Smarty several pillars closer to Celestia’s bedchamber. Her eyes rolled while marks of burned fur appeared on her. She shook her head, noticing as Smarty was about to enter the bedchamber.

“Floor is lava!” Twilight shouted, causing Smarty Pants to jump up, anchoring himself against the door. Twilight bent her legs and jumped onto a nearby bookshelf. Hot red boiling lava was blocking her path to the bed. She grit her teeth and lit her horn, levitating Smarty Pants over. With her companion nearby, she started jumping from shelf to shelf, Smarty followed her example despite his bigger size.

“Lava on the floor, classic,” Spike said, perched on the edge of the bed. “Come on, Twilight, Smarty, you can do it!” he cheered.

Once close enough, she jumped towards the roof of her doll-house, Smarty wasn’t far behind. “Alright, throw me towards the bed, just as I taught you,” Twilight commanded.

Smarty Pants nodded, standing on his rear hooves while grabbing the little mare, throwing her towards the bed.

Twilight was quickly getting closer to the bed but wasn’t close enough, her forelegs straightened as she was about to grab claw of a friendly dragon extended towards her, hoping against hope she would reach it before falling into the lava, only for her body to hit a white wing instead.

“Sorry to interrupt your fun, Twilight,” Steel Blade said, raising his wing up to his face as Twilight was now perched on his feathers. “But I think you’ve made enough of a mess for one adventure.”

Twilight looked around, the lava on the floor had vanished, replaced by small bits of paint and colorful hoofsteps. A trail of water from Steel’s armored hooves could be seen heading outside. Smarty Pants was lying motionlessly on top of the dollhouse. She chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah… sorry… I got too carried away, and I used a little bit too much magic in the bathroom.”

“A little bit?” Steel asked, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment. It didn’t take long before the little mare displayed the best puppy-dog eyes with her bottom lip quivering in a pout. “Fine, fine, I forgive you, no need to assault me in such a way.”

The little mare stood on her rear hooves and poked her chest. “Thank you, and don’t worry, Smarty and I, we’ll clean this mess.” Before the pegasus could say a word, his little charge jumped from his wing and ran towards the open door, Smarty surrounded in lavender aura galloped behind her. “I’ll get a mop, bucket of water, cloth, wipes and ‘Fire: The Purge Of the Unclean’.”

Steel Blade shook his head. His job now slightly more difficult ever since Twilight got daring enough to go outdoor. His eyes became wide, ears drooped and he bit his lip. “Book… what?” He galloped. “Twilight wait!”

He kept running in attempt to intercept his little charge, ready to do the most dangerous thing in his long career as a Royal Guard, get in between Twilight and the literature. Deep in his mind he already missed Cadence’s help in keeping Twilight out of trouble.

Author's Notes:

While this story is completed, upon a closer examination I noticed that this story was missing one important element. Twiny's interactions with Smarty Pants. Such a crime against cuteness.

I hope this chapter was enjoyable to read while giving you all ideas what Twilight was doing whenever Cadence and Celestia weren't available. Though Twiny letting loose of her imagination often lead to some collateral damage, but nothing big considering her size.

Special thanks to:
ambion
and
plainoasis
For editing it.

If you all would like to read more of Twiny/Smarty Pants adventures, I think I can affort 1 more bonus chapter, but I need a very good idea of what kind of adventures they would have (location, situation they are in, goal of their adventure, etc.) and in what time it would take place (between which chapters. The further into the story, the more grown up is Twilight and the stronger she is).

Feel free to comment your ideas, or upvote ideas of others, and I may considering writing it.

Ch9 - Final Exam

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 9

Final Exam

Three years before Nightmare Moon's return

A rock farm.

Celestia left her latest meeting with her confidants in annoyance, her hooves stomping out of their meeting place as she frowned deeply.

A ROCK FARM.

Apparently, the Canterlot Castle staff had recently requisitioned building materials to expand the university and had placed an order for five hundred tons of high-quality stone blocks from various suppliers. With the slow period in the Royal Guard leaving plenty of idle hooves, Brave Blade had suggested sending a few to help bring materials to Canterlot, which Celestia happily agreed to.

Guards sent to one of the highest quality suppliers returned with stories of a rock farm that was unnaturally, well, cheerful. It wasn’t a secret that rock farmers were big traditionalists and would devote all of their time to working rather than to any leisurely activities, perhaps due to the difficulty of growing rocks and minerals from soil. This, unfortunately, also made them gloomy and, all in all, just plain depressing.

So when one of these families breaks the norm despite their utterly dreary environment, interests were piqued. Curious guards were able to learn of a single, bright pink filly of that family of greys and brown who changed their entire demeanor several years back. In fact, they’d saved the exact date to commemorate that landmark change.

It was the date immediately after the Rainboom.

The filly, Pinkie Pie, was not present when the guards came to pick up the building materials, but after her last candidate named Cheese Sandwich failed to meet the criteria, her agents discovered that Pinkie's last location was at Sugarcube Corner at Ponyville, where Celestia had conveniently gathered the rest of the Elements.

Celestia gave another sigh. Of all the places I could look to find the Element of Laughter, it had to be from one of the most depressing professions to ever exist.

"Rise and shiiiiine, Princess!" Celestia heard her student’s cheerful voice welcoming her into the new day, a warm awaking that she always enjoyed.

I swear, as tiny as she is, my student grows a little stronger everyday, and I can feel it too, the alicorn thought as she felt tiny hooves lightly shaking her head. Come on Twilight, you can do better than that. Celestia groaned and rolled around in her bed, turning back to her student.

The princess felt Twilight squeeze under her head, lifting it a little bit for several seconds, only to give up and crawl out from under it. My poor Twilight, trying to lift my head without using your magic to help. As much as I admire your efforts, at this point it is still beyond your capability.

Humored by Twilight’s effort to wake her up, Celestia rolled again and slowly opened her eyes as she watched her student sitting on a pillow, her horn lit with magic. She could already feel her head and body being slowly levitated to a sitting position, while a wet towel washed her face, and once the princess felt refreshed, she could see a cup of tea and a tray of food being levitated towards her by her student.

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia spoke softly, smiling as she took the tea cup with her magic, drinking it gracefully. In the recent years her tiny student has been willingly assisting in her morning routine. She didn’t need this kind of morning service, but it helped her student warm up in the morning so she welcomed it gratefully.

After Celestia and her student were done with the breakfast, the alicorn rolled off her bed to stand on the floor, already knowing what was about to happen.

Celestia looked warily at Twilight Sparkle as the tiny mare maneuvered her way over, carrying all four of Royal horseshoes in addition to her peytral and tiara on her tiny back. Even under all the gold, it was obvious that Twilight was struggling under the weight, never mind the balancing act she had to pull as her tiny hooves were trembling with every step. Celestia took a dainty sip from her teacup. My little student, you’ve made incredible progress and became even more confident in yourself. Once levitating my golden regalia with your magic became too easy, you started to challenge your physical strength instead. She’d forgotten when this started, but her faithful student had recently taken to challenging her physical strength, It was quite a surprise when Twilight first attempted to lift up her sleepy head in the morning by burrowing under it.

The alicorn gave a small frown. Now that she thought about it, there may have been some shrieking about a rat. Not exactly her finest moment.

Celestia took another sip as Twilight unceremoniously dumped her payload to the side after finally reaching the princess. She felt as Twilight levitated her hoof over before fitting the horseshoe on her with her bare hooves. Celestia, as a being who measures subtle changes in the political landscape over centuries, easily noticed the improvements in her student’s abilities. Twilight no longer struggled with trying to fit a single horseshoe on her, and she’d shaved an entire minute off her journey from across the room carrying her golden vestments. Not that she’d ever tell Twilight that she’d been keeping track.

The last horseshoe slipped on, and Celestia watched as Twilight trotted over to her golden peytral, raising an eyebrow. My peytral is almost as big as my neck. At least 15 kilograms of gold and gems. Is she finally going to…

Celestia was only slightly disappointed when she saw her student’s horn light up, thinking that Twilight was simply going to levitate the rest of the golden regalia into their respective places, but her mood lifted when magical ropes shot from the glowing horn instead, tethering Twilight to the tiara and peytral.

Standing resolute and strong, Twilight turned back to Celestia, taking a deep breath before beginning to climb up one of her mentor’s forelegs, the gold she was tied to rocking back and forth, trying to pull her down. After minute of effort, Twilight had finally reached her mentor's back, as she began swinging the peytral by its rope back and forth across Celestia's side. Twilight grit her teeth as the heavy gold threatened to drag her off from her steady position, but a quick shift of weight allowed her hooves the traction to stay on until the peytral finally gained the momentum to swing entirely around Celestia’s neck. A quick rope caught the other side of the peytral before it fell back around, and the neckpiece was securely fastened without difficulty. Another quick climb, and Twilight had easily placed the tiara in its correct place, plopping down in exhaustion once she finished.

Celestia watched her tiny student exercise with amusement, waiting patiently until she was done and smirked. I do not know if I should feel sad or honoured that my student climbs around on me like I was a mountain.

“My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia began. “Most powerful unicorns would prefer to use their talent for magic and spellcasting to solve their problems, yet despite both your immense skill and size disadvantage, I find that your physical activities are more and more akin to an Earth Pony’s.”

Twilight wiped away a few sweat droplets. “Do I have much of a choice, Princess? If I were to levitate something hundreds of times my mass, the pressure would crush me unless I can resist it, and if my magic were to fail, there’s not much I could do with just my bare hooves.”

Celestia sighed. “Believe me, I highly admire your dedication to keep both your body and mind in shape. But for earth ponies and pegasi, they need to stay in good physical condition because they cannot use magic to levitate objects like you or I,” Celestia said, tapping a hoof on first Twilight’s horn before tapping her own. “Biologically, unicorns have become physically weaker for this exact reason since they tend to focus on learning and using their minds to go about their daily business.

“Twilight, you are a talented, powerful, and a very intelligent pony. You are already devoted to training your magic, but attempting to train like an athlete in addition to your magical studies will overwhelm you,” Celestia lectured, her concern evident in her voice.

The little mare hopped down on her mentor’s nose, planting herself down as she looked Celestia in the eyes, a defeated pout on her face. “I know, Princess. I’ve been unable to read as much as I used to before I started my training regimen, but,” Twilight paused as she gave a wide grin, “with my trusty checklist and scheduling, I can pull it off.”

Celestia blinked. “Checklist? Schedule? Could you please explain, my faithful student?”

Twilight nodded her head energetically. “Of course, Princess! See, it’s actually very simple,” she stated as she began gesturing with her hooves. “Whenever I train my magic, I would eventually run out of magical energy until I can rest and build up more. Whenever I train my strength and agility, I eventually get tired, so I would need to take a break to recover my stamina. So after my magic becomes too weak to practice difficult spells, I begin my physical training, and when I get exhausted from that, I can switch back to magical training since my energy reserves will replenish during my exercise. Like this, I can switch back and forth between the two, though I still make time to study and read during my breaks. All my activities are on my checklist, and I follow it to the letter.”

Twilight finished by flashing another smile, before she jumped down from Celestia’s nose and began trotting over to the balcony, her mentor watching her in interest. Two years ago, Celestia mused, she would simply teleport to get where she needed to go. Now I find her forgoing her magic to run and climb with only her hooves. Quite the adventurer she has grown to become recently. With a short chuckle and a smile, she followed her little pony outside, preparing to raise the sun.

***

After witnessing and applauding yet another beautiful solar performance, Twilight trotted happily inside, followed by a faintly smiling Celestia. “So, what will we do today, Princess? Are you going to teach me a new spell, or more about Equestria’s economy? Or perhaps I should just practice what I already know or read a book?” she asked exuberantly as she began climbing up the side of the bed to her pillow.

“Hmmm...” Celestia hummed purposefully before continuing in a calm, yet authoritative, tone of voice. “None of those things, my faithful student. Today, I’m going to give you a test on controlling your magic. Or, should I say, your final exam on the subject.”

Twilight dropped from the bedding in surprise as soon as the word ‘test’ reached her ears, yelping as she hit the floor in a tiny, lavender heap. “A t-test? L-like... r-right now?” she exclaimed in shock as she attempted to pick herself up from her embarrassing fall. “But I d-didn’t know I had a test today. I haven’t had time to study for it yet! I’m not prepared for...”

Twilight blinked as she turned over the rest of her mentor’s words, "W-wait. D-did you say f-final-final exam?”

Celestia watched as the unicorn collapsed back on the ground, already noting the signs of an inevitable panic attack. Poor Twilight, she has plenty of courage and confidence whenever I teach her, but the moment I give her a test, she just crumbles.

Celestia bit her lip nervously as she tried to think of a way to handle the situation. Twilight had always been more than prepared for any test she’d ever given her, theoretical or practical. Still, every time she had mentioned the dreaded ‘T’ word to her student, the tiny mare invariably began fiddling with her hooves or pacing around before diving into a mountain of textbooks in a display of power-reading that sometimes frightened Celestia. When encouragement and praise during her exams failed to bolster her confidence, surprisingly enough, Celestia had elected to simply remove ‘test’ from her vocabulary altogether, often testing her student’s abilities under the guise of a regular exercise. It was sneaky, but effective.

But the test she had in mind today should show that Twilight had managed to bring her surges under her full control. Afterwards, Celestia could finally return the tiny mare to her normal size, and a normal life. This would be difficult, for the test could not be hidden as a simple exercise. Sooner or later, her perceptive student would ask her directly if this was a test, and she would not be able to lie to her.

Using her hooves, Celestia placed her faithful student onto the ornate pillow on her bed. “Twilight Sparkle,” she said reassuringly, calming the tiny mare with a motherly tone, “you have been working hard under my wing for many, many years and recently, you have not had a single magic surge in months. I’m proud that you’ve come so far, but I’m going to have to push you to your limits to make sure that you’ve gained full control over your power.”

She gave a reassuring smile as she watched closely for Twilight’s reaction.

***

It’s an exam.

A really important exam.

The final exam.

Twilight’s hyperventilation began to make its return evident. Oh no-no-nonono! What if I haven’t trained hard enough? What if I haven’t been practicing the right spells? Have I been levitating enough weight recently? What was my last record?

A single purple hair sprang out of place, curling in pointed angles. What if I fail! What if Princess Celestia sends me back to school thinking that I’m a failure and that she shouldn’t have wasted her time on me? What if she grounds me for a decade before I can retake the test?

Celestia watched as a few more hairs on Twilight’s mane followed the first before moving in to nuzzle Twilight, giving her a warm smile as she said encouragingly, "Please don’t be afraid, my faithful student. I have full confidence that you will pass, and there won’t be any consequences in the rare circumstance that you are unprepared. I can just train you a little more, and you can try again next month. I won't think any less of you."

Twilight looked up at Celestia, giving a weak smile and trying to smooth out her disheveled mane and tail. Celestia looked unconvinced at her student’s show. "Please, trust in yourself. I know you can do it," Celestia said as she levitated her student closer, wrapping Twilight in a careful hug that the tiny mare reflexively leaned into.

"Y-you really think so?" Twilight asked hesitantly as she looked up into her mentor’s eyes.

“I'm more than sure, my faithful student. I would even say that calling this an exam is nothing more than a formality. As long as you do not surge a single time, you will pass," Celestia continued reassuringly before levitating her student onto her back.

"W-what kind of exam it will be?" Twilight asked hesitantly, her expression betraying her nervousness and anxiety.

"It’s nothing you haven’t done before, Twilight. It will be a simple levitation exercise, but the most important part of this test is to use as much magic as you can without losing control," Celestia explained calmly before lighting up her horn in its golden aura and disappearing in a flash.

As soon as the pair reappeared, Twilight took a quick scan of her surroundings, noticing the various plant life. Her ears perked as she heard the scampering of animals running to hide in the bushes. "The Royal Garden... Why are we here, princess?" she said, looking up at her mentor.

Without a word, Celestia simply nodded her head vaguely at a nearby clearing, where several boulders of various sizes sat. With a small flash, Twilight relocated herself to the top of Celestia’s head for a better view. “Hmm... that first boulder is roughly Spike’s size. About… a hundred kilograms, give or take,” Twilight mused as she regarded the rest of them similarly. “One, two, three... ten. There are ten of them, each bigger than last one, so each one is a hundred kilograms heavier than the last, correct?”

Celestia gave a small nod, mindful of her student atop her head, "That is correct, my little student. These boulders have been weighed and specifically prepared for your training. You are correct in estimating that the first boulder is about a hundred kilograms and that the last one is one ton in weight. If you look closer, you can see their weights lightly marked on the side," Celestia explained, noticing a tiny gulp from her student as she gestured at the boulders with a hoof.

"Please prepare yourself, my student. Once you are ready, let me know, and we can begin," Celestia stated as she walked closer to boulders in front of her, feeling her student trembling on her head. Two years ago, Twilight managed to lift more than 200 kilograms before she had a magic surge and Celestia knew that Twilight would be intimidated by the idea of levitating the one ton weight.

Twilight nodded once before jumping on the soft grass, walking slowly toward her quarry. The mere look at them was intimidating, especially for a mare whose weight still did not exceed one kilogram.

My mentor believes in me, and I won’t fail her. No matter what, I will lift it! After a brief moment of thinking and meditation, Twilight steeled herself, her fears dissolving as she replaced them with determination and resolve.

With a wave of her hoof, Twilight signaled that she was ready. With a tiny smile, Celestia walked forward, only slightly behind Twilight now, "To begin, we will need to find out your limits. Your first task will be to lift each of those boulders for ten seconds each," Celestia explained calmly and encouragingly.

Twilight just nodded as she took up a more stable standing position, her horn lighting up as she focused her magic on smallest boulder. To her surprise, the hundred-kilogram boulder lifted easily off the ground. Her magic contained solidly within her horn, Twilight held the boulder in the air for the ten seconds before setting it down gently and moving to the next one, her elation growing as she began to discover the extent of her growth.

***

For the next few minutes, Twilight was levitating boulders off the ground one by one, each time she felt more and more pressure on her body. Her legs flinched a little when she reached a half-ton weight. Celestia watched in admiration as Twilight dropped the boulder to the ground. As she felt the ground under her hooves trembling, it did not took long before six hundred kilograms boulder was being levitated. Twilight, you never cease to amaze me. I knew that your raw power is strong, but being able to withstand pressure that increases your own weight more than twenty times while standing on your four hooves can put even the Royal Guards to shame.

Wasting no time, Twilight levitated the next boulder. Despite her best efforts, her levitation spell broke after six seconds, "I... 'huh' am sorry p-princess, 'huh', I cannot... it is... too heavy," Twilight spoke, panting heavily. Celestia knew that there had to be limit of magic her student could focus at once, but the fact that Twilight just simply given up her hold on the weight instead of having a magic surge was encouraging.

"Oh Twilight, you have already passed my expectations," Celestia replied with pride in her voice, that only made Twilight blush, further boosting her confidence and dissuading her fears.

"Thank you princess, what is my next task?" Twilight yelled, so her mentor could hear her more clearly while she recovered from her short exhaustion.

"Now, my little student, this is where your final exam begins,” Celestia’s smile vanished as she turn her head and hang it down slightly, guilted expression on her face. “I am truly sorry, Twilight, but this next task I must ask you to perform will be a very exhausting and painful experience," Celestia admitted, sadness and regret prevalent in her voice, unable to look into her student’s tiny eyes.

"Please do not worry, Princess, I am ready to handle anything you ask of me!" Twilight replied cheerfully to her mentor, as much as Twilight was worried of failing her mentor expectation, she was not afraid to push herself to her own limits.

"Your task my faithful student will be to levitate the 600 kilogram boulder, and than keep it in the air as long as you can. To make this exam harder, I will feed my magic into you to refill your reserves, making this a test purely of willpower," Celestia informed Twilight about the rules of her challenge, her voice now professional but still encouraging.

"You will need to endure a lot of pain, but I trust you, my faithful student, that you will not drop this boulder without doing your best," Celestia continued with trust and expectation in her voice.

"Of course! I will not release it without doing my best, it would be cheating.” Twilight stated as she stood on her two hind legs, putting one of her tiny forehooves across her heart, while other in the air, her eyes closed, ”I swear as your little faithful student, that I will not drop this boulder, as long as there is even the tiniest bit of strength inside me!" Twilight promised with pride in her voice, knowing well that by cheating during training or exam, all she would do is to lie to herself.

"You can start whenever you are ready," Celestia spoke as she stepped back, not wanting to break her student’s concentration.

***

After minutes of mental preparation, Twilight focused her magic into her horn, Celestia watching from a distance. Slowly but steadily, the 600 kilogram boulder was levitated off the ground. Even after Twilight absorbed the effect of my protection spell, I still find it impossible that she reached that level of raw power, not only learning how to control it, but also develop it further with demanding training, Celestia thought proudly. Twilight’s huge magic potential was not the only reason she was so proud, What is even more spectacular, is Twilight’s physical strength. While earth ponies’ inner magic increase their strength and endurance, aside from enhancing food to grow faster and more bountiful, increasing their stamina to work very long and hard. Unicorns’ muscles and bones are designed to improve their magical throughput, so they can cast more powerful spells and use magic more efficiently. As a result, their endurance and physical strength is much weaker in comparison.

Celestia was thinking about Twilight physical strength, as she observed her student from five meters’ distance, noticing that she struggled under the boulder’s heavy pressure, The levitation spell naturally occurs for every unicorn, no matter what their special talent may be. It is their magical muscle, and since most unicorns don’t levitate too much weight, they can hardly feel any pressure, but in your case, Twilight, it is much different.

“Come on, Twilight, don’t give up!” Twilight growled as she gritted her teeth in determination. She tried to keep a steady flow of her magic into her horn. Nearing the two minute mark, keeping boulder in the air as feeling pressure on her body was making her task harder. Twilight’s tiny hooves trembled as she did her best to keep standing upright, sweat falling from her head like water from a fountain.

Celestia cast a scanning spell, to check on Twilight’s magical reserves. As she expected, most of it was already depleted. To prevent the test from totally depleting the unicorn’s dry, Celestia walked quietly towards her student and lied on the ground as she lowered her horn carefully, and once it was several centimeters above Twilight's horn, she send a tiny bit of her magic to her student, refilling her exhausting reserves. Twilight slowly opened her eyes as she noticed the magic transfer, but she quickly closed them to focus on task at hoof.

As Celestia was done with magic transfer, she sent a wave of healing magic through her, to heal a little bit of the damage that Twilight’s body already received from the pressure alone. Once the test will be over, your body will need to heal naturally, but for the sake of the exam it should be enough to keep you from surrendering too easily.

***

As a bit of the pain in Twilight’s body was expunged, her resolve increased. My mentor shared her magic with me, she trusts me, she expects me to do my best, and I am not going to fail her!, Twilight thought as she tried to ignore her growing pain and exhaustion, even with Celestia’s magic and healing spell assistance, her body was slowly getting tired.

Twenty five minutes passed, and Twilight’s willpower started to wane. Despite being refueled with her mentor’s magic, and being healed over and over, her body was slowly reaching its limits. As Celestia watched her student struggle in pain and exhaustion she thought, Poor Twilight. Any other unicorn would have given up a long time ago from the pain alone, but you are fighting it with all your might. You are willing to endure such pain for me, I wish you would be as committed to your own happiness.

So far, not a single magic surge, but I need to be one hundred percent sure. Please, forgive me Twilight, but I will need to push you a bit further.

As Twilight was still doing her best to keep the rock steady, Celestia started to transfer another portion of her magic into her student. However, instead of fuelling Twilight's reserves, she sent her more than her body could store, making Twilight’s magic far stronger, at the cost of the same magic becoming more dangerous and harder to control.

I know it will hurt, but if you manage to use more magic than you have without losing control, I will be sure that you are ready, Celestia thought as Twilight’s magic was already pushing past one hundred fifty percent of her limits. Now, it’s time for the final push. Celestia teleported herself on the boulder hovering in mid-air, and the moment she was standing on it, her gaze focused on her student.

***

“Sssso h-h-heavy, but I h-h-have to endure, for m-my-myself, for C-Celestia,” Twilight told herself courageously. She felt increasing pain and pressure, as if the boulder she was levitating suddenly became more heavy for some reason. Princess Celestia probably levitated a 300 or 400 hundred kilogram boulder on top of the one I’m levitating, to increase the difficulty of my test, she thought, but decided to soldier on, after all she made a promise to give her all, and she was going to keep to it. Furthermore, she could feel her magic getting stronger than before.

The problem however started when Twilight felt pain in her hooves. Despite her best efforts to keep her trembling legs working, after ten seconds she fell, now lying on the grass and dirt while her body was pinned by thirty-six kilograms of pressure, yet her horn still working.

“I c-cannot withstand s-so much p-pressure... why I even t-thought it was a g-good idea to stand in the f-first p-place... as if the t-task was not h-hard enough already,” Twilight ruefully admitted to herself, as the pressure pinned her body to the ground.

After one minute of fighting the steadily increasing pain in her horn, and despite her best efforts to stay awake, Twilight lost consciousness. A few seconds later, the boulder with Celestia standing on it crashed down onto the grass, two meters away from tiny unicorn.

Celestia jumped from the boulder and bounded towards Twilight, lowering herself to get better view of her student. She knew that after using healing spells so many times on Twilight during the exam, they would no longer be effective. Instead, she cast a scanning spell.

I hope that I didn’t push you too hard, Twilight. You have become very tough in past years, but even you have your limits.

The scanning spell showed several injuries on Twilight body, the worst being her sore hooves from resisting heavy pressure, and her tiny horn from channeling too much magic. Her other body parts were also injured slightly from the pressure itself, but nothing serious. She sighed relievedly as her fears for her student’s well being vanished. It seems that it is nothing that a doctor’s assistance cannot fix. What a relief.

I waited so long for this moment. You can finally return to your original size, no longer forced to work yourself to your limits, no longer living in fear of being crushed. But... as much as I would love to reverse the shrinking spell now, I cannot with you in your current condition, Celestia thought, feeling happiness and disappointment at the same time.

Celestia slowly levitated her student onto her back, and conjured several magic ropes to keep her student safe from falling off, and teleported to the castle’s medical wing.

Several hours passed as Celestia delivered Twilight to the castle’s medical wing, as it was a place destined to treat royalty, nobility and even guards around the castle.

Celestia herself, as a powerful alicorn ruling her kingdom peacefully for so long, had not needed medical assistance in hundreds of years. The last time she was required use its facilities was when she tried to negotiate with Dragons or Griffins, or when she stopped monsters and demons from escaping from Tartarus where her power and endurance was put to a test. Other than that, most of the smaller threats were solved by her guards.

I must say, it has been a very long time since I had cause to use the facilities in this place myself, and as much as I am glad that the past couple centuries were peaceful, it was far too peaceful. After all, this world is full of powerful artifacts, demons and monsters. I feel as if it’s just a long silence before a powerful storm, Celestia thought outside of the room where her student was undergoing medical attention from her best doctors.

Usually, the doctors did not find Twilight’s wounds as anything what cannot be healed with a night’s rest, but after today exercise, one of the doctors politely advised Celestia not to push her student that far in her training, I am more than sure that the only reason the doctors didn’t yell at me for being so reckless with my student was because of me being a ruler of Equestria. I must agree with them, though. I still remember how careful I was when I took Twilight as my student. Over the years, I not only even started to neglect taking proper precautions with her, but I even started to push Twilight in her training, giving her tasks that could easily be dangerous, considering her size, Celestia thought, feeling guilt and remorse for the test’s harshness.

"No matter, your trying times are coming to an end very soon, my faithful little student. Once your health improves, I will return you to your proper size, and everypony will see you as equal. You will be able to meet and spend time with ponies of your age, your magic training and studies won’t be nearly as dangerous or trying as they were before," Celestia mused aloud to herself as doctor approached her.

"Your majesty," stated one of unicorn doctors who just moment ago emerged from room where Twilight Sparkle was being treated, he made a small formal bow.

"Speak," Celestia replied calmly, not wasting time with formalities.

"Miss Sparkle received far more damage than she usually does, luckily, her body’s healing abilities have improved during her studies. While she doesn’t recover as fast as earth pony, for a unicorn, she is quite tough," the doctor lectured as he explained princess her student health status in professional tone.

"We had to use a very strong healing spell on her, considering that the weaker ones were rendered ineffective," continued doctor as Celestia shake her head in understanding.

"She is stable, and slowly recovering. Though her bones fractured in several locations, they did not break. I assume that it is thanks to the protection spell you cast on your student?" the doctor asked, as he captured Celestia attention.

I stopped casting protective spell once her body absorbed its effect, Celestia thought as she listened the doctor’s diagnosis.

"Her body was refueled with magic several times, at some point it even exceed her body’s capability. I assume that you shared your magic with her, princess?" the doctor inquired, as Celestia nodded in affirmation.

"I see... considering her condition, she should sleep at least two days, until she makes a full recovery, she really pushed herself today," stated the doctor as Celestia felt a bit of sadness, but keep it hidden under her emotionless mask.

"I understand, I will inform her family, Spike and her foalsitter that she is currently being treated. Are they able to visit her?" Celestia asked firmly.

"Just visit, yes, but nothing more, Twilight needs two days of undisturbed rest to fully recover from her training-" the doctor explained as Celestia nodded her head again. He continued, "-also, with all due respect... I would like to advise you to make your student’s training less strenuous for the near future."

Celestia did not break her eye contact with the doctor, which made him a bit nervous. She knew that as with every doctor, he wanted to keep his patients from continuously hurting themselves. "I don’t think it will be an issue any longer, now that I know that my student is capable to control her magic, even under tough circumstances. Once she wakes and heals up, I will return her to her proper size.” Celestia replied with authority in her voice, breaking from her neutral expression into a big grin.

"That’s... very good to hear, your majesty. I will inform her about it once she feels strong enough to talk, and of course I will send someone to inform you as well, though I would not want to disturb you from your duties," replied the doctor relievedly, a bit hesitant in talk toward his ruler.

"Please, do not hesitate to inform me the moment Twilight is in better condition, I will gladly postpone my duties to visit her," Celestia added as she turned around and made few steps towards the exit. "I must be on my way, please take good care of her."

The doctor just nodded his head in agreement and made a half-bow to Celestia, leaving to attend her duties. There is some extra work I have been meaning to do... I may as well get it out of the way while Twilight recovers, so that I will have more free time to spend with her when she gets better. Celestia thought as she kept walking towards her throne room. Since Twilight will no longer be vulnerable, I can inform the nobles that they can arrange meetings with her. I have given them my word, after all, and since Blueblood met my conditions during his meeting with Twilight, I will have to let her attend public appearances.

Ch10 - Student on the run

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 10

Student on the run

Two days later.

"Doctor? I think she’s waking up," an unknown female voice declared as Twilight slowly opened her eyes. The blur in her vision took a moment to sharpen as she blearily examined her surroundings, soon noticing that she was in her tiny doll-sized bed, lying on very small pillow, with thin, miniature cables connecting her to the machines monitoring her condition. On her left, she noticed several gifts, bouquets of flowers, and a multitude of postcards with ‘Get better soon!’ wishes on them. From her surroundings, it didn't take her long to recognize her location.

Again? I must have pushed myself too hard during my exam.

This was not the first time Twilight had ended up in this room. She overdid her training often, and magical accidents, in addition to her new physical regimen, were often much more threatening to her due to her size. Due to the frequency of Twilight’s visits and the difficulty of treating such a tiny mare, Princess Celestia organized a special room for her in the Royal Hospital with equipment specially made to attend her.

Twilight gasped, sitting up in her bed. "The EXAM!" Twilight shouted in panic. Did I pass? I hope I passed. I did not have a single magic surge, so I think I passed. But I also passed out during the exam. What if Princess Celestia docks off points for sleeping during the exam and decides that I’ve failed? Twilight thought as a nurse and one of the doctors who had taken care of her in the past years moved to her side.

The stallion in the white coat perked up at her conscious state. "Welcome back, Miss Sparkle. How are you feeling?" He was trying to sound professional, but the young student talked with him enough over the years to sense the relief in his voice.

"I... feel fine. I guess, the last thing I remember was using my magic to levitate a boulder, and then I’m waking up here," Twilight replied hesitantly, giving an awkward chuckle.

"Are you sure you’re fine? You exhausted yourself quite badly this time, far more than you usually do, to be honest." Although the doctor would never say so out loud, Twilight knew he was less than pleased about her stressful activities.

"Yes, I feel fine. I just needed a bit of rest," replied Twilight cheerfully.

"Oh yes, your two-day rest this time was quite a short one," the doctor stated with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes, it really... TWO DAYS!" Twilight exclaimed, jumping from her bed and already pacing around in panic, "I’ve overslept! I’ve been asleep for two days during the final exam.” She took a moment to gasp. “I’M TARDY!" she wailed.

"It’s hardly your fault, Miss Sparkle. Your so-called 'final exam' forced you to work far beyond your limits, and I am very impressed by how short your ‘rest’ was, considering the extensive damage you’ve done to yourself this time," the doctor stated.

"But what about my exam? Did I pass or did I fail? Is the princess going to punish me for falling asleep?" Twilight asked impatiently, her face curling into a pout.

The doctor chuckled, waving off his patient’s rapid-fire questions. "You always worry about nothing, Miss Sparkle. From what the princess has told me, you passed with flying colors."

"I passed? YAAAAAAY!" screamed Twilight as started to jump around his hooves in circles, completely ignoring the tiny cables monitoring her condition losing their grip on her body, "I passed, I passed, I passed..."

The doctor looked down amused. Just two days ago, this mare was in a very bad condition. Her magic was exhausted, and she was completely drained of her stamina. Already, she’s jumping around like nothing happened, though considering her lifestyle, it’s perhaps not quite as surprising.

"Calm yourself, young lady," commanded the doctor as he levitated Twilight back to her tiny bed, much to the chagrin of the mare.

"S-sorry," Twilight replied apologetically, bowing her head slightly before continuing. "Still, I should go and visit my mentor. Because of my tardiness, I’ve missed around four hours of studying with her, maybe six if I miss today too."

The doctor just laughed again before answering. "That won't be necessary. I can send an assistant to Princess Celestia to inform her of your recovery, and she’ll be over to visit you in no time. So for now, I would suggest that you rest up and be a patient patient," the doctor said, giving a professional smile.

"Oh, but I’m sure she’s going to be busy. Maybe I’ll just go back to her bedchamber and wait for her there. I can read some books and train my magic. I certainly don’t want to waste the princess’ time," Twilight mumbled to herself with a nervous fidget. It was bad enough that she took an unscheduled two-day nap. It wouldn’t do for her to introduce a new conflict into the princess’ schedule at this rate.

"Well, if you wish, I can bring you a book or twelve to read. Besides, I don’t believe there’s a need for you to practice your magic any further at this point," the doctor stated confidently, leaving Twilight confused and unsure of what she just heard.

"Um... excuse me, what you mean by, 'there’s no need to practice your magic any further?' After all, my mentor is teaching me magic. I am still her student, right? Right?" Twilight asked, terrified. Her mind provided her with an all too literal image of her being thrown away by her mentor, an impassive look on her face as she trotted back to her Royal duties.

The doctor gave a short chuckle before continuing. "I can assure you that you are still her student. However, by passing your exam, you have proven that you are capable of controlling your magic. Therefore, it will no longer be necessary for you tolerate the inconvenience of your size. Once Princess Celestia arrives, she will dispel the shrinking spell and return you to your original height."

Twilight blinked, her mouth agape. How could I forget? The princess said that she would keep me small until my magic no longer posed a danger to anypony around me! She gave a quick smile. This is great news! I can finally return to a life before I became small and rejoin the world of ponies as an equal!

The edges of her smile faltered. So why do I feel like something’s missing inside me?

The doctor continued, oblivious to the conflicting feelings in his patient. “That’s right. You were forced to endure a life full of dangers, but your work has finally paid off. Despite your powerful magic, you can enjoy a normal life like other ponies. Princess Celestia reassured me personally that your training regimen will become much less stressful after this change," the doctor proclaimed cheerfully, feeling genuinely happy for young mare he had to heal so many times over the years.

Finally noticing that Twilight was deep in thought, he decided to leave her alone, saying, "I’ll go send my assistant to inform the princess right away, so please, be patient," before he turned and left the room. Twilight resurfaced from her thoughts. She opened her mouth and raised a hoof to stop him from leaving, but the door shut right behind him, and she was left alone to her thoughts. Twilight lowered her tiny head and dropped her raised hoof with a light thud on the bed, her ears drooping as she looked down at her own tiny forelegs. So it’s over. I’ll be a big pony again. From now on, everything will be normal again, like before the princess shrunk me.

Twilight’s eyes scanned the room from her spot on her miniature bed, as if looking at it anew. She saw the massive door in front of her. She saw the ceiling, high above her head. Next to her were her giant gifts and the giant monitoring machine, all situated on a giant table with her special healing equipment on it. Twilight came to the conclusion she made nearly a decade ago: this room was big. It would take her several minutes to walk around the perimeter and at least another one if she wanted to climb onto the table or monitoring machine. It would be a challenge to lift her gifts with her hooves and even opening the door would still require quite a bit of effort.

She pondered the door for a short while before turning between it and the gifts beside her, mentally stacking the gifts to the side of the door so that she could reach the handle. Simply going through the motions she needed to go through just to open it.

Twilight gave a mournful sigh. Soon, an action like reaching a door handle would become so simple. This room would shrink before my eyes and the act of climbing onto my bed would become so effortless. A couple days ago, it took a six-hundred kilogram boulder before I reached the extent of my magical ability, but what about when I return to normal size? What kind of weight would I need to levitate before I even begin to grow tired?

She rested her head on her crossed hooves as she laid down. For this last decade under my mentor, I’ve been training my magic as hard as I could to make the princess proud of me. I needed to prove myself, despite my size. After I met White Path, I began to train myself physically, and the snowball fight only served to emphasize that I need to focus on both my physical and mental abilities, to challenge my strength when magic became too easy.

A single tear flowed down from her eye as a warm smile stretched across her muzzle. But there’s something more to it than just the motions, isn’t there? I’ve never realized it before, but…

I enjoy this.

I enjoy the challenge of channeling intense magic through my horn. I love practicing my spells just as much as learning new ones. I relish the feeling of pushing my magic and my body to their limits, knowing that they’ll be stronger when I wake up tomorrow.

She glanced outside the nearby window, seeing the pristine, blue sky and the fluffy, white clouds beyond. Is that what I’m going to lose? I can still learn from the princess when I return to my original size, but her lessons will no longer be as strenuous as before. Everything will become so small, so alien compared to the world I spent my life living. The garden will no longer be the jungle of my foalhood, nor will the castle continue to be the colossal temple filled with nooks and crannies to explore.

Twilight wrestled with the broiling emotions inside her, oblivious to the passage of time until the light clop of hooves outside her door alerted her. If the princess finds me, all this will be over. I want to be tiny, but the princess would be so disappointed if I don’t let her turn me back. Oh, what should I do, what should I do? She looked around urgently before lighting up her horn in panic.

"Miss Twilight, the princess is already on her way, and…”

The doctor looked around the empty room, frowning. “Twilight? Twilight, where are you? This is not the time nor the place to play hide and seek."

After a few minutes of scanning the sparse room for his patient and checking the meager number of hiding spots in the it, the doctor trotted outside the room and shot a quick question to one of the guards standing there. “Excuse me, sir. Did Twilight leave her room while I was gone?”

“Negative sir. I was keeping watch over the hallway the entire time,” the white pegasus guard replied, before raising his eyebrows in realization. “She’s gone missing, hasn’t she?”

The charcoal unicorn guard on the other side of the door gave a groan as the doctor slowly retreated back into the room, giving a weak smile. He shut the door behind him and reconsidered the situation. She didn’t leave the room through the entrance. I can’t really see her climbing into the ventilation and there’s few other places she could hide.

He trotted over to the window and gave it a push, but it refused to budge. Window’s locked too. How did she get out of—

He frowned and quickly cast a scanning spell, one that every professional unicorn doctor knew inside-out, and he discovered something that he did not expect.

The remnants of a teleportation spell.

"How is my student feeling?"

The doctor almost jumped in panic as he looked at the now open door, framing the elegant, white alicorn. Her face was calm and statuesque, perhaps a welcome sight if he wasn’t so suddenly stressed.

"Y-your Highness," doctor started, bowing in respect.

"Where is my student and how is she feeling?" Celestia asked curiously, scanning the suspiciously empty bed and the detached cords scattered on the tiled floor.

"S-she... is feeling good. Yes, good. Her magic has fully recovered and she is strong as ever," the doctor replied, beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. "As for her location..."

"Yes?" asked the princess expectantly, casting what appeared to be an intimidating look upon the doctor.

"I don’t know," the doctor quickly finished.

"I don’t know?" Celestia gave a low groan, suppressing the urge to massage her forehead. Today, she was going to return her student to her normal size, and the last thing she needed was for something to happen to Twilight while she was resting up. She took a deep breath before continuing, in an authoritative tone. "Please, explain."

"Well, uhhh... she teleported," doctor replied meekly, giving a pleading smile.

"Teleported?" Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty... when she woke up, I informed her that you will visit her right away. I had told her to wait while I sent my assistant to inform you about her condition, but when I came back, I couldn’t find head or tail or her anywhere,” the doctor explained, almost rambling under what appeared to be the imminent wrath of his princess about to descend on him. “I had asked the guard outside of the room if he saw her, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so I cast a scanning spell and detected magical residue from a teleportation spell."

This time, Celestia raise both of her eyebrows in surprise. She teleported, but why? "Perhaps she is simply afraid to face me after falling asleep during her final exam, perhaps incorrectly assuming that she had failed. She tends to worry a lot over nothing," Celestia suggested.

"I don’t believe that’s very likely, Your Majesty. When she woke up, I made sure to inform Miss Sparkle that she had passed your test and that you will turn her back to normal once you arrive."

"Hmm... what could be the cause, then, for her disappearance,” Celestia pondered. “Whatever the reason, I had better go find my faithful student. She should not be far," Celestia stated calmly before trotting out to the rest of the castle, leaving the doctor to recover from his near-panic attack.

Celestia began rallying the guards to search for her student, absent-mindedly waving them off as she continued the search herself. Why would you run, my little pony? You were so close to being free of the limits forced upon you, so why, Twilight, why? Celestia brooded as she walked briskly back to her bedchamber, determined to remove the shackles that she had restrained Twilight with for nearly a decade.

With a flash, Twilight popped back into existence, falling with a light plop on her pillow back in Celestia’s bedchambers.

Twilight breathing began to quicken as she started habitually pacing back and forth. Calm down, Twilight. Think. Think. There has to be an acceptable solution to this.

If Princess Celestia finds me, she will dispel the shrinking spell. The problem is that I like being small, but if I tell my mentor that I don’t want to be big again, she’s going to be disappointed that she wasted her precious time on me in the first place, and she may refuse to keep me as her student.

Twilight stopped in her pacing, suddenly thoughtful. What if she will never shrink me again. If I can find a way to cast the spell myself, It would make every pony happy... but what if shrinking spell works only once?

The thought put a small smile on her face, but she quickly deflated as a new problem presented itself. I don’t even know how this shrinking spell works. Researching it would take years, but I can’t even waste a day to find a solution.

“Okay Twilight, to make plan of action, we need a checklist. First, I can’t let my mentor find me until I can find a solution and learn more about the spell. Second, the princess is going to send out her guards to come find me, and I’m sure she’s going to be along with them. Finally, I need to find a place to hide so that I can figure out how I’m going to make this all work out,” Twilight stated aloud, creating her mental checklist as she went along. She gave a frustrated growl. “This would all be easier if I knew how this stupid shrinking spell worked, but how am I going to find anything on—”

She suddenly gasped, struck by an insight. Cadence! I almost forgot about her. If she knows about illusion spells and age spells, maybe she’ll know something about the shrinking spell! If I can learn how to cast it, I can use it without bothering the Princess, but where am I going to find her? Twilight quickly began making adjustments to her mental checklist.

Twilight stood resolutely on her pillow, a plan formed in her head as she lit up her horn and disappeared again.

***

The soft clank of steel armor alerted the tiny mare to the approach of another search party, and she quickly held still behind a pillar. Satisfied that the guards had passed her, Twilight quickly teleported to the next pillar and continued her own search, moving cautiously on the tips of her hooves as she snuck around the castle.

The little unicorn quickly dove behind a pillar as a light plodding echoed from around a corner, but as the sound became louder and more familiar, she leaned from around the pillar to get a closer look at the culprit, spotting a small, purple dragon. Spike! Maybe he can help me figure out where Princess Cadence is!

“Spike! Over here!” Twilight shouted in a loud whisper as she used her telekinesis to tug at Spike, grabbing his attention. A quick magic seal shut Spike’s mouth before he could call out her name as she began signalling him towards her. “Come closer!” she called, and the dragon quickly joined her in hiding behind the pillar.

“What is it, Twilight? I thought you were still in the hospital. Are you feeling better?” Spike asked cheerfully, excited that his pony-mother was back on her hooves. “When I heard about what happened, I couldn’t believe that the princess would force you to hurt yourself so badly.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m alright Spike. You should know that Princess Celestia would never let anything bad happen to me. As you can see, I am as fine as ever.”

“I still think that Celestia is pushing you too hard, but I think the question here is: why are we hiding behind a pillar, and why are you whispering?” Spike asked, curious and very interested as to what prompted Twilight to begin stalking the corridors of the castle like a spy.

“I’m just trying to find Princess Cadence so I can ask her some very important questions before my mentor finds me!” Twilight said quickly.

“And why are you hiding from Celestia? Is something wrong? Come on, Twilight, whatever you did, she is not going to banish you or throw you into the dungeon,” Spike crossed his arms, somewhat exasperated. “You do remember how you ran screaming out of her bedchamber when you dropped a teacup on her, right? You were shouting things like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t throw me in the dungeons!’ and, ‘Please don’t banish me from Equestria!’ before you found out that Princess Celestia wasn’t even a little angry at you.”

“But I spilled hot tea on my mentor! Why wouldn’t she be angry at me?” Twilight replied with a pout, crossing her own forelegs defiantly.

“Because an alicorn princess who can raise the sun and the moon every day clearly can’t handle a little hot tea every now and then.” Spike rolled his eyes before looking back at the panicking Twilight. “Come on, Twilight, she stepped on you by accident and you still forgave her, right? I bet she would forgive you just as much, even if you decided to crash half of her tower down on her head,” Spike retorted, to which Twilight could only respond with a blush.

Spike took a deep breath, exhaling with a small huff. “Whatever you did, Twilight, I’m sure the princess would forgive you, so tell me, what happened? I’ll do my best to help.”

“Well, it’s not that I did something wrong, it’s that… did Celestia ever tell you what I was doing before I ended up in the hospital?” Twilight asked with a meek smile as she thought of how to explain the situation.

“Yeah! Celestia said you were taking some sort of important test, and you passed it, so what’s the problem?” Spike asked, both confused and curious.

“Well, it turns out that that was the test to determine whether or not I can control my magic, and since I passed, the princess is going to return me to my normal size,” Twilight spoke quickly.

Spike flashed a huge smile. “That’s great, Twilight!” he exclaimed.

“Ssshhh… not so loud! Someone could hear you!” Twilight hissed as she looked around cautiously, leaning around the edge of the pillar.

“Uhh… sorry, but is that not great? You’re going to be normal again. Isn’t this what you’ve been working so hard for? I mean, most of your life has been reading and training, and even though you spend some time playing with me and Cadence every now and then, your life has been like one neverending marathon towards this one goal, right?” Spike whispered, frowning as he attempted to understand Twilight’s motives.

“Spike, I didn’t work hard just so I can be big again; I did it because I enjoyed it, and when the doctor told me that my mentor is going to make me big again, I started to realise what exactly that means,” Twilight began, slowly gaining momentum as she continued to reveal her feelings. “I worked so hard this past decade because I enjoyed it. Because of my size, I could learn and use my magic to my limits, able to make an adventure out of anything.”

Twilight took a deep, calming breath. “Sure, it was exhausting and painful, but at the same time fun and exciting. But once I become big again, when the world becomes tiny to me, I won’t have many more chances to use my magic to my full potential,” Twilight finished, drawing circles on the tile with her hoof and she looked down mournfully.

“Wow, I had no idea,” Spike replied, surprised by Twilight’s explanation.

"Neither did I, at least not until today," Twilight spoke, sadness prevalent in her voice.

After a moment of awkward silence, Spike decided to speak up first, “So… ummm... what’s the problem? Can’t you can just ask princess to let you stay small? I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“No, Spike. She took me on as her student so I can learn how to control my magic so she can return my size back to normal without endangering her subjects. If I refuse, it will be like all those years she’d spent to teach me were wasted. She may not listen, or be so disappointed that she won’t let me be her student any longer,” Twilight explained, still staring at the floor.

Spike opened his mouth to retort, but soon shut it, stymied as to how to respond to Twilight’s fears.

Another moment of silence passed before Twilight spoke up again, “So do you know where Princess Cadence is? I need to speak with her.”

Spike thought for a moment before answering. “I saw her talking with Blueblood a few minutes ago. Come on, I can lead you there,” Spike stated confidently before he turned and emerged from behind the pillar, striding towards Blueblood’s room as Twilight quietly teleported from pillar to pillar beside him, carefully watching for pockets of guards.

“Hey Blueblood, have you seen Cadence anywhere?” Spike asked as he pushed open the door and entered.

Blueblood gave a start of surprise before turning towards the intruder, “Yes I have. She went to attend the small party being held in the ballroom. Aunt Celestia has informed me that Twilight is going to make her first public appearance, so I organized a party for this special occasion. By the way, always knock before you enter, little dragon. It would do you good to learn proper etiquette,” Blueblood replied, turning his nose up at the rude dragon.

Twilight’s eye twitched. “Public appearance? Party? Me!”

Blueblood turned towards the door, his ears pointed towards it as he listened intently. “Whoever you are, do you not know that peeking into others’ rooms is ill-mannered? Enter and apologise.”

Twilight creaked the door open with her magic, walking in hesitantly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

The tiny unicorn was suddenly jerked off her hooves by a glow of telekinesis. “Ah, Twilight. Perfect timing! You’re just in time for your party,” Blueblood declared somewhat excitedly before placing the mare into a small pocket on his suit.

Twilight looked around confusedly from her new position. I was hoping to find Princess Cadence, but as much as I don’t want to get anypony’s attention, I cannot disappoint the princess even further by refusing to show up at my party.

She gave a defeated pout, before brightening up somewhat. That’s right! Princess Cadence will be attending that party, so I can talk to her, meet a few of the other ponies present, and then hide before Princess Celestia finds me. With a grin on her face, she sat idly as Blueblood trotted smoothly to the ballroom, Spike keeping pace in the back with an eager look on his face.

“Greetings, fellow nobles! I would like to introduce you all to the guest of honor, Princess Celestia’s student, Twilight Sparkle,” Blueblood announced, playing high and mighty in front of the crowd as he levitated Twilight out of his pocket and placed her carefully on the floor.

In a moment, the many nobles in the room formed a small crowd around Twilight, carefully watching her every step. “H-hi…” Twilight said hesitantly, looking uneasily at the multitude of stares she was getting.

“What did she say?”

“I’m not quite sure, lad. It sounded like a mouse squeak.”

“Quite so. Now that you mention it, she bears more of a resemblance to a purple mouse.”

“Is this the pony we have been waiting for? What a waste of time.”

“Perhaps the rumors about her being Celestia’s toy must be true after all.”

“Enough! All of you,” Blueblood shouted authoritatively. “Is this how you show your respect to a superior unicorn?”

The nobles around Twilight went silent under the sudden assertiveness of the prince, until a single voice spoke up, “But just look at her! The princess probably took her from low-class for her own entertainment.”

Blueblood facehoofed at this statement. He took quite a bit of effort to get rid of the many nasty rumors about Twilight in past two years, but to see them to start all over again…

Blueblood’s face became stern and determined. If that’s how you want to play, then so be it.

He gave a derisive huff. “I cannot believe that you all are so blind as to not see the truth behind Twilight’s importance.” Blueblood gave an arrogant smirk as the other nobles fell into silence again.

“The reason why the princess kept Twilight away from us,” he continued, “is because we are not worthy to meet a pony of this position and talent. Twilight is Celestia’s personal student, a very prominent position that allows her to stay close to the princess at all times. The very idea that Lady Twilight Sparkle would lower herself to meet unimportant ponies like you is appalling.”

Twilight opened her mouth to deny that she was an important pony, but was easily beaten out as Blueblood drove on. “Besides Princess Celestia, the only company that Twilight has kept includes both me and the esteemed Lady Cadence. You should be humbled to be in the presence of a pony of such high importance.”

“Of course! Being taught by the princess personally... it’s a very high honor indeed!”

“And to think that princess has finally decided to share her biggest treasure with us,” another noble chimed in, much to the bewilderment of the purple unicorn on the floor.

“Yes, I knew from the start that this pony must be very important.”

Twilight swiftly brought her own hoof to her face as she watched the scene before her unfold. To be able to change their opinions so quickly after hearing a few words said little for the personality of the nobility.

Blueblood, a triumphant smile on his face, levitated Twilight closer to his nose and whispered, “I’ve warmed them up for you. All you need to do is show your magic, and they’ll be kissing your hooves.”

Twilight grimaced at the ‘kissing her hooves’ image, but Blueblood had already begun speaking again before Twilight could get a word in. “Now I want all of you to be silent as Twilight will now give you a demonstration of her power as gratitude for organizing this charming party in her name.”

He once again lowered the mare to the ground, giving her a word of encouragement as she looked nervously back at him. “Go ahead, Lady Sparkle, we would be honored.”

Twilight sighed in defeat before lighting up her horn in preparation for her most basic spell. Her magenta aura wrapped itself around the closest four nobles and lifted them slowly into the air, choosing carefully not to extend her six hundred kilograms limit, a surprising feat even for a normally sized unicorn. Her display captured the attention of the few other ponies in the room not gathered around Twilight, a few Wonderbolts among them, and the mare’s audience swelled even further.

Wiping the growing sweat from her brow, she lowered her subjects to the ground and began her next spell, choosing at random from her large repertoire of magic. Drawing on the extensive illusion magic she’d learned from Cadence, the coats of the nobles turned into an alabaster white. In the next moment, the jewelry turned into a shiny gold color. She went from illusions to conjuration to enchantments and even a basic summoning spell before the nobles in front of her could even fully comprehend the difficulty of her spells. Before their eyes, an illusory dome formed around the group, displaying a beautiful, flowing picture of the twilight just after the sunset. With a final flash, everything went back to normal, and the ponies gather there began gawking at Twilight as one.

A thunderous applause began, and Twilight could only smile weakly as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, embarrassed that she’d received such an overwhelming response to the magic tricks she’d learned over her years of diligent studies.

***

As Blueblood took Twilight into the sea of nobles, completely disregarding her embarrassment from being lauded by the group at hoof, Spike’s attention turned from this little sideshow to the main event.

Food.

While he couldn’t see any delicious gems anywhere, the tables piled high with cakes and donuts provided plenty to dig in to. Without hesitation, Spike jogged over to the closest table, gathering more than a few curious glances as he passed the dispersing group around Twilight.

Despite his size, Spike easily climbed on the eating table, grabbing a plate and already stacking a few donuts on it. However, as he reached for the serving knife for the seven-layered centerpiece cake, a magical aura moved the entire treat away from him, revealing a scowling unicorn noble.

“Hey! What’d you do that for?” Spike exclaimed indignantly.

The noble gave a haughty huff. “Well, I say. The princess’ pet lizard should not eat from the same table as civilized ponies,” he remarked, distain evident in his voice as he pointed to the exit. “You do not belong here. If you are hungry, I’m sure you can beg for some like the animal you are.”

Spike’s face twisted into an angry scowl and more than a few flames flickered from his nostrils. “Take that back, you jerk,” he growled, a low, warning tone in his voice.

“How dare you speak back to me,” the unicorn said, clearly annoyed. “apologise and leave at once before I call for the Royal Guard to put you in your pl—”

A sudden flash deposited a suspicious Twilight right on the nobles snout. “Is there a problem with Spike, sir?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, so this is the shrunken mare this party is dedicated to.” The noble huffed in amusement, smirking. “Hmph. What a waste of time,” he remarked, before attempting, and failing, to tilt the mare off of his nose. Annoyed, he continued, “Why do you even care about this overgrown lizard anyway? There is no place for a pet like him in a party reserved for the nobility of Canterlot.”

Twilight stomped a hoof hard on the noble’s nose. “First off,” Twilight started as the noble’s nose twitched from her strike. “He is not an overgrown lizard; he is a baby dragon. Second,” Twilight narrowed her eyes at him, scowling, “he is not a pet. Apologize.”

Noble looked back into Twilight’s eyes defiantly, “Not a pet? Pfft. If the princess continues to keep him around, he is most certainly the princess’ pet and I am not going to apologise for stating facts, especially to a tiny abomination like you.”

A murmur flowed through the crowd and more than a few gasped at the statement as Twilight’s eye twitched, her mane beginning to adopt a fiery appearance. Twilight said firmly and coldly, “He is not the princess’ pet nor he is mine. I hatched him myself from his egg with my magic, and I request that you apologise to him now.”

“Ha! Way to go, Twilight! You show this jerk his place,” Spike added, pumping a fist into the air.

“Oh no, the tiny abomination is trying to stand up for her overgrown lizard. I am so scared,” he said in a sing-song voice. “If you ask me, you and that lizard are nothing but the princess’ playthings, kept for her own deranged amusement.”

Twilight mane quickly burst into flames. The noble’s eyes widened and his magic gripped the closest object to him, a serving knife, and smacked the flaming ball of a mare right off his nose, causing her to land several meters away in a heap. He doused his nose with a cup of water as the assembled nobles quickly turned towards the motionless Twilight in the middle of the room. He finally shook off his shock, noticing what exactly he’d done. “Uuhhh, she’s alright, isn’t she?”

Spike smirked before he took a dramatic pose, pointing a claw at the fallen mare, “Look at what you’ve done!”

Sweat formed on the unicorn noble’s brow as murmurs of the ‘dungeon’ and the ‘Princess’ wrath’ filled the air. He leaned closer to the fallen mare, asking worriedly, “I hadn't killed her, had I?”

Spike gave the noble a condescending glare before pointing a claw accusingly at him,
“I would worry about yourself rather than her if I were you.”

The unicorn noble looked at Spike uncomprehendingly for a moment before he was suddenly arrested by a magenta aura and forcibly driven into the floor, pinned and helpless as Twilight climbed back on his nose, still smouldering in anger, “You’re going to apologise. Do I make myself absolutely clear?”

The noble struggled fruitlessly and had even lit up his horn in panic before a quick shot from Twilight stopped that plan. He looked unsteadily at the mare on his nose. “Alright then, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“For?”

“For disrespecting you and hitting you with the serving knife.”

“And?”

“I’m sorry for calling the liz—dragon a pet and for acting rudely towards him.”

The magenta aura let up and Twilight hopped down. “Now see, was it that hard to apologise?” she said before trotting over to Spike. She shot a final look back. “I forgive you, but I don’t want to catch you being mean to Spike again, alright?”

With a nod, the noble stood and stumbled slowly back into the crowd, which parted as further murmurs about the entire scene began to predominate.

“I say, that was indeed an impressive display of power and talent, especially considering your size disadvantage. It was an honor to be able to witness it personally, even if you’ve scared a few of the other nobles in the process,” a voice called out from the crowd. Turning around, Twilight was quite surprised to see a familiar monocled face approaching from the crowd. “It’s an honor to meet you again, Lady Twilight Sparkle,” Fancy Pants said, bowing slightly in respect.

Watching as Twilight Sparkle gallop energetically to greet Fancy Pants, Blueblood stood peacefully at the back, grinning maniacally. This is just perfect. After my monologue and Twilight’s rather overblown display, she won’t have problems with the nobility ever again, and Fancy Pant’s praise at the end was just the cherry on top that seals the whole deal. And my reputation can only grow through my part in this! Oh, Blueblood, you’re such a genius!

At that moment, the doors to the hall opened as Princess Celestia made her entrance, flowing in easily despite the almost unnoticeable concern in her face. Blueblood turned eagerly back to find Twilight in the crowd, but could only find Fancy Pants alone, the tiny mare nowhere to be seen.

***

Fancy Pants walked briskly to the corner of ballroom, excusing himself from the party as he made his way to a more secluded area of the ballroom. Twilight emerged slowly from his pocket, looking around to ensure that Princess Celestia was not in sight. “Phew, that was close,” she said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Now then, what is it that you wish to talk about with me in private, young lady?” Fancy Pants asked politely.

“I… I need to talk with Cadence, it is very important,” Twilight whispered.

“Lady Cadence left this ballroom not ten minutes ago, I’m afraid. I think she went to visit you in the hospital.” He paused, raising his eyebrows in amusement. “Oh, I say… it appears that you’ve passed by her on your way to see her,” Fancy Pants said, chuckling lightly.

Twilight stared at Fancy Pants, stunned. “Just my luck,” she groaned. “Can this day get any worse?”

“Good morning Fancy Pants. As always, it is a pleasure to meet you,” a powerful melodic voice greeted.

Twilight gagged in disbelief before she dove back into Fancy Pant’s pocket, pleading, “Please don’t tell Princess Celestia I’m here. Please.”

Fancy Pants looked confusedly at where Twilight had disappeared before remembering himself and turning to face the princess. “The pleasure is all mine,” Fancy Pants replied as he bowed and politely lifted one of Celestia hooves, kissing it lightly. Celestia gave a nearly imperceptible start of surprise, smiling awkwardly as she seemed to zone out for a moment.

The awkward smile was quickly replaced by the one of authority. “I would love to talk with you for a bit, but I have very important matter I need to attend to at the moment. I am trying to find my faithful little student,” Celestia stated.

“My my, your student has gone missing? Did something happen between the two of you?” Fancy Pants asked, a hint of curiosity seeping into his voice.

“I’m not quite sure. Two days ago, I tested her control over her magic. Today, I had originally planned to dispel the shrinking spell and return Twilight back to her normal size, yet when I arrived at her hospital room, I find that she had teleported away,” Celestia explained, her voice tinged with disappointment.

“I see,” Fancy Pants replied passively, sneaking a quick glance at the pocket Twilight was hiding in.

“I’ve been told by some of the nobles that Twilight was quite the center of attention here a few minutes ago, and that she was last seen speaking with you. Do you perchance know where she’s gone to?” Celestia asked hopefully.

A moment of silence passed before Fancy Pants finally spoke up. “Why yes, princess, I know of Lady Sparkle’s whereabouts,” he said slowly, fully aware of the trembling form in his pocket.

Celestia’s face lit up in a smile as she asked cheerfully, “You do? Could you tell me where she is?”

Fancy Pant shook his head. “My deepest apologies, Your Highness, but I cannot answer your question,” Fancy Pants replied, his face an emotionless mask and his tone carefully neutral.

Celestia reeled back slightly in surprise, stunned at the response. “You won’t? Why? Did something happen?”

“Lady Sparkle is not ready to speak with you, Your Majesty, and she has asked me specifically not to reveal her location to you. My deepest apologies,” Fancy Pants replied apologetically, bowing his head.

Celestia blinked. “I see… in that case, would you be so kind and tell my student that when she is willing to talk with me, I will be waiting for her in my bedchamber. Please tell her that whatever she fears, or whatever I did wrong, I am sorry,” Celestia replied sorrowfully, before bidding a brief goodbye to Fancy Pants and departing.

Twilights slowly emerged from her hiding spot, looking around guiltily, before hopping onto a nearby table. “T-thank you,” she said hesitantly.

“My my, Lady Twilight Sparkle, I think I deserve an explanation. Why would you run away from your mentor?” Fancy Pants asked, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight’s face curled into a gloomy pout, before she took a deep breath and began.

***

Twilight began to fidget as Fancy Pants simply gazed at her, impassive and silent. Several moments passed after the end of her story before Fancy Pants finally broke the silence. “You have quite the dilemma there, Lady Sparkle, but you know that you will need to confront your mentor about it sooner or later, yes?” he said understandingly.

“I know,” Twilight replied, hanging her head, “but I had hoped that Princess Cadence may know something about shrinking spell, or give me some advice about what to do. I don’t want to go back to my original size, but I also don’t want to disappoint my mentor.”

“Is being small really so important to you?” Fancy Pants asked, carefully stroking Twilight’s mane with a hoof to calm her down. She simply looked back up at him and nodded.

“Well then, young lady,” he continued, “Would you be so kind as to show me why it is so important to you? All I wish is a small demonstration of the perks of your present diminutive stature.”

Twilight was caught off guard by the request, but accepted the challenge. “Of course I can do that, just give me a moment.” She looked around the ballroom for inspiration, and in mere moments multiple ideas came to mind.

“Do you see that sugar cube on the table over there?” Twilight pointed with her tiny hoof at one of the buffet tables while Fancy Pants looked and nodded.

“Do you see those nobles dancing next to it?” Twilight asked again, and Fancy Pants once again nodded in response.

“I will try to slip past those nobles, get a sugar cube, and return the same way, using only my own skills. No magic at all, outside of one spell, that is.” Before Fancy Pants could reply, he saw Twilight cast a spell and become completely transparent.

“Why did you—” Fancy Pants started to ask, but Twilight had already jumped down to the floor and dashed towards dancing nobles. After a moment’s thought, he quickly put the pieces together.

The invisibility spell is not perfect. Any pony affected by the spell is just transparent, and can be seen with a little effort. However, Twilight’s small size will mean she’s practically undetectable.

Twilight ran into the dancing mob of nobles with little hesitation. As she expected, the nobles’ dancing was rather slow and predictable. While they moved slowly, there were rather more than a few ponies, and so Twilight had to dodge their steps to not get stepped on. She continued towards the table’s direction, feeling a little as if she were on an obstacle course. Thanks to her reflexes and agility, Twilight managed to slip past the dancing mob unnoticed, thankful that the nobles were far too busy or not perceptive enough to notice the tiny transparent unicorn running around their hooves.

Once Twilight was in front of the buffet, she focused all of her strength in her hind legs and managed to get on top of it with one solid jump. From there, she was only a few steps away from her target, and in moments, the chunky lump of sugar was firmly placed on her back. Strangely, she felt a sense of déjà vu for some reason.

Twilight’s decision to not use magic prevented her from using magic ropes, which was only going to make the next part of the challenge harder. A quick jump off the table to the floor below tipped the unbalanced sugar cube off her back, and scooping it up one hoof once she stood back up, she regarded the ungainly lump of sugar and considered just how awkward it was to carry.

Well, I did want a challenge.

Holding the sugar cube in one hoof, Twilight charged back into the dancing mob of noble ponies, her evasive obstacle course made even more difficult on three hooves.

Unluckily for Twilight, running with three hooves proved much more difficult, resulting in several noble shoes landing on a resilient transparent unicorn instead of a solid floor. However, in comparison to being stepped on by Celestia’s golden shoes a few years ago, the impact of the nobles’ hooves was relatively easy to endure. It only took a moment to recover every time she was stepped on, struggling back to three hooves and checking her fragile sugar cargo, ensuring its safely over her own as she managed to keep the delicate cube intact throughout the ordeal.

Once Twilight managed to get past the dancing mob, she quickly picked up speed in a final dash towards Fancy Pants. With two solid jumps, she landed on the table in front of him, holding the undamaged sugar cube in her right foreleg. It was a little strange for Fancy Pants, seeing the sugar cube move over to his tea without any magical aura, but he avoided commenting until the precious cargo was dropped into his tea and the little unicorn shimmered back into visibility when she dismissed her spell.

Sweat dripped off Twilight as she panted, watching Fancy Pants try to suppress his grin and failing badly. A grin of her own formed as she called up to him, “Would you like another lump, sir?”

Fancy Pants laughed a little despite himself. “Oh, no! One was quite enough, young miss, and quite a show!” Taking a sip of his tea, he nodded at the little sweaty unicorn with a serious expression and gestured to her impromptu obstacle course.

“Lady Twilight, you must ask yourself, was it really worth it? You put quite the effort in getting just one sugar cube for me, and could have even hurt yourself badly in the process. Is this really what you want out of life?”

Twilight’s smile did not vanish as she yelled cheerfully, “Yes I do! The challenge of getting this sugar cube was the real goal. I don’t mind a little pain, really!”

Fancy Pants rolled his eyes at the words ‘little pain’ before giving Twilight a serious stare and continuing. “I see, though I must ask you a question. Why would returning to your original size change anything? You can surely find exciting challenges without resorting to those kind of extreme measures.”

“To be honest, this was just one of the many ideas I came up with. Challenges like that is how I can push myself, in this room alone. When I’m this size, I can challenge my strength and magic much more easily and at any time I want. Even tiny, I still have a hard time finding any challenges where I can push my magic to its limits. I’m afraid that once I am returned to normal size, it will become almost impossible to push my limits like I can now.”

Well, she certainly has a point there. Even the Royal Guard may not have the equipment necessary to train a unicorn with her raw potential, Fancy Pants thought as he considered Twilight’s words.

He nodded with an air of finality. “I must thank you for answering all my questions and for entertaining me during today’s party, but I believe you wished to talk with Princess Cadence, and I’ve kept you here far too long,” Fancy Pants said, opening his pocket with a hoof.

With a smile, Twilight hopped smoothly into the offered seat, settling comfortably in its depths as Fancy Pants departed the ballroom for the hospital.

Cadence trotted hastily down the hallway of the hospital wards, her expression showing her agitation clearly as she looked closely at the various nooks and crannies as she passed them. Too closely, in fact, as she collided straight into a very surprised Fancy Pants as he rounded the corner, placing both of them on the floor unceremoniously.

Fancy Pants was the first to stand, offering a hoof to Cadence. “Oh, dear. My deepest apologies, Princess!”

“Oh no, the fault is all mine,” Cadence replied apologetically, accepting his hoof and allowing him to help her up. “I’m sorry for bumping into you, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. Twilight Sparkle’s gone missing. Oooh, the poor dear must be lost and terrified.”

Wasting no time, the unicorn in question jumped out of her hiding spot, running swiftly up Fancy Pants’ back before making a huge leap from his head to her foalsitter’s. “Cadence!”

Cadence jumped back in surprise, only to wrap Twilight in a tight hug, “Where have you been? I was so worried about you! First, I find out that you were hospitalized for two days because of your exam, and today I find out that you’ve disappeared from the hospital wing! What happened?”

Twilight sighed, allowing her foalsitter to vent her relief through her embrace. “I-It’s... a l-long story,” she said, her voice a bit strained from the rather bone-crushing hug she found herself in, “a v-very long s-s-story.”

***

“Oh Twilight, I had no idea that you felt that way,” Cadence said sympathetically. “Indeed, returning to your original size would be a huge change of environment, but I had no idea you would miss being so small and fragile.”

“I thought I had already proven that I could take care of myself to you,” Twilight said, pouting in annoyance.

Cadence smiled apologetically. “Yes, Twilight, you did, but I still don’t want you to hurt yourself... but if you say that you’re happy, then I’m happy for you too, although...“ Cadence paused, her tone switching to one of worry, “all of your potential and power will be wasted. While it is true that you have incredible raw power, at your current size, you can hardly perform any task that an average unicorn could easily complete. Would not you want to use your talent to help Equestria? It sounds a bit selfish that everything you’ve learned under Celestia will remain at such a small scale because of your own ambition.”

Twilight smiled guiltily, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. She had a point. No matter how hard I train, and no matter how powerful I become... what’s the point of my potential if I’m still the size of rat?

“Indeed it does, Cadence, but...” Twilight said slowly, looking downwards in embarrassment. However, she quickly perked up. “I don’t feel ready to be a big pony yet; there’s so much I can learn if I remain small, and when I feel that I am truly ready, I will gladly return to my original size. Until then, I would wish to remain like this,” Twilight replied, radiating confidence.

“I see… Well, you’re still Celestia’s student, and you are still learning, even if you’ve made wonderful progress in this past decade. I’m sure another year or two wouldn’t hurt,” Cadence nodded in agreement, smiling.

Twilight returned the smile, before turning morose again. “Still… what should I do? I don’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia with my decision,” Twilight said dejectedly, her ears folding back on her head.

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. As always, you worry too much. The very first thing you have to do is to tell her how you feel. She’ll understand. Come, let’s talk with her,” Cadence said enthusiastically as she levitated Twilight onto her back and began walking towards Celestia’s bedchamber.

Twilight was at first horrified at the prospect of confronting her mentor, but a few choice assurances and reminders that such a meeting was inevitable from her foalsitter quickly shut down her protests, and she simply went along to her fate.

Ch11 - Confrontation

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 11

Confrontation

Celestia waited in her bedchamber for her student’s return, sprawled across the empty bed with troubled thoughts churning through her mind.

Why would Twilight not want to talk with me? She’s never hidden from me or was afraid of me in all these years. Even when I hurt her by accident, she just forgave me as if it was nothing, so what would force my fearless student to run away from me? What did I do?

In the past two days, Celestia had worked harder than ever, trying to get as much done as possible, so she would have the entire day to spend with her student once she awoke. She had everything planned. First she would return Twilight to her original size, ending the condition she had to endure for all those years. After that, she would introduce Twilight to the nobility and let her have a few public appearances, all the while telling all of Equestria about the very talented unicorn she had as her student. Twilight would finally be free to go wherever she wanted on her own, and she would be given the chance to meet other ponies her age, make some friends, and live without fear of being stomped or hurt every single moment of her life.

It will be far too few years until the day she will face Nightmare Moon, and she deserves every minute of freedom I can give her.

But what did I do to her? Why would my own student hide from me? Was it my fault? Maybe she was hurt so severely that now she’s afraid of me pushing her again… No, that cannot be. She knows that she passed the exam. She knows that I will return her back to normal. She knows that from now on she will not need to push herself so hard. So what’s wrong?

The longer Celestia thought about it, the less she understood, unsure if whether it was her fault or not. The blessed day that she had waited for impatiently all these years didn't turn into anything she imagined, as the hours she had saved to spend with her faithful student were passing away without her familiar presence.

“Your Highness?” Steel Blade called from the partially open bedroom door, currently holding a tentative posture that indicated a long period of knocking without being answered. “Are you available for an audience? Princess Cadence has brought your student, as well as Fancy Pants and Spike, to speak with you.”

Audience? But why? Any of them could speak with me informally anytime they want. So why would they ask for a formal audience, and why would my student bring them all with her?

With great reluctance, Princess Celestia moved out of the bed to behind a small table, trying to calm her nerves before nodding at her guard. “Please, allow them to enter. I will hear their request.” She took a moment to run a hoof through her mane and, with a little burst of magic, drew her rumpled covers smooth over the bed and distributed several cushions across the floor before her guests arrived. It was just a little happy reminder of how much Twilight had been doing for her lately, and it made her cheerful, her friendly smile far easier to wear when her guests walked into the bedchamber.

“Please come in,” Celestia said, feeling her spirits lift at the presence of her friends. “Feel free to sit or stand, as you wish. I’m very glad to see all of you.”

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Auntie Celestia,” said Princess Cadence in return as she descended gracefully onto a cushion, Fancy Pants and Spike to either side. Cadence waited until Steel Blade had left the room and closed the door before turning her head to nudge Twilight, who was trying to hide behind her pastel mane. “Go ahead, Twilight. Tell Auntie Celestia how you feel. It will be just fine.”

Despite the encouraging tone of her foalsitter, Twilight tried to burrow deeper into her colorful concealment. With a roll of her eyes, Cadence lit her horn and levitated the reluctant student off her neck at the expense of several strands of tightly grasped pink hair, and placed Twilight on the table in front of her mentor.

A cold lump of fear sat uncomfortably in Celestia’s chest as she watched her student be coaxed out of Cadence’s mane and placed on the table. It was surprising to see Twilight show so much fear, something that she had not seen from her brave little pony in many years. The smile on Celestia’s face remained frozen in place, the result of many centuries of control even though all she wanted to do was to pick up Twilight and hug her. Her student had never looked this frightened even before her worst tests, and her little violet eyes looked everywhere in the room except towards her eyes.

After a minute or two of awkward silence, Celestia finally spoke. “I assume there was an important reason why you ran away and hid from me?” She tried to keep her tone friendly and her smile warm, which became more difficult when Twilight gave a small nod of agreement.

“Would you like to talk with me about it?”

Twilight lowered her head, unsure of what to say. Looking at Fancy Pants, he smiled in response and nodded back with a comforting, “There is nothing to fear Lady Sparkle.”

Spike responded to her pleading look with a smile and a comforting, “I’ve got your back.”

After hearing Spike’s reassurance, she turn around to face her foal-sitter. “Go ahead, Twilight. She will understand,” encouraged Cadence with kindness in her voice.

Finally turning back to her mentor, who seemed to tower over her like some giant snow-covered mountain, Twilight let out a sigh and gathered up all the determination she could. “Yes, Princess. I am ready.”

Celestia kept trying to keep her smile honest, finding it harder with every passing second as her fear grew about what her student was about to say. “I’m listening.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “I like being tiny!” she said as fast as she could before closing her eyes and awaiting her mentor’s reply.

The cheerful expression on Celestia’s face turned into confusion. “You… like being tiny?” Celestia could not help but repeat Twilight’s words, unsure how they related to why she ran and hid from her.

Twilight kept her eyes closed, afraid to look into her mentor’s giant eyes for fear of what she might see there. “Y-yes. When I found out that you w-wanted to turn me b-back to my normal s-size… I ran.”

She ran because she didn’t wanted me to return her to normal size? Why?

Still not comprehending Twilight reasoning, Celestia asked, “Why would you run to keep me from removing the shrinking spell? Isn’t that the reason why you trained your magic so hard all those years?”

Twilight was hesitant to answer, but a small encouraging pat from Cadence’s giant hoof gave her enough courage. “That wasn’t the reason why I trained so hard… I just… really like to train my magic… I wanted to make you proud of me.”

Celestia smiled again, this time as radiant and strong as the sun rising over the horizon. “Oh, Twilight. You don’t have to push yourself so hard to make me proud of you. I know that you are very hard working student, and you will never cease to amaze me, no matter what size you are,” she said cheerfully, feeling a surge of relief that the reason why Twilight ran away was nothing really serious.

Twilight thought for a moment on how to respond. Unsure just exactly what to say, she decided to ask a question instead. “Can I stay tiny… pleaseeeee?” Twilight asked as she plead with her tiny puppy eyes. It didn't matter that she was no longer a filly, as her puppy face had always been effective on her mentor as well as even the most obstinate Royal Guard.

Celestia’s smile vanished as she had not expected this kind of request, or the overwhelming force of tiny purple puppy eyes. She wanted to return Twilight to normal for so long, and here Twilight was asking her to delay it. “Twilight, why do you like being so small? In the past years despite my best efforts, you walked a thorny path. Do you not wish for all the pain and suffering you endured so far to no longer be part of your life?” Celestia asked with concern in her voice.

Twilight shook her head. “Yes, that’s true. It is a thorny path where I have hurt myself almost everyday, and every small task is a challenge, but that is why I want to be small,” said Twilight with rising confidence.

Celestia’s confusion only grew. “Twilight, please forgive me if I do not understand how you find enjoyment in your suffering.”

“Princess, how much progress have I made in all those years I have been your student?” Twilight asked firmly.

Celestia hesitated before replying. “You have made enormous progress, Twilight. In those few years, you have not only learned more spells than nearly any unicorn in Equestria, but you have gained more power and increased your control over it far faster than I had imagined.”

Twilight just nodded before she responded, “That’s correct, but would I progress so much if I was a big pony?” There was a deadly serious tone to her voice that Celestia had never heard before, and it set the princess back as she considered the idea.

She is... correct. Without proper motivation, she would never have worked so hard, and even arranging a place for her to practice at her full size would prove very difficult, Celestia thought, now slowly understanding her student’s logic. “You are quite correct, my student. Are you afraid that once I will return you to your original size, you will no longer progress in your magical studies?” Celestia asked firmly.

“Yes. That’s one of the reasons but not most important one,” Twilight replied in a flat tone.

Celestia’s confusion returned as she wondered what other reasons would her student have, but she decided to use what she already knew. “Twilight, your progress has been astounding, but you’ve paid a large price for that. Everyday, you seem to hurt yourself or have even wound up in the hospital in numerous occasions. You can’t even move around Canterlot freely for fear of your own safety.” Princess Celestia faced her student and looked her directly in the eyes. “Is it really worth the pain?”

Twilight didn't waste any time before answering. “Yes it is. I really do not mind the pain, and I have gotten used to my harsh life. Furthermore, I am quite capable of taking care of myself. My telekinesis is so strong that I can lift anything or anypony who would try to hurt me, and I can also teleport or set up the shield my brother taught me. I no longer need to be protected.”

Celestia opened her mouth to reason with Twilight, but the determination in her student’s voice made her decide against it.

Instead, she nodded. “I understand, Twilight,” Celestia said with a growing smile. “You are correct. You have become strong enough to take care of yourself, and if I would return you to normal size, finding opportunities to train your magic safely would become far more difficult. The damage to the environment from your training alone could be enormous.” Seeing that her student was beginning to smile too, she continued, “My dear student, you said that there are more reasons why you want to stay small. Could you share them as well?”

Twilight, noticing how well Celestia was taking her reasoning and arguments, was no longer stressed and afraid. “Yes, Princess. Another reason, and possibly being the most important one, is that being small is really fun!”

“Fun? Could you please explain what is so fun in getting hurt every day?“ Celestia asked, a curious expression on her face.

Twilight beamed with confidence, having prepared a mental checklist of questions to answer when Cadence was carrying her to her mentor’s bedchamber. “Weeeeell… Outside of being able to train my magic, every small task can become a challenge for my raw power or my physical condition, and I enjoy the challenge. It is like being on a big adventure everyday, and I can learn from everything. Even small tasks like opening doors can be a challenge of my strength, and I enjoy feeling my magic flowing to my horn whenever I lift huge weight or cast a powerful spell. I just cannot imagine a life where I cannot use my magic everyday…“

For five minutes, Twilight gave more and more examples of what kind of challenges she faced every day, how fun they were, how much she had learned from them. Every example threw Celestia deeper into confusion. In all those years, Celestia thought that forcing her student being tiny was like putting a curse on her as she watched her student endure a very painful and harsh life, but now she was learning that her student enjoyed it, and that her life was not the nightmare she thought it was.

Once Twilight was done, she asked again, “So… can I stay tiny… please, please, please!”

Celestia didn't reply her student directly, instead she looked at Cadence for support. “Cadence, may I ask your advice? You have been taking care of Twilight for a few years, and you have been worried about her safety all this time. I would like to have your opinion on this matter.”

Cadence put her hoof close to her neck as she thought for a moment, aware that every eye in the room was on her. Twilight in particular was looking more intently than anypony, seeming afraid that she would turn her down in fear for her safety. Cadence was concerned about Twilight’s well being, but that included her mental as well as her physical health, and there was only one way she could vote in this matter. Giving Twilight a smile and setting the most serious tone she could into her voice, Princess Cadence responded to her aunt’s request.

“As much as it pains my heart to see Twilight putting so much suffering onto herself, I cannot stand in the way of her happiness. I already know that she can take care of herself, and if your student wishes to stay tiny, I will support her decision.”

Celestia had expected Cadence to be against the idea, so she was surprised by her statement. Searching for help, she turned to her closest friend, Fancy Pants. “Considering that I know Cadence’s opinion, it is only fair to know your opinion on this issue as well.”

Fancy Pants was expecting the question and didn't waste any time before answering it. “Of course, Your Highness. I must say, that as much as your student’s talent and power is being wasted because of her small size, considering that Twilight still wishes to learn and improve herself, and since she enjoys doing so even though it is more difficult for her at this size, I think staying small will only benefit her. There will be a time and place when she will return to normal size and use all she has learned for the good of our society, but that time has not yet come. As a matter of fact, I am quite proud of her decision, and I think it reflects well upon her character as well as that of her teacher.”

Celestia was surprised by his support for her student, but there was one dragon left to ask. “And how about you, Spike? Are you comfortable with Twilight being so small? You understand that her life will continue to be very harsh. She will hurt herself often, and she will have a hard time playing and taking care of you,” Celestia could not help but keep her emotion out of her voice in one last desperate attempt to convince Twilight to abandon her request.

Spike just smirked. “Twilight is tough, no matter her size, and she can play with me and take care of me just fine. Also, if she gets herself in trouble, I will always be there to protect her, no matter what.” Spike’s proud pose was disturbed by an enthusiastic leap from Twilight as she jumped down onto his belly and hugged him as far as she could reach, which he happily responded with a careful hug of his own before sitting her back on the table in front of Celestia.

Celestia looked around at the group, as if cornered, as her plans crumbled before her. If she forced Twilight to return to her original size, Twilight would never forgive her, and her motivation to train herself would vanish. Twilight would be sad and miserable, and in that stage of mind, she also would have a hard time befriending the other potential bearers of the Elements of Harmony. On the other hoof, if she would let Twilight stay small, there would always be the risk that Twilight would not want to return to normal before Nightmare Moon’s return. A tiny bearer of the Element of Magic would have a hard time befriending other ponies, and no matter how much weaker Nightmare Moon would be after fighting against herself and the Royal Guards, she would still be too dangerous for the tiny unicorn.

Everypony watched Celestia in silence. Twilight was sweating from fear as her mentor was going to make a decision that would decide her future, and after several minutes of silence, Celestia finally spoke with a single word that drew Twilight Sparkle’s full attention.

“Twilight?”

“Y-yes?” Twilight replied nervously.

“Are you truly happy right now ?” Celestia asked firmly with a calm voice.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Yes, I am... the world around me is big, but I can’t imagine it any other way,” Twilight replied in a calm but determined voice.

Celestia sighed, knowing that she would need to alter her plans substantially. “If it makes you truly happy, then I will let you keep your current size.” Cadence, Fancy Pants and Spike cheered, but Twilight felt sad the moment she noticed her mentor’s disappointed face expression.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said apologetically with her head lowered in shame.

“Sorry... for what ?” Celestia asked hesitantly.

“For d-disappointing you... D-d-do I can still be your s-s-s-student... regardless of my s-size ?” Twilight asked, her knees quaking in fear.

Celestia quickly understood that she just let her tranquil mask slip, showing her inner disappointment to her student. Celestia decided to banish those fears as quick as she could. “Oh, Twilight. Of course you are still my student. I would not see it any other way,” Celestia said as cheerfully as she could, spreading her hooves as an invitation for a hug.

Twilight didn't need to be asked twice, and leapt into her mentor’s warm embrace. “Thank you, Princess. Thank you so much! I love you,” Twilight said, slipping ‘I love you’ in the rush of happiness she felt while feeling her mentor’s hooves holding her close to the alicorn’s warm furry chest. Twilight shared a few tears of joy as she pinned herself harder against her mentor’s soft fur while unaware of how her last words captured Celestia off her guard. Celestia stared blankly at her student before a warm smile spread across her muzzle, pulling Twilight closer.

For the next few hours, Celestia, Twilight, Spike and Fancy Pants spent their time together, talking on various topics, sharing stories, even playing with each other. Twilight made it a point to get permission from Cadence to take Spike to visit the library, and in return, Cadence made her promise not to run away again.

Steel Blade, who heard their discussion, didn't waste any time informing the other guards about Twilight Sparkle’s decision, hoping that princess would not notice him trading his post for several minutes to another guard in order to pass the news around.

Fancy Pants excused himself to leave their happy discussion first, as he had scheduled some important meetings that would be nearly impossible to reschedule. There were two ponies in particular he wanted to inform personally about Twilight’s decision. After all, Blueblood was responsible for organizing a party for Twilight, while Fleur was probably still attending it, as some noble parties lasted for hours beyond their scheduled completion. Plus, he loved the way Fleur reacted to good news when he was in the vicinity.

After they had all said their goodbyes, Celestia once again was left alone in her room. Despite having thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent together, she slouched across her bed gloomily as a single question would not leave her mind.

How can she find happiness in all this pain. Why would she choose the thorny road instead of the safe one?

After hours of thinking, she was still unable to find the answer. In past years, she had seen her student pushing herself past points no other pony would even dare to approach, and Celestia respected it, sometimes wishing she would have the energy and determination her student had.

I do not understand how my student can find joy in all of this.

Celestia shook her head and walked onto her balcony, basking in the sunlight that spread out over Canterlot. It was a proud capital city, with a history of over two millennia of rule, but it seemed so small and cold to her now without Luna.

I live a very comfortable life in the castle with subjects who will do anything for me. Every meal is delicious, and my every need anticipated and taken care by more servants than I would like to admit. In return, I do all I can to take care of my little ponies and try to improve their lives. But comfort has never really made me happy, and now it seems as if an unbreakable wall has slowly grown between me and my little ponies who I love so much.

Celestia looked closer into the sky, noticing a small group of pegasi passing in the distance, out of her voice and hoof range. She looked down upon her subjects, her little ponies. Ponies who saw her as nothing more than a ruler.

I must admit, the mere act of ruling has always been monotonous, but it is a sacrifice I’ve been willing to make. Equestria has become more important to me than my own life, more important than my own sister. After I imprisoned Luna in the moon to protect my subjects, all I could do for centuries was to repeat my same routine over and over. I thought that I had gotten control of my despair, but now I have found the one true joy that has entered my life since Luna’s exile is the time I’ve spent with Twilight. She sees me as more than just a princess, and more than a friend, and while I first only thought of her as a way to bring Luna back to me, now she has become something even more to myself.

Suddenly Celestia felt trapped in a golden cage of her own making, chained down and unable to spread her wings while Twilight had managed to somehow find happiness in hardship.

“As crazy as it sounds, I should take an example from my student. Perhaps if I look at the world from her perspective, I will find answers to my questions.”

Celestia straightened up, standing proudly on the balcony before she trotted back inside toward her goal, determination marking her every movement. After all, how hard could it be?

Celestia walked into Royal Library and told the librarian that she wanted to give Twilight a surprise visit. A few choice words later, Celestia was able to talk the librarian into convincing Cadence and Spike to leave the library and allow her spend some time with her student in private.

With that out of the way, Celestia cast both an invisibility spell and a sound-proofing spell on herself, casting quick glances over at Twilight to ensure she had not heard anything.

It was no surprise for Celestia to find Twilight reading a book, especially in a place like this. Knowing full well that Twilight was not going anywhere, Celestia crept away, hiding behind a tall shelf full of books before she dispelled the invisibility spell. Celestia’s horn radiated in a golden aura as she gathered more and more magic, and once she had enough charge for her chosen spell, she cast it on herself, using her own power to fuel the effect of the spell even further.

Celestia could see as everything around her grow bigger as the library itself became more and more spacious. Being very perceptive with her magic, she slowly and carefully tried to reduce her own size to Twilight’s level and mass, as it will be only fair if they were both equal. Raising both the sun and the moon over hundreds of years was enough to keep her magic in shape, and as the result, she had more than enough magic to reduce her own mass by a factor four-hundred, becoming essentially equivalent to her own student in size.

After adding a quick protection spell, Celestia opened her eyes and looked around, and the view surprised her. The bookshelves were like a huge castle walls, and every single book was almost twice her own size. So this is how Twilight views the world.

Celestia gave a few experimental flaps of her wings before quickly folding them determinedly. “No,” Celestia said firmly as her wings closed. My student does not have wings, so to experience her life, her limitations must become mine as well. With another quick spell, Celestia bound her wings to her sides with a magical rope before she began trotting off to where she had last seen Twilight Sparkle.

A minute of walking later, Celestia quickened her pace to a jog and yet another moment later to a run, clearly impatient. My student makes everything look so easy whenever she plays hide-and-seek with me. How can she run so fast on her tiny hooves? Years of tradition and courtly manners dropped away as Celestia sped off towards her student, the simple act of running forbidden to her in her normal size.

After a short run, the princess was finally in the place where Twilight sat reading her book, ready to surprise her student, but she was forced to dive behind a bookshelf as her student closed the book with a thump.

Celestia watched as Twilight then crawled under the book, lifting the large weight onto her back and trotting back to the bookshelf, unaware of her spectator. What will you do now, my faithful student?

Twilight horn lit up, tying herself to the book with magical ropes. Celestia watched in amusement as her student began jumping from shelf to shelf, climbing up higher and higher while steadily and effortlessly lifting the book with her. When she reached a small gap in the line of books near the top, Twilight dispelled her magic ropes and pushed the book back to its original location. Satisfied that the book was back at home, she hopped down again, prepared to walk over to the next shelf until she caught a small glimpse of a rainbow mane behind the bookshelf.

Twilight wasted little time as she rounded the corner of the shelf, expecting to surprise her giant mentor currently hiding behind the bookshelf. Twilight was quite ready to hug her mentor’s hoof, only to bump right into her face.

“Hello prin—” Twilight suddenly stopped, speechless as she stared at her mentor, expecting the mighty white alicorn towering proudly above her but instead finding her at bite-size, exactly level with her.

“Greetings, my faithful student—Twilight? Twilight, are you feeling alright?” Celestia asked concernedly as she prodded her motionless student with a hoof, who was now lying unconsciously on her back.

Well, I think I broke her. Maybe surprising her wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Ch12 - Celestia's Tiny Adventure

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 12

Celestia’s Tiny Adventure

Twilight’s eyes slowly reopened as she regained consciousness. “That was such a crazy dream I just had,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

A small hoof tapped her on the shoulder. “Perhaps you would like to share what this dream exactly was about?” Celestia said, laughing as Twilight turned around to face her, flabbergasted. “Yes Twilight. It’s me, your mentor,” Celestia continued, noticing the telltale signs in Twilight’s expression. “Twilight? Twilight, please don’t panic.”

“P-princess Celestia? But but but... HOW!” Twilight screamed as Celestia was pushed several inches away by the strength of her student’s voice, wincing.

Celestia cleared her head with a shake before marvelling at exactly how much the distance between her and her student had increased. So those years of shouting, so other ponies could understand her, have apparently made Twilight’s voice extremely powerful, she thought, before shaking her head again. It reminds me a bit of the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ my sister and I had used in the past.

“A little quieter please, Twilight. There is no need to be quite so loud,” Celestia stated calmly, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment.

“S-sorry.”

“It is fine, Twilight. I understand. But for now, would you like to take a guess as to why I am so small?” Celestia said, a challenging tone to her voice as she reproached her student.

Twilight thought for a short moment before answering. “You used the shrinking spell on yourself, didn’t you? I had no idea that was possible.”

Celestia gave a refined laugh. “It is more than possible, my faithful student. While shrinking other ponies would require their cooperation or, in your case, an uncontrollable power surge, casting a spell on oneself is far simpler, as you can use your own magic to supply it. The main drawback is, that you need a lot of magic to both cast and maintain the spell, but I can assure you, I have more than enough reserves for that,” Celestia explained as Twilight berated herself for not having a notepad to write all of this information down.

“But princess, why would you shrink yourself in the first place?” Twilight asked, both curious and worried. “You can’t possibly rule Equestria while being so small, and what if something happens to you, or what if somepony accidentally stomps on you, or what if—” Twilight was cut off by her mentor’s hoof.

“Ssshhh... let me explain,” Celestia said. Twilight simply nodded and went silent as her mentor began. “First, I can dispel the effects of the shrinking spell any time I want. And second, from now on, I plan on using the shrinking spell on myself whenever I spend time with you.”

Celestia paused as Twilight nodded again, listening intently. “As for why I shrunk myself,” she continued, “I just wished to see the world from your perspective. You said yourself that you find joy in your life, and I wish to experience it myself.” Celestia concluded with cheerful smile as she waited for Twilight’s reaction.

“B-but isn't it dangerous to be so small? You can’t possibly put yourself at such risk, Princess,” Twilight plead, though her expression quickly changed to one of confusion when Celestia simply began laughing again. “Ummm... why are you laughing, Princess?”

Celestia’s laughing slowly abated and she stared back into her student’s eyes, which were so much larger, now that she was the same height as her. “May I ask in return, why you can put yourself in danger everyday and I cannot, my faithful student?” Celestia asked without breaking eye contact for even a moment.

Twilight scratched the back of her neck with a hoof before answering hesitantly, “B-but I am just your little pony... I mean, your subject. Even if I get hurt, it won’t have any long-term consequences, but if you—”

Celestia raised a hoof to cut her student off. “Oh, I see! So, just because I am the Princess of Equestria, I should be sitting on my throne with hundreds of my guards and servants watching over me. Perhaps wait for that one day, when a random dragon or villain will boldly capture me and lock me in a tower, where I will need to wait for a Knight in Shining Armor to aid me?" Celestia said, clearly amused as Twilight broke eye contact without a reply. “Twilight, I may be a ruler, but I am also an alicorn. In all those hundreds of years, my magic has grown stronger, such that even now, I can face entire armies alone. My inherent magic lets me endure injuries that would kill hundreds of other ponies, and I’ll be completely honest with you, I could protect all of my Royal Guards better than they could possibly protect me.”

Twilight stared back at the princess, shocked that her mentor possessed such incredible durability and somewhat dismayed that such information was not readily available to her in convenient book form.

“Twilight,” she continued, “for hundreds of years, I have played the role of a high and mighty ruler and did what my subjects expected of me. I never used my wings, as it was expected of me to ride in a chariot.” She paused and attempted to flare her wings, only to remember that they were bound to her sides with magic ropes.

Stymied, she continued. “I never teleported or galloped from place to place as it would seem improper for a pony of my position,” Celestia said with annoyance in her voice, before she sighed and smiled again, “but today I wish to try something new, something that I could never do as a ruler, and all I ask you is to support me in this and to let me experience the world from your eyes. Let me be who I was when Equestria was not as safe and peaceful as today,” Celestia stated calmly, her irritation from earlier vanishing.

Twilight saw determination in Celestia’s eyes and smiled. “I understand, Princess, and I am truly sorry. For all those years, I tried to prove to you and every pony that I can take care of myself despite my size, and yet the moment you shrunk yourself, I dared to doubt you,” Twilight said apologetically.

“Apology accepted, though from now on, please do not refer to me as your ruler or mentor. As long as we are the same size, we are equals, just two small ponies both looking for adventure. Could you do this for me?“ Celestia asked firmly.

“Yes prin—I mean—of course, Celestia! So, what would you like to do on your first day of your tiny adventure?” Twilight joked, grinning broadly.

Celesta rolled her eyes before she pointed her tiny hoof at another pile of big books lying in front of her, “I saw how you returned a book you read back to the bookshelf without an extensive use of your magic, and I’d like to try it as well. What would you say about a race?” Celestia said, more than a little enthusiastic about the first real bit of exercise she’d have in over three centuries.

Twilight nodded, grinning deviously. “Lets do this,” she challenged before she levitated one book on top of another and crawled under it, lifting this time two books on her back. Celestia did the same, the weight of the books on her back bringing back memories of the heavy weighted vest she’d worn during the snowball war a while back. On one hoof, it was the first time she had lifted anything for many hundreds of years, but on other hoof, her inherent earth pony magic made it feel almost natural.

Their horns glowed in unison, and magic ropes once again secured the two to their loads. “On my mark, prin—Celestia. Ready... set... go!” On her signal, Twilight almost effortlessly bolted for the correct bookshelf while the laden Celestia lagged behind slightly.

As soon as Twilight reached the bookshelf, she sprang up as high as she could, the task made much more difficult by the extra weight compared to last time. Celestia took note of her student’s methods and made her best effort to emulate them, but found that more than once, she was forced to readjust the books or her hoofholds so that she would not fall back down.

A full minute passed, and Celestia had found a small alcove between the books to rest in, having climbed a good five shelves. She wiped off the growing amount of sweat on her brow and looked up to see where Twilight had gone. Her face glowed with embarrassment at her condition when she located Twilight already attempting to ascend to the tenth shelf. How does she do this so easily?

Celestia huffed in annoyance before hoisting herself back up and preparing to continue upwards. She jumped up and grabbed on to the top of the book beside her, but as soon as she attempted to use her back hooves to climb upwards, she bumped the one of the bookends, and the entire row of books slipped under her.

***

A loud thud of two books falling to the floor of the library was easily noticeable in the quiet environment and Twilight wasted little time in jumping back down to her mentor. Her legs bent under the additional weight from the books on her back as she landed, though she quickly sprang back up, trotting towards the fallen princess.

To Celestia’s embarrassment, she was pinned to the top of her two books by her magic ropes, not unlike a turtle that had rolled onto its back, but before she could dispel the ropes to try again, she felt as Twilight uprighted her again with a touch of magic. Celestia gave her student a brief smile before she turned away to hide her embarrassed face. “Thank you Twilight,” she said, “but we still have a race to finish.”

Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement and once again began climbing up on a bookshelf, passing her mentor easily. as she reached her destination. Without issue and quickly, she slipped her books in the right places before climbing back down to her mentor, who at this point was still halfway to her goal. “Uhhh…” Twilight began hesitantly. “Do you need a hoof, Princess?”

Celestia shook her head in disagreement as she attempted to put more strength into lifting both her little body and her payload. She made an effort to hide her lack of stamina from her student, but Twilight could easily see the strain in her mentor’s face as sweat accumulated on her head.

Celestia did make it to her goal, followed closely by a Twilight wary of her mentor’s physical capabilities. With the help of her student, she slipped the books back into the open spots before she sat back exhausted.

“Congratulations, Princess! You did it!” Twilight said enthusiastically, clapping her hooves together.

Celestia took several deep breaths, wiping the moisture from her forehead. “Twilight... just call me... Celestia... There is no need... for formality.”

“O-of course, Celestia. Would you like to take a break? You seem to be a tad winded from climbing up so far, especially twice now.” Twilight asked, looking worriedly at the heavily breathing princess.

Celestia took a deep breath, slowly exhaling before she continued. “I am quite fine, Twilight; the experience is just new to me, that’s all. I am slowly adapting,” Celestia replied before pointing her hoof down at the floor. “How about a race around this bookshelf next?”

Twilight looked down at the floor from the top of the bookshelf, nodding in agreement. Without further ceremony, Twilight jumped straight down, landing with a small tumble to lessen the impact.

Celestia looked down after Twilight, staring uneasily at the nearly six meters of distance that Twilight had just dropped without any issue. Not wishing to show fear to her student, she followed Twilight’s example and leapt off after her, her eyes closed shut and her wings instinctively straining to break free of their restraints as she fell.

In mere seconds, she landed at the bottom, though she didn’t land nearly as hard as she had imagined. Celestia opened her eyes and noticed her student smiling at her. “It may look scary at first,” Twilight stated, “but since our weight is reduced, the fall isn’t quite as dangerous as it seems, and thanks to the protection spell you cast on me, and probably on yourself as well, the risk is lessened even further.” She concluded with another smile, before she turned to pull a couple books out of the shelf to act as a starting line.

Celestia considered her student’s words. My student is correct in that aspect, but I believe she doesn’t know that as an alicorn, I have pegasus magic in me as well, which can make me lighter depending on my activity. Perhaps I can make this into a lesson at some future date...

“Princ—I mean, Celestia, perhaps you should prepare yourself for the race,” Twilight said, knocking Celestia out of her contemplation before they both approached the starting line.

***

Although Celestia completely expected the outcome of the race, it still didn’t sting any less when she finally reached the finish line with Twilight waiting there for her patiently, only a few signs of physical strain showing on the young mare while the princess sat there utterly exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Celestia had expected Twilight to offer her time to rest, so she quickly offered her another challenge to hide her physical ineptitude, deciding for a marathon around the library rather than a sprint and hoping that she’d have more luck with this sort of challenge.

As the marathon started, however, Celestia was a tad confused when she noticed her student running at a much more leisurely pace than she, so she slowed down, drawing even with Twilight, and asked, “Excuse me, Twilight, but why are you running so slowly?”

Twilight smiled and replied enthusiastically, “I read in a book that when you run a long distance race, it is important to save your energy and to perhaps enjoy the view along the way. When the other ponies are too tired to put on a boost of speed, you can easily pass them and sprint to the finish line.”

Celestia resisted the urge to facehoof. Despite over a millennia of experience, she had become so alien to physical activity that she had not even considered saving her energy. She quickly changed her methods, keeping the same speed as Twilight as she conversed with her on topics ranging from magic to the fun of being so tiny.

Eventually, similarly to the previous two challenges, Celestia began to tire once more, her breathing becoming labored and ragged as she tried to keep up with her student. She continued her conversation with Twilight, the light, rhythmic breathing of her student contrasting greatly with her own deep breathing. It says much about my physical condition when Twilight can overcome me so easily, even without the earth pony and pegasus magic that I have, she thought, her mind turning increasingly inwards, as she berated herself for her weakness.

“Hey princess!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. “We’re almost back to where we started. Would you like to see who can reach the finish line first?”

Celestia looked at her student, an eyebrow raised in interest. My student has worked so hard for so many years, trying to make me proud of her. I would be a fool to think that I could defeat her at her own game, especially on my first day. Then again, earth pony magic alone is worth nothing without hard work, she thought. She gave a small nod at Twilight before sprinting for the finish, a surge of determination giving her strength for one final burst of speed. Just you wait, Twilight. You have proved that even despite your weaknesses as a unicorn, you can still be a strong athlete. I shall prove to you that, even though I am restricted in my physical capabilities as a ruler now, I can be strong, too!

Celestia ran for the finish line, noticing that her student had put on her own burst of speed, grinning in delight. If her student can endure pain and suffering for her own self improvement, so would she.

***

Celestia unsurprisingly came in a distant second to her student, so when Twilight once again offered her a break, she accepted it without protest. After a few minutes of rest, Twilight asked, “So, what do you want to do next, Celestia?”

The princess thought for a moment, as an idea crossed her mind. “Considering that last challenges involved physical strength and stamina, I think it is only fair if I will challenge my magic instead,” Celestia said calmly.

“That’s a wonderful idea, what kind of magic will you practice... wait, let me guess, it will be levitation,” Twilight said enthusiastically, as levitating weights was her favourite exercise whenever she trained her magic.

“You are correct, Twilight. Now, what I can levitate?” Celestia asked herself as she look around. “Twilight, can you tell me how heavy this bookshelf is?”

The little mare gazed upon the bookshelf as she spent few minutes running around it, calculating its size. “I would say that it weighs around three or four tons... you aren’t going to levitate it, Princess, are you?” Twilight asked with panic in her voice, as she saw her mentor’s horn lightning up with magic.

Slowly, a golden field of magic began to encompass the giant and long bookshelf. I’m Celestia, ruler of Equestria and guardian of the sun! The steady hum of a levitation spell started to fill the air. I have thousands of years of experience and my strength surpasses even the mightiest of dragons.

Her knees began to shake, before she slowly sank to the ground; the steadily increasing pressure on her tiny body ever rising. Ten kilo. Twenty Kilo. Thirty Kilo. At fourty kilo, her legs buckled and couldn’t support her anymore. This is nothing! If my student endures this kind of pressure… By the sun and moon, so will I !

The steady Hum of magic had become so loud, Twilight had to shout a little to be heard. “Princess, you can’t levitate three tons of weight, the pressure will crush you!,” she said, trying to convince her mentor to stop. She knew from experience what even levitating a sole ton to a tiny pony could do.

Ignoring her students concerns, Celestia put more and more strength into her spell. Sixty kilo pressure. Seventy kilo. Eighty kilo. The swirling of magic around her horn now so bright, that Twilight had to look away. Ha! Now even my own student thinks me weak. I will show her that I am not. I will show Equestria that I am not. I will show them all, their princess is still… wait! “Twilight, what are you doing?”

“I’m helping you, Princess.” Twilights own horn flickered to life as she started to ease some of the weight of the bookshelf from Celestia's back.

“Cease that at once, Twilight! I can do this on my own,” Celestia shouted angrily over the cacophony of noise.

Stunned by her mentor’s outburst, Twilight let her magic slip away. The whole weight came crushing down again on Celestia, the sudden increase pressing her into the floor. Now again, with the mobilisation of her reserves, Celestia poured every ounce of willpower and magic into her spell.

Ninety kilogram. The vortex of magic around Celestia's horn effecting her immediate environment.

I can do this!

One hundred kilogram pressure. The bookshelf began to shake; dust falling from the book-rows.

I can do this!

One hundred and ten kilogram pressure. Twilight watched, as her mentor struggled with her task; fearing for her health.

I CAN DO THIS!

A grin crept over Celestias face.

Three tons of books, wood and dust were slowly rising upwards, as Celestia endured one hundred and twenty times her weight, being pressed into the floor, unable to move a single part of her body.

Twilight could only stare in awe. She had known her mentor was powerful. But in this moment, for the first time, she really had a grasp of how insignificant her own power was, compared to Celestia's might.

After one minute of keeping the bookshelf in the air, the princess slowly put it back on the floor, and the moment the golden aura disappeared, all the weight crushing the princess's body vanished as well.

Twilight ran to her tiny mentor, not noticing any visible damage on her graceful body, outside of many ruffled feathers on her wonderful wings. “Princess Celestia, are you hurt? I better get you to hospital as fast as possible to...” Twilight sentence was cut by her mentors laughter, and for a moment, Twilight even considered that the princess had lost it from experiencing so much pain

“Ummm... princess...?” Twilight said hesitantly, as her mentor was laughing maniacally while lying on the floor. And it was not the small laughter her mentor had from time to time, whenever she was happy. It was a deep, solid, out of control laughter. Similar to older stallions, when one had cracked a very dirty joke.

The princess finally got herself under control again, as she brushed a tear of joy from her eye, and then gazed upon her student, smiling innocently. It did not banish the confusion Twilight felt. “Is everything alright, Princess?” she asked with concern.

Celestia blinked her eyes several times before replying, “I've never felt better.”

Twilight was unsure if what Celestia said was honest, or if her mentor really had lost it. “T-that’s very good to h-hear, Princess,” she said hesitantly, wondering, if her mentor would punish her, if she were to levitate her to the hospital against her will.

“Oh Twilight, I already told you to call me Celestia. I really don’t like formalities, especially when I’m in company of a very close friend,” the alicorn said cheerfully as she took sitting position, her gaze focused on her student.

“Of course, Celestia, though I really think we should visit the hospital. That amazing show of raw power could have harmed you more than you would expect.” Twilight tried her best to convince her mentor to go to hospital on her own free will, knowing full well, that her mentor could remove effect of shrinking spell and defy her anytime she wished.

“Twilight, you are always worry over nothing... I feel fine, really! And in all honestly, I haven’t had so much fun in centuries,” Celestia said with relaxed voice, as she grasped her student’s shoulder with a foreleg. “Once again you were correct, Twilight. The feeling, when magic is flowing through my horn, when I push my body... it was amazing, I felt so free.”

Twilight was still afraid that Celestia should go to the hospital. But, as her mentor was able to at least move her legs without seeming to be in pain, she decided not to voice her concerns for the moment. “I’m glad Prin… Celestia. But I have a question. You got pinned to the floor by the pressure of levitating that huge bookcase, but when raising the sun or the moon, you don’t even break a sweat. Even being your regular height, shouldn’t the raising of a celestial body be even more taxing?”

“Correct once again, you are truly an amazing student.” Twilight blushed as Celestia continued, “Raising sun and the moon is indeed very taxing for my magic, but it is something I got used to, after repeating it over and over every single day. It isn’t even something I can physically experience anymore… but this... I can not remember when the last time I used so much magic to levitate something in my very long life was. And the pain I felt in my body... I've almost forgotten what pain feels like,” Celestia tried to explain to her student without restraining any emotions, almost as if she was drunk from her magic overload.

Twilight was shocked by how casually her mentor spoke with her, it was a side of the princess she had never seen before. Not a strong and mighty mentor, but a fellow pony and a good friend. “I can relate, I feel the same way when I push myself to my limits. Though, I still think we should visit the hospital.”

“Hush Twilight... I’m an alicorn, remember? I may still be pathetic when it comes to my physical condition, for now at least, but I can still survive far worse than being crushed under a weight a few hundred times my mass,” Celestia said as she put hoof on her student mouth, before spreading her wings as the weakened magic ropes broke. “I don't even remember last time I used my wings... would you like a ride?”

Twilight was stunned by her mentor request. Just a moment ago, a tiny alicorn was pinned to the floor. And now, the princess of a proud kingdom - a mighty ruler, who spend thousands of years on her throne, leading and guarding her country - was more than willing to give her a ride on her back.

The little mare looked around to make sure that they are alone, just now noticing that Spike and Cadence had left them alone, wondering, if her mentor was responsible for their absence. “I... would be honored... but, ahh,” Twilight said, but couldn’t finish her sentence, as she felt golden aura levitating her on her mentor’s back.

“No but’s, Twilight Sparkle, I am finally going to spread my wings, and I want to share this experience with you. Hold on tight!” Celestia proclaimed, giving Twilight only a moment to prepare before she jumped into the air.

Celestia, flying everywhere with a chariot, guards pulling it for so many centuries, left a dent in her flying skills, and having a passenger did not make it any easier. But she didn’t mind, only now realising how much she had missed the joy of flying. Twilight, on the other hoof, decided to ignore the weird situation that she just had ended up in, and since there was no pony to witness her flying on the princess’s back, she just played along, enjoying the flight with her mentor far more than she had expected at first.

From that day forward, during every hour Celestia had reserved for her student, she used the shrinking spell on herself and participated in whatever adventure her student could come up with, only now learning how soft she had become after ruling a peaceful nation for so many centuries. Without a worry to embarrass herself in front of her subjects, Celestia took Twilight’s example and challenged herself, steadily improving her own physical condition and skills.

A short half year of adventuring later, Celestia understood why Twilight had chosen a thorny road towards self improvement. Celestia decided to introduce Twilight to a combat magic, trusting her to a fault that she would never use it to hurt anypony deliberately - only to protect herself. She wasn't overly surprised when Twilight enjoyed practicing it, participating in training drills which, were they Twilight’s size, only the most hardcore of her royal guards would go through.

Ch13 - Magic Duel

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 13

Magic Duel

After a few months of training, Celestia and her student were once again in the combat simulation area of the guard barracks. It was a big spacious area, resembling a colosseum with no ceiling or floor, surrounded by several sitting tables mounted on the fifty meter high walls. The walls itself were enhanced by Princess Celestia herself to withstand even the most fearsome training, as pegasi guards had the tendency to make holes in an unenhanced surface through sheer force, while most offensive spells utilized by unicorns could penetrate even the hardest steel. The measures eventually helped to save Celestia hundreds of thousands of bits that would have otherwise gone into repairs and replacements.

Twilight sat behind Celestia’s ear as she entered the area, shooting questions to her mentor excitedly. “What’re we going to train today, Princess? Target practice? An obstacle course? Or perhaps another lesson about arcane barriers from my brother?” The entire subject of combat magic was fascinating to her, and training alongside other guards let her learn more about her B.B.B.F.F’s job.

“Not exactly, my faithful student. Today, we’re going to run a combat simulation,” Celestia replied firmly. Besides the slight trembling she could feel on her ear, Twilight remained silent, so she elaborated a bit further. “Well… That’s how Brave Blade would put it. I’d prefer to call it a magic duel.”

“P-p-princess? A m-magic d-d-duel?” Twilight said hesitantly, her fear evident in her trembling. Despite her considerable raw power, there was no way she would stand a chance against an experienced Royal Guard, especially an experienced and gigantic Royal Guard.

“Yes, my little student. I don’t expect you to win, but I would like to see what you are capable of,” Celestia said enthusiastically as Twilight gulped, now hiding behind her mentor’s transparent rainbowlike mane.

“W-who will be m-my op-p-ponent ?” Twilight asked with growing fear.

Celestia giggled lightly. “I will be your opponent, my faithful student.”

Twilight eyes went wide for a few seconds before she teleported away to the closest thing to hide behind, her hooves covering her trembling face. It was one thing to be strong and brave. It was quite another to face off in a duel with the mighty goddess of the sun, who could vaporize anypony with a simple solar flare.
Celestia chuckled, walking towards her little student’s hiding spot. “Please don’t be afraid of me, my little faithful student. I will be careful not to harm you… Well… no more than you usually hurt yourself on your own, anyways,” Celestia joked, using her hoof to lightly touch her student’s trembling back.

Twilight took her hooves away from her face as she gazed upon the giant eyes of her mentor. She took a deep ‘gulp’ before answering, “B-but how can I duel against you, Princess? You’re so powerful,” Twilight tried to explain, before she lowered her voice to a whisper, “and I am so small.”

Celestia chuckled again as she lit her horn, Twilight easily recognizing the spell. “The shrinking spell, Princess?”

Twilight stared at her shrinking mentor, who was becoming smaller and smaller before her eyes. After a few seconds, her mentor had the same size as herself. Celestia opened her eyes and looked directly across into her student’s. “Does this answer your question, Twilight Sparkle?”

Though, the fear that the mentor would crush her like an insect was slightly abated, Twilight still had butterflies in her stomach. After all, the very idea of hurting the princess made her feel uneasy. “Y-yes, it does.”

For a moment, Twilight and Celestia stared at one another, Celestia still grinning broadly as Twilight gave her a hesitant smile. “Twilight, I want you to promise me something,” Celestia asked sincerely.

“Anything,” Twilight replied.

“Promise me...” Celestia said, pausing as her voice shifted into one of authority, “that you will fight against me without hesitation. Don’t go easy on me just because I am your mentor and princess.“

Twilight made a step back, shocked by the princess’ request. “B-b-but... princess, I don’t want to hurt you. P-please, don’t ask such a thing from me,” Twilight replied, her voice increasingly infused with her growing panic.

“Twilight Sparkle, as Ruler of Equestria, I order you to do your best in this duel,” Celestia said, her expression serious and her tone even more commanding.

“P-princess... please, I don’t want to. Don’t ask me to do this. Please!” Twilight plead desperately, her fear for Celestia’s safety beginning to overshadow her own.

Celestia closed her eyes and spoke proudly. “Twilight, for half a year, I have joined you in many harsh, but enjoyable, adventures. We’ve both suffered a lot of hardship side by side, and you should know that I can handle whatever you throw at me.”

Twilight still didn’t like the idea of hurting her mentor, but she had to agree, that even with her size reduced, Celestia was still powerful. “Are... are you going to cast a protection spell on yourself before we start?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“No, I won’t,” Celestia stated firmly as her student looked at her, confused and disbelieving. “As an alicorn, I already have an unfair advantage over you. Also, I plan to use my wings for the duration of this duel, which is even more reason that I do not need to have yet another advantage,” Celestia said, before she assumed a fighting stance, her determined eyes staring straight at Twilight.

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Celestia quickly cut her off. “Brace yourself my faithful student,” she said, before her horn lit with magic.

Celestia spread her wings and took to the air, as she shot a golden beam of pure energy. Twilight did not waste a second, bringing up her magic as she erected a purple barrier around herself. Despite being the same size as her student and without the protection spell boosting her own magic, Celestia’s raw power began to crack Twilight’s barrier, which had turned into a blazing white as her beam strengthened.

The purple bubble shattered, and thanks to her reflexes, Twilight narrowly dodged the beam as it slagged the floor beneath her. The princess had began to aim for her next attack, but as she expected, Twilight vanished in a flash of magic. Celestia looked around, doing her best to locate her student as her wings kept her aloft. Or, at least, until she felt a piercing pain in one of them.

***

Twilight expected that her mentor would easily break her shield. After observing the hottest spot on her barrier, she evaded the attack and teleported behind an obstacle, hiding herself from her mentor’s view as she charged and aimed her own magical attack. Striking her mentor’s wings, Twilight seized the opportunity as Celestia fell and charged another attack, calculating her mentor’s falling trajectory to determine where to fire.

Celestia flapped her wings in an attempt to slow down her fall, but another beam of magic struck her in the back before she regained balance, the force of impact sending the tiny princess flying like a bullet until she crashed into the ground.

Celestia tried to stand up as her student appeared in front of her in a flash. “Princess... are you alright?” Twilight asked, the concern in her voice only making her mentor even more determined.

“Twilight, you should be attacking me now when you have the advantage. I told you to not to hold back,” Celestia growled angrily, annoyed mostly with her own fall rather than her student’s hesitation. Celestia shot a warning attack a few millimeters to the side of her student’s head. “We are in duel, Twilight Sparkle, and I expect you to treat it seriously. This is your only warning. My next attack will not miss.”

Twilight sighed, resigned to her fate. Wasting no time, she tackled Celestia as quickly as she could, using her opponent’s slow reflexes to her advantage. Not giving her foe even a moment, she slammed her mentor into a nearby rock with her telekinesis, causing it to rock back and forth. The princess’ head made a sharp impact against the hard stone, creating a large fracture across its surface.

“Princess!” Twilight screamed fearfully for her mentor, until a golden aura wrapped around the stone and hurled it straight at her. She jumped reflexively to the side as the immense rock grazed her flank, plowing into the ground and bouncing a distance away.

Certain that the princess was not badly injured, Twilight charged another spell. A ray of turquoise shot from her horn, encasing half of her mentor’s body in ice. “Please princess,” she said, “I really do not want to fight you—”

Mere moments later, Twilight quickly regretted her decision to let her guard down as a ten kilogram boulder, shining in brilliant gold, smashed her into the ground.

***

Celestia’s mane burst into flames, and the ice around her melted into a puddle at her hooves. She slowly walked towards her student, keeping her pinned to the ground with the boulder. “Twilight Sparkle, despite your small size, I do not look down on you. I respect you, as you are a very strong, brave and intelligent student. By being afraid to hurt me, by hesitating because I am your mentor and ruler, you show disrespect to my power. You treat me as if I’m weak, defenseless and fragile. Is that how you view me?” Celestia asked determinedly, hoping that her student, trapped under a stone, wouldn’t notice the tears forming in her eyes.

Celestia knew that her student chose a path where everything can only make her stronger, and despite feeling terrible for adding to her student’s suffering, she knew it would prepare her for any hardship she may experience in the future. The only thing she wished for right now was the privilege to share the pain her student felt. “Y-you... are... p-powerful, m-mighty... s-s-strong,” Twilight said painfully.

“Then show me!” Celestia yelled as she put even more pressure into the stone she was using to crush her student, and Twilight could feel her body being pushed even deeper into the ground. “Show me that you respect me!”

Twilight lit her horn and disappeared in a flash, the stone crushing her now crashing into empty space. Celestia turned, predicting that her student would teleport behind her, but this knowledge proved useless as a purple beam of magic hit her straight in the chest, sending her crashing against the very same rock she had used just moments before.

Celestia opened her eyes, leaning against the stone with her student standing in front of her on trembling hooves. Celestia could see determination in her eyes and her horn was fully charged, ready to be used. Celestia lit her horn to create a barrier around herself, but the moment before she could cast it, she was jerked closer to Twilight by a purple aura. The moment the barrier finally went up, she had trapped herself with her opponent.

Twilight did not give her mentor any moment to breathe. She turned around and kicked her mentor with her two hind legs, sending her into her own barrier.

Twilight was about to kick her mentor again into the wall, but Celestia quickly redirected her magic from the barrier and caused her luminescent mane to burst into flames the moment Twilight’s hooves where about to make contact with it, forcing Twilight to jump away with a few burn-marks on her hooves. As the temperature around her mentor rose, Twilight focused her magic onto the stone behind Celestia and trapped her under it instead, once again disrupting her mentor’s concentration.

With a battlecry, Celestia pushed her magic outwards, destroying the rock and showering the arena with tiny pebbles.

Momentarily stunned, Twilight was unable to respond when Celestia’s telekinetic grab took hold of her and she was thrown at sonic speeds towards the nearest wall.

***

Twilight had practiced her levitation spell far more than any other unicorn did, and suffice it to say that she knew every single weak point of this spell.

As soon as she was wrapped in her mentor’s telekinesis, Twilight wasted no time in teleporting to the coordinates she had calculated in advance. She disappeared in a flash, just barely before the impact, and reappeared directly behind Celestia, maintaining her original velocity so that her shoulder flew straight into her mentor, using herself as if she was a bullet.

Celestia collided hard with the wall, but quickly teleported herself on a small viewing balcony far above them to regain her balance; also taking advantage of a higher viewpoint to locate her student again.

In another flash, Twilight appeared right next to her again and, without allowing Celestia time to react, plowed into her with yet another spell.

For over fifteen minutes, Twilight and Celestia continued their duel, the tiny unicorn mostly on the offensive, hoping to break through the powerful alicorn magic protecting her mentor from deadly blows that would cripple another for life.

Despite having far more power than her student, Celestia failed to land many successful blows on Twilight, the tiny mare utilizing her superior reflexes, agility, and tactics to avoid many of the large spells that Celestia cast while landing the majority of her own strikes. It served as a warm reminder to Celestia of her own abilities back when she searched for Elements to defeat Discord, and when she faced new foes after his defeat, though she had little time to reflect on nostalgic times of adventure and excitement. It was still evident to her that everything her student had gone through, everything Twilight had experienced in past few years, was paying off.

Twilight, her body laced with injuries and lacerations her hoof bleeding openly, walked shakily towards her battered mentor. She was amazed at how much effort she had to put into opening even a single bleeding wound on her opponent, almost believing that nothing she did would be able to penetrate her divine flesh. Her mentor moved her own bleeding head and smiled at her, a gesture which Twilight happily translated as surrender.

Ignoring her extensive injuries, the little unicorn ran towards her mentor and embraced her in a tight hug. “Are you alright p-p-princess... I hope that I didn’t go too h-hard on... you,” Twilight said, her voice hoarse and weak. She pulled back, noticing the sad expression on her mentor's face as well as the bruises and cuts across Celestia’s body.

“Oh no, oh no! I shouldn’t have done this. I was too violent, and I hurt you so badly. I’m sorry!” Twilight screamed, panic once again prevalent in her tone. “I-I deserve to be locked in the dungeon! Or-or-or banished! Or—”

“S-stop talking n-nonsense!” Celestia replied harshly, as her watery eyes focused on her student. "Twilight... y-you have d-done nothing w-wrong...”

Twilight helped her mentor sit up, as she herself sat silently in front of her, giving the princess time to catch her breath. After the world stopped spinning, Celestia focused her full attention upon her student, who was too afraid to look her in the eyes. “Congratulations Twilight...you won,” the princess said calmly, capturing Twilight’s attention.

“N-n-n-no... I didn’t win, I’m almost out of my magic while you are still in such prime condition! Princess, it is a draw at best.”

Celestia glanced at her wounds and then back at her student, giving a weak smile. “I must look pathetic,” she said.

Twilight jumped in front of her, pouting in protest. “That’s not true! I mean, yes, you look a little beat up with all those wounds, but you’re still wonderful and majestic. I am sure that after medical assistance and a good shower—” Twilight said urgently, but was cut off by her mentor’s hoof.

Celestia shook her head. “That is not what I meant, Twilight. It is not my beauty and appearance I am concerned about; I can easily hide these wounds from my subjects with simple illusion.”

Twilight felt confused as to what her mentor meant, until she came up with another conclusion. “Is something bothering you, Princess?” Twilight asked, curious and more than a little regretful for the injuries she had inflicted.

“Yes, Twilight. Throughout all of your training under my wing, you’ve showed me nothing but strength and resolve. Today, I tried to show you mine. I tried to show you that your mentor is not afraid to experience pain, to fight for her subjects if necessary,” Celestia said, her voice firm even as she leaned to the side to spit out a bit of blood. “You’ve always made me proud of you... yet I cannot return this favour.”

Twilight shook her head. “But you did, Princess. You showed me an incredible display of power and fought very hard to the very end—” Twilight began, but was cut off by her mentor once again.

“A battle where I acted as nothing but a target for your own skills and magic,” Celestia said, her deadpan voice betraying an injured pride.

Twilight’s eyebrows raised as she quickly attempted to assuage the princess’ feelings. “That wasn’t your fault! I won only because you have given me so many advantages. Not only that, you shrunk yourself to my size, and you didn’t even use the protection spell.”

Celestia just shook her head again and frowned. “My dear student, please, don’t try to give excuses for my failure. During this fight, I outclassed you in both raw power and endurance, yet you won, because you used your power better and more wisely,” Celestia replied firmly.

“But Princess! Unlike me, you don’t have time to waste on small adventures and training sessions. You have an entire country to lead,” Twilight pointed out.

“If leading Equestria is all I’m good for, then maybe I don’t deserve my power. What good is such a position for, outside of raising the sun and moon?” Celestia said, her voice neutral.

“Princess, you led Equestria into an era of peace and prosperity. No pony expects you to do the job of a Royal Guard,” Twilight said, hoping for a change in subject.

Celestia sighed, staring unseeingly as memories resurfaced. “There was a time when Equestria was in constant danger, Twilight. Back then, I wasn’t even nearly as powerful as I am now. But I could protect my subjects against all odds. All the experience that I’ve gathered in these thousands of years have helped me to become a better ruler, to make the right decisions and to find solutions to problems many, many years in advance. But will I still be able to protect my subjects now? Will I still be able to face a threat head-on?”

After she said those words she took a sharp intake of air as an image of her sister’s innocent face flashed through her mind. After our trials had passed, when we tried to unite our little ponies, it was Luna who was the braver and more frightening one. She always faced the enemy herself to ensure the ponies’ safety, while I focused more on politics and governing, Celestia thought, as she realized that she had been taking less and less of a role in fighting a threat and more in guiding her ponies to deal with it. Luna and I are like polar opposites. While I started to stand on the sidelines and surround myself with paperwork and public appearances, she fought monsters at night and helped ponies directly. The safety of Equestria, something my sister worked so hard to maintain that I took for granted.

Celestia lowered her head in shame, much to Twilight’s worry. No wonder she let Nightmare Moon take over her body to rebel against me. My subjects and I wouldn’t respect her hard work until it was too late.

After Celestia convinced Twilight that there is nothing to worry about, she and her student had a short discussion before Celestia returned her own miniature size back to normal. Soon after, Celestia teleported herself and Twilight to the royal hospital where their wounds were treated.

Twilight however, despite the princess’ affirmations that all was alright, began thinking of what she could do to heal her mentor’s wounded pride.

Celestia had originally developed a plan to capture her sister upon her return so she could separate Luna from Nightmare Moon. The day Twilight became her student, she had changed her plans. Instead of capturing Nightmare Moon, she would weaken her in battle to a point where she would be unable to stop Twilight and the other element bearers from passing her trials and unlocking the Elements of Harmony. In the end, they would free Luna from the poisonous influence of Nightmare Moon.

Back then, Celestia expected that, being as powerful as Nightmare Moon, she would have no trouble weakening her, with or without the help of her guards. But after fighting to a stalemate with her student when she had the clear advantage, Celestia understood that she could not stand a chance against her sister, and many guards would pay with their lives for her weakness. Celestia needed to become strong again, and with only two years to prepare for combat, before Nightmare Moon returned, she could not afford to waste any time.

Ch14 - Home Visit

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 14

Home Visit

“Please calm down, honey! It’s just a visit. There’s no need to stress yourself out,” Night Light said, looking on concernedly as his wife rushed feverishly around the kitchen.

“Just a visit? Just a visit! Our dear Twilight is coming back home after over eleven years under the wings of our ruler at Canterlot Castle, and what’s more, she’s bringing friends with her! It’s not just a visit!” Twilight Velvet shouted, giving Night Light a stern, bloodshot glare. Her mane was in terrible shape and her eye was twitching every so often, typical for whenever she had a panic attack.

Night Light sighed. “Come on, honey. We visited Twilight whenever we could. So what if we were too busy to visit her in this past year? This time, she’s coming to visit us, so what’s the difference?”

Twilight Velvet shook her head furiously. “You don’t get it, do you? We’ve been visiting our daughter less and less each year, and though she’s very open about all the happy experiences she’s had, she’s always avoided telling us about all the accidents or horrors she’s bound to have while living in a world of giants. Today, our little filly will come back to her home as a mare, and I am going to get the truth out of her, no matter what,” Velvet proclaimed determinedly.

A moment of silence between the two of them passed, until a loud rapping of hoof on door caused the high-strung Velvet to jump back into action

“It’s her! Nononono, she’s too early! The house isn’t clean, the food hasn’t been served yet, and I still need to—”

Velvet’s agitated soliloquy was swiftly interrupted by Night Light’s hoof. “Everything will be alright, dear, so just calm down, maybe fix your mane a bit, and I’ll open the door and make sure that our guests are comfortable.”

Twilight Velvet hung her head in defeat before she walked dejectedly towards the bathroom, Night Light watching her until she was out of sight. He then turned back towards the door, his face beginning to show the nervousness he’d been trying to conceal from his wife as his visitor knocked a few more times on the door.

“I’m c-coming,” Night Light said, taking a deep breath before he slowly opened the door, revealing a small group of ponies he recognized. Two of them were Twilight’s personal guards, Overwatch and Steel Blade, out of uniform but still very much attentive. A small baby dragon stood between them with a tiny Twilight stood perched on his head.

“Hey dad!” Twilight shouted enthusiastically, jumping towards him. Night Light recoiled slightly as his daughter easily made the meter gap between them, embracing him with a hug much more powerful than he expected. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said, looking up at him. “It’s been a year since your last visit. What happened?”

Night Light recovered from his shock, and he lifted his hoof towards his neck to lightly hug his daughter. “I’m so sorry, Twilight. We’ve been so caught up in our work that we just hadn't found the time to visit you. Can you forgive us?” Night Light said guiltily, though he slowly shifted his attention to the warmth of the embrace. I missed your hugs so much, Twilight. You may be tiny now, but the love and happiness you give us is so much more than you can imagine.

“It’s fine, dad! I myself have been as busy as a bee for the past year as well, so I understand,” Twilight replied, before she freed herself from her dad’s soft hug, landing on the floor and running inside the house. “Where’s mom?”

“Bathroom,” Night Light said as he turned to see his daughter disappear into the house. Is this really her? She’s… she’s changed so much.

The familiar voice of a baby dragon knocked Night Light out of his reverie. “Hey dude, can we come in already?”

Night Light promptly turned around to the rest of the party, still waiting outside of the door for permission to enter. “Y-yes... Sure, come right in. Make yourselves comfortable.”

Twilight Velvet brushed her mane anxiously, looking at her disheveled appearance in the mirror. “Calm down, you silly old mare. It’s just a visit. It’s not like I’ve avoided visiting Twilight. Stupid chief editor, putting a mountain of work on me when my own daughter ends up hospitalized. And Princess Celestia. I swear, she’s made it so that Twilight is always unavailable every time I get free time to spend. When I meet her face to face, I—”

“Found you, mom!” Velvet turned in surprise towards her unexpected guest as her tiny daughter pounced up onto the sink in front of her. “I missed you so much!” Twilight exclaimed before jumping to hug her neck.

Velvet, already taken aback at being ambushed in the bathroom, lost her balance once Twilight tackled her and fell to the floor, slightly stunned. She cleared her head with a shake and looked at her attacker. “I-I missed you too, dear. I missed you too,” Velvet replied as she wrapped Twilight in a strong, bone-crushing hug, forgetting momentarily the size difference between them.

Velvet released her quarry, nodding apologetically at a slightly winded Twilight as she placed her back on the sink, before she stood back up. “Oh, by the way,” Twilight asked as she looked around, “who were you talking to?”

Twilight Velvet blushed. “I... was just practicing my welcome speech in front of the mirror. Yes, that’s what I was doing.” Twilight give her a suspicious glare, but Velvet quickly continued. “Anyway, we shouldn’t leave the rest of the guests waiting. I have a few snacks ready in the kitchen, if you’d like some,” Velvet said as she turned to go back down the stairs to the kitchen, Twilight happily jogging next to her.

Velvet looked down at her tiny daughter as they moved to rejoin the rest of the party, placing her hooves carefully as not to step on Twilight. Unfortunately, she didn’t pay quite enough attention to the closed door in front of her until her face made sharp acquaintance with it.

“Is anypony hungry?” Twilight Velvet asked, levitating a large number of trays bearing various fruits, salads, grains, and even one piled with gems, around her.

Spike immediately ran over to Velvet from his conversation with Night Light. “Food? Now thats what I’m talking about!”

“Oh Spike,” Velvet said, levitating the trays to the table before she swept Spike up like a doll to examine him. “I cannot believe how much you’ve grown since the last time I’ve seen you!”

Spike wriggled in her hold, his attention still squarely on the large pile of gems taunting him from the dinner table. “I think I know where this is going, so can we skip the tweaking-my-cheeks part please? It’s really kinda embarrassing.”

His wish was at least partially granted when a sharp knock at the door caused Velvet to drop him in surprise.

Night Light stood up from his comfortable position on the living room couch. “I wonder who it could be,” he said, walking towards the front door. “I don’t remember us inviting any other guests today...”

Night Light opened the door to find his son standing proudly on his doorstep. “Shining! Why didn’t you tell us you were coming to visit?” he exclaimed in surprise. It took a while before his attention shifted to the pink alicorn filly accompanying his son. “And who are you? Wait, Shining, please don’t tell me this is like Princess Celestia’s secret daughter or something.”

Cadance’s hoof swiftly met her face, quickly aiming a glare at Shining Armor when he burst out laughing. “Oh no,” he began, regaining his breath, “it’s nothing like tha—”

He was suddenly tackled to the ground by his mother before he could finish. “Shining! You came to visit! I've missed you sooo much. How is my brave lieutenant doing?”

The pink alicorn smirked at how the brave and strong officer of the Royal Guard had been so easily disarmed by his mother. “I’m-I’m doing great, mom. I just heard that Twilight was coming for a visit so I thought we could have a family reunion.”

“Such a thoughtful idea, Shining.” Velvet beamed as she freed her son, letting him stand, only to focus her attention on the pink alicorn standing to the side. “And who is your adorable companion,” Velvet asked as she grabbed the pink alicorn with her two forelegs, holding the princess in the air in front of her just like she held Spike only moments ago. “Awwww...she’s so cute and adorable! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!” she cooed, before her eyebrows raised in shock and she turned to look sternly at Shining. “Oh Shiny, don’t tell me you’ve married some poor mare already and have been hiding your first little foal from your own parents.”

An audible silence descended on the party, though Overwatch and Twilight both appeared to be stifling laughter as they snuck a few treats from the kitchen. Velvet stared at everypony in confusion. “Did I say something wrong? Oohhhh. Oh my,” Velvet said, blushing from embarrassment as she slowly put the pink alicorn filly back on the ground.

Twilight recovered from her laughter, joining the group at the door as they entered the house, moving straight to Cadence and resisting the urge to embrace her as well. “It’s so nice of you to come, Cadence! I’ve waited for the day I could introduce you to my family.”

Cadence smiled back. “It was Shiny’s idea, but there is something important we would like to talk to your parents about.”

Twilight nodded, before she walked closer and took up a special position Cadence immediately recognized. “Sunshine, sunshine...”

Cadence ducked and put her hooves on her eyes while Twilight did the same. “Ladybugs awake...”

Twilight and Cadence sat with their two forelegs above the ground. “Clap your hooves...” The first two of the claps sounded with a small tap, but the second clap pushed Twilight a meter away, as planned.

Twilight flew through the air, landing with a backflip and shaking her tiny tail. “And do a little shake!”

Both Cadence and Twilight fell on the floor laughing as Velvet hurried over to Twilight worriedly. “T-twilight, are you alright? Did she hurt you? What was this all about?”

Twilight managed to stem her laughing enough to open her eyes again and sit up. “It was just our welcome dance. Did you liked it? We practiced it for weeks.”

Velvet shook her head. “Twilight, it’s nice you found a young filly to play with you, but I cannot allow you to spend time with somepony who can convince you to do such reckless actions. What if she hit you harder or if she steps on you? I don’t want to you see hurt and in the hospital again.”

Twilight’s smile vanished and her expression became serious, the same expression, Cadence realized, she wore whenever she felt that someone was too overprotective of her. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but she was quickly cut off by her foalsitter. “No, Twilight. Please. Just don’t.” Cadence said, afraid that Twilight will pull some sort of thoughtless stunt to prove to her parents that she wasn’t fragile.

Twilight turned to Cadence to argue further, but this time, she was interrupted by a rapping from the front door.

Night Light groaned in exasperation, turning back to open the door again. “Who could it be this time?”

A white stallion stood at the door, his blonde mane slicked and his suit impeccable. Night Light looked at him blankly. “And who are you, if I may ask?” he asked firmly, before the stallion in question sidled past him into the house, his head held high.

“Me? How could you not recognize Blueblood, Duke of Canterlot and Prince of Equestria. When I found out that your powerful daughter and my close friend were both on their way here, I decided this would be the best time to meet the parents of such a powerful mare.”

Night Light was about to say something, but Twilight beat him to the punch. “The more, the merrier! Hello Prince Blueblood, and welcome to our humble home,” Twilight said, making a polite bow and pointing her hoof towards the couch where the guards had settled. “I know it’s not as grand as your estates, but make yourself comfortable.”

Blueblood nodded as he walked towards the couch in a refined gait, giving Shining Armor a triumphant grin as he passed. After all, something good had come out of the whole time when the officer had mercilessly assaulted him with snowballs during the war. Though it was hardly noticeable, Shining Armor still lost a little respect for abandoning his team’s flags just to pelt him with snowballs while Blueblood’s reputation among the guards improved ever so slightly thanks to Twilight’s praises of his self-sacrifice. Still didn’t stop them from looking at him in disgust, but every little bit certainly helped.

Twilight Velvet looked from the prince back to Twilight, confusion all over her face, “Twilight, why didn’t you tell us you’ve become friends with the princess’s nephew and an alicorn filly?”

Twilight turned to her mother, smiling. “My mentor asked me to get along with her nephew, and Blueblood has been nothing but kind to me during his occasional visits. As for my alicorn friend, her name is Cadence, first of all—no wait, her full title is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but she doesn’t really like being called that—and she’s been my foal-sitter for a few years now.”

Velvet and Night Light blinked, before they spoke in unison. “Princess? Foal-sitter?”

Night Light looked over at the pink filly standing beside him. “But she’s just a filly.”

“Actually,” Cadence cut in, clearly expecting such a reaction, “I’m just under an age-changing spell. I was afraid my normal appearance may make my visit a bit awkward, so I changed my appearance.”

Night Light frowned. “You say that, but I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes,” he challenged, a stern expression on his face.

Cadence sighed. “As you wish, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said, closing her eyes. Her horn lit, and her body began to age, surrounded by the shimmering blue aurora of her magic. She finished the spell, flaring her wings as she opened her eyes.

“P-p-princesses... mentor... foal-sitter,” Twilight Velvet muttered, before toppling over in a faint. Night Light kept his posture, watching her carefully.

Cadence smiled. “Well, at least you didn’t faint, but I am sure you have a lot of questions,” she said.

Night Light remained stock still for a moment. Long enough for Cadence to raise an eyebrow and ask, “Are you okay?”

Shining Armor approached his father and waved a hoof in front of Night Light’s eyes. When there was no reaction, he turned to Cadence. “You broke him.”

Cadence looked between Shining Armor and Night Light, her eyebrows raised in surprise, before she grinned, remembering her first encounter with the young officer. “Like father, like son.”

“Uggghhh,” Twilight Velvet groaned, opening her eyes to find her husband poking her in the cheek. She tried to figure out why she was sitting at the dinner table or why she had fallen asleep there, but soon gave up when the answer did not come to her.

“Dear,” she began, looking blearily at Night Light, who was seated right beside her, “I just had a weirdest dream ever. Our little Twilight and her friends were visiting us, and then our colt came home with an alicorn princess who turned out to be Twilight’s foalsitter, and then—”

Night Light raised an eyebrow. “Uuuhhh, dear?” he said, before motioning to the rest of the group seated around the table.

“I said—” Twilight Velvet blinked, her vision sharpening as she noticed guests smiling in front of her. “Nevermind then...”

Another loud knocking sounded at the door, and Night Light smashed his head into the table in annoyance. “First there’s the alicorn princess, then it was Duke Blueblood…” he muttered, walking to admit the new guest, “I swear, if there’s another celebrity or noble behind that door, I’m gonna—”

He blinked. The suit and monocle should have tipped him off, but he was unable to process what he was seeing until his new guest spoke. “Greetings, you must be Twilight’s father!” the stallion noble said mirthfully. “My deepest apologies for coming here unannounced, but when I informed my son that Twilight was planning to visit her family, he just begged me to come along.”

“H-how... who... why...” Night Light stuttered as his wife joined him at the door, now gaping at her new arrivals.

“Oh dear, how impolite of me. I have not yet introduced myself or my family, have I? My name is Fancy Pants. To my left is my dear wife, Fleur de Lis...” he motioned to the mare in question, who made a small curtsy, “and on my right is—”

“White Path! Nice to meet you! So if you’re both Twilight parents, could I come in and play with her? Pleeeaase?” The young white colt plead as both Velvet and Night Light looked at him curiously. There was something strange about seeing a plush figure of their daughter being worn as a hat.

Twilight Velvet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to the group at the table, an odd smile on her face. “Twilight, dear, are there any other nobles or important government figures who are going to happen to knock on our doors tonight?”

Blueblood coughed. “After the party that I, Prince Blueblood, organized in your daughter’s name to spread her name amongst the nobility, there are more than a few who would jump at the opportunity to visit her family,” Blueblood said proudly.

Velvet’s eye twitched. Night Light looked concernedly at his wife, before placing a hoof on Velvet’s shoulder comfortingly. “Come on honey, they’re just nobles. They always like attention. It’s not like we’re going to have Shining’s superiors paying us a visit.”

“Actually,” Overwatch cut in enthusiastically as she took another portion of food. “Besides the fact that your son is probably next in line to succeed Brave Blade as Captain of the Guard, Steelie here,” she elbowed the pony in question before swallowing a chunk of fruit, “happens to be the son of Captain Brave Blade himself. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that old stallion came over to see both his lieutenant aaand his adorable son at the—” Steel Blade cut her off with a hoof, shaking his head in embarrassment and averting his eyes from the stares he was getting.

Now Night Light’s eye had developed a twitch. “Come on, honey, it’s not the end of the world. Their hard work just happened to make them very well known among the upper crust. It’s not like they’ll be called upon to save the world against a terrible thousands of years old forces of evil.”

Night Light could feel a small hoof poking his hind leg. He looked down and was surprised to find White Path there. “Well, Twilight doesn’t have to yet. She’s still learning, but once her ancient training under the princesses is complete, she’ll become like a… a… a super pony and go fight crime and evil and stuff!”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet looked at him blankly before turning to each other. “I need some aspirin,” Velvet stated, very matter-of-factly.

Night Light raised an eyebrow. “How many?”

“Just—just get me the bottle.”

He shrugged. “Just leave some for me when you’re done,” Night Light said, before turning to the three still outside, waiting patiently for an invitation. “C-come in and make yourselves feel at home. Do whatever you want. My wife and I need to... gather our thoughts.”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet quickly ascended the stairs as Fancy Pant’s family sat down at the table, the entire party looking up at the couple in curiousity.

Overwatch looked from her plate to the group around her and back to her plate. “Hey, could someone pass me the potatoes?”

Ch15 - The Shakedown

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter - 15

The Shakedown

Cadence and Shining Armor sat together on the couch, shifting nervously under the stare of the young white colt across from them. Twilight sat on the coffee table, sampling a few of the snacks laid out with Spike.

Shining Armor coughed and smiled awkwardly. Cadence soon followed suit.

The silence grew long enough that Cadence decided to chance at some conversation. “Is there something on our faces?”

White Path shook his head and went right back to staring.

“If-if you wish to ask us something, please, go ahead,” Cadence encouraged warmly.

White Path smiled widely and pointed a hoof at Shining Armor. “Well... is that true that you are the Commander of the Royal Guards,” he turned his hoof towards Cadence now, “and you’re the Goddess of Love?”

Shining Armor coughed again in surprise and looked over at the blushing Cadence, who was apparently having difficulty responding. He looked back at White Path and cleared his throat. “Well… there isn’t technically a rank of ‘Commander’ in the Royal Guards. I’m a lieutenant at the moment.”

“A-as for me, while yes, it is true that my special talent is to spread love and happiness among other ponies, but to be called a goddess of love? Nonononono nooooo,” Cadence replied hastily. It was one thing to be called a princess, but to be called a goddess was a little too much for the mare.

White Path pouted, crossing his forelegs. “Aww... but Princess Celestia has ruled over us for thousands of years, and since she raises the sun every day, she is a goddess of the sun. Since you have wings and horns just like her, and you have a big crystal heart on your flank—I mean, your cutie mark is a big heart, so wouldn't that make you a Goddess of Love?”

Twilight snickered at Cadence’s discomfort as she once again lost her voice for a moment. She cleared her throat and formulated a response. “I may not know much about alicorns, but like every other living creature, I’m sure their lifespan must be limited.”

“B-but... the sun,” White Path pointed out desperately.

“Well,” Twilight interjected, “in the past before the nation of Equestria arose, the unicorn tribe was responsible for guiding the sun and the moon through the sky. It may have required hundreds of unicorns to work together, but it was still possible.”

White Path shot Twilight a glare. “Fine. She isn’t a goddess, but she must be very powerful, at least. I mean, she has wings and a horn just like Princess Celestia. Surely that must mean something.”

“Well... I am nowhere near as powerful as auntie Celestia. She’s had plenty of practice moving the sun and moon through the sky everyday, and I do not know as many powerful spells as her. My talents lie in emotion and illusion magic and my raw power is still far above any unicorn, even yours and your brother’s, Twilight,” Cadence gave Twilight an apologetic look before turning back to White Path, “but I don’t like to display my power. I much prefer to work alongside other ponies as equals.”

White Path looked at Cadence in confusion before he noticed Twilight jumping up and down for his attention. “Cadence,” she began, “uses illusion spells to blend into Equestria populace, trying to find ordinary jobs to do without capturing anypony’s attention.”

White Path nodded with satisfied smile. “Well, that makes sense. It’s actually pretty normal.”

The entire group at the table blinked a few times at the statement before stating in unison, “It is?”

White Path spread his hooves and beamed. “Of course! It’s a hero’s number one rule to blend with the populace under a disguise so that he, or in this case she, and her friends won’t be targeted by evil villains.”

“But I’m not a—” Cadence protested, but was quickly cut off when White Path sat up at the table, looking directly at Twilight.

“Now I understand! It’s so simple!” White path said enthusiastically, “See, Princess Celestia noticed your incredible power when you were just a filly, so she shrank you down so that she can train you in secret. Your brother is a military officer who can not only share his combat techniques and tactical knowledge with you, but can also get you secret military information and equipment. Your foalsitter has been undercover in Equestria for centuries and probably has really strong street sense,” White Path quickly turned towards Spike, who was staring curiously at him, “and you will become her sidekick. Once you grow up, you’ll be a giant fire-breathing dragon, a perfect assistant for a super pony and terror to every evil monster!”

Spike crossed his arms, grinning proudly. “You got that right! No one’ll hurt Twilight while I’m around! Once Twilight and I get bigger, there’ll be no one who could oppose us!”

Shining Armor burst out laughing. “Wait a moment. So you’re saying that the princess is training Twilight to be a superhero and that Cadence here is also some sort of superheroine in disguise? That’s—that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Cadence gave the laughing Shining Armor a sideways glance, a sly smile on her face. “Well Shiny, I just happen to help and save many of Equestria’s little ponies during my time here. I may look weak and vulnerable, but you shouldn’t underestimate the power of an alicorn. Having the strength of an earth pony in addition to flight and magic makes me a lot more than you’d think.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, a smile growing on his face. “I had no idea you were so impressive, Cadence.”

Cadence giggled. “Oh Shiny, there are many things you don’t know about me.”

Shining Armor gave Cadence a small nuzzle on her nose, “I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough—”

“Awwwww, you guys are so adorable!” Shining Armor and Cadence turned to look at Overwatch, who was currently wriggling into a comfortable position on the couch beside White Path, an elated expression on her face. “I’ve always had a gut feeling about these sorts of things, but you two are just so obviously head-over-hooves for each other, I don’t even know what to say!” she said, before grabbing a nearby cushion to hug. “Hey Shining, while those two are still upstairs, tell me: are you planning on telling your parents that you’ve found your very special somepony or will I have to resist spoiling the secret over my entire visit?”

Twilight gasped before Shining could properly process what Overwatch was saying. “Is that true, Cadence? Are you dating my brother?” Twilight asked, staring shocked at her foalsitter from her spot on the coffee table, approximately halfway through a tiny cookie.

“I—I suppose I am, Twilight,” Cadence replied hesitantly. “You aren’t angry, are you?”

Twilight shook her head. “Angry? I suppose it’s a bit of a surprise, but I’m certainly not angry. You have been the most caring and kind foalsitter I’ve ever had, and I’m sure my B.B.B.F.F. did something right if he won you over.” Twilight said enthusiastically, a cheerful smile on her face.

“Yep! I’m so happy for you guys! This is such a delicious relationship you’re fostering here!” Overwatch said, clapping her hooves together.

Steel Blade leaned over the back of the couch, having just finished with a conversation with Fancy Pants, and raised an eyebrow at his co-worker. “Are you gonna say it tastes like chocolate or something?”

Overwatch put a hoof to her chin in contemplation. “Hmmm... In this case, I’d say it’s more like ambrosia: sweet... and immortal.”

Steel Blade brought a hoof to his face, chuckling. “You and your food metaphors, Overwatch... It’s a wonder you’re not a couple kilograms heavier.”

Cadence giggled at Overwatch’s cute, indignant pout before turning back to the tiny mare on the coffee table. “Oh Twilight, thank you for being so accepting. I just hope that your parents will be at least half as understanding as you are.”

Twilight nodded, hopping over onto Cadence to hug her foalsitter’s nose warmly, “I hope that you’ll both have fun, but if you need any help, I think I read a book about dating once. If I can find it, I’ll be sure to tell you the name of it so that you can date properly.”

Cadence giggled again as she moved her hooves to put Twilight gently back on the table. However, the tiny unicorn hung on a lot tighter than she expected, and with a roll of her eyes and a grin, Cadence put a lot more force into pulling Twilight off her nose until her tiny hooves slid off. “I don’t think we’ll need a book like that, Twilight. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out. Trust me,” she said, smiling.

“And the princess’ special talent is spreading love, right?” Overwatch said, grinning. “She may be younger than Celestia, but I bet she’s still had plenty of time to accumulate experiences and suitors over those years!”

Cadence put a hoof to her muzzle in contemplation. “Well, I haven’t had that many stallions after me… well, not when I look like this, at least.”

Overwatch frowned briefly, but quickly perked back up. “You know what that says? That says that Shining Armor was one of those few ponies too silly to realize he’s just out of his league with—” she began, before she was quickly silenced by a chocolate-chip cookie shoved into her mouth by Steel Blade, who was beginning to realize that her words might in fact get them in trouble with the officer in the room.

Overwatch blinked. She slowly worked through the cookie, savoring it, before she swallowed and said in a dead serious tone, “Steelie, where did you get the chocolate?”

“Uuhhhh… kitchen? There was a large pan of them and I uhhh… thought you might want one?” Steel Blade smiled hesitantly.

Twilight spoke up, waving a hoof for Steel Blade’s attention. “Steelie, could you bring them over please? I’m sure we wouldn’t want them to get cold while we’re all here instead.”

Steel Blade perked up at Twilight’s suggestion and, urged on by Overwatch’s insistent prodding, departed. He trotted happily to the kitchen, where the pan lay invitingly on the counter above the oven. With a grin, Steel Blade went to move the pan to his back, only to find that he was having difficulties moving himself and was soon rapidly being whisked upstairs by a magical aura.

Steel Blade struggled fruitlessly against the magic that bound him to the chair. He would have tried calling for help when he realized he was being levitated away, but he had found a bit of difficulty speaking through the inexplicable apple in his mouth. The apple was removed once he was properly tied down and the door shut behind him.

With as best a frown as he could manage, he attempted to look at his kidnappers, but was quickly blinded when a lamp was shown into his eyes. “Hello there—what was your name again? Ahh right. Steel Blade, one of my daughter’s personal guardians.”

Steel Blade blinked several times as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light. When he regained some of his vision, he was able to distinguish the outline of a unicorn mare, her mane a mess and an abnormally wide grin across her face. “T-Twilight Velvet?” Steel Blade chanced. “Is that you?”

Another presence approached and settled itself right beside the mare. This one had the build of a stallion, most likely Night Light, and his horn was glowing the same color as Steel Blade’s bonds. “Of course it is,” he said, “who else could it be?”

Steel Blade gave them a weak smile. “I uhhh… I’d be happy to talk with you guys whenever you want, so uhhh… could you please release m—”

Night Light cleared his throat, cutting off the pegasus. “I will get straight to the point. Whenever we visit Twilight or Shining Armor, all they’ll tell us is how great a time they’re having training and studying and so on. That’s great, but it sounds... too perfect. They’ve never said a single bad word about their lives or mentioned any bad experiences, even though we’ve been hearing otherwise.”

Velvet started after her husband, not losing step. “Almost a year ago, we were informed by the princess that Twilight was critically wounded—”

“Actually, she was just exhausted. Her body did need a bit of rest. That’s all,” Steel Blade said.

“That’s what they said to us too, but they refused to give us any more information beyond that,” Twilight Velvet said, stomping a hoof in frustration.

“And even before that,” Night Light said, “Twilight and Shining Armor dodged our questions or changed the subject whenever we try to find out about their problems. Today, we found out that she’s friends with not only a so-called ‘Prince of Equestria’—though I get the feeling it’s more of a title than an indication of any power—and the very influential Fancy Pants, but also an alicorn princess that we’ve never heard about.” He huffed in frustration, before deflating slightly, bringing a hoof up to rub at his face. “I’m… I’m just so tired of these secrets.”

“You’ve been assigned to protect and watch over Twilight, so you know the truth, and we want the truth, so please, could you tell us what our daughter isn’t? We’ll even give you some cake if you cooperate,” Twilight Velvet said, before levitating over a cake that, upon closer inspection, had ‘Welcome Hom—’ written on it in icing.

“I—I can’t say anything,” Steel Blade said, straightening up and attempting to assert his adamancy. “As much as I sympathize with you, I swore to keep this kind of information secret.”

Twilight Velvet sighed. “I see. Look, my husband and I both need to know about what’s been happening to our dear daughter. Surely the state of her well-being shouldn’t be kept secret from her own parents, should it?”

Steel Blade pursed his lips, pausing a moment before answering. “I’m sure that Twilight will tell you when she’s ready to, but if she’s not saying anything, I don’t want to betray her confidence by telling you myself.”

Night Light bit his lip before stating, “Steel Blade, we’re Twilight’s parents, and we care about her. We’ll do what’s necessary to make sure she is both well and protected, meaning that we’re not afraid of doing something drastic.”

Twilight Velvet glare at her husband in confusion for a moment, before turning back to Steel Blade. “Our family has nurtured their magical talent by generations. It just happens that my husband and I, from the studies of our youth, know a certain powerful spell that can make you very, and I mean it, very cooperative. I don’t wish to use it, so please...”

Steel Blade frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, “I don’t see how you can force a Royal Guard to talk when he doesn’t want to.”

Twilight velvet sighed. “I warned you,” she said, and with that, Twilight Velvet lit her horn, and a few small hearts flowed from it to the cake currently in front of Steel Blade.

Steel Blade raised his eyebrow, looking suspiciously at the cake. “And what kind of spell...” he said, before he trailed off and began to struggle once again against his bonds, this time attempting to lunge for the prize in front of him.

“The Want-it-Need-it spell. Always works,” Twilight Velvet said, her face stony as she leaned in towards her captive and diverted his attention temporarily from the cake. “I know you want this cake, Steel Blade, but if you want to have it, you’re going to have to tell us everything.”

“Are you quite alright, Overwatch?” Fancy Pants said to the closed bathroom door in front of him. Twilight sat on his head, a worried expression on her face as she listened, waiting for a response.

The door opened, and a chipper, though slightly subdued, Overwatch emerged. “I’m good! Why? Were you worried about me?”

Twilight crossed her forearms and frowned. “Of course! About five minutes ago, you rushed to the bathroom looking like you were going to puke. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a pony becoming so nauseous so... instantaneously. You sat in there for a while—completely silently I might add—and then emerge perfectly fine!”

“Uhhhh… I guess something I ate for lunch just caught up with me?” Overwatch said, giving Twilight a hesitant grin.

Twilight simply stared at Overwatch, narrowing her eyes in suspicion, before shrugging. “Alright then. Let’s go back to the rest of the group. I think Spike’s almost finished with burping the alphabet; he might be at ‘T’ already.”

Overwatch nodded, and the group began to turn back towards the living room, only to find Steel Blade near the bottom of the stairs.

The stallion rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Hey uhhh… Twili—”

“Steelie! I was wondering where you were,” Overwatch interrupted, trotting over to him. “What took you so long? Were the cookies missing?”

Steel Blade shifted his weight, clearly uneasy. “Uhhh, no they’re still there. I just got a bit… sidetracked,” he said, avoiding eye contact with Overwatch as he moved past her to his charge. “Your parents want to speak with you, Twilight.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion, but readily jumped over from Fancy Pants’ head to Steel Blade’s, and the two ascended, leaving the charcoal mare and the noble to stare after them concernedly.

Spike tapped his claw on the table impatiently. The older ponies were still talking about something, and Twilight was still missing in action. He’d had a decent conversation with White Path seated beside him, but both of them shot glances towards the staircase ever so often.

“Are you both worried about Twilight?” Overwatch asked, sitting down behind the two.

Spike nodded. “Yeah, I kinda am. She hasn’t been here for some time, and I don’t think I’ve seen her parents either after Fancy Pants’ family arrived.”

Overwatch nodded. “To be honest, I’m a bit worried too.”

“Oh? Why are you worried for her?” Spike asked, curious.

Overwatch rubbed at her forearm with a hoof, pouting. “Well, when Steelie led her upstairs, he was… unusually distant. Something got him depressed, and I don’t know what.”

White Path gasped. “Oh no! What if her parents are angry at her and want to ground her, like my dad did when I said that he had the money to buy the school and that I could kick anyone I didn’t like out. In the end, I had to listen to a long lecture about how I should never use my influence and position for selfish deeds. She’s spent a long time up there, so what if they’re lecturing her right now?” he said, until Spike tapped his shoulder and turned his attention to the pony in question, walking in with her head hung low.

“Perhaps we should just ask her and find out,” Spike said as he walked towards Twilight, followed by Overwatch and White Path. He sat down in front of her as the tiny mare looked up into their faces.

“What happened, Twilight?” Spike asked curiously.

“Did your parents give you a lecture?” White Path asked, before gasping again. “Did they ground you?”

“Yes, they did. They grounded me,” Twilight said, disappointment tinging her tone, “for the rest of my life.”

Overwatch raised her eyebrows. “Could you explain?”

“Well, they said that the princess risks my life carelessly and supposedly abuses me with all the injuries I’ve had over the years, so they’re forbidding me from being her student any longer,” Twilight replied, shaking a few tears from her eyes. “I know I’ve been in the hospital more often than any pony should and have had many life-threatening injuries, but Princess Celestia wouldn’t do such a thing on purpose. When I told them however, they simply ignored me. They’re planning on requesting an audience with my mentor so that they could demand her to dispel the effects of the shrinking spell and to end her tutelage over me.”

“That’s terrible,” White Path said in disbelief as he carefully stroked Twilight’s mane with a hoof.

“But that’s unfair! It wasn’t the princess who put you in danger. I mean, you’re doing a better job of it yourself.” Spike said, receiving a you’re-not-helping glare from White Path. “I mean, you’re tough, and with the protection spell, you can take easily care of yourself!”

Overwatch levitated Twilight for a soft hug. “Did you tell your parents how happy you were, even under the effects of the shrinking spell? Or even because of it? Do they know exactly how sturdy you are right now?” she asked.

Twilight shook her head. “They didn’t let me say anything... or they just ignore what I say,” Twilight replied, her tone down and defeated.

“Pfff—if they won’t listen to you, why don't you show them how tough you are, like with Cadence? Maybe that’ll change their mind,” Spike said, attempting to raise Twilight’s spirits.

Twilight lit up, smiling widely. “That’s it Spike! You’re a genius!”

Spike looked at Twilight disbelievingly. “Uuhhh… yeah, of course I am.”

Twilight gestured for Spike, White Path, and a suddenly suspicious Overwatch to come closer. “I have just the plan to turn them around, but I’m going to need your help.”

Ch16 - Princess, I Broke My Parents

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter - 16

Princess, I Broke My Parents

Twilight Velvet and Night Light came out of the bathroom, their mane and fur once again presentable as they tried to cover any evidence of their panic attack. Hearing the entire truth from Steel Blade and lecturing their daughter had proven very stressful, but it was over with, and they could perhaps begin relaxing for the rest of the day.

“Hello!” White Path asked eagerly, startling the two adults with his sudden appearance. “So you’ve finally decided to join us? I was wondering if you would come at all.”

Night Light cleared his throat, recovering from the surprise. “We... had to calm ourselves down after learning that our daughter had so many friends.”

Unknown to both parents, Twilight snuck quietly behind them and give a signal with her hoof. White Path gave a barely noticeable nod, and began advancing on the two. “Really? Did Twilight tell you about the time we played together? How we built two forts out of books and played a war game? Did she tell you about the snowball war she played with the princesses, guards and a few friends. I wanted to join in on that, but they wouldn’t let me—I mean, they said that I’m too small for such an intense game, but it’s still unfair. Twilight was, and still is, so much smaller than I am and yet she was still allowed to participate...”

Velvet gave him a hesitant grin, retreating to put a little distance between her and the overenthusiastic colt. “That’s—that’s very nice dear, but could you...” she said, making another step back, only to realize that she’d stepped on something. She quickly turned, raising her hoof in surprise, gasping as she saw her daughter lying flat on the floor.

“Twilight!”

Velvet jumped to the side in a hurry, body checking Night Light into the wall as she crouched down to look at her very flattened daughter. “Twilight! Speak to me! Oh, what have I done!” she shouted in panic, only to stare in confusion as the tiny mare sat up, sweeping off her fur with a hoof.

“Sorry, mom! That was my fault. I almost tripped you because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I’ll be more careful next time.” Twilight said apologetically before shifting her attention to White Path, who had surreptitiously winked at her. “Hey, White Path! I have an idea; would you like to play a game of tag?” Twilight asked, before running up to him and bopping him on the muzzle. “You’re it, by the way.”

White Path grinned while he watched Twilight speed away as if nothing unusual had happened at all. “I won’t be it for long!” he shouted, leaving both Twilight Velvet and Night Light alone again, looking between themselves and the rapidly retreating form of their daughter and her friend.

Twilight and White Path rounded the doorway where Overwatch was standing, skidding to a stop as the guard mare snuck a look around the corner. “Eyes are opened… Seeking confirmation...” she muttered, before she turned back to the two behind her. “You’ve definitely shaken their beliefs a bit, so I’d declare Operation Stomp a success,” she said as Twilight and White Path bumped hooves. “Now it’s time for part two.”

Twilight Velvet and Night Light walked into the living room, expecting to rejoin the party, only to find that the party had moved outside and that it now included sharp, pointy objects. Fleur de Lis was dueling against Shining Armor, wielding a fencing foil in her magic against his sword. Both wore white protective clothing, designed to cover the breast and shoulders of each combatant. The weight of Shining’s weapon, combined with his training and magical power, placed him on the offensive in this duel, forcing Fleur to play defensively. Still, despite her disadvantages, Fleur’s foil flew swiftly around Shining’s blade, fluidly deflecting and parrying most of his attacks.

Noticing that Fleur was beginning to get winded, Shining Armor made a lunge, hoping for a game winning strike. However, his sword was knocked askew as Fleur made a riposte, returning the lunge. The blades met and moved past each other, causing both ponies to get nicked in their shoulders and drawing a bit of blood, even through the cloth.

Velvet raised her eyebrows in concern. “T-those swords are real?”

Shining Armor shrugged. “While this weapon isn’t exactly what the Royal Guard would use in a real battle, the training sword can still be a bit hazardous,” he said, before wiping off his sword before turning to Fleur. “Are you alright?”

Fleur looked at the wound, rolling her shoulder experimentally before shaking her head. “I’m fine,” she said. “My white fur makes the color of blood look more severe than it actually is, but I’ll just do what I’ve always done when I get injured.”

“And what’s that?”

“A bit of healing magic and some makeup and my fur will look as good as new,” she replied, smiling. “Not even a scar.”

Shining Armor nodded, returning her smile. “I see. It’s no wonder you can match a trained guard if you can shrug off injuries so easily. You must take fencing quite seriously.”

Fleur shook her head, before moving to put up her weapon. “Not really. Fencing is just a hobby of mine along with ballet, dancing and yoga lessons. Trust me, fencing and ballet can be a dangerous combination.”

“S-still,” Velvet stammered, “that cut still looks bad. We have a few bandages in the house; perhaps you two would like to stop for a while and tend to your injuries?”

Shining Armor began shrugging out of his protective clothing. “Yeah, we’ve been at this long enough. I’m starting to get hungry. What’s for dinner?” he said as he entered the house again, the rumbling noises from his stomach encouraging him to hurry up. He neatly folded his cloth armor, placing it on the back of a chair in the dining room before he noticed a few new arrivals from the kitchen.

“Hey everypony!” Spike said as he entered, holding a stack of bowls and spoons. “We made vegetable soup for all of you!” he continued, drawing attention to the heavy pot waddling along behind him, hot steam rising from the delicious food inside.

“Now now, Twilight,” Velvet said as she approached her daughter under the pot, “Why would you try to carry this on your back?”

Twilight continued towards the dining table, straining to keep the contents of her load from spilling. “Well, levitating became too easy for me, so I began doing things manually. It helps with keeping me in shape for more difficult levitation exercises.”

Twilight Velvet lowered herself beside Twilight as she reached the base of the table, reaching for the pot. “But still, Twilight, why would you do something like that? Just look at how heavy this pot must be...” she said as she touched the pot, quickly yanking her hoof back with a yelp.

“And how hot it must be!” Velvet cried as she quickly levitated it off Twilight’s back to the table, turning back to her daughter urgently. “Why would you do something like that, Twilight? Are you hurt?” she lifted Twilight up against her will, examining her carefully.

Night Light approached the pot himself, testing it with a hoof before flinching in turn. “Twilight, I thought you’d have the sense to wait until this could cool down! This thing could have crushed you or burned you!”

Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really? It was hot? I didn’t feel anything at all.”

Velvet put Twilight onto the table, looking at her as if she was insane. Twilight approached the pot and lit her horn, levitating a ladle over to dip into the soup before levitating it to herself and taking a sip from its still steaming contents.

Twilight frowned. “I should have tasted it while it was still in the kitchen. Could use a bit more salt.”

“Really? I thought you had better attention to detail than that,” Blueblood said before taking the ladle and filling a bowl for himself. He took a delicate sip before he yelped, swallowing with a pained expression on his face. “Twilight, while I have no issues with its flavor, I’m slightly offended that you would try to murder the royal tongue with this scalding soup.”

“Pfffftttt,” Shining Armor scoffed, before levitating the bowl over to himself, “You’re just too much of a softie. It can’t be that—okay nevermind, it can be that hot.” He slowly put the bowl back on the table before moving to the kitchen to grab a few ice cubes.

Night Light turned towards Twilight hesitantly. “Do... you need some water, dear? I’m surprised your back wasn’t burned by holding the pot, but that soup was incredibly hot.”

Twilight shook her head, even as Shining Armor nonchalantly pressed an ice cube to her hot back. “Not really. My body is still under the effect of the princess’ protection spell, so it’s going to take more than a hot soup to hurt me. I’ve even taken a few accidental fire spells without really getting hurt.” Twilight said, putting on a fake smile as she turned back to the kitchen. “I think I left something still running back in the kitchen. I’ll be back soon, so enjoy yourselves!”

Overwatch sat waiting for her in the kitchen, handing her a small glass of ice cold water that Twilight quickly downed. “Muuuuch better,” Twilight said in relief, sighing deeply. “I know I didn’t lie about the fire spells, but acting like the protection spell makes me invincible is a lot more difficult than I expected.” She turned towards Overwatch as she placed a piece of an ice cube on her tongue. “Did it work?”

The guard once again leaned stealthily around the corner, taking a few moments to look carefully at the two parents before turning back to Twilight. “They’re testing the pot often, so I think they’re still in a bit of a shock and disbelief, but besides the normal signs of anxiety, I’m pretty sure it worked. That means it’s time for part three, eh?”

Twilight nodded firmly, before she ran back into the dining room, grinning. “Hello everypony!” she said, before hopping to a nearby chair and then onto the table. “I just remembered; now that we’re all here, I can finally show my parents exactly how much I’ve learned under Princess Celestia’s tutelage, so if you could please take your bowls to the living room, we can get this show rolling!”

***

With a simple flourish, Twilight bowed to her attentive spectators from her spot on the coffee table, though Steel Blade looked noticeably down, as if he wanted to sink into the couch. “Now, I would like to start with the basics, so could I get a few volunteers?” she said, to which everyone except the stallion guard raised their hooves.

Twilight gave a contemplative hum as she looked over her audience, before raising a hoof to point at her chosen few. “Overwatch, Cadence, and Prince Blueblood? If you could come up, please?”

The three rose from their bowls, Cadence and Overwatch waving their hooves to the crowd before them, though Blueblood kept his attention pointedly focused on his little friend.

“We will start with a little levitation spell,” Twilight said, lighting up her horn before she paused and hopped down from the coffee table to a more open area. I’d better spare the table the pressure. I doubt my parents would be happy if it broke.

The tiny horn lit up with a bright magenta flare as it wrapped around the ponies in front of Twilight. Slowly, but surely, she raised her volunteers, her hooves trembling with the weight and her teeth grit in concentration as she attempted to compensate for Overwatch trying to push herself into a backflip in midair.

“Twilight, dear,” Velvet said worriedly, looking from the three floating ponies to her much, much smaller daughter, straining under the effort. “Please stop. You're hurting yourself.”

“Listen to your mother,” Night Light pled as he stood and approached Twilight. After it appeared that Twilight did not hear them, Night Light captured the levitated guests in his own levitation field and he set them on the floor, effortlessly breaking Twilight’s magical aura.

Twilight shook her head, breaking out of her concentration to look at her parents, a pout on her face. “But mom, dad, I could keep them in the air for minutes; why didn’t you let me keep them up for even half that time?”

Night Light opened his mouth to reply, but Shining Armor beat him to it, “I agree with Twilight,” he said, “levitating us is like a walk on the park for her.”

“She really doesn’t have any issues with this level of magic,” Overwatch cut in, slightly peeved that her air time was interrupted. “You should see some of the other things she’s been lifting as part of her training. I’m seriously jealous of how easy it is for her.”

Night Light and Velvet exchanged a wary glance before Velvet spoke up. “Alright then, I suppose, but perhaps we can move on? We’ve already seen a portion of your levitation’s strength, and with the glowing praise from your friends, I don’t think you’ll need to continue this part.”

With Twilight’s reluctant acceptance, Night Light and Velvet sat back down as their daughter hopped back onto the table and moved on to many of the other spells in her repertoire, demonstrating the theory and practice she’d mastered over the years, and the two parents began to relax and marvel at the progress that Twilight had made.

Well, for a little while, at least.

“Now, with this demonstration of my magic out of the way, I will need another volunteer for my next performance. White Path, if you could please step forward?” Twilight said excitedly as the colt jumped up, shooting her a wink as he stepped forward and hopped onto the table with her.

Twilight shot him a grin, before closing her eyes and lighting up her horn again, causing a magenta-colored wave to pass across the colt’s body. “Very good,” she said, opening her eyes again. “My scanning spell tells me that the pressure your four hooves are putting on the table is around fifty kilograms.”

White Path raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wow, I had no idea you can scan someone’s weight like that.”

Twilight gave a small chuckle. “There are hundreds of scanning spells out there and they can all give different information. This one in particular helps me to track the progress on my training.”

White Path nodded his head. “So... what now?”

Twilight turned back to the crowd. “Now I will show exactly how far my physical training has come. White Path, if you would please put your hoof on my back.”

The colt followed her instructions as Twilight widened her stance, steeling herself for the next step. “Good. Now lift your second foreleg.”

Before Velvet and Night Light could protest, White Path had quickly put half of his weight onto Twilight, causing the mare to once again grit herself in concentration. With a small shriek, Velvet quickly levitated the colt off of Twilight, ending her struggle shortly after it started. She opened her eyes to see her friend being levitated back to the couch as two worried parents looked down at her disapprovingly.

She sighed. “Not again...” she said, sitting down on her rump before looking up at her parents. “Can’t I just lift him for half a minute? Please?”

Velvet lowered herself to look into her daughter’s eyes. “Twilight, dear, you’ve already subjected yourself to the pressure from levitating three rather big ponies, but now you’re skipping the middle step and went straight to carrying ponies with nothing but your back!”

“But mom, a demonstration of magic or strength isn’t impressive if it doesn’t last more than few seconds. I just want to do my best,” Twilight answered, though her mother simply shook her head, pointing at her legs.

“As much as I admire your determination, you are overestimating yourself. Your legs are so thin, and I would not forgive myself if they snapped like matches,” Velvet said firmly.

She felt a hoof on her shoulder and she turned to find her son standing there. “Mom, Dad,” Shining Armor began, before turning from her to Night Light and back. “Twilight has spent many years training more than just her magic. She’s willingly put herself on a very strict physical training regimen, and she’s been lifting much heavier weights because she believes that they will allow her to train her magic even further.”

“But Shining,” Night Light interjected, pointing his hoof at Twilight, “unicorns are not earth ponies; the weight she tried to lift—”

“Was a weight she’s lifted pretty much every day. She’s used to it,” Shining Armor finished, much to his parent’s shock. Noticing their expressions, he sighed and continued. “I understand that you worry about all the hardships that Twiny has had to endure, but she’s endured them all, thanks to her protection spell and some very hard work. She’s gotten used to taking care of herself, even without the help of her magic, and she deserves a chance to prove herself to her own parents.”

Twilight brightened up, hope warming her as her brother took her side. She quickly focused her attention back on her parents. “So umm… can we continue? The talent show isn’t over yet.”

***

Night Light and Twilight Velvet looked at each other nervously, once again settled into the couch as their daughter prepared for the next part of her show, no doubt as nerve-wracking as the last.

“Now that I’ve proven my magic and physical strength, though I wish I had a tad bit more time to do so, I’m going to show my improvements in agility and flexibility, and for this, I will need your assistance, Fleur de Lis,” Twilight said, prompting the mare to trot gracefully towards her.

Fleur shot Twilight a sly grin. “Let me guess, Twilight. You wish to show what you’ve learned during your dancing and fencing sessions with me,” Fleur said, a cheerful cadence to her voice.

“She did what?” Twilight Velvet exclaimed in disbelief, though she was quickly calmed by Shining Armor before anything escalated.

Twilight gave Fleur an apologetic smile before replying. “As much as I would, I’d like to try something else,” she said, before jumping up onto Fleur’s back and climbing up to her head. “Could you please take a pose? Anything will work as long as your head is straight.”

“Of course my head will be straight! Poise is quite important for success,” Fleur said, smirking, before she reared back, balancing on the tip of a hoof like a ballet dancer. With a quick glance at her pose, Twilight climbed up onto Fleur’s horn, balancing on the tip before striking the same pose.

The two ponies held their position for the whole of ten seconds, drawing out a small applause from the audience and an energetic cheer from Cadence, before Twilight's horn lit up and a fleet of bowls rose up from the table. “Now it’s time to take this up a notch!” she said, lighting up in a wide grin.

Fleur maintained her balance, though the sight of the bowls and a cup full of tea levitating around her was hardly unnoticeable. “Twilight, ma chère, may I ask what you mean by ‘taking it up a notch?’”

“Well, the concept is very simple; I need you to levitate these bowls like stepping stones for me to jump across, just like that exercise we did a couple days ago,” Twilight said, before turning the bowls over to Fleur’s soft lavender glow. “I expect an exciting ride, Fleur!” she cried, jumping to the closest bowl.

Fleur shot her a smirk, maintaining her stance as bowls began to fly around the room. The tiny mare jumped smoothly from bowl to bowl, performing backflips and other acrobatic moves in midair, even as the bowls began to accelerate, forcing Twilight to forsake style in favor of simply dodging the ceramic projectiles as they sped by.

“Mrs. Fleur,” Night Light said calmly, barely resisting the urge to shout even as his heart pounded in his chest, “could you please be a bit more careful in your performance? You almost hit our daughter a few times.”

Fleur turned her head towards the worried parent, breaking her posture, though not her concentration. “I understand your concern, dear, but Twilight and I have been practicing this exercise many times, and I believe that she’s become too proficient for me to even think of hitting her.”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet gave her a hesitant grin, though their eye twitch came back in full force as images of their daughter trying to avoid being stomped flashed through their minds.

“Wait a second now,” Overwatch cut in, tapping a hoof to her muzzle. “Didn’t Twilight mention something about fire spells earlier? I guess it’s no wonder she’s asked Fleur to help her out on her speed over the weekends,” she said. “Still, maybe she should get in on some of the guards’ combat simulations. We need someone to teach them how to move; they’ll never woo a mare as they are now.”

Overwatch shot a quick amused glance over at the two parents, whose breathing had shifted steadily towards hyperventilation as they began to imagine their daughter training her agility by dodging fireballs shot by the princess herself.

Twilight kept jumping from bowl to bowl until, with a quick estimate of distance, she jumped back to Fleur, landing with a hoof on the pale mare’s horn as she levitated a tea cup onto her hind legs. She put her best effort into maintaining her balance, but the sloshing liquid quickly tilted her to the side and caused her to fall, though her descent was quickly arrested by Fleur’s lavender aura.

Fleur sat as she levitated Twilight closer to herself, smiling in delight. “I must say, ma chère, you’ve made a wonderful progress. I take it that you’ve practiced your balance on your own?”

“Yep! I’ve had a tad bit of practice when I was younger, balancing tea cups and books on my head, so I guess it’s much easier to get into a routine of training my stability in addition to my studying,” Twilight said, blushing. “I’ve had a bit of help from Princess Celestia and Overwatch as well.”

Steel Blade let out a snort of laughter, straightening slightly from his huddled position on the couch. “If you can call it that, then I suppose so. Don’t worry, it’s good practice for her if she has to stand still every time you want to try balancing on her horn.”

***

Overwatch rolled her eyes at the statement before sneaking a surreptitious look at Twilight Velvet and Night Light, who were making very unsubtle suggestions that Twilight’s next performance be her last for the evening. It would be their last chance to convince her parents that being Celestia’s student was not as dangerous to her as they suspected, so she was going to have to play her ace.

“For the grand finale,” Twilight announced, spreading her forelegs wide, “I am going to show you one last thing I’ve improved during my harsh training, thanks to the rather... unpleasant events that my parents have already found out about.”

Shining Armor and Cadence turned their heads quickly towards Twilight Velvet and Night Light, staring shocked at the two ponies. “You... know?” Shining Armor asked nervously.

His parents nodded, a disappointed look on their faces. “You and Twilight have never told us anything, so we had to find out the hidden truth on our own,” Night Light said firmly. Shining Armor exchanged a look with Steel Blade, who gave him a sheepish smile. The lieutenant simply nodded in understanding.

Twilight cleared her throat with a hoof. “As I was saying,” she said, waiting for their attention, “as much as all those experiences were unpleasant and painful, they’ve also greatly improved my endurance, and I am going to prove it,” Twilight said firmly, to which her parents quickly stood to protest. Shining Armor shot his younger sister a what-the-hay-are-you-doing facial expression, sweat forming upon his brow.

“For this, I would like to invite Princess Cadence to come up,” Twilight asked, prompting her foalsitter to walk towards her, a confused expression on her face. Spike and Overwatch, after nudging Steel Blade into action for Twilight’s sake, did their best to convince Night Light and Velvet to give their daughter a chance.

Twilight gestured Cadence closer with a hoof as the foalsitter lowered her head, allowing Twilight to whisper a few words into her ear. Cadence’s eyes went wide, turning her head sharply towards her little charge. “Twilight, you can’t be serious. I can’t do that to you.”

Twilight sat back, placing her hooves together as she give Cadence a pleading look, causing her to bit her lip. “Twilight, please,” she said, doing her best to resist the wide, pleading eyes of the young mare. “Do not ask this of me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Twilight shook her head. “Would you prefer I ask somepony else then? I can ask Blueblood or Fancy Pants... or even Fleur instead,” Twilight said, gesturing to the crowd before her. “Please Cadence, it has to be you.”

Cadence sighed, before looking back down at Twilight wearily, keeping her ear close. “Why are you doing this? You know your parents are going to die of heart attacks from watching your performance.”

Twilight gave a frustrated pout before leaping up to latch onto Cadence’s ear, much to her surprise. “Because if I don’t do this, I’m not going to be Princess Celestia’s student anymore,” she whispered, her desperation evident in her plea. “My parents want to stop me from staying in the castle and they’re even going to ask that the shrinking spell be dispelled. I just need to convince them that the protection spell makes me indestructible, even though it technically doesn’t, so I need your illusions to make this happen. Please.”

Cadence took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. “You know that this is a very bad plan, don’t you?” She asked. Twilight simply nodded, dropping down to the floor, and Cadence let out another sigh. “Fine... let’s do this then, but I’m going to hate myself once this is all over.”

Twilight gave a curt nod, and Cadence straightened back up. “First off, I would like to prove to everypony in this room of my durability, such that I am tough enough to endure being stomped by other ponies. Cadence,” Twilight said, making a few steps towards the audience, the giant alicorn standing right behind her. Cadence maintained a stoic expression, even as she poked her hoof at the floor nervously.

“T-Twilight?” Velvet stammered out, watching as Cadence lifted a hoof over her daughter. “A-are you sure about this?”

Twilight failed to respond, her attention focused solely on the alicorn above her. “Go ahead when ready,” she encouraged as she steeled her legs, prepared for the moment of truth and placing her complete trust in Cadence.

Velvet looked quickly between Twilight and Cadence’s hoof, increasingly distressed as the moment wore on. “T-Twilight? Could we perhaps talk about—”

Suddenly and without hesitation, Cadence dropped her hoof like an anvil, pinning Twilight down. Thankfully, due to the size of Cadence’s hoof and the relative weight and strength between the smaller alicorn and Celestia, Twilight’s head was left free and she was holding steady against the pressure forced upon her. “As you all can see,” she said, her voice strained as she continued to hold against Cadence, “outside of a little discomfort, my life is no longer in danger thanks to my training and the protection spell.”

Velvet and Night Light stared at their daughter speechlessly. They shot a dangerous glare at Cadence, but immediately noticed her somber expression and realized the guilt that the foalsitter must certainly be feeling now. They looked at each other in dismay before turning back to their daughter.

Twilight grit her teeth, harnessing all the strength she could muster in her legs to slowly lift the giant hoof up a touch. She wriggled slightly to the side before completely freeing herself from under Cadence’s hoof, springing up with her forelegs in the air. “Tada!”

She turned back to Cadence. “Now let’s step this up a bit!” Twilight shouted enthusiastically, inadvertently causing her parent's hearts to beat at twice their speeds. Cadence subconsciously attempted to avoid eye contact with her charge in front of her, but could not help but listen as the little mare politely requested for her to “Hit me as hard as you can!”

Cadence may not be a great athlete, but she was certainly no pushover. Years of working alongside fellow ponies under her illusion spells greatly improved the earth pony magic she had as alicorn. She looked warily at Twilight, tears threatening to form in her eyes as she raised own hoof.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. Oh Twilight, the things you ask of me...

Cadence shut her eyes, clenching them tight as she smashed the tiny unicorn into the floor with a single powerful strike, blowing up a substantial cloud of wood dust from the hoof shaped crater in the floor.

“Twilight!” Velvet and Night Light screamed, jumping up to rush to their daughter. As soon as Cadence thought the parents were no longer paying attention to her, she lit her horn, bathing Twilight in an illusion spell to make her look as good as new, even though she could not get the healing spell off in time before the dust cleared.

Night Light quickly levitated the tiny unicorn up from the hole, examining her frantically for any sight of injury. “Twilight? Please, speak to me!”

Twilight gave a few coughs before replying, attempting to conceal her pain. “I’m fine, I’m fine. To be honest, you guys should probably worry more about the floor than me.”

“But but but you—” Night Light stammered out, failing to form a comprehensive statement.

“Princess Celestia’s protection spell keeps me safe, dad. My life was never in danger,” Twilight stated, hoping to make the half-truth convincing.

“Twilight, why are you pulling all those stunts?” Twilight Velvet asked in desperation. “Do you want to give us a heart attack?”

“I’m just trying to prove to you that I can take care of myself, so that you won’t take me away from my mentor and my studies,” Twilight replied sternly as Velvet and Night Light stared at her in shock. “You didn’t even ask for my opinion as you were lecturing me; you simply decided for me.”

“So that was what this was all about?” Velvet said worriedly. “Honey, we just want what is best for you.”

“And your mentor doesn’t even see the progress you’ve made. You can control your magic perfectly and yet she still refuses to lift that awful curse from you,” Night Light said, a cheerless expression on his face. Twilight turned away, not wanting to look her father in the eyes.

“Lift a curse?” Fancy Pants interjected, approaching the two parents. “You mean, remove the effect of the shrinking spell?” At Velvet’s and Night Light’s nod, he burst out in laughter. “Twilight passed her final exam a long time ago,” he chuckled. “Princess Celestia can turn her back to normal any time Twilight wishes to. You didn’t know?”

“What? No!” Twilight Velvet and Night Light shouted, giving their tiny daughter an accusatory glare.

Twilight gave her parents a sheepish smile. “Well... it’s kind of a long story...” she said, though the expressions on her peeved parents demanded explanation. With a sigh, she continued, “Alright, alright, please sit down. I will start from the beginning.”

***

“Oh dear, we… we had no idea that you felt that way, Twilight,” Twilight Velvet said apologetically, her head bowed in discomfort.

“We should have listened to your opinion before we made such a big decision like taking you away from your mentor,” Night Light continued solemnly. “You’re a grown up pony now, and we should be treating you as one. Will you ever forgive us?”

Twilight looked at her parents briefly before taking a deep breath. “Of course I forgive you... as long as you will forgive my own cowardice.”

Velvet and Night Light blinked, staring at their daughter in confusion. “Cowardice?”

“Y-yes. I… specifically asked my brother not to mention the… low points in my studies, and I didn’t even inform you of my decision to stay small. I was afraid you would take me away or force me to become big again. I was afraid when I should know better. Can you both forgive me?” Twilight said, looking shamefaced at the ground.

With a quick movement, Velvet swept her daughter up in a tight, very unexpected embrace. Twilight took a moment to come out of her shock before returning the embrace, even nudging her father closer to join in. “No more secrets?” Velvet and Night Light said.

“No more secrets,” Twilight replied, before her mother loosened her hug to look at her. “Can I stay tiny then? Can I still be Princess Celestia’s student? Please?”

“If… if this makes you happy, then yes. Just promise that you won’t give up your life to search for knowledge and adventure,“ Velvet replied, the entire party silent around them.

“I promise.”

“Are you alright, Cadence?” Shining Armor asked, noticing the trembling hoof of his special somepony. “I know what Twilight asked you to do had to be very hard for you, but she’s strong enough to handle her pain, and you know it.”

Cadence nodded. “I know, Shining, but it doesn’t make hurting her any less difficult for me. It’s one thing to see her getting hurt or hurting herself, but it’s quite something else to hurt her myself. I’ve foalsat her for only a few years and she’s already like a little sister to me,” she said, giving a nuzzle to Shining Armor before looking into his eyes. “We should tell them.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at her “But after everything that’s happened,” he said hesitantly, “we... should really give our parents some time to calm down. Please, I’m not sure if they’re ready for this yet.”

Cadence shook her head. “No Shining,” she said firmly. “You saw how much grief Twilight caused by keeping secrets from them, and I am not going to make the same mistake.” With that, Cadence began to push Shining Armor towards his parents with her head, even as he attempted to stall by planting himself to the floor.

“Twiny,” Cadence said, grunting slightly with exertion as they approached in starts and jerks, “would you let us talk with your parents for a moment? We have something important to tell them.” With a nod, Twilight gently freed herself from the embrace before slumping down on the floor nearby, finally taking a break from the day.

Night Light and Velvet shifted their attention to Cadence, who had stopped pushing Shining Armor along the floor to join his side. “What is it, Cadence?” Night Light asked firmly.

“Yes, is something the matter?” Twilight Velvet added before giving her son a suspicious look, “This better not be bad news. I’m not sure my psyche can handle it at this point.”

Cadence shook her head. “No, it isn’t. Or, at least, I hope it isn’t.”

Shining Armor took a deep breath before speaking. “I... we... um… Cadence is my very special somepony.”

Night Light’s eyes went wide “You’re dating Twilight’s foal-sitter,” he said hesitantly. “Who happens to be a former princess?”

Shining Armor took a step back. “Umm…. yes?” he said, giving his father a weak smile.

Night Light exchanged a look with Velvet, shifting their gaze to their little daughter before once again turning to their son and alicorn princess. With a grin, he said simply, “Best of luck to you and your special somepony, then.”

“Just do not forget to tell us about the wedding. Don’t think I don’t know you, Shining; you always forget to check or send letters,” Twilight Velvet said calmly, wrapping her son in a hug before making eye contact with stunned alicorn. “Please, keep an eye on him. He’s very brave and kind, but he tends to do stupid things, and despite what he may say, he might need somepony to help him out of whatever shenanigans he gets into.”

Cadence gave a short giggle before looking the somewhat astonished Shining Armor in the eyes, “Your family is incredibly welcoming, Shiny. All this time we were worried for nothing,” she said, before she turned her attention towards Velvet, giving her an apologetic look. “Thank you very much for giving me a chance, and I am deeply sorry for hurting Twilight.” She sighed and lowered her head in shame. “I understand that it may be hard to forgi—”

Velvet put her hoof gently on Cadence’s mouth, cutting her off before slightly raising her head, “Don’t apologize. We can see that you care a great deal about our daughter and value her happiness above all else, and I trust that you wish the same for our son.” Cadence and Velvet exchanged a warm smile, a silent exchange that warmed Twilight’s heart to see.

Shining Armor walked towards his father, who had remained fairly quiet through the conversation. “Dad, I can’t believe that you and mom would take this so lightly. Are you really okay with this?”

Night Light turned towards his son, jolted out of his contemplation, before giving a hearty laugh and shaking his head. “Shining, let me tell you something,” he said amusedly. “Today, your mother and I met with some of the most important ponies in Equestria because our daughter had made friends with them during her studies. We forced a royal guard to spill his guts about Twilight’s painful experiences and circumstances, and for the next hour, we have seen our daughter try to convince us that she’s completely safe by hurting herself over and over in front of us. We have listened to a story in which our little Twilight enjoys being... what was your nickname for her? Oh yes. Twiny. She enjoys being Twiny, putting herself at risk for the sake of adventure and self improvement.”

Night Light took a deep breath before continuing, unknowingly drawing a crowd to his thoughts, “Just moments ago, my wife and I gave our daughter permission to exhaust and hurt herself every day for what will most likely be the rest of her life just because it makes her happy. Compared to that, I find it amusing that you think dating a alicorn and a former princess is something serious.”

Twilight Velvet gave a soft nuzzle to Night Light before turning towards Shining Armor. “I can easily say that today was both the best and the worst day of our life, and I doubt that we’ll be more proud and terrified than we are now. I’m sure the two of us could use the number of a famous psychiatrist sooner or later, but I doubt they’ll believe us when we tell them about what transpired today.”

Night Light snorted in amusement. “Indeed, but for now, could you please excuse us? I think the two of us could use a long break before we go clinically insane. Best of luck on your date, son. Hopefully one day, you’ll make us proud with a foal of your own... and maybe a kingdom alongside your lovely princess,” he said, chuckling.

Velvet lowered herself down to look at her confused daughter. “And best of luck to you too, Twilight, but please, be a dear and don’t let other ponies squash you more than ten times a day. If you save the world, don’t forget to write a letter about your adventure to us,” Twilight Velvet said before departing with her husband upstairs.

For a few minutes, everypony sat in an awkward silence.

“So…” White Path murmured. “Is this a happy ending or not? I can’t tell.”

Spike put his hand on White Path’s shoulder. “I’m not sure. I mean, Twilight is still Princess Celestia’s student, and Shining Armor now has his family’s blessing on his relationship. On the other side, Twilight broke her parents.”

Twilight sat silently, looking down red-faced on the floor. She felt the giant soft hoof of her foalsitter stroke her back gently, the same hoof that had not so long ago dented her into the floor. Twilight lifted her head to look up into her foalsitter’s eyes, a kind smile on the alicorn’s face. “I know how you feel, Twiny,” she said soothingly, “but please, don’t be sad. You’re not the only one who has broken other ponies; I do that all the time - whenever I drop my disguise.”

Overwatch smiled in delight, glad that Twilight at least had Cadence there to help cheer her up. There was little need for bad emotions nowadays and the fewer there are, the better.

She looked over at Steel Blade. The stallion was still clearly shaken up by his perceived betrayal of his charge, even despite the happy ending Twilight had gotten. His ears drooped down as he stared gloomily at the floor, separated from the rest of the group likely of his own will. Though some emotions wear out over time, the last thing she needed was a depressing pony to stand watch with for the next few weeks. With a sigh, she rose and walked over to him.

“You all right there, Steelie? I’m not sure what happened earlier, but you don’t need to feel guilty about anything.” she said, giving him a warm smile.

The guard stallion raised his head, looking mournfully into Overwatch’s eyes. “Really now? If it weren’t for the words that came out of my mouth, none of this would have happened. Twilight wouldn’t have felt she needed to put herself in danger if her parents never knew about the dumb things that have happened to her in the castle.”

Overwatch snorted. “That’s one way to think of it, but that sort of ‘if only’ mindset is both depressing and nonproductive. Think about it another way. Because of what you told Twilight’s parents, things are now better than they ever were before.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe.”

The charcoal mare frowned before nudging Steel Blade in annoyance. “Oh stop that. You realize that at the end of the day, Twilight’s parents have now accepted their daughter’s decision to stay tiny and furthermore, your superior officer now has his parents’ backing on a relationship he was afraid to share with them.”

“And what about Night Light and Velvet? Does that result justify having to smash Twilight into the floor and traumatize her parents?”

“Twilight has gone through much worse than that, and you know it. As for her parents, I highly doubt that they’re as insane as you think they are, even with what we’ve subjected them to. They’re strong individuals, and I’m certain that their words during that final conversation were as sincere as you could get,” Overwatch said sternly, before her features softened and she nuzzled Steel Blade up into a standing position. “Don’t be so depressed all the time. It’s no fun being sad, you know.”

“I suppose so then,” he murmured, before giving her a weak smile.

Overwatch immediately perked up, smiling happily. “Excellent! Now let’s grab something to eat. I have the rumblies that only delicious chocolate-chip cookies will satisfy. C’mon Steelie! I’ve been told by Cadence herself that they’ve been made with looooove.”

White Path trotted over to a smiling Shining Armor and poked him in the foreleg, capturing his attention. “May uhhh… may I ask you a question, Commander Armor?” he asked hesitantly.

“Sure, little guy. What is it?” Shining Armor replied encouragingly.

“Your very special somepony, Miss Cadence, is an alicorn,” White Path stated. Shining Armor simply nodded, and the colt continued. “So that means she’s could have been alive for over a millennium and can live for thousands of years more… are you okay with dating somepony that old?”

Shining Armor opened his eyes wide. The age of his special somepony had never really come to mind before, and with her lifespan, she would no doubt outlive him, forever young as he grew old and died. He would cause Cadence much grief because of his love, and she will simply move on, the memory of Shining Armor as a small splash in the experiences she would accumulate.

He turned back to White Path with a smile. He and Cadence were happy in the present, and thoughts like those should be left for the future. “Yes, she is far older than I am… but I guess that in terms of love, age doesn’t really matter anymore.”

White Path took a moment to absorb what he was hearing, before turning to trot towards Twilight, smiling cheerfully as Shining Armor’s eyes followed across the room. “Hey Twilight!” White Path called, capturing the tiny unicorn’s attention.

She stood and turned towards him, looking into the eyes of the younger, but still far larger, colt. “Hey, White Path! What’s up?”

“Well, since your brother’s dating a thousand-year old goddess and he says that age is not an issue in their relationship,” White Path started, “would you be my marefriend?”

Everypony in the room who happened to be drinking something very quickly expelled the contents of their mouths in a sudden spit-take.

Overwatch wiped off the juice that was unceremoniously spewed in her face, grimacing. “Y’know, I think it’s rather fortunate that Twilight’s parents were upstairs. I don’t think they would appreciate a final performance of how well each of you can spray your drink everywhere.”

Bonus Ch - Magic Duel, Round 2

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

Magic Duel, Round 2

Celestia calmly walked through the doors to the training area of the barracks, supposedly there to inspect the guards and the equipment. Though she wanted to join her student in visiting her family along with Spike and her bodyguards that night, there were still a few important matters to attend to.

The princess walked slowly past each individual guard, lined up perfectly and immaculate in their shiny uniforms. She reached the end of the line where Captain Brave Blade stood, strong and proud despite his age. It was going to be matter of weeks before the old pegasus would retire and Lieutenant Shining Armor would take his place, so Princess Celestia had filled him in on the last adjustments to her plan.

“Captain Brave Blade,” Celestia said, her voice professional and even. “You wished to speak with me in private?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the old captain replied. “If you are finished with your inspection, we can move to my office to discuss this further.”

Celestia simply nodded, and Brave Blade quickly ordered his troops back to their training before trotting with the princess back to the Royal Guard’s main administrative building.

The stallion closed the door behind him before he turned to Princess Celestia, already seated in front of his desk. “Your majesty, I do not think this kind of drastic action is necessary,” he said, walking around and seating himself in his chair.

“I’ve already made up my mind, Captain,” Celestia said authoritatively, her voice firm. “I have only two years before I will face my sister in battle. I must be prepared.”

Captain Blade looked around, ensuring that no pony or guard was eavesdropping. Turning back to Celestia, he cleared his throat and spoke. “Your Majesty, with all due respect, I can hardly imagine how you can spend so much time down here with your royal duties to attend to.” He coughed before adding, “I mean, you already have difficulties reserving just two hours of your free time for your student. Finding time for training simulations would be practically impossible.”

Celestia smirked before levitating an scroll prepared by Silver Scroll herself, pointing a hoof at a chunk of time labeled ‘Inspection of Royal Guards.’ “Officially, I will be inspecting your officers and the training methods you are employing in guard barracks located all over Equestria. It’s a perfectly fine excuse for training myself, and this is the perfect place to do it in private.”

Brave Blade looked through the windows in his office at the walls surrounding the castle barracks, their main divide between the royal grounds and the rest of Canterlot. “I see. Both this area and airspace have been secured strictly for military personnel, which means no pegasus or pony will notice their ruler training like a knight.” He shifted his gaze to the training ground, where soldiers performed exercises in unison. “And the guards will keep it a secret.”

Celestia nodded her head. “Correct,” she said, before she noticed the uncertain expression on the captain’s face. “Is something the matter, Captain Brave Blade?”

The old pegasus pointed a hoof at her. “You forgot about one important detail, Your Majesty. Battle simulations and training almost always result in bruises and cuts. You can’t exactly present yourself in court sporting an unexplained injury or out of breath.”

Celestia leaned back into a relaxed position, a faint smile on her lips. “I can cover my wounds effortlessly with an illusion spell. In addition, I have almost two thousand years of experience ruling, so hiding my own pain and exhaustion isn’t exactly new to me.” She smiled warmly before continuing. “As you can see, Brave Blade, I can still train myself everyday without causing a panic among my subjects.”

Brave Blade looked at his princess intensely before breathing a deep sigh, giving his ruler a defeated look. “I see that I will not change your mind, Your Majesty. But if I may ask... Why? What pushed you to take such drastic action?”

“I learned about a certain… flaw in my character, my loyal Captain,” Celestia said, her tone calm, though slightly wavering.

Brave Blade raised his eyebrows. “Really, Your Highness? I don’t believe you have any flaws, but out of curiousity, what is this flaw you suspect yourself to have?”

Celestia sighed, looking absentmindedly at the desk. “Overconfidence. I was overconfident in thinking that by only planning ahead, I could be prepared to capture my sister and separate her from Nightmare Moon. After hundreds of years of gaining power by raising both sun and the moon, I thought that I could weaken Nightmare Moon by using raw power alone,” she said, before raising her head to look back at Brave Blade, her eyes hardened in resolve. “It took a simple duel against my student to prove how wrong I could be.”

She straightened up. “Despite my attempts to make the duel against my student as fair as possible, I was still more powerful. I still had the advantage, and yet I was defeated. Everything that I thought I would have over Nightmare Moon—all my magic and my wisdom—was useless because I could not use it effectively. If I were to face my sister now, she would no doubt defeat me even more easily than my student had.”

Brave Blade looked silently at Celestia, before giving a soft chuckle. “I understand, Your Highness. Ruling Equestria in peacetime for so long did nothing to prepare you for a direct confrontation, and you are worried that your weakness will ultimately hurt the ponies under you,” he stated firmly before considering how such a long period of peace had affected his soldiers as well.

Princess Celestia nodded. “That is correct. In the past, before I banished my sister, back when we were far younger and not nearly as powerful as we are now, Equestria was still a dangerous place. Monster attacks and war threatened our little ponies from the moment we dealt with Discord’s reign. Back then, we were able to pass any obstacle, face any foe, fight against any odds to protect our subjects, even… even without the help of Elements of Harmony,” Celestia said calmly.

Brave Blade simply nodded. “I know, Princess. I’ve heard this particular story more than once, but times have changed. You no longer need to be our champion. All Equestria expects is for you to be a wise and fair ruler.”

“Peace does not last forever, Captain!” Celestia replied with serious expression on her face. “Ruling Equestria for so long helped me learn how to make my subjects happy, how to plan in advance, and how to guide my subjects to solve their problems without my assistance, but what if a threat showed up out of nowhere, so suddenly that I had no time to plan or prepare? What if this powerful foe showed himself in front of me right now? You see, I’m not going to take the risk of going unprepared.” With that, she lit her horn, shrinking herself into what could have easily be mistaken as a tiny princess' shaped doll.

Brave Blade simply nodded. “Then I will respect your decision,” he said, bowing to the tiny alicorn. “I will assign an opponent for you, princess, and I will take Lieutenant Shining Armor to one of our meetings before he will take my place as Captain of the Royal Guard. I just hope that he will not refuse to cooperate once he learns that his little sister is being trained to be our weapon against Nightmare Moon. Imprisoning him in the dungeon or even erasing his memory of the meeting would be a huge waste of a pony with his raw power and leadership skills.”

Celestia groaned when the captain called her student a weapon. She felt a surge of guilt, unsure of whether she should gamble the life of the student she had learned to love so much, even if it meant that she may get back her sister. She had considered not allowing Twilight to go to Ponyville until Nightmare Moon was captured and imprisoned, but for now, she needed to prepare herself so she could at least weaken Nightmare Moon enough to give her student a fighting chance.

Celestia could feel her barrier starting to crack under the pressure of her foes’ attacks as the brawny pegasus guard repeatedly struck it with his enhanced sword and the lean unicorn guard blasted at it with his offensive spells. It was turning out to be quite a mistake when she had requested two opponents rather than one, just another trap her overconfidence had led her into.

Unlike her duel against Twilight, where she had more raw power than her opponent, being the size of her student means that the unicorn guard was significantly more powerful than her, towering over her breaking barrier. Celestia had spent some time reading about combat magic, trying to remember the spells she had neglected for so long in order to prepare herself to fight against Nightmare Moon. Her pride demanded it, in a sense.

Celestia didn’t hesitate to use her protection spell on herself, considering the size of her opponents, but the odds were still against her. Her foes had not only a size advantage, but a skill advantage as well.

Her duel against Twilight a few months ago had, however, taught Celestia a few tricks to use against stronger and bigger guards. She lit her horn and teleported, bringing up her memory of the battlefield as she made her barrier opaque, blocking off her view of her surroundings.

The guards had felt a little wary about hurting their ruler, but unlike Twilight, they were trained to keep their emotions in check and to follow orders, and if their orders were to fight against their tiny princess, they did not hesitate. Celestia’s barrier cracked as the pegasus’ sword hit it one final time, but the Princess was nowhere to be found.

Before the pegasus could react, a small, incredibly hot beam of golden magic caught him in his wing, burning many of his feathers before he could turn. The unicorn guard quickly noticed where the princess had teleported to, shooting a raging fireball at the Princess of the Sun.

If Celestia learned anything from her duel against her student, it was that the best way to defeat a stronger opponent is to evade his attacks and without missing her own. Being the size of a young rabbit with a teleportation spell certainly helped her accomplish just that. One wing down. Just one more.

She charged up her horn and flashed out of the path of the fireball, landing on the pegasus’ back. She wasted no time in charging another attack, drawing her beam over the right wing of the guard she was standing on and making sure that his biggest advantage was neutralized.

With both wings half-burnt, Celestia charged up another powerful spell, but the guard she was standing on was now attempting to flail her off. She began to lose her balance, so she clutched tightly to the pegasus’ wing as she continued to charge her spell.

One decisive strike in his weak point and this battle is over. She finished charging her spell and fired it directly at an exposed area on his neck. The pegasus guard yelped in pain before tumbling to the ground, unfortunately landing on the burned wing that Celestia was hanging onto for dear life.

Celestia roared in pain as the weight of the guard slammed her into the ground. With a flare of her horn, she punted the pegasus fifty meters away, a feat impossible even for her tiny student. She tried to rise to her hooves, but was once again pinned down to the ground, this time by a steel clad hoof planted on her stomach.

Once again Celestia tried to push her opponent back with a levitation spell, but the moment she had freed herself once more, a huge beam of magic shot from the unicorn’s horn, catching her when she was unable to react or dodge. The beam completely enveloped her, burning through fur and feathers as it hammered her into the ground.

***

The unicorn guard landed heavily on his four hooves as his opponent lay motionless in the crater his spell had made just a moment ago. With a quick glance, he noticed that his partner lay motionless a distance away, leaving him alone to defeat the raiser of the sun.

The unicorn guard approached slowly, his horn charged with magic as he kept close watch on the princess’ motions, ready to counterattack at any second. Several moments passed before he was ready to assume that Celestia was unconscious. The unicorn guard lowered his head to take a closer look, preparing to announce his victory, only to be blinded by a sudden bright flash of light. He reeled back, discharging his spell in a random direction

“Fell right for it. I thought that my guards were better trained than this,” Celestia said, smirking and standing on her four hooves once again. “If there’s anything you should know about the sun, it is that it can both burn and blind, but don’t worry, you won’t be blinded for long.”

Without wasting a moment, Celestia teleported to the unicorn’s back, conjuring magic ropes and tying herself to his neck so she wouldn’t fall off. She planted her hooves into him and began charging her spell. Despite my tiny student’s display of incredible strength and endurance, the unicorn body is still far weaker than that of an earth pony. In exchange for their fragility, their bones are structured to be an efficient conduit of magic, something I can exploit.

The unicorn guard’s eyes finally recovered, and he looked around frantically for his target. He quickly realized the princess had latched herself to his back and attempted to draw his sword with his magic, only for his levitation spell to fizzle out in black sparks and a murky purple aura. He looked quickly to his horn, which now had dark crystals growing from it like tumors.

“This is a little spell I’d learned a while back. It creates dark crystals on a pony’s body, slowing down and even stopping the flow of magic,” Celestia stated confidently. The unicorn guard began to panic, attempting futilely to buck the princess off.

“It was not easy to cut off your magic, considering your size, but compared to the rest of your body, the horn is very small target, making unicorns particularly vulnerable to this spell,” Celestia continued, before she threw a magical band around his neck and began to tighten it.

“P-princess?!” the guard shouted in panic. “Princess, what are you doing?!”

Celestia put more and more magic into her spell, squeezing the thick neck tighter and tighter. “My strength may be pitiful at this point of my training, but my magic is not! Surrender and I will release you!” she ordered confidently, grinning in victory.

Unable to use his magic and slowly losing his breath, the guard attempted to dislodge the princess with his hooves, though the awkward angle meant that his efforts were ultimately in vain.

He fell to his knees, feebly attempting to tap out. Celestia grinned widely as she dispelled her magic and the unicorn fell heavily to the ground, unconscious only moments after his surrender.

“It seems that I have emerged victorious!” Celestia said happily, standing proudly over her fallen foe, her body covered in injuries and more than a little singed. However, she quickly turned when she heard hoofsteps right behind her. The pegasus guard, his charred wings hanging limply at his sides, charged straight for her, his sword in his teeth. With a groan, Celestia took a few flaps of her wings, wincing from the pain, and once again flew into battle. She angled herself up, keeping her distance from her grounded foe.

However, even with his damaged wings, he was still a pegasus, and his inherent pegasus magic meant that motion made him lighter than most ponies his size. With a powerful leap, he easily made the distance between him and the princess, swinging his sword with all his strength. The blade made contact with Celestia’s beaten body, and the princess yelped in pain as the sword, so much larger than her, drew blood and batted her through the air.

Celestia used her damaged wings to slow her fall and regain her balance, charging her horn to send a healing wave of magic into her bleeding wound. Tiny drops of blood splattered on the battlefield before she could stunt the bleeding, while her spell was interrupted by a solid jump kick from the pegasus guard, sending her crashing into a wall.

The pegasus guard sprinted towards his target, ready to seize the opportunity to end the battle. He immediately slugged Celestia with all his strength into the impact point on the wall, stopping her from casting any spells. The princess slid down to the ground, barely conscious.

His eyes calm and stoic, he carefully tilted his head so as to touch the edge of his sword across Celestia’s neck.

Despite her pain, Celestia blinked her eyes open, noticing the giant sword under her neck ready to strike. The message was clear enough. She sighed. “I surrender,” she said, trying to hide the exhaustion and weakness in her voice.

The pegasus guard took a few steps back and saluted before returning to the line of guards, drawing up the unicorn guard who had regained consciousness moments later. Celestia worked out a few kinks in her neck, thankful for the alicorn magic that protected her, before standing up and following her guards our on her shaking hooves.

Of course, to ensure the secrecy of this training, Princess Celestia and her two opponents went straight to the medical facility in the barracks. Due to the sheer number of doctors and medics trained to keep the guard in peak condition, it didn’t took long until the pegasus’ wings and the princess’s wounds were taken care of with bandages and healing magic. However, it came down to Celestia herself to cleanse the dark crystals from the unicorn guard’s horn.

Once again back to her normal size, the proud princess hid her bandages and any marks from her recent battle under her illusion magic while she attended to her royal duties, hiding any lingering pain behind her emotionless mask. She advanced towards her throne room, murmuring to herself. “My training may mean I have to endure being cut by swords, pierced by spears, or struck by all manner of magic spells, but when the time comes to face you, Nightmare Moon, I will not be the weaker one.”

Ch17 - Pegasus Magic

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

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...

Bonus Ch - The Return of Philomena

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

The Return of Philomena

Before Twilight had become Princess Celestia’s personal student, the Princess of the Sun had often found companionship in a mischievous phoenix named Philomena. Though Philomena spent most of her time inside a cage in Celestia’s bedchamber, the door of the cage was rarely locked, allowing her to fly freely around the castle whenever she wished, whether it was to take a morning flight or to wreck havoc on the sanity of the castle servants. Though she spent plenty of her time with the princess, it wasn’t unusual for Philomena to journey far from the castle of her own volition, and over a decade back, she had begun such a journey, flying north.

Many years had passed before Philomena landed back on the familiar balcony, strutting confidently back inside to her home sweet home.

The phoenix looked around lazily, finding the room empty and her owner missing. She assumed that the princess was simply off managing her little ponies again, and with a few flaps of her wings, Philomena hopped onto the bed for a nap, only to find it completely unsuitable for any kind of rest at all.

She scowled as best as a bird could do. The entire bed was messy and unkempt, with the pillows in all the wrong places. Not only that, books were strewn across the surface of the bed, making for poor napping material. She walked daintily around the piles of hardbound books, rounding a particularly large stack to find one of the books open beside a pillow.

With a tiny unicorn reading it.

Philomena was confused. It wasn’t every day that she could see a pony that was smaller than she was, and furthermore, the pony in question was in her owner’s room, a place which had always been empty. Furthermore, the pony was resting on a fluffy pillow that should have been her resting spot. Was this unicorn a thief who had snuck in, or had her owner found a new pony-shaped pet to replace her?

The phoenix made a quiet, hesitant step towards the unicorn, unsure of whether to act on her curiosity or her sudden indignation. On one claw, she very much wanted to remove the intruder from her territory, a task she could easily accomplish by either a quick breath of her flames or a swift toss out the nearby balcony. On the other claw, she was still decently hungry, and a tiny pony would make for some amusing entertainment before she decided to eat her in the end.

Philomena quickly discarded the eating idea as she approached quietly. The tiny creature in front of her was, rather unfortunately, a bit big to gulp down, and using her sharp beak would only make an unsightly mess of the bed. In fact, attempting to evict the pony would likely result in more collateral damage than she would like if her prey resisted, and there was no need to spoil her return home with the bed in an even worse condition than it currently was.

The phoenix had suddenly realized that she was much closer to the pony than she thought, perhaps more than a bit distracted by her musings. The pony was oblivious, completely absorbed in her book about...

Philomena had to take a closer look before she realized that the illustration was of a pony with butterfly wings. She shook her head at the sheer inanity of it all before focusing on her still clueless target. With a mirthful glint in her eye, she slowly lowered her beak close to one of the pony’s ears before making her presence known.

***

GWWWAAAAAAAK

Twilight immediately jumped, yelping in surprise as she stumbled off her pillow and landed inelegantly in a heap on her reading material. She hastily picked herself back up, a frown on her face as she turned to look at the source of the screech.

Her frown was quickly replaced by a careful, inquisitive look as she took in the image of the radiant red bird in front of her. That’s odd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bird like this while I explored the Royal Gardens, and I’m not sure if most of those would be brave enough to fly into the princess’ bedchambers. I must have missed it somehow, but how could I have missed such a brightly colored bird?

Twilight took a step forward, pointing her tiny hoof at the bird. “I’ve never seen you before. What kind of bird species are you?” she asked curiously, before facehoofing. “How silly of me. I forgot you can’t speak,” she giggled.

Philomena looked confusedly at Twilight before spreading her wings and shrieking again, but the unicorn in front of her was anything but intimidated. “Wow, you have really nice looking wings, and red suits you,” Twilight complimented. “I’m sure I’ve read a book about a bird that looks just like you, but I can’t remember... What was it?”

The phoenix was very much confused by her prey’s attitude, and, curious, she took a few steps forward and gently prodded the tiny unicorn with her beak, taking a close look over her. “Wow, you are one friendly bird. Would you mind if I take one of your feathers for my research?” Twilight asked cheerfully, taking a hold and spreading the phoenix’s wing with her tiny hooves.

Philomena glared angrily at the tiny creature who had dared examine her as if she was a toy, and in response, she sent a wave of magic through her wing, setting it aflame and burning the tiny unicorn for her shameless action. Philomena chortled to herself, fluffing up her chest as Twilight stumbled away in shock.

Twilight shook her head in surprise, the smell of burnt fur becoming very evident. Ignoring the small hints of pain, she lit her horn and cast healing magic on herself, restoring her burned fur back to its former glory. “That was amazing! I had no idea you could do that!” She shouted enthusiastically and once again ran up to the bird in front of her, curiously studying the wings that had burned her just moments ago.

Philomena watched in confusion as this tiny unicorn was now even more eager to touch her wing than ever before. Scowling, she once again burst her wing into flames, though the creature in front of her jumped back before the flames could strike her.

“I’ll need to cast a scanning spell to analyze those flames. Can you do that again?” Twilight asked, her horn charged and ready.

The phoenix blinked. Was it toying with her? In a burst of anger, she swept up the tiny unicorn into both of her wings, setting them to burn at an even higher temperature than before. After a few seconds to teach the troublemaker a lesson, she doused her flames and released her prey, only to find that an opaque purple magic bubble had replaced it.

Confused, she poked the bubble a few times with her beak, only to jump back in surprise as the bubble vanished, revealing the tiny unicorn. “I’m starting to think that you don’t like me, Mister Bird,” the pony said, frowning.

Philomena screamed in frustration. Not only were her flames ineffective against this inferior creature, but this tiny simpleton dared to call her a male! Without thinking, she flew into the air and dove at Twilight, only for her target to jump to the left as her claws struck the pillow instead, causing it to explode in a puff of feathers and fabric.

Philomena flapped her wings, removing herself from the mess before looking guiltily at the destroyed pillow before her. “What have you done!” Twilight shouted. “I’ve slept on that for years, you know! Furthermore, you’re destroying Princess Celestia’s possessions!” She took a fighting stance, intently staring down the bird. “Calm down and behave yourself or I will have to restrain you by force.”

The phoenix rolled her eyes at the challenge. Though she couldn’t use her flames for fear of destroying the chamber, she was more than capable of taking out one small, insolent pony. With a screeching warcry, Philomena dove at the tiny unicorn, her claws extended, only to slam straight into a purple barrier, coming to a complete stop. She slid down the barrier into a feathered heap at its base.

Just as she was brushing herself off, the barrier vanished to reveal Twilight, her horn aimed at her enemy and her stunning spell fully charged. The angered bird moved swiftly once the barrier fell, diving at the pony once again while her prey was vulnerable.

The moment her target was close enough, Twilight shot the stunning spell, hitting her target directly in the breast before jumping to avoid the feathered projectile as it plowed into the bed paralyzed. With the phoenix stunned, she captured it a purple aura, levitating it closer to herself and staring it down. “I can’t let you damage my mentor’s property, so could you please calm down? Please?” Twilight pled, unsure if the big bird would listen to her.

Despite putting as much magic as Twilight could muster into her stunning spell, Philomena recovered quickly, blasting Twilight with an instantaneous fireball to the face.

Twilight fell flat to her back, covering herself with her hooves as the bird followed up with a flare of flames. Without her concentration and without a levitation spell to keep the phoenix immobile, it took only a moment before Twilight could feel sharp talons pinning her to the soft bed, the flames letting off as she was captured by the phoenix’s claws

The phoenix gave a victorious cry as she stood proudly above her prey, only to be captured by another levitation field. With a squawk, she was thrown back and slammed headfirst into the closest wall.

Steel Blade and Overwatch were used to loud noises caused by the adventuring little unicorn, however after a few odd shrieks and a solid crash of impact, they quickly rushed into the bedchamber.

“What’s going on?” Steel Blade asked sternly, quickly catching sight of Twilight lying on the unusually disheveled bed. His confusion was quickly replaced with worry the moment he noticed his tiny charge bleeding from a multitude of cuts.

“W-what happened, Twilight? How did you—” Steel Blade’s question was cut off by his partner, who prodded him sharply in the wing for him to turn around, noticing a red bird stuck firmly in a hole in the wall.

“So you’re responsible for hurting Twilight?” He said, scowling at the phoenix as he began to approach it. “I’ll teach you—”

Steel Blade was suddenly stopped by a levitation field. “You’d better think before you do something you’ll regret, Steelie. You do realize that that phoenix belongs to the princess, right?” Overwatch said firmly.

“P-phoenix? P-princess Celestia’s pet?!” Twilight shouted in panic, straightening up in shock. “I assaulted Princess Celestia’s pet! Oooh, this is bad! She’ll be angry with me, and she’ll scold me, or lock me in the dungeon!”

Twilight’s panic attack stopped quickly once she felt Spike’s hand on her back. “Jeez Twilight, another panic attack already? The Princess will never lock you in the dungeon,” he said, having just come back from his four hour long bubble bath. He looked over the disaster zone of a bedchamber, wishing he had stayed in the tub a little longer before turning to the bird, who had just released herself from the wall. “And you are in a big trouble,” he growled, the fires of determination and rage in his eyes.

***

In the next five minutes, Celestia’s bedchamber had swiftly become a dress rehearsal for Ragnarok. Spike had jumped at the phoenix, ready to punish it for hurting Twilight. Philomena flew into the air to evade his attack, counterattacking with blast of flames, though it proved ineffective due to Spike’s fireproof scales. To everypony’s horror, the flames that slid harmlessly from Spike’s scales quickly spread across the room, catching the bed, bookshelves and even some of the books on the floor on fire.

Twilight, in her panic, flushed the books with a freezing spell, hoping to save them from an untimely demise. Overwatch quickly removed the untouched books to safety before levitating off her armor to smother the flames with. Steel Blade was trying to restrain Spike, who, unable to move and with Philomena extending her tongue in a mocking gesture, attacked her with a fire breath of his own, only for the bird to chortle at the flames that wrapped around her.

Twilight and Overwatch saved as much as they could before they focused on the two combatants. Philomena dove towards Spike, her claws raking uselessly against his thick scales as Spike freed himself from Steel Blade’s hold, attacking Philomena’s tail with his claws as Steel Blade suddenly found himself with two to restrain, accumulating a few scratches and burns from his efforts.

Overwatch rolled her eyes before she restrained Philomena with her levitation spell, Twilight doing the same with the baby dragon. “Spike,” Twilight shouted, “stop it this instant! Your fight almost caused the destruction of valuable literature!”

Philomena once again stuck her tongue out but was quickly shaken by Overwatch’s levitation field. “And you, little troublemaker, are in very deep trouble. You haven’t been here for a looong time, but not only did you almost set this entire room on fire, you’ve also assaulted Princess Celestia’s personal student!” Overwatch shouted, causing the phoenix to gulp and point her wing towards the dragon and the tiny unicorn, both of whom were busy checking book after book, Twilight clearly very distraught over their terrible fate.

“Oh no, you won’t be shoving the blame on others, Little Miss Innocent. Princess Celestia’s going to be back to see exactly what you’ve done, and let me tell you, I won’t be cleaning this crap up.” Overwatch said, scowling at the bird in her grasp.

“Excuse me Miss Overwatch, but it wasn’t her fault. Spike and I provoked her,” Twilight said, her tiny head hanging low in shame.

“Hey!” Spike said, frowning and crossing his arms. “I just tried to protect you and teach this fiery excuse of a bird a lesson!”

***

After a few minutes, Twilight had convinced Spike that she was perfectly fine and that he should not attack or provoke the Princess’s pet anymore. Philomena remained docile under the watchful eye of Overwatch, shooting quick glares at the charcoal unicorn and at Spike.

Steel Blade flew back from the princess’s storage area, bringing back a fairly large birdcage gilded with gold. He looked sternly at the phoenix. “You are going into this cage until the princess comes back,” Steel Blade stated firmly, opening the cage and pointing his hoof for the bird to enter.

“But it’s not her fault! I started it, if anypony! Maybe I should stay in the cage while we wait.” Twilight said, the phoenix eagerly nodding her head in agreement.

“But Twilight, she hurt you!” Spike stated, giving the phoenix an angry glare.

“But if I hadn’t touched her wings and threatened her, she wouldn’t have attacked me. I started it, so I’m staying in the cage.” Twilight said firmly, her forelegs crossed as she sat between the phoenix and the others.

Philomena smirked, finding this opportunity too good to be true. With a sweep of her wing, she pushed Twilight into the birdcage, and with a flick of her other wing, she closed it. Twilight blinked a few times in confusion as she laid upside down, glaring at the amused phoenix.

“What do you think you’re doing, you stupid bird?!” Steel Blade shouted, moving to open the cage.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Twilight said as she stood back up on her hooves, “I already said that I should be punished, and I am going to stay in this cage until Princess Celestia returns,” she stated sternly, much to everyone’s surprise. Philomena burst out into a squawking laugh, finding a unicorn who would willingly place all the blame on herself the best prank target she could ever hope for.

Overwatch simply heaved a sigh, levitating over a large pile of the toasted books and selecting one from the middle. “This is going to be a long day. I can already tell.”

Bonus Ch - Twilight The Pet

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

Twilight The Pet

Steel Blade and Spike tried their best to convince Twilight to leave the birdcage while Philomena and the unicorn guard looked on in amusement. Thoroughly frustrated after several more failed attempts, Spike decided on taking a nap on the damaged bed, hoping that Twilight would wise up after an hour or two. Steel Blade, who wanted nothing more than to punch the phoenix in the face, decided to return back to his post to calm down, leaving Overwatch to keep an eye on both Twilight and Philomena, the only one in the group with no burning desire to scalp the red bird of all its feathers. She sat close to the cage, her armor off as she looked sadly at the assortment of burn marks it had accumulated from smothering the flames.

Twilight sat patiently in her cage for a while, but with nothing to read and nothing to do, she had quickly decided to take a nap. She had only fallen asleep for a half an hour or so before her rest was interrupted by Philomena noisily shaking the birdcage with her claws.

“Shmerrr... huh?” Twilight’s attention soon focused on the phoenix on the other side of the bars. “Why did you wake me up?”

The phoenix seemed to grin as she pointed to a small container of water held in her wing, a gesture which Twilight easily understood. She walked closer to the tip poking through the bars, an eyebrow raised at the bird’s offering.

She shrugged. “Now that I think about it, I do feel a little thirsty, so why not?” Twilight murmured, taking a few sips to refresh herself before walking back to her resting spot.

Before Twilight could go back to her nap however, the birdcage shook once again, and she turned, frowning at the insistent phoenix, who was now throwing grains into the cage. “You want me to eat this?” Twilight asked curiously, the phoenix nodding in response. “It’s bird food. I can eat grass, hay and cake, but I’m fairly certain grain seeds are unhealthy for ponies.”

Philomena let out a giggling titter as she took out more objects from a cardboard box Steel Blade had brought along with the birdcage as Twilight was sleeping. She recognized the objects as a wide assortment of toys that the Princess most likely kept to play with her pet phoenix, and she quickly caught on to what the phoenix was suggesting. “Wait a moment... You’re treating me as a pet, aren’t you?”

Philomena nodded her head energetically, throwing even more grain into the birdcage with an amused caw.

“I think you’re mistaken. I’m not your pet,” Twilight said, frowning at the phoenix.

The large bird seemed to shrug, pointing at the reinforced bars of the birdcage with her wing, and then at Twilight.

“I’m locked in this birdcage as punishment, not because I’m your pet!” Twilight said loudly, raising a hoof in anger.

Philomena pointed at the cage once again, then towards a small picture on the table, one of a surprised Celestia looking cross-eyed at a tiny purple unicorn sleeping on her nose.

Twilight blushed. Most of the day’s events were a tad blurred, but Celestia had apparently taken her for a round of public appearances and she had finally fallen asleep out of exhaustion at the end of the day. Much to Twilight’s embarrassment, she woke up the next day with this picture lying on the table next to her mentor.

She turned back to the phoenix, her brow knit in anger. “Are you implying that I’m Princess Celestia’s pet? I’m not her pet. I am her protege!” Twilight shouted, only for the phoenix to laugh in her face, sprinkling her with yet another volley of grains.

Twilight stamped her hoof, making a loud thud as it hit the bottom of the cage. “That’s it. You may be the Princess’s pet, but I will not let you insult me!” She shouted as she lit her horn to open the cage with her magic. To her surprise, the aura of her magic around the cage door disappeared, leaving Twilight stymied and causing Philomena to roll to her back in a fit of laughter.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked confusedly. “Why didn’t my magic work?”

“Twilight, you do realize whose cage you’re in, right?” Overwatch said as she walked closer. “Even though the princess lets Philomena fly around the castle freely, the phoenix in question...” she paused, making a quick glare at the red bird, who flitched at her intimidating gaze, “...is quite the prankster and troublemaker, so whenever her pet went overboard, Princess Celestia locked her up in this cage as punishment.”

Twilight nodded her head in understanding. “Okay, I think I get it. This cage was magically reinforced to endure Philomena’s flames! I can’t believe I didn’t remember phoenixes from my reading.” Twilight said, her forelegs on her head in exasperation. “Despite their small size, they can burn with an incredibly hot fire, and because those flames are magical in nature, Celestia made her cage magic-proof to keep her in check,” Twilight said proudly, before turning towards Philomena. “By the way, thanks for not burning me. If what that book said was true, the flames you used against me were nothing compared to the temperature they could reach.”

Philomena nodded, knowing full well she could turn this unicorn to ashes along with the entire room. Overwatch moved her hoof along the cage, touching the latch on the outside, unopenable from the inside. “Pretty much. This cage is strong enough to withstand Philomena’s strength and claws while the enchantments makes it resistant to magic and fire. It would require an incredible amount of raw power to break Princess Celestia’s own seal.”

“Don’t open it!” Twilight shouted hastily, and before Overwatch could ask why, she added, ”If this cage was sealed by my mentor, then I would love to try and break the seal myself.”

Overwatch shrugged in resignation before turning towards the bed and plopping herself on an unburned section to watch the little mare, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Twilight whenever she had set a magical or physical challenge for herself.

***

Spike was still deep asleep, unconsciously curled into Overwatch’s warm body as she and Philomena watched Twilight attempt to break free for over an hour. At first, Philomena had laughed at her failed attempts, but after seeing the tiny mare try to free herself again and again, no matter how many times she failed or how tired she was, the phoenix started to feel a bit of respect towards her and was now wondering if she may actually succeed.

Twilight, meanwhile, tried everything that came to her mind. She first tried to teleport outside, but found that her spell simply fizzled out when she cast it. Then, she attempted to levitate an object outside of the cage, hoping to use it to open the door from the outside, but the seals wouldn’t let her magic pass the bars. She tried combat spells, even combinations of fire and ice spells with the hope that rapid increase and decrease of the metal’s temperature would weaken its structure, but the fireproof seal caused her spells to pass harmlessly past the bars.

Her magic useless, Twilight tried to use brute force, hoping that all her physical training, challenges, and protection spells would make her strong enough to break out. Her hopes quickly died as she repeatedly crashed painfully into the bars, not even leaving a dent. “Maybe if I was an earth pony...” she grumbled, hitting it one last time with a hoof before moving to her next idea.

Twilight next attempted to scan and analyze the seal itself, trying to create a magical formula to break it, but her focus on training her magic and physical condition in the past years had left her with less time to read books and study magical theory, making it impossible to challenge the seal created by an alicorn princess almost two thousand years old.

In her final attempt, Twilight had tried to squeeze herself between the steel bars, but she was still too big to pass them. She smashed a hoof into the floor of the cage in frustration. “Ugh... This is pointless. Nothing works,” she said, her head hung low in defeat. Philomena was watching her performance, giving a soft coo in an attempt to praise her prank target for her efforts.

“You did your best,” Overwatch stated, looking solumnly at the caged mare, “but this challenge is out of your league. This cage resists magic, and with your tiny size, you don’t have enough strength to open it. Such a disappointment that you can’t use your magic to make yourself stronger,” Overwatch finished with a nearly unnoticeable wink and a smile.

“That’s it!” Twilight shouted enthusiastically, before charging up her horn and casting a levitation spell on her hooves. As long as the spell itself is not directed at the cage or outside of it, it should work, thought Twilight, the aura of her magic growing stronger every second. With a solid rush of magic, she punted her hoof towards the steel bar, hitting it so hard that she could feel the impact in her bone.

The attempt failed, but it did make a tiny dent in the bar, so she turned around and prepared both of her hind legs for an attack. Channeling her levitation spell into them and with one swift buck, she felt the steel bars give under the impact, the cage resounding with a loud clang.

With another attempt, Twilight levitated herself up before pushing herself towards the door of the birdcage, though she bounced painfully off of it, her head ringing with a buzzing noise and she landed in a heap in the middle of the cage.

Twilight groaned as she shook the orbiting stars from around her head. Her body already had burn marks from the Philomena’s flames and closed wounds from the phoenix’s claws, and now, she could add bruises from several impacts with the unforgiving steel to that list. In times like this, she regretted that she was not an earth pony.

Overwatch, Philomena, and the newly awakened Spike watched as Twilight slowly got back up on her hooves, trembling. After taking a moment to recover, she turned to see the damage she had made to the reinforced bars, only to find that her efforts had only twisted the latch that secured the door.

“I failed again!” Twilight shouted in exasperation, jumping in frustration before her pain asked her violently to sit down, a demand which she happily complied with.

“Hmmrr… Well, I have bad news and worse news,” Overwatch stated, looking intently at the damage to the cage from her position on the bed. “The bad news is that this cage is still too strong for you, even with your raw power.” She smiled awkwardly before pointing a hoof at the broken handle. “The worse news is that you did succeed in breaking the door, so now we can’t open this cage even from the outside. Well, without destroying it, that is.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he watched Twilight’s eyes open wide in shock, classic signs of yet another panic attack. “Here we go again,” he murmured as the tiny unicorn began dancing in panic, babbling something about how she will be severely punished for damaging the princess’s possessions before curling inside of the cage she was now trapped in, her defeat reminding her that despite all her raw power and training, she was still a tiny mare among giants.

Celestia trotted happily back from her short battle exercise, her wounds hidden under an illusion spell. I cannot believe how much I've improved! I can evade attacks that just a year ago would’ve hit me before I even noticed them, she thought, giggling lightly to herself. Now I can lift twice or even three times the weight I could before I began shrinking myself, and I’ve remembered at least hundred spells I forgot I even knew in the first place! She chuckled, rolling her eyes at her former complacency.

Hundreds years of peace made me very soft, but it turns out that I just needed a bit of training to get it all back.

Celestia approached her throne room, noticing Steel Blade standing guard at the entrance alone. ”Greetings, Your Highness. You’ve returned just in time,” he stated, his face impassive.

Celesta blinked, wondering if she’d missed something important. “Did anything out of the ordinary happen during my absence? Did Twilight overdo another adventure and end up in the hospital?” She asked, her eyes suddenly wide with worry.

“No, Your Majesty, but a certain bird does require your attention,” Steel Blade said, his voice serious.

Celestia’s eyes lit up. “Philomena is back?” She said hopefully, and after receiving a nod of confirmation from the guard, she pushed open the doors into the room.

***

Celestia’s mouth hung open as she took in the scene in front of her. Her bed was damaged and half-burned, books were spread across the floor with burned covers, and some of her bookshelves had also met the same fate. She looked at her unicorn guard, who was laying leisurely on her bed with her scorched armor in a pile on the floor. Spike and Philomena both slept around her, Spike curled into a crook in Overwatch’s body and Philomena using the guard’s barrel as a perch, despite her talons making a noticeable impression where they sat.

Overwatch perked up at Celestia’s entrance, managing to salute without disturbing the sleepers before motioning with her head at the birdcage next to the bed. With a raised eyebrow, Celestia walked slowly towards the gilded cage, peering cautiously at its contents.

“T-Twilight,” Celestia said with worry in her voice, her gaze focused on her sleeping student.

“Shrrrrr...” Twilight stretched up, her dizziness vanishing the moment she took in the blurry image of her mentor. “P-Princess!” She shouted in panic as she made a full bow, trying to make herself look smaller than she already was. “I’m sorry for destroying your bedchamber, princess! I will accept any punishment you see fit.”

Celestia ignored Twilight’s panic attack, having long ago given up on assuring her student that she would not punish her for foolish reasons and passing the responsibility over to Spike. “Twilight, are you alright? Did Philomena hurt you?” she asked, worry and concern in her voice as she noticed the slight burns and the closed wounds on her tiny student. The princess was quick to realize that Philomena had tried to defend her territory, turning the bedchamber into a battlefield.

Steel Blade walked into the room as Spike rubbed his eyes blearily at the noise, raising his head. Philomena slowly opened her eyes, only to notice the worried expression of her owner focused on the tiny unicorn bowing in shame to her. Philomena opened her eyes in surprise and attempted to sneak out, only to be swiftly captured in a levitation field by a grinning Overwatch, once again looking at her menacingly.

“N-n-no no no no no, I mean, yes, she did, but it wasn’t her fault. The fault is all mine. I provoked her,” Twilight spoke in panic, still bowing, not daring to look her mentor in the eyes. Celestia knew Twilight well enough to ignore her self guilt, lighting up her horn and sending a wave of healing magic through the bars to her tiny student, easily overpowering the anti-magical seals of her own making.

Once Twilight looked more presentable, Celestia focused her gaze on her pet, her face an emotionless mask. “I see you are back, Philomena, but I am very disappointed in you,” she spoke firmly. Philomena began to look scared and embarrassed, Spike and Steel Blade watching in amusement.

“You’ve caused a large amount of damage to my bedchamber, burned many of my books, and though I would let all that slide, there is something I cannot forgive you for,” Celestia stated firmly as she levitated her pet closer to her face, staring intently into her eyes and finishing coldly. “You’ve hurt my faithful student.”

Philomena looked around in panic and fear as she recognized the expression on her owner’s face. It was the same expression she gave her for accidentally setting the kitchen on fire and causing serious burns on many of the ponies on the kitchen staff, and she was not looking forward to being locked in her birdcage for a year or longer.

“But,” Celestia stated calmly, giving Philomena back into Overwatch’s telekinetic grasp, “before I decide your punishment, I want everypony in this room to tell me what happened, and...” she turned to look at her student sternly, “I expect the honest truth, not blindly taking blame on yourself, my little student.”

***

It was soon very evident that the only story she could trust was that of Specialist Overwatch. Twilight had told her that she had provoked the bird into taking hostile action against her, though Celestia more than knew that Philomena could restrain herself from just those annoyances. Spike and Steel Blade had made it very clear that it was Philomena’s fault and as a whole, made it seem as if they were omitting many of the relevant details.

Celestia sat quietly on her balcony as she ran through the various details of the encounter. Twilight may want to take all the blame for herself, but her actions were completely excusable while those of my pet Philomena clearly went over the line. If I punish Philomena, however, Twilight will blame herself for it. As for Spike, his attack provoked Philomena to burn my bedchamber, but he only wanted to protect my student.

Everyone in the room watched Celestia nervously as she strolled back in, looking imposingly at those gathered. “I have come to a decision,” Celestia said firmly, a proud grin on her face.

She looked first to the small dragon. “Spike, though your actions were a result of anger after what had happened to my student, they still caused a huge amount of damage while the entire situation could have been defused peacefully. As punishment, I will be cutting your gem desserts in half for the next two months, and if you try to hurt Philomena in any way, that won’t be the last of it.”

“Oh, come on!” Spike replied, crossing his arms and frowning.

Celestia’s gaze focused on Twilight, who bowed right away, expecting, if not demanding, to be punished. “I find little fault in your actions, my faithful student, and you won’t convince me otherwise. Even if you deserved any at all, spending hours in a birdcage was punishment enough.”

“But princess, I damaged your possessions!” Twilight said, pointing her tiny hoof at the misshapen steel bars and the damaged latch.

Celestia simply rolled her eyes before taking off one of her golden horseshoes and, with one strong strike, made a hole in the bars for her student to escape. “A sealed birdcage which you tried to escape from and apparently failed, even with a little help advice from Miss Overwatch. I will just count it towards your study expenses,” she said cheerfully, giggling at the mental image of Twilight using her own body as a battering ram in an attempt to break free.

Finally her gaze focused on Philomena, who gulped in expectation of her doom. “As for you, my dear Philomena, you may have been my companion for over a century, but that does not excuse you from assaulting my student.” She watched as Philomena hung her head further, before clearing her throat to catch the phoenix’s attention again, “However, considering that Twilight wishes you to be forgiven...” Celestia paused for dramatic effect before putting on a grin. “I want you to assist my student in her research.”

Philomena blinked in confusion as Celestia continued. “Your flames have damaged several books, and even though I cast a restoration spell on them that will restore them to their former glory, my student will need you to volunteer as a test subject until they are fixed.” She smiled cheerfully, “I am sure that my Twilight can learn a lot from a powerful and proud phoenix like you.”

Noticing the disapproving look on Philomena’s face, she levitated the pet closer and whispered into her ear. “You will assist in my student’s research without complaint, and if I find out that you have disobeyed Twilight or have tried to harm her, I will make sure that your rebirth will come much earlier than usual. Do I make myself clear?” Celestia asked, Philomena nodding her head in terrified acknowledgement.

“Twilight,” Celestia called, capturing the tiny unicorn’s attention. “Philomena has voluntarily decided to assist in your research as an apology,” she said cheerfully as she dropped off her pet in front of Twilight.

“Really?” Twilight shouted in surprise, looking up into the phoenix’s eyes. Philomena nodded eagerly, and the unicorn began bouncing happily around her. “That’s wonderful! There’s so much I can learn from you. I can study your magical flames and your feathers can help me in a project I was working on!” Philomena looked a bit overwhelmed by the tiny unicorn’s enthusiasm as Celestia, Spike, and Steel Blade grinned in satisfaction, finding the punishment fitting and just.

“This is incredible!” Twilight shouted into the wind, hanging tightly to Philomena’s back as the phoenix flew through the air near one of Canterlot’s towers, her entire body in flames, but without heat.

Weeks had passed since Twilight had begun to research Philomena, finding her unique magic quite fascinating. “A flame that will hurt only those you want to hurt. If I can manage to discover an offensive spell that can do that, there will be no risk of hurting allies on the battlefield, and I would never have imagined that even one feather has enough magic in it to revive an unconscious pony,” Twilight rambled in glee, watching the flaming trail bursting forth from the phoenix’s tail.

Philomena landed softly on the balcony, allowing the unicorn to hop off of her back and lead the two into the bedchamber. “Now that I think about it,” Twilight said slowly, looking over her shoulder at the regal bird, “if you only wanted to hurt Spike and me, why did my mentor’s bedchamber almost burn down?”

Twilight turned to face the phoenix, who was hiding an embarrassed blush under a wing. “You weren’t thinking about doing that, were you?” she said, and in response, Philomena sent a ball of fire into her face, only for the fire to pass by without doing any harm, hit the bed without burning it, and dissipate as quickly as they appeared.

Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. “Don’t worry, I understand. While angry or afraid, we often forget about the simplest solutions,” she said kindly as she trotted into her mentor’s bedchamber. “Now please follow me. There are still some tests I want to conduct before I go to the Wonderbolts show with the Princess. Oh, I’m so excited! First I get to learn about a phoenix‘s magic up close, and soon, I get to learn about pegasus magic from best fliers in Equestria!”

Bonus Ch - My Little Twiny April Foal's Day

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My Little Twiny April Foals Day

Written by Rated Ponystar

Miss Bookmarker never knew a more serious library lover then the little protege of the princess herself, Twilight Sparkle. The tiny student was not only a gifted magic user, but also a gifted and dedicated reader as well. It had been such a long time since anypony had been interested in the library, most of the time she had to just deal with the occasional guard who came in during their usual patrol. The princess rarely ever visited, having surely read every book in here at least a hundred times over, and at times she would get one of the scribes or other servants who came in for some light reading.

But Twilight Sparkle? If she could live in a library, she would. It took awhile to get used to the tiny unicorn, but her polite manners and willingness to learn quickly won Miss. Bookmarker over. Twilight had come in many times, asking for books on magic, history, science, literature, and more. But today, the librarian had been asked to help her with a different request. One that she hadn't ever expected to hear.

Retreating back to her desk, she set the books down on the floor, right next to the tiny unicorn who looked at the book tower as if she was ready to challenge them. “These are all the books I could find on pranking,” said Miss. Bookmarker as she wrote down each title and return date. While doing so, she looked at Twilight out of the corner of her eye and raised an eyebrow. “I never knew you were a prankster, Miss. Sparkle.”

Twilight blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Oh, I-I’m not really. I only just learned what’s coming up in a few days.”

“Oh?”

“Yup! April Foals Day is coming soon!” announced Twilight with a beaming smile.

Ah, April Foals Day, thought the librarian as she turned her head toward the calendar. I almost forgot. The holiday for pranks and jokes. Miss. Bookmarker paused in her thoughts before looking at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve never seen you interested in the holiday before, Miss. Sparkle. Why the sudden change?”

“Well...” Twilight nervously tapped her forehooves together. "It’s a bit of a long story..."

Ch18 - The Wonderbolts

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 18

The Wonderbolts

Clouds raced by Celestia as she made her way to the Wonderbolts Stadium, the powerful flaps of her wings propelling her steadily towards her destination as the afternoon sun hung high above her.

“Twilight,” Celestia called back, “I still don’t understand why you’re so adamant about not using your magical ropes? What if you fall off?”

Twilight readjusted her hooves, which were held tightly to her mentor’s neck, before she replied, the cool breeze whipping her mane back and the contents of her saddlebags rustling about. “Because I don’t need them. Even if I do lose my grip, I’m sure you wouldn’t let me fall too far, would you, Princess?”

Celesia closed her eyes, smiling as she took a deep breath of fresh air. “Of course I won’t, my dear student, though I doubt you would even need my help in the first place.”

The two passed by a number of pegasi flying to the same show, picking up more than a few curious stares from ponies surprised to see their Princess flying about without her chariot or her guards. Celestia flew with a whoosh past a group of unwary pegasi, giggling at their surprised exclamations at her sudden appearance. I was missing a lot of fun by keeping up pointless appearances. So what if I don’t fly in a chariot from place to place like I should? My subjects shouldn’t be the only ones to enjoy the wonders of flying.

Over the shrieking wind, Celestia heard her student shouting in excitement. “Twilight, you really do enjoy flying, don't you?”

“Yes I do!” she shouted cheerfully.

Celestia chuckled, turning around to add, “If you enjoy it so much, how about I have a custom saddle made for you? You know, so you could ride on me or other pegasi more comfortably?”

“Really, this sounds like a wonderful ide—wait a moment, am I being disrespectful by riding on you, Princess? The idea of riding on you on a saddle—oh no, I’m embarrassing you in front of all your subjects, aren’t I!” Twilight spoke, her eyes widening and she looked frantically around.

Celestia quickly stopped the oncoming panic attack with a barrel roll, unable to stop herself from grinning when she heard Twilight yelp in surprise. “Twilight, at this point I just want us to enjoy our time together; my reputation won’t be ruined because of a few flying tricks. And besides, very soon you’ll be learning from some of the best fliers in Equestria instead. This is the last time we can fly like this together for a long time.”

Twilight readjusted her grip of the princess as she nodded her head. “In that case, full speed ahead, Princess! Let’s show those pegasi some real flying, alicorn style!” she shouted cheerfully.

Celestia was happy to comply, beginning a slow climb for more altitude. It has only been half a year since she started to use her wings during her public appearances instead of riding in a chariot, and as a result, she was able to access more of her innate pegasus magic and her flying skills had stopped resembling that of a waterlogged chicken.

Even inexperienced, Celestia still gave Twilight a hard time as she did a few basic aerial maneuvers, hoping to make the moment memorable. Adrenaline and excitement energized Twilight’s senses as she did her best not to fall off her mentor’s back. However, as her hooves began to slip from Celestia’s neck, she quickly began to regret that she was not using magic ropes to keep her in place.

It was when Celestia swept into a dive that the last piece of fur slipped from Twilight’s grasp and she began to fall. A twinge of fear ran through Twilight as the distance between her and her mentor increased every second, though she quickly suppressed it and began to concentrate.

Celestia performed a few more small stunts. “What do you think about this one, my dear student? I learned it just recently,” she asked cheerfully. After failing to hear a response, she spoke again, somewhat worriedly this time. “Is something the matter, my little student? Was I too audacious in my attempts?”

After a few more seconds of silence, Celestia quickly noticed a sudden lack of anything holding onto her neck. After confirming this suspicion with a quick sweep of a hoof, she began to panic. Celestia turned back and started to fly around in search of her student. A few moments passed before she attempted to calm herself, consciously slowing her quickened breath and realizing full well that Twilight could take care of herself despite her tiny size.

After clearing her mind, Celestia flew back, looking around carefully until she noticed a small lavender light in the distance, the light silhouette of her student inside. Wasting no time, Celestia flew under Twilight. “Jump on, my faithful student.”

Twilight released her self levitation spell and was once again holding tightly to her mentor’s neck. “Thank you, Princess.”

Wasting no more time with amateurish stunts, Celestia, with a powerful flap, began speeding towards the great colosseum on the edge of the city. Its seats were packed with an excited crowd numbering in the thousands surrounding a large, open central area. A few safety measures separated ponies from a long fall to the ground while clouds in various shapes served as obstacles for the participating pegasi. Celestia landed gracefully and gently in the VIP spot specially prepared for her. Her two pegasus guards were already standing attentively on either side, no longer bothering to escort the most powerful being in the world whenever she flew on her own.

Twilight climbed eagerly to the top of Celestia’s head, watching from behind the golden crown as the announcer’s voice boomed throughout the arena, proclaiming the entrance of none other than the magnificent Wonderbolts.

“There she is... So small, and yet so valuable,” one unicorn whispered to another. They were sitting in the back seats of the stadium, discreetly observing the little unicorn atop Celestia’s head as the rest of the crown was fully focused on the Wonderbolts show.

“Yes, she is the princess’s personal treasure, after all. It would be quite the tragedy if somepony were to steal it away from her,” the other unicorn replied quietly.

“Oh, she would be devastated with worry that somepony would damage her treasure beyond repairs.”

“And I bet that the princess will be very, very generous to a pony who would bring her little pet back to her unharmed. After all, what worth would be a magically talented student without her tiny horn on her cute, little head?”

“Oh, she would pay a very high price to ensure that it won't happen. The only problem is that the little treasure never leaves the princess or the guards’ side for even for moment.”

“It is just a matter of time until she find herself without an escort. Patience is a virtue, and those who wait patiently are always rewarded.”

“I’ve noticed how much you are enjoying these shows, Twilight. It seems that magic, reading, and adventuring are not your only passions any longer,” Celestia said cheerfully as she looked up at her tiny student, who gazed back down into her big eyes, returning the smile. The glowing, thundering contrails of the Wonderbolts hung in the air above them, the remains of a bright and explosive finale.

“After you taught me that magic is more than just unicorn spells, I have become even more thrilled to learn about it, and once I uncover the secrets behind pegasus magic and finish creating my first spell, I would love to study the powers of earth pony magic as well.”

Celestia beamed at her student’s words. Twilight, you are so open minded to the world around you. I‘ve met many wise and powerful unicorns in my long life, but they’ve always thought that unicorns were superior to pegasi and earth ponies, and too many of them completely disregarded the existence of any magic outside of unicorn spellcasting.

“Princess Celestia?” Celestia turned to the pegasus guard at her side, who snapped a curt salute before continuing. “I’ve been informed that you were planning to discuss a few plans with the Captain of the Wonderbolts? Shall I lead you to them?”

Celestia simply shook her head. “Not at the moment, Sergeant. Though I do indeed need to meet with them soon, I think we can simply intercept them at their headquarters so they can prepare for their upcoming vacation. Meanwhile...” The princess looked up at her student still perched on her head. “We still need to keep up public appearances, and I am more than certain that there are a few ponies out there who would like to talk with their princess and her faithful student.”

Twilight simply groaned at the prospect, to which Celestia gave a chuckle as she added coyly, “I’m quite aware of how enthusiastic you are about these public appearances, Twilight, but try not to fall asleep before we can get to the Wonderbolts, alright?”

“Wake up, my little student.”

“Hhrrr... Are we there yet?” Twilight asked, her voice heavy with sleep as she tried to sit up, looking blearily at her surroundings.

“Well, if it isn’t the famous Twilight Sparkle. Chilling on the princess’s back I see,” said a coarse female voice.

Twilight quickly jumped up to her hooves as she tried to focus on the big yellow face of a uniformed pegasus in front of her. “Oh my... I... ummm... are you...,” Twilight hastily sputtered, her mind still hazy from sleep, blushing from the embarrassment of leaving a bad first impression.

Celestia chuckled. “My faithful little student, I would like to introduce you to Spitfire, the Captain of the Wonderbolts.”

“C-captain of the Wonderbolts?”

“The one and only,” Spitfire said proudly.

“Umm... Hello, it is an honor to meet you. Your show was amazing.”

“No sweat. Your show was kind of impressive as well.”

Twilight blushed as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “M-my show?”

Spitfire gave a short laugh before looking back at Twilight, a relaxed expression on her face. “A couple years ago, some of my teammates and I were attending a party in your name. We’ve always tried to act professional and give those annoying nobles the attention they’re so desperate for, but when we saw you levitating those stuck-up ponies in the air and then dazzling them with a few illusions... well, that party was a bit more bearable.”

“T-thanks,” Twilight said hesitantly, before she furrowed her brow at the pegasi captain. “Wait, how do you know those were illusions? I didn’t think anypony else noticed.”

“Heh, I may not be as spell-wise as the unicorns, but we Wonderbolts are still very perceptive. It’s not hard for us to tell the difference between illusion and reality from, say, a hundred yards away.”

Twilight was impressed. She knew that pegasi had to be very perceptive to notice small details from the air at long distance or to swerve away from obstacles, but being able to distinguish what was real was something new. “Wow, that’s amazing,” she said in obvious awe.

“Anyways,” Spitfire said, waving off the compliment, “what brings a tiny celebrity like yourself to the Wonderbolts Headquarters? I’m sure that you’re not just here to say hello.”

Celestia cleared her throat, catching Spitfire’s attention. “We are here to seek your assistance in Twilight’s studies,” she stated, an innocent smile on her face. “In order to ensure that you and any volunteers you can find will have time for this, I have written up documents allotting the Wonderbolts a one month break from their duties.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “A study, eh? And what can an airhead like me do to assist?”

“My little student is currently studying a branch of magic which you are very experienced in: pegasus magic.”

“Pegasus magic? Really…” Spitfire turned back to the tiny unicorn perched behind the alicorn’s neck. “And why would you be interested in pegasus magic, Miss Sparkle?” she asked suspiciously.

Twilight glanced around, unsure how to answer for a moment. “Well, I’ve already learned a lot about many different kinds of spells, but once my mentor took me on a flight around the castle, I found flying really exciting. She taught me everything she knows about pegasus and earth pony magic, and I couldn’t help but to go over any book on the topic I could find,” Twilight said, her hesitation quickly turned into excitement.

Spitfire gave Twilight a disbelieving look before turning back to the princess. “Is she for real? Since when did unicorns become interested in anything outside of their own horns?”

Celestia chuckled. “Twilight is anything but an ordinary unicorn.”

Spitfire nodded slowly before turning back to Twilight, who was looking confusedly at her. “So you wanna learn the wonders of pegasus magic? Well, you came to the right place. You’ll be an expert when I’m done with you.”

“That’s wonderful!” Twilight said excitedly. “Maybe I can finally be able to finish the spell I’m working on!”

Spitfire was curious about the spell Twilight was talking about, but decided to leave the question for later. Her gaze once again fell on Princess Celestia. “So let me get this straight. You’re giving us a month of vacation as a cover for your student to learn from us? Like, a school camp or something?”

Celestia nodded with a wide smile. “Yes, but I’d like to make it clear that I only expect you and your volunteers to assist and take care of her. The rest are free to use their free time as they wish.”

At least until I swipe a few of them to train me, Celestia thought. Off the record of course, to help me stand against my sister in aerial combat.

Spitfire thought deeply for a moment, narrowing her eyes at Celestia’s innocent smile, before letting out her breath. “Fair enough.”

Twilight had listened quietly to the discussion, only for a question to pop up in her mind. She poked her mentor in the neck a few times to grab her attention. “Excuse me, Princess, but what do you mean by ‘take care of me?’”

“Oh, that’s quite simple, my faithful, little student. For the next month, you will spend your time with Spitfire and the Wonderbolts as a part of your studies, and your personal guards will finally get their own well-deserved vacation. I trust that Spitfire will be able to make your stay here both comfortable and safe,” Celestia said encouragingly.

“Well... if you trust them to take care of me, then I’ll trust them too,” Twilight stated with a curt nod.

Celestia levitated her little student up and lightly hugged her, willfully ignorant of the amusement of the Wonderbolts in the room. “I will miss you Twilight, but I am sure you will have a wonderful time here, and I wish you the best of luck with your project.”

“Thank you, Princess. I’ll miss you too, but I promise that I will do my best.”

Celestia nuzzled Twilight briefly before she set her down on the floor, turning back to Spitfire again. “I hope the two of you will get along. Farewell and best of luck,” she said, before she exited the room, Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts bowing in respect.

Spitfire straightened back up as the door closed behind the princess, looking down at the floor at the tiny unicorn mare she was now responsible for, who was looking at her curiously. “Hop up,” Spitfire said, about to lower her wing to Twilight’s level. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when the unicorn jumped smoothly to her back before she had even moved.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow at Twilight, amused. “You’re pretty quick. I like that. Now let’s start with a few introductions to my teammates,” she said as she gathered the Wonderbolts in a line, briefing them on Princess Celestia’s orders and introducing Twilight to each member. She concluded with a request for volunteers to assist in the little unicorn’s study.

However, despite Twilight’s fame and much to Spitfire’s surprise, most of the Wonderbolts decided to enjoy their vacation rather than hang out with the tiny unicorn, leaving Twilight with only Spitfire and Soarin' as companions. The lack of initiative annoyed Spitfire to no end.

“Where do you think you’re all going? Vacation isn’t starting just yet! To the training grounds! NOW!” Spitfire ordered loudly, her eye giving a subtle twitch. She turned to the unicorn on her back, only to notice that she was now hiding under a slowly vanishing magenta bubble.

“Everything alright, Twilight?” Spitfire asked concernedly.

Twilight simply nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just that my ears are a bit sensitive, so I use a soundproof barrier whenever somepony is screaming or yelling.”

Spitfire gave an awkward smile, lowering her head slightly. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. So, what’s the first thing on the schedule?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Maybe we can show you around. Hey, maybe we can start with the canteen! They’re serving some delicious pie today, I’ve heard,” Soarin' said. His stomach took that moment to begin growling, and Spitfire simply rolled her eyes as she followed him out, her passenger stifling a giggle.

“Soarin’,” Spitfire said, raising an eyebrow at the other pegasus. “How do you manage to stay in the Wonderbolts with eating habits like that?”

Soarin’ finished inhaling his pie, turning with a smirk to his superior seated at the table next to him. “Why do you have them serve pie so often if you think the Wonderbolts can’t handle it?”

Spitfire returned the smirk. “Touché. Looks like I’ll have to cut down on the sweets I’m feeding you featherbrains,” she stated nonchalantly, turning away from Soarin’s horrified expression to Twilight, who was busy chewing through a tiny piece of Soarin’s pie, broken off and placed in a separate saucer. “Sooo, Miss Sparkle—”

Twilight held up a hoof, stopping Spitfire as she finished swallowing. “Twilight will do just fine.”

“Very well, Twilight. Is it true that the princess herself flew you around on her back?” Spitfire asked curiously.

“Yes she did, after she—” Twilight hesitated, unsure whether or not she could tell other ponies about how her mentor shrunk herself twice a day to play along with her crazy adventures.

“After she… Hmn?” Spitfire said, chewing thoughtfully.

“Nevermind,” Twilight quickly said, taking another tiny bite of Soarin's pie. “But yes, she does let me fly on her back, and I’ve very much enjoyed the experience.”

Spitfire chuckled. “Well, I’m not sure if you know, but you’ve sure got the princess into high gears recently.” Twilight looked confusedly at her, and Spitfire raised an eyebrow in response. “Haven’t you noticed? She’s been so much more cheerful since she took you in as a student, and she no longer flies around in a silly chariot as if she was embarrassed of her wings,” she said, frowning as she gulped down the rest of her sandwich. “No offense to the princess and all, but in my opinion, not using those huge wings is such a waste.”

Twilight stopped through her piece of pie. Spitfire does have a point. First, the princess shrunk herself to play with me. Next, she began training alongside her royal guards, and now, she’s stopped using her chariot and is flying from place to place under her own power. I hope that these changes I seem to be responsible for are a good thing.

“Twilight? Something the matter?” Spitfire asked, interrupting Twilight’s contemplation.

The tiny unicorn shook her head in response. “No, not really.”

“You fazed out for a second there, Twilight. You sure nothing’s bothering you?” Soarin' asked, finishing off his third pie.

“Actually, there is something that I’ve always wondered since I watched your practice sessions a while ago. Whenever a Wonderbolt has an accident that would send most other ponies to the hospital, I’m surprised that they’re able to recover so quickly and continue on. How can pegasi endure so much more than an earth pony?”

Spitfire burst out into chuckles. “Rather odd question coming from a pony who survived falling from the princess’s tower like it was nothing.”

Twilight blushed. “But but, it really wasn’t! Princess Celestia cast a protection spell on me in those days, and my small size made the fall—”

“Regardless,” Spitfire interrupted, “protection spell or not or whatever other advantages you had, you’re still pretty tough. Well, for a unicorn, that is.” She bumped Twilight with a hoof lightly, grinning widely.

Twilight regained her balance, giving Spitfire an awkward smile. “T-thank you, I guess.”

Soarin', swallowing another piece of pie down, spoke up. “Well, back to your original question, the reason pegasi recover so easily comes mostly from our biology and our magic,” he began, ignoring Spitfire as she rolled her eyes. “Being a well-trained pegasus lets us fly fast, but when you fly so high and so fast, you crash often and you crash hard, so our bones are a bit more elastic to compensate. Pegasus bones will absorb the force and bend rather than crack or break like the bones of earth ponies or unicorns.”

Twilight listened eagerly to Soarin's lecture, taking notes on a tiny notepad she had produced from her customized saddlebags. “Of course, it still doesn’t make us invincible,” the stallion continued. “While crashing into a solid rock won’t result in permanent damage, crashing into something sharp will still end up as you’d expect.”

Spitfire gave a snort of amusement. “Soarin' was always best in anatomy and physiology. Strange subjects to master, but I guess it’s helped him in his flying career.”

“Hey! I thought it was because I got skills,” Soarin' replied, pouting.

Twilight paused for a second in her note-taking. “Thank you, Soarin’. It seems I will need to consider bone alteration in my spell as well,” she stated cheerfully, before jotting down a few more details.

“Spell? What spell?” Soarin' asked curiously, the two Wonderbolts looking pointedly at Twilight.

“Just a little project of mine. Ever heard of a spell that can give ponies butterfly wings?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “If you mean those pathetic imitations, then yeah, they’re fine if you want to look like a fairy,” she said caustically.

“Well, I’m trying to create a more advanced spell that can temporarily convert a pony’s inner magic into pegasus magic, the result of which, I’m hoping, will create proper pegasus wings and—D-did I say something wrong?” Twilight looked hesitantly between her two audience members, who were now staring at her as if she were crazy.

***

“It’s quite an idea you have there, Twilight,” Spitfire said, trotting out onto the main grounds, the tiny unicorn sitting comfortably on Soarin’s back, “but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Twilight nodded. “I hope that what I can learn here will help me along. It’s a fantastic concept, and I’d love to see where this takes me.”

Spitfire smirked. “Well, I have a few ideas on how to start,” she remarked, before turning to gesture over the entire area. “Welcome to the Wonderbolts Training Facility. I feel that the best way to teach about pegasus magic would be to show you how we train ourselves and, in turn, our magic,” she said, glancing over at Twilight’s awed expression. “We have smaller facilities in almost every major city in Equestria for members of the Wonderbolts to prepare for our shows, though most of our most talented candidates are sent to the Wonderbolts Academy here whenever we have an open spot on the team. What do you say? Fancy enough for your tastes?”

Soarin' grinned as he watched his new, tiny friend nod in agreement, her mouth still hanging open. Things were already big enough for Twilight’s size, but the wide open training area was humongous, managing to feel spacious even with all the pegasi working to hone their skills present.

“So, any questions?” Spitfire asked.

Twilight slowly recovered from her amazement, looking around the grounds eagerly before focusing on a large, circular wheel at the far edge. “What’s that?” she said, pointing at it with a hoof.

Spitfire turned to look at what the tiny unicorn was pointing at. “Oh, that’s the Dizzitron. We use it to simulate what happens when a strong wind knocks a pegasus off balance or if the pegasus hits an obstacle and loses control during a flight. The purpose of it is to improve recovery time, since it can often decide the pony’s fate.”

Twilight jumped off from Soarin's back as she ran to inspect the giant machine, soon teleporting from place to place to check it from every angle. “You sure are a very curious one,” Soarin' said as he walked closer, momentarily considering how to catch the tiny pony before simply giving up after several failed attempts to catch up with her, keeping a close watch on her instead as he shifted his weight restlessly.

“Calm down, please,” Soarin' pled as his eyes darted about between each bright flash of light, before Twilight teleported to reappear atop Spitfire’s head.

“Can I try it!” Twilight asked, causing Spitfire to jump, captured off guard by the tiny unicorn screaming in her ear.

“Try what?” she asked, shaking off her daze.

“The Dizzitron, of course!” Twilight replied cheerfully.

Spitfire blinked few times before before nodding in understanding. “Oh, you want a demonstration? Sure, why not? Just let me...” She drifted to a stop as Twilight leaned over to look upside down into her eyes.

“No, I mean, can I try it out?”

Spitfire, Soarin', and two of the Wonderbolts close enough to listen in stared at the tiny unicorn in silence, before they all burst out in laughter. Spitfire herself fell to the floor laughing breathlessly, Twilight jumping off her head to the grass just in time.

“G-g-good one... You sure have a great sense of humor,” Spitfire said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“But... It wasn’t meant to be a joke. I really mean it,” Twilight said hesitantly, causing Spitfire to look at her disbelievingly, even as the other pegasi fell into greater fits.

“You sure about that, Twilight? First off, you have no wings, so this machine will probably throw you to the other side of Canterlot,” Spitfire said, rising back to her hooves as she maintained eye contact with her charge. “Second, even if you were a pegasus with wings and all, do you think I would let you use it considering your size?”

Twilight stomped her hoof angrily, her tone serious and firm. “I may not have wings, but I can still fly!”

Before Spitfire and Soarin' could reply, she lit her horn and levitated herself into the air, flying a few orbits around Spitfire until she stopped herself in midair in front of her nose, a sly smile on her face. “Any objections now?”

Spitfire rubbed her eyes with her hooves, unsure if what she just saw an illusion or not. “So you can levitate yourself. Neat.”

“That’s right. I know I can’t fly half as fast as an average pegasus, and to be honest I can hardly fly as fast as most ponies can run, nor can I levitate myself longer than ten minutes before my mind becomes exhausted, but I can still fly,” Twilight said, her forelegs crossed as she stared intently into the giant eyes of the Wonderbolt Captain.

“So,” Twilight said, a note of finality in her voice, “can I try out the Dizzitron?”

Soarin' chuckled. “We could always let her try. Worse case scenario, we’ll just catch her.”

Spitfire fell silent for a moment, looking impassively at the pony floating in front of her before giving a curt nod. “Fine, fine, but if you get hurt, I’m not answering to the princess for that. Deal?”

“Deal,” Twilight stated firmly as she levitated herself closer to the Dizzitron. The metal handle that was made to keep pegasi immobile proved too big for her, so instead she cast several magic ropes around herself, expending plenty of magic to make sure they were durable enough.

“Okay rookie, I still think it’s a bad idea to let a unicorn do a pegasus’s job, but if you insist, we will set up this to the speed we use to test our recruits.” Spitfire paused and took a deep breath before continuing, a more serious tone in her voice. “The moment I say release, you will need to dispel those magic ropes of yours without delay. Do it even a moment later and you will hit the floor. Do I make myself clear?” she shouted.

Twilight gave an affirmative shout, and Spitfire nodded, turning to Soarin’ at the controls. “Start the Dizzitron!” she ordered as the stallion pushed the lever, and Twilight slowly started to circle around faster and faster.

After ten seconds, Spitfire gave the signal and Twilight dispelled her magic ropes, launching her high into the air, two Wonderbolts already in midair to catch her if she got too close to the ground.

The world spun turbulently around Twilight, but the dizziness was nothing compared to her experiences with power surges, the uncontrollable outburst of magical energy causing much more debilitating headaches than her current state. Without wasting a moment, her horn lit up as she stabilized herself, stopping her spinning in a mere four seconds.

Twilight took another few seconds to calculate the coordinates of the finish line she was meant to fly, shaking out the dizziness as best she could. She stopped levitating herself and immediately began concentrating on a teleportation spell as she fell towards the ground. Her spellcasting was notably longer than usual, but she managed to reappear very close to the finish line. Twilight quickly switched spells again, levitating herself past the finish line as Spitfire stopped the stopwatch in her hoof.

“How did I do?” Twilight asked, the last remnants of her disorientation soon wearing off.

“T-ten seconds,” Spitfire said in disbelief as several of the other Wonderbolts gathering around shared the same expression on their faces.

“Is... that... good?” Twilight asked, looking uncertainly at the growing crowd.

“Is that good? An average recruit takes at least fifteen seconds to recover, and the best of us take at least seven on a good day. The fact that a unicorn can match up to top notch Wonderbolts is pretty darn impressive, if you ask me!”

Twilight teleported onto Spitfire’s back, causing the pegasus to jump at the sudden contact. Spitfire spread her wing, motioning for Twilight to sit on it, which she did, blushing as she gave a hesitant smile to the captain. “T-thanks, then.”

“So. How did you do that?” Spitfire asked, an eyebrow raised.

Twilight gave a wide smile. “It’s actually very simple. Even though I can’t levitate myself around quickly, I can still stabilize myself in midair with my magic far faster than a pegasus could with wings. While casting spells does require a lot of concentration, I’ve learned how to cast spells even under the worst of circumstances from my time with the princess, so the moment I saw the finish line, teleporting close to it was easy.”

Spitfire snorted in amusement. “I never expected to be really impressed by a unicorn, but you’re not half bad. Are you sure you’re not a pegasus in disguise?” she asked jokingly, causing Twilight to try to hide her growing blush behind a feather.

“I don’t have any flying skills, but it turns out that my magic was very useful for this test. I’m sure that if I was a pegasus, I would take three or four times longer to get to the finish line.”

Spitfire chuckled. “Well, I’m not sure you’d do quite that badly if you can handle this that quickly,” she said before turning to the rest of the training area. “C’mon, this thing isn’t the only type of training we do around here. There’s much more to try out for an amateur flier like you.”

Hours passed as she tried to analyze the Wonderbolts flying movements, asking a plethora of questions and participating in a multitude of exercises as she tried to gain as much information as possible. Despite her best efforts, Twilight ended up having more than a few embarrassing accidents, her huge reserves of magic unable to keep up with the stamina of the elite pegasi. The sun had barely passed the horizon when the final whistle blew.

“Time’s up everypony!” Spitfire said, her voice carrying clearly over the entire area as Wonderbolts assembled in a line in front of her. “Starting tomorrow, you all get one month passes to spend time with your family, sleep on clouds, or do whatever you slackers do in your spare time. Just keep in mind that once the vacations are over, you will not be happy if I have to get your lazy flank back into shape. Am I clear?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!”

“Good. Now go and pack your stuff. It’s too late for you to leave already, so rest up because I want all of you outta here by tomorrow morning!”

The Wonderbolts gave a final salute before turning to walk back to their quarters, leaving Spitfire, Soarin' and Twilight alone. “Is she always this hard on her teammates?” Twilight asked quietly from her perch on Soarin’s wing.

“Nahh... She’s usually much more relaxed, but I guess the lack of volunteers to assist you in your studies put her in bad mood. After all, while they’ll be chilling out on a beach somewhere, Spitfire and I will be stuck with you,” Soarin' said, before he caught himself being a little more frank than he intended. “Teaching you, I mean. About pegasus magic.”

Despite Soarin's attempts to correct his mistake and the enjoyable day she had, Twilight looked down guiltily, wondering if she really was just a burden for them. On one hoof, Spitfire and Soarin' were really nice and kind and they seemed to have fun in her company, but what if, in reality, they thought she was just wasting their time?

“Hey you two! You coming or not?” Spitfire shouted, prompting Soarin' with his little passenger into a quick trot to catch up.

“Hey Twilight, I was wondering,” Soarin’ asked, giving her an awkward smile as he tried to compensate for his slip-up. “If you’ve flown on the princess, would you like to also fly on a Wonderbolt?”

“Umm... Sure, I guess, b-but I wouldn’t want to impose.” Twilight replied hesitantly.

“Oh, I won’t mind, and I’m sure Spitfire won’t either, right?” Soarin' asked enthusiastically.

The captain nodded her head, still looking forward as she replied absentmindedly. “Yeah, sure, whatever...”

“That settles it. I have some materials we can use to sew a saddle for your size. Y’know, so you can ride comfortably and enjoy all awesome stunts we do.”

“Well, last time I tried to sew didn’t turn out spectacularly, but I think I’m up to it now. Sounds good,” Twilight replied.

Soarin’ lit up in a smile. “Alright then! By right back,” he said, before he placed Twilight on Spitfire’s back and trotted off.

Twilight watched as the stallion disappeared out of her sight before she turned to Spitfire. “So where are we going? Do you have any rooms I can stay in?”

“Indeed we do. Right now though, I have a bit of paperwork to do, considering our unexpected vacation, and I need to reschedule our performances until after this month. I don’t think I can accommodate you in my room, but there should be some empty rooms elsewhere in the barracks,” Spitfire said as she approached a large, metal, building, marked clearly with a stenciled ‘3’ on its front. “A couple of my teammates told me that room three should have two beds open, so you’ll be sleeping there tonight.”

Spitfire pushed the door open and walked inside, completely failing to acknowledge the other Wonderbolts already present as she placed Twilight on a free bed near the door. “Make yourself comfortable. I bet that Soarin' is out to find materials to make a saddle with you, but I would suggest you leave it for tomorrow morning. I’ll be sure to tell him where to find you later, so for now, just get some rest.”

Twilight nodded, sliding her tiny saddlebags onto the table next to her temporary bed before moving to examine the pillow. “It’s a bit smaller than what I’m used to, but it should do,” she murmured, before she jumped onto the big pillow and situated herself comfortably in the middle. She turned back to the pegasus captain, giving a small bow of her head. “Thank you for your hospitality,” Twilight said gratefully.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, “You do realize you have the entire bed at your disposal, right? Not to mention quilt, if you want it.”

Twilight smiled awkwardly. “Well... I’m so used to sleeping on Princess Celestia’s pillow that I have trouble sleeping anywhere else. As for quilt, I don’t think I’ll need it. Nights aren’t really that cold this time of year.”

Spitfire took a quick glance outside, noting the high clouds near the edge of the cliff that surrounded the high-altitude base. “Suit yourself,” she said, before turning to leave. “I have some work to do, so I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Twilight took a moment to examine her new surroundings. Five separate bunks spanned the area, each with its own nightstand near the head and a hooflocker. Her own bed, though still humongous compared to her, was noticeably smaller than the princess’s, only made to hold one normal sized pony. Windows broke up the uniformity of the walls, and a sparse collection of posters and trinkets made the space slightly more welcoming. Overall, the room was notably austere and ordered. Professional.

The main item that drew Twilight’s attention, however, was the small bookshelf on the other side of the room, filled with books and even a few snacks piled on top.

With her magic drained and unwilling to teleport, Twilight simply jumped to the floor and walked towards the bookshelf. “Maybe just one before I go to sleep...” she murmured, passing by the other occupied beds.

Twilight climbed up onto the shelf, giving a wave and a friendly smile to a nearby Wonderbolt, though the pegasus simply ignored her. With a shrug, she turned and began checking the books one by one. Most were just stories and tales for entertainment with a few comic books arranged near the end. There were more than a few Daring Do books on the shelf, so she decided to give the series a try, selecting the first of the collection.

The book itself proved to be fairly light compared to some of the books she had encountered in the past, so as an impromptu challenge, she balanced it on top of her head as she maneuvered back to her bed, once again passing by the three pegasi, who were now shooting glares in her direction.

Once she was close enough to her bed, Twilight threw the book onto it and climbed up herself, a simple task considering that the bed itself was far lower than her mentor’s. She propped the book up on the pillow before she began reading, becoming more and more entranced with each word and completely failing to discern the low whispering of the other Wonderbolts.

Minutes passed. Twilight eagerly flipped through the pages of her novel until the shadow of a pony fell over her and her reading material. She turned to find all three of the pegasi now surrounding her bed, towering above her. “H-hello, can I help you with something?” she asked out.

The three pegasi smiled innocently. “Not really,” one of them said, his voice deceptively smooth. “We just wanted to take a closer look at the princess’s pet.”

Ch19 - Friends among Foes

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 19

Friends among Foes

Twilight was taken aback. “Princess’s pet? I’m her student, not her pet!”

“Oh, my deepest apologies,” the pegasus with the tornado cutie mark replied, making a mock bow.

“Apology accep—”

“Calling you a pet would be insulting to the princess’s phoenix,” said another, this one still wearing a tight Wonderbolts training uniform. “You’re more like an entertaining toy at best.”

Twilight’s anger quickly turned into frustration. It was like dealing with nobles all over again from when she fell from her tower. “I am her student. Don’t you dare call me a toy!”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Tornado retorted.

Twilight took a deep breath, still glaring at the three pegasi. Something’s wrong. They should be professional fliers, so why they are acting like school bullies? Are they trying to provoke me?

“Well, I’m sure Captain Spitfire would love to know about how her teammates are all acting like a bunch of foals!”

The Wonderbolts simply laughed. “So you’re a snitch then, running to our Captain or your princess whenever something doesn’t go your way, eh?” asked the third one, a pegasus mare whose pajama shirt had ‘Hurricane’ embroidered across it in curly letters. “Well, too bad. Captain Spitfire is on our side.”

“A snitch? Isn’t that what bullies call foals to keep them silent about their poor treatment? I’m sorry, but I am too old for such a petty trick, so what do you want?” Twilight asked impatiently.

The three of them sighed, their expressions suddenly serious. “Alright guys, enough playing around. I think she got the hint that we don’t like her,” Hurricane said.

“Listen well, little celebrity,” the one in the uniform said, leaning forward over the unicorn. “We have enough problems dealing with the nobility and the last thing we need here is another unicorn who thinks she’s better than us.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the speaker. “And what makes you think that?”

“Because you, the famous student of our beloved princess, came here to the Wonderbolt Headquarters to show off your powerful magic as if trying to prove that unicorns are so much more superior because they don't even need wings to fly.”

Twilight took a step back, looking warily at the pegasi. “I-I didn’t mean—”

“Since this is our last chance to talk with you before we leave,” the uniformed pegasus continued, scowling, “we decided to tell you just how much of a pain in the flank you are for the captain. Soarin is only playing along because he’s the only Wonderbolt who isn’t sick of unicorns like you, but Spitfire had no choice.”

Twilight crossed her forearms, still glowering at the three. “That certainly wasn’t the impression I got when she found out I wanted to learn about pegasus magic.”

“That’s just for the show,” Tornado interjected. “We do it all the time. After we finish with our performances, we get the privilege of acting friendly and interested in whatever those stupid nobles are saying. Spitfire had to play along because she had the princess breathing down her neck.”

“On the outside, those unicorns may praise our skills,” the uniformed pegasus said, shooting a glare at Tornado for his interruption. “But we know better. We know that, behind our backs, they always talk about how inferior pegasi and earth ponies are, all the while jockeying for power away from the ‘peasant’ races.”

“And you know what?” Tornado burst out. “The show is over. We’re not going to play servant as a unicorn comes to our home to show us how great unicorn magic is. Spitfire hates you just as much as we do, and you know it.”

“T-that’s a lie!” Twilight shouted, her voice climbing higher and higher. “She thought it was amusing when I levitated those nobles at their party, and she was definitely earnest when she asked me about my performance on the Dizzitron!”

Hurricane lowered his head to Twilight’s level, causing her to step back nervously. “You want to know a secret? Your dear friends, Blueblood and Fancy Pants, may have praised you in front of those stupid nobles, as if you were some sort of a celebrity, but Spitfire wasn’t tricked. She saw past this farce and was the first one to call you the princess’s pet and toy.”

“Liar!” Twilight screamed, her horn lighting up in a sudden, spontaneous burst of magic that sent the pegasus flying back into in a wall before he could react, though he was able to slow himself by fanning out his wings reflexively.

Twilight was about to apologise for her outburst, only for the uniformed pegasus’s hoof to whip out, pressing her into an immobile position on the bed. “Spitfire does not like unicorns,” he said, in a low dangerous voice, “and yet, she gets stuck foalsitting you for a month, educating you about our magic because Princess Celestia asked her to be friendly, which forced the captain to maintain a friendly mask to hide her irritation.”

Twilight tried to free herself, but her four tiny hooves simply sunk deeper into the bed rather than push the uniformed pegasus’s hoof away. Scowling, she drew on leftovers of her magic to lift his hoof instead. “This is just a trick to get your Captain in trouble. You try to antagonize me, all the while saying horrible things about your captain. What if I do tell the princess and the nobles what the Wonderbolts think about them? Why would you try to sabotage your own Captain and ruin the reputation of the Wonderbolts?”

The moment Twilight lifted one of his hooves away, the other dove in, catching her in her concentration. “Go ahead. Tell the princess. She knows how much Spitfire and the Wonderbolts despise the nobles, and she knows that the friendly conversations are just acts because she does it all the time.”

Twilight once again attempted to lift his hoof away, this time erecting a barrier when the other one tried to pin her down. However, as the pegasus pressed harder and harder onto the magenta sphere, her magic, drained from the day’s events, began to falter. Her barrier soon failed and she ended up even more exhausted for her fruitless efforts. “Let… me… go...” she hissed, breathing heavily as she berated herself for her weakness.

The uniformed pegasus snorted. “Go ahead then. Tell the nobles what we think about them and slander our reputation. Tell the princess. She herself formed the Wonderbolts a long time ago, and I’m sure your mentor would be so proud of you for trying to defame us.”

Twilight growled as she tried to think of a response to their hateful words. The words of the nobles may have been hurtful at the time but this… this was a full-blown attack on her. “Release… me… NOW!”

Hurricane gave a sharp elbow to the uniformed pegasus, who rolled his eyes and scoffed, giving Twilight an extra push before removing his hoof. She turned to the battered mare, returning Twilight’s determined glare with her own. “Acting tough won’t help you,” the pegasus mare said, her voice low. “Anyway, I’ll get straight to the point. Our captain may be stuck for a month with you, but remember that she’s only acting friendly because she has to. No one here likes you, so don’t annoy the captain, don’t waste her time, don’t show off, just learn what you came here to learn and get out of our way. Got it?”

Twilight continued to give the three an angry glare, even as she fought back involuntary tears. “Fine,” she muttered.

“Fine?” Tornado snorted. “Don’t you feel anything about what a bother you are?”

Twilight turned to Tornado with an even stare. “I’m sorry then,” she said, her voice level and methodical. “I’m sorry for offending you and I swear that, as Princess Celestia’s protégé, I will be as little and unnoticeable as possible, outside of my studies.”

The uniformed pegasus raised an eyebrow. “Showing humility? That’s something I didn’t expect from a Canterlot unicorn. Maybe there’s a still chance for you after all, filly.”

Hurricane nodded, turning to her teammates. “She’s learned her place. Maybe this month won’t be so bad for Spitfire after all. C’mon, we still have to pack.”

Tornado turned to them with a seething glare. “Fine. Let’s hurry up then. A vacation away from Canterlot is exactly what I need. It’s a pity that Cloudsdale folks aren’t as rich, but honestly, I would rather get a smaller fee if it meant avoiding contact with those so-called high class ponies,” he said gruffly, before the three trotted back to their bunks.

Twilight quickly turned her back to her tormentors, slamming her book closed as she fumed silently on her bed. I can’t believe them! First they call me the princess’s toy, then they provoked me with those… lies. Not only that, they tried to strong-arm me after I was too exhausted to defend myself. All I did was try to learn about pegasus magic as well as I could, to do what they do. So what if I did well on the Dizzitron and used my magic to help me through their exercises? That wouldn’t make Spitfire hate me for being a unicorn show-off, would it?

Twilight suddenly deflated, her indignant rage passing as she turned contemplative, tears welling up in her eyes.

Would it?

Soarin' walked along steadily, careful not to disturb the carefully arranged materials under his wings as he hummed a catchy ditty to himself. “Nopony should enjoy a good flight without a comfortable saddle. I’m sure Twilight will love it when we finish,” he said to himself happily. I like flying and all, but sometimes, it just gets boring to do or talk about the same thing over and over. Some pegasi just don’t appreciate the finer points of sewing, cooking, reading... where was I... Oh right, I was going to sew a tiny saddle! I can’t wait to find Twilight.

“Winter wrap up, winter wrap up...” Soarin' murmured under his breath as he approached the room where Twilight was staying, slowly pushing the door open. Once inside, he quickly located the bed where the little unicorn was lying. He happily trotted towards her, a smile on his face. “Hey there, Twilight! Look what I brought.”

Soarin's smile vanished the moment Twilight glanced back at him in surprise, her eyes red and watery. She quickly turned away, trying to wipe her tears away as Soarin’ trotted around to look her in the face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked concernedly, setting his materials down on the nightstand and sitting down in front of her.

“N-nothing,” she said with a sniff, still wiping off her eyes with a hoof. “Ev-everything’s fine.”

Soarin' closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Twilight, you can tell me…” He suddenly straightened up, frowning. He took a quick, accusing glance at the other Wonderbolts. “Twilight, what did your roommates say to you?”

The tiny unicorn sat there quietly, trying not to meet Soarin’s eyes. Tornado snorted when it was clear Twilight wasn’t going to say anything. “We just made sure she knew her place here. I’m sure you’ll have no problems with her for the next month.”

“You didn’t—” Soarin’ stopped, groaning. “You did.” He let a long sigh, massaging his head with a hoof before standing up and walking towards his teammates, a stern expression on his face.

Much to the surprise of the other pegasi, Soarin’ reared up onto the bed, giving them a menacing glare. “Have you lost your minds!” he said irately, taking a few deep, sharp breaths. “What kind of reasons do you ponies have for reducing her to tears?”

“R-relax,” Hurricane said, holding up her hooves to try and calm the seething Soarin’. “The Princess cares no more about her than a common toy, and we were just making sure she behaves, not hurting her. Well, not too much, anyways.”

The other Wonderbolt stallion present, who had removed his training uniform to reveal a whirl of snow as his cutie mark, raised his eyebrow. “Why do you even care? She’s just one of Blueblood’s flank kissers, showing off how unicorns are the superior race.”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes, letting out a long groan. Great, just great. No wonder they offered Spitfire to let Twilight stay in their room for a night. They wanted to pay back Blueblood through his friend. He focused his gaze on Winter, who seemed to be the leader of the group. I knew they held a personal grudge against him, but I had no idea it was this bad.

Soarin’ took a deep breath. “Yes, I understand that Blueblood acts like an idiot, but that’s no reason to pick on Twilight for something he may have said! You ponies are Wonderbolts. Act like it.”

Winter straightened up, staring straight back into Soarin’s glare, “We did this to ensure that she doesn’t get on the captain’s nerves!”

“Yeah right. If you care about the captain so much, why didn’t you volunteer rather than leaving her alone for a month with the so-called ‘thorn in the flank’? So much for being loyal.”

Winter’s eyes darted about hesitantly, though he certainly noticed when Soarin’ pointed his hoof at the tiny unicorn on the far bed, who was watching the exchange with wide, teary eyes. “You know what you did? You decided to pick on a pony, too exhausted from trying to fly like we do to fight back, for your own selfish reasons. I can’t wait to hear how Spitfire will reprimand you three for this.”

Winter scowled at Soarin’, before turning back to his packing. “Good luck with that. We were doing her a favor. She’s going to thank us rather than punish us. You’ll see.”

Soarin’ shook his head as he left the three to their packing, knowing full well that reasoning with them wouldn’t accomplish anything. He laid on the bed next to Twilight, looking with pity at the tiny mare, who was still giving quiet sniffs, every now and then. “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. I know they must have said some hurtful things, but they’re just acting like foals. Cheer up. Don’t let it get to you.”

Despite his best efforts, the tiny unicorn remained silent, still refusing to meet his gaze. “Please tell me... What’s made you so upset?” Soarin' asked concernedly, wrapping a wing around the mare.

A moment more passed before Twilight turned to look at him, her tears dry, but her eyes still red. “T-they hate me,” she said, her voice catching slightly.

Soarin' sighed, giving a nod of his head. “Yes, they do.”

“Why?” Twilight asked desperately. “I-is it because I’m a unicorn? O-or because I’m the princess’s student? Was it because I was showing off my magic?”

Soarin' scratched the back of his neck with a hoof, looking back at Twilight perplexed. “Well, those may be the reasons why they don’t like you, but I think the main reason is that you’ve got a good reputation with the nobles thanks to your friendship with Blueblood. Popularity among the nobles, especially with that… prince… will make you unpopular among the Wonderbolts. That’s just how stuff works here.”

“B-but that doesn’t make any sense!”

Soarin' sighed. “You can say that again. Politics has never made any sense. The point is, you can’t make every pony like you, no matter how hard you try. Some will just look at your appearance or your origin without even giving you a chance. It‘s not your fault.”

“But... I offended them by showing off my magic.”

Soarin' let out a short chuckle. “Wonderbolts live to show off, so you shouldn’t worry about that.”

Twilight chuckled alongside Soarin' for a moment, but her temporary smile quickly deflated again as she slouched forward.

“Still down…” Soarin murmured, before he spoke up again. “Is there anything more on your chest?”

Twilight nodded her head slowly. “D-does…” she paused for a moment, unsure of whether she should proceed with this question.

“Don’t worry about it. Ask away. I’m here for you.”

Twilight took a deep breath to gather her courage. “Does... Spitfire hate me?” she asked hesitantly.

Soarin' was stunned by the question, coughing a few times in surprise. “Umm... well... hate you? Why would you ever think that?”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but went silent instead, her head hung low once again. Soarin' let out a deep sigh, lowering his head next to hers. “Listen, I’ll be honest with you. Spitfire has only made friends with pegasi, and more than once, she’s expressed her distaste with anything associated with nobles. However...” he said, confidence strengthening his voice, “I would not say she hates you.”

“But what about today? Was Spitfire just acting nicely towards me because I’m the princess’s student?”

Soarin' thought for a moment. “At first? Most likely, I’m afraid. But you can never be sure until you ask her yourself.”

Twilight laid in Soarin's wing silently, unsure of what to do. Soarin’ sighed, deciding for one last idea. “Tell you what, let’s go to Spitfire together,” he said reassuringly. “Just tell her how you feel and ask what she really thinks about y—”

“No, please don’t... I... I will ask her. Just not now... I-I need time.”

“Take as much time as you need,” he replied, straightening back up. “Anyway, the atmosphere here is far too gloomy for my tastes. How about we do something fun? Something to cheer you up.”

Soarin' took a quick look around, before noticing the discarded book lying on the bed. “I see you’ve started reading Daring Do! I’ve stopped reading it after a while, but I still remember it fondly. It’s quite popular among pegasi, I’ve heard. How about we read it together?”

Twilight’s mood brightened a little at the word ‘read’, but she quickly turned to the sewing materials left on the nightstand. “But... you wanted to make a miniature saddle with me, and I’m sure that you’ve already read this book.”

Soarin' shook his head. “It’s alright. We can make the saddle tomorrow. Besides, I don’t mind reading this book again, as long as I have good company,” he said with a wide smile, which Twilight returned.

I may be hated here, but at least one pony wants to be my friend, she thought, levitating the book over. No point thinking about something I cannot change.

The night seemed to pass quickly as they burned through a large portion of the book, and it was getting very late before Soarin’ finally realized what time it was. It took a while to convince Twilight to let go of the novel, but she reluctantly let it go once she let out a long yawn. Soarin’ had elected to stay with his little charge, pointedly taking the free bed between her and the other Wonderbolts. The tiny unicorn wished him a pleasant night, fluffing up her pillow before falling asleep on it. She curled up comfortably in her pocket of warmth as she passed the night, trying to sleep peacefully despite her worries about tomorrow.

Ch20 - Camping Trip

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 20

Camping Trip

Soarin' and Twilight looked proudly at the miniature saddle that they had finished, well-made and tightly constructed though it had only taken a morning to complete. Twilight was hesitant at first, remembering her grievous injury at the point of a needle during her fillyhood, but time and experience had dulled the sharp memory, and she had eagerly taken up sewing the majority of the stitches necessary. A small enchantment spell topped off the project, ensuring that the ropes would be harder than steel while still maintaining their flexibility.

The two had taken it on a test flight that very afternoon, watching from above as the various Wonderbolts paid their respects to their captain before departing for their vacation, whether in Las Pegasus or simply with their families. Twilight had glanced over at Spitfire as she addressed a few of her teammates, but in the end had opted to continue the flight rather than stop to go talk with her that day.

Over the following days, while she wasn’t engrossed in her books, Twilight had spent a majority of her time with Soarin’, whether reading, chatting about various topics, or testing the saddle in the training area.

However, whenever Twilight was near Spitfire, her enthusiasm was noticeably subdued. She asked only a few questions about pegasus magic, sometimes taking a feather or two to study, all the while speaking as little as possible, refusing to use her magic or levitate herself, and turning down Spitfire’s offers to spend time with her. Twilight had quickly excused herself every time, insisting that she needed some time alone to work on her spell and that she did not want to be a bother to the captain.

Spitfire, however, was getting very bothered.

“Is everything packed?” Spitfire asked as Soarin' put a saddlebag on her back.

The stallion simply gave her a nervous nod before turning back to tightening the straps on the pack.

“Good. Now double-check the saddle you and Twilight made. I want no accidents here,” Spitfire commanded before she turned back to the little mare sitting in front of her on the floor.

“I appreciate the gesture,” Twilight said hesitantly, giving her an awkward smile, “but you really don’t have to—”

“Oh no, little missy, no excuses. All you’ve done is study and avoid me like the plague, but not today. I am taking you on this camping trip whether you want to or not,” Spitfire said, giving Twilight a determined stare as she punctuated her last word with a stomp of her hoof, causing the little mare to flinch.

Twilight continued to maintain her false smile, even as she vividly remembered the confrontation on her first day. “I-if you insist, I will be glad to accompany you.”

Spitfire frowned, annoyed by Twilight’s odd attitude. She’s acted nothing like when I first met her. It’s like all of her enthusiasm just up and left for some reason. No matter. I will get to the bottom of this.

“Hop up,” Spitfire said commandingly, turning her side to Twilight and spreading one of her wings like a ramp in front of the tiny mare. Twilight nodded and had barely walked onto her wing before Spitfire flicked it, throwing Twilight precisely onto the tiny saddle. “Another lesson about pegasus anatomy: with practice, we can use our wings just as well as our hooves.”

Twilight nodded, still feeling rather uneasy. “Y-yes... R-really neat.”

After adjusting herself comfortably into her saddle and making sure that all the ropes were tight, Twilight turned her attention towards Soarin’. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us? It won’t be the same without you.”

Soarin' scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. “Sorry Twilight. I have... umm... stuff to do. Yeah... and they won’t get themselves done,” he said nervously.

Spitfire listened to the talk between Twilight and Soarin' as they both bid friendly goodbyes to one another. She has no trouble talking with Soarin', but she gets all nervous around me. Not only that, whenever I try to ask Soarin’ about the cause of this, he always changes the topic... what are they hiding?

“Have you two lovebirds finished your farewells already?” Spitfire asked with a smirk, causing both Twilight and Soarin' to blush.

“It’s not like that! We’re just friends!” Soarin' sputtered as Twilight hid her head under her hooves.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Whatever... Okay, little miss unicorn, hold on tight because whatever speed Soarin' or Princess Celestia flew at, it’s nothing compared to mine,” she said, launching into the air without giving Twilight a chance to reply.

Despite being held safely in her saddle, Twilight grabbed Spitfire’s fur tightly as the powerful force of the wind howled around her. The giant buildings of the academy passed by in the blink of an eye. With some effort, Twilight managed to slowly turn her head, but could no longer see Soarin', the Wonderbolts headquarters now a tiny spot on the horizon. In half a minute more, they had left the outskirts of Canterlot, which became smaller and smaller as they passed over the landscape, trees and roads blurring together as the princess’s castle finally disappeared over the horizon. Twilight felt both terrified and excited as the pegasus she rode on blazed towards their campsite.

***

Twilight sat in awkward silence as Spitfire slowed down, the snow-capped ridges of the Crystal Mountains coming into view. With Spitfire cruising at an average speed, there was now nothing to distract the tiny unicorn from thinking about who she was riding on. Come on, Twilight, you have to ask her sooner or later. Twilight frowned, trying to find the best way to frame the question to a pony who may very likely turn out to hate her.

“What’s on your mind?” Spitfire asked purposefully, catching her off-guard.

“N-nothing...” Twilight replied hesitantly.

Spitfire sighed. “Time’s up, Twilight. I don’t buy it. For the past few days, you’ve been acting very odd, and I’m tired of it. I’m not going to ignore it any longer, so spill the beans.”

Beads of sweat began to form on Twilight’s forehead. “I... ummm... I’m not acting odd,” she said innocently. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe because a very excited and energetic unicorn who levitated herself over the entire training area on her first day has suddenly turned into Little Miss Emo for the rest of the week?”

Twilight sighed. No turning back now. She wants answers and so do I. It’s now or never. “Fine, you win, but before I answer your question, can you answer mine?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“And you promise that you won’t be angry?” Twilight asked hesitantly, taking a nervous look at the dangerously distant snow-covered ground, far enough that the tiny mare might as well have been sitting on the moon. There is no way I would survive a fall like that, even with my protection spell, and trying to use a self-levitation spell to slow me down would be suicide if Spitfire decided to act on any discontent she might have with me, Twilight thought, subconsciously checking for a safe exit as the wind thundered in her ears.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won’t get angry. Now ask your question already,” Spitfire replied impatiently.

Twilight gulped, still fighting to remain calm. “D-do you... hate me?”

Spitfire’s annoyance quickly turned into confusion, Twilight’s question striking her like a hammer. For a minute, Spitfire tried to sputter out an answer, only to reconsider her wording before she could say anything. Her silence made Twilight more and more nervous each passing second, already expecting to be forcefully thrown to the ground.

“H-hate you? Why would you even think that? Who gave you that crazy idea in the first place?” Spitfire asked, still trying to get over her shock.

“W-well... My roommates explained to me…” Rather forcefully, Twilight thought, gulping. “That the Wonderbolts don’t like nobles and unicorns like me, and that you h-h-hate me,” Twilight answered. her voice becoming quieter as she continued.

Spitfire brought her hoof to her face, groaning. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Those featherbrains. Well, that explains her cold attitude towards me. She turned back, looking out the corner of her eye at Twilight’s terrified expression. “I bet they weren’t subtle explaining it, were they?”

Twilight nodded hesitantly, averting her eyes from Spitfire’s gaze. The pegasus turned back around before taking a deep breath. “I think it’d be best if I were honest here. I bet they already told you that we try to act nicely while talking to the nobles, even though we despise them.” She looked back to catch Twilight’s nod before she continued, “They praise us in the open, but talk trash behind our backs, not to mention that Blueblood’s gotten on of our nerves more than once. You being his friend probably got you on the bad sides of many Wonderbolts.”

Twilight looked down in silence as Spitfire continued, “The majority of nobles are unicorns, especially in Canterlot, so while my experience with unicorns has been bad...” Spitfire paused, turning to look intently at the unicorn mare, “I can’t say that I hate you.”

Twilight lifted her head to frown at Spitfire. “Oh really? You told me that you enjoyed my impromptu show at the party Prince Blueblood organized for me, yet from what those three Wonderbolts said, you were the first to call me the princess’s pet and toy!” She crossed her forelegs, looking back sharply. “Tell me the truth.”

Spitfire blinked, before sighing in defeat. “Fine. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t. After Blueblood made his speech and all the nobles started kissing your hooves, I just assumed you planned it all. I assumed you were just an attention seeker and show-off. A spoiled brat. But I didn’t lie when I said that you levitating those nobles in the air was entertaining.”

Twilight stomped her hoof into Spitfire’s neck in anger. “I am not a brat! And I didn’t plan anything! I just got in the middle of it and played along! Don’t think you’re the only one with bad experiences with nobles.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well, it actually started when I ended up teleporting under the princess’s balcony and fell straight down to Canterlot...”

***

Spitfire listened to the tale with interest. “Wow, for such a tiny unicorn, that sounds like quite the adventure. So how did you get back to the castle after you lost those nobles?”

Twilight frowned, still glaring at Spitfire. “Maybe I’ll tell you later, but not today. You know that party where Blueblood decided to make me a celebrity? I had no idea it even existed until I accidentally ran into him. I don’t even think lumping Blueblood in with the rest of the nobles is entirely accurate either, since he very specifically defended me from being called a ‘pet’ against the nobility at that party. He may act condescending, and he may have orchestrated my entire ‘rise to fame’ among the nobility without my consent, but I assure you that he’s thinking about more than being a pompous, show-off noble,” she said before taking a quick, deep breath. “Don’t ever start saying things about me or him before you’ve even met either of us.”

Spitfire’s mouth hung open. “I... all this time I thought… I’m sorry, Twilight. I had no idea. I just…” she paused, lowering her head in shame. “I guess I was wrong thinking you and Blueblood were like all those other nobles. It was wrong of me to be so narrow-minded and it’s made me no better than they are for judging you so poorly. Can you forgive me?”

Twilight looked away with a sigh. “It’s fine... I’m just glad that you understand. But please, don’t call me a toy or a pet. I’ve gotten enough of that already,” Twilight said wearily.

“I swear that, as the best Wonderbolt and the fastest flyer in Equestria, not to judge a book by its cover,” Spitfire said, and to her relief, Twilight’s lips curled up in a small smile.

“So, is there anything else that’s bothering you?” Spitfire asked.

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “Well, there is one more thing,” she said, her face once again serious. “That day we met. Did you act nice to me because I was Princess Celestia’s personal student? Was that just an act?”

Spitfire remained silent for a long moment before she finally looked at Twilight guiltily. “I’m afraid that was just an act.”

Twilight once again looked away from the pegasus with a sigh. Spitfire took a deep, determined breath, before she began once more. “I’ll be honest with you. When Princess Celestia asked me to teach and take care of you, I fully expected you to be a self-centered, attention-seeking unicorn. I thought that for the next month you would be nothing but a pain in my flank. I acted friendly even though I wanted nothing more than to get away from you as quickly as possible. When you said you were working on a spell to turn a unicorn or earth pony into a pegasus, even if just temporarily, I thought you were insane.”

Twilight continued to keep her head down, grimacing as she considered simply tuning Spitfire out.

“But,” Spitfire said, causing Twilight to look up at her hopefully.

“You showed a lot of guts when you used the Dizzitron. At your small size, that thing could have thrown you into the floor or a wall and flattened you like a pancake. You really impressed me with your courage,” Spitfire explained, her tone warm and pleasant. “Do you remember what I said to you? ‘I never expected to be impressed by an unicorn’...”

“’But you’re not half bad...’” Twilight continued quietly. “It wasn’t a lie?”

“That was the honest truth. So far I’d only hung out with pegasi, and nobles don’t tend to leave good impressions, so congratulations, you may be the first unicorn I ever liked,” Spitfire said confidently, smiling.

“Sooo... is there a chance that we may become friends?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

Spitfire let out a laugh. “If you stop acting like such an emo filly all the time and start showing me the same resolve you showed in the training area when we first met, I may consider it.”

With the tension between the Wonderbolts Captain and the tiny unicorn resolved, they spent the rest of the time chatting amiably. When they had finally arrived at their destination, snow was just beginning to fall from the sky, blanketing the trees below with another layer of white.

Twilight swept her gaze up across the huge, snow covered mountain dominating the horizon. “Wooooooooow,” she said, her eyes wide as small, white puffs escaped her mouth with every breath.

“Breathtaking, isn't it?” Spitfire said, her flapping wings keeping her aloft as she pointed her hoof towards the mountain. This mountain is so much bigger than the one Canterlot was built on. I can’t even imagine how it must look to her.

“It’s...it’s... huuuugeeee,” Twilight said, her attention focused solely on the precipitous peak. “Can I climb it?”

Spitfire was caught completely off-guard, immediately bursting into laughter. “Hahaha! That’s gold! You... a mare barely larger than a mouse climbing on what’s probably the tallest mountain on the continent in the middle of the frozen north without any equipment—wait, you were kidding, right?” she suddenly asked, remembering the events with the Dizzitron.

Twilight smiled awkwardly. “If you put it that way, it sounds a bit difficult. So far, the highest object I’ve tried to climb was the princess’s tower, and I did it in the middle of the night when nopony was looking. It took me several minutes to reach the balcony.”

“Well, from the way you told me about how you begged the princess to let you stay tiny, you’re sure attracted to adventures and challenges, and I think that’s what I like about you. It separates you from those useless, lazy, flank-kissing nobles,” Spitfire said cheerfully, though Twilight grimaced at her vocabulary. “If you want, I can let you climb this mountain for hour or two under my supervision, but for now, I’d rather show you why I brought you here in the first place.”

“And what might that be?” Twilight asked, her eyes still admiring the size of the mountain in front of her.

“To make a long story short, this is my secret training ground. I come here whenever I want to relax or practice some kick-flank moves.”

Twilight blushed, the warmth blooming rapidly across her cold face. “I... I’m honored that you brought me here.”

“No need for formalities. I brought you here to give you the ride of a lifetime and test that saddle of yours. If it can handle me, it can handle any pegasus in Equestria. Ready?” Spitfire asked confidently, as her wings flapped faster and faster.

Twilight, eager to endear herself to Spitfire, spoke the most daring words she could think of. “Bring it on!"

She grabbed Spitfire’s fur with her hooves and held on with all strength she could muster, lowering herself closer to the pegasus and hoping that her saddle could withstand what was about to come. In mere seconds, Spitfire rapidly increased her speed, steadily approaching the speed of sound as she dove downwards.

Twilight felt fear rising up inside her as Spitfire flew on a collision course with the earth, and her horn lit in panic to project a barrier around herself and the pegasus, but Spitfire turned up before she could finish casting it. Twilight watched in awe as their steep fall was converted into a sharp climb. If Spitfire started from the bottom part of the mountain and flew at what I assume is speed of sound, it mean that we’ll pass one kilometer every 3.6 seconds. I may not be able to estimate the height of the mountain, but I can calculate the distance I would need to climb up to the top... If I could walk in a straight line that is.

Spitfire gained more and more altitude as Twilight counted the passing seconds, steeling herself against the howling snow that assaulted her on their way up. “Twenty… Twenty-one… Twenty-two...” Twilight counted. Though she could hardly keep her eyes open through the freezing wind, she resisted the urge to close them, eagerly taking in the sights around her.

Spitfire finally arrived at the top, and with a few more flaps of her wings, she slowed down and landed on the mountain. She looked back at her passenger who, as expected, was decidedly not cowering in fear. “Enjoyed the ride? I hope I wasn’t too harsh for a newbie like you.”

“T-t-thirty... o-one,” Twilight said, breathing rapidly as her head spun.

“Thirty one? What do you mean?” Spitfire asked curiously as she watched her passenger slowly recover. “Oh right…” she murmured. “I forgot that unicorns and earth ponies aren’t used to hostile atmosphere at this height.”

Twilight did her best to fight against the biting cold and the sparse amount of air. “You f-flew for t-t-thirty o-one s-seconds... at n-nearly th-the s-speed of sound. That means... That y-you c-climbed a-almost eight t-thousand meters from t-the g-ground,” she said, shivering from the cold. “T-the t-t-temperature lowers b-by 0.6 d-degrees every one h-hundred m-m-meters... C-consider-r-ring we are in the f-far n-n-north where the av-average temp-p-perature is under z-z-zero, it m-m-means...”

Spitfire gave a curt nod. “You got it, kiddo. The temperature at the top of this mountain is around minus seventy, and even with a pegasus’s natural resistance to cold, it’s a little nippy up here, even for a veteran like me.” She paused and looked at the shivering unicorn in pity. “I guess you’ve never been anywhere this cold. Pity, and here I was hoping we could enjoy the wonderful view, but it’d be best if—”

Spitfire was stopped by a magenta aura closing her mouth.“Nonono, i-it’s f-fine,” Twilight said, gathering up her determination as she shook off the snow that had piled on her body. “I’ve b-b-been hit by an ice spell more than once d-during my magical c-c-combat simulations, s-so I think I can endure... J-just give me a moment.”

Trying to act tough in front of the Wonderbolts Captain, Twilight cast off the magic ropes that held her tightly to her saddle and jumped from Spitfire’s back, landing in the cold snow that covered the top of the mountain. To Twilight’s displeasure, the snow was far deeper than expected, and she gave a sharp yelp as she fell into its crunchy embrace. With a small heat spell, she melted her way out before using a levitation spell to pat down a path towards the edge of the mountain, fighting the extreme conditions in order to admire the wonderful view with Spitfire as she sat next to her giant foreleg.

***

After a few minutes of silence, Spitfire convinced the half-frozen Twilight that this was enough and placed her delicately onto her back, Twilight reluctantly tightening the ropes of her saddle once again. Without wasting any time, Spitfire dove down the mountain until the temperature became a bit more bearable as Twilight sought heat from her own spells and in Spitfire’s fur.

“I think I know what will heat you up,” Spitfire said as she circled around the mountain, showing off her tricks as Twilight excitedly held on for the ride.

A sudden, soft boom echoed from the side of the mountain, and Spitfire’s right wing was suddenly through lanced by several sharp rocks. The captain shrieked in pain as Twilight stared shocked at the ragged mess of feathers, a few rapidly flying off into the wind behind them.

Spitfire swiftly lost control of her flying, careening down at the mountain uncontrollably. Twilight desperately set up a barrier around Spitfire as the pegasus smashed into the cliff face, but the hastily erected shield quickly began to falter with every hit until it finally shattered like glass against the rocky slope. Twilight tried to set up another barrier, but her spell was disrupted by another impact of Spitfire against the stone surface, crushing her between the rock and the pegasus as they bounced across the rough surface.

Spitfire threw out a quick hoof, grabbing onto a small outcropping and abruptly stopping their fall. Twilight grimaced from the hard impacts earlier, fighting down the pain from the scratches on her head and the bleeding scrape along her back. “Owowow… S-Spitfire, are you alright?”

Spitfire groaned, quickly taking inventory of her injuries. “I should be asking you the same question, but yeah, besides my wing, everything seems fine,” she said laboriously. The pegasus attempted to shut out the pain from her limp, bleeding wing, only for the pain to strike in full force as an enchanted arrow nailed her in the wounded wing, making her lose her grip on the steep slope and begin falling once more.

Not wasting any time, Twilight used her magic to free herself from the saddle before jumping off of Spitfire’s back, landing on the stone surface on a piece of barrier, and skidding down the slope after her friend. As she slid down the slope, Twilight saw the Wonderbolt grab another stone, only to be hit in the same wing by yet another arrow. She looked around frantically for their assailant before she noticed a flying half-lion, half-eagle hybrid—a griffon—aiming for Spitfire’s unharmed wing with a long, curved bow.

“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight screamed, her horn charged with magic. Before another arrow could strike the falling pegasus, a magenta aura shifted Spitfire away from the arrow’s course.

Her relief from helping her new friend was cut unfortunately short as she felt a growing strain on her hooves. Oh no, this is bad. She’s too heavy. I can barely hold her. Twilight felt the barrier under her hooves weaken as she slid down the hillside at an even greater speed, kicking up a long dust trail behind them. My hooves are going to kill me when this all is over.

Twilight did her best to ignore the increased pressure pressing her down on the steep slope as she focused on levitating her friend out of the harm’s way as more arrows followed, clattering and breaking on the hard rock face.

Spitfire, after a long fight with her foggy mind, finally recovered from the pain in her wing and was able to analyze the situation, quickly noticing the hostile griffin aiming another shot and the magenta aura keeping her barely out of reach of the steep slope. She briefly scanned the terrain in front of her, taking note of the various hoofholds and outcroppings before bucking out with all four hooves at the rock face, propelling herself towards the closest one as an arrow shattered behind her.

Keeping her wings held stiffly out, she skipped along the jutting rock, dodging the hail of projectiles while slowing herself down. She soon approached the base of the mountain and, noticing that Twilight was no longer in contact with the rock face, jumped to catch the unicorn in midair as she glided the rest of the way down, landing heavily in the snowdrifts.

Spitfire hurriedly shook off the snow that had landed on her, just as a slow, solitary applause echoed through the air. She turned towards the source of the sound, finding two ponies seated calmly before her. They wore identical black overcoats, their faces hidden behind happy and sad theatre masks with the only visible part of their bodies being their white horns. Two griffons landed next to them, both armed with bows and glowing arrows, though one landed slightly more clumsily than the other.

“Quite impressive, but I expected nothing less from the famous Captain of the Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia’s protege,” the happy one said, the sad one still clapping his hooves against the ground.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at their assailants as she placed Twilight carefully on the ground, stepping protectively in front of her as the tiny unicorn hid behind one of the captain’s forelegs, puffing on her still-hot hooves and the areas where parts of her fur were scraped off. She immediately started to heal her sore hooves as Spitfire began to speak. “What is the meaning of this? If you know who we are, you should know that the only thing you’ll get for attacking us is a lifetime in the dungeon. What do you want from us?”

“You really want to know? You really expect me to just tell you our plan like some novice villain? Well, too bad, because I think I forgot. Silly me...” the sad unicorn said, chuckling.

“But boss, how could you forget?” one of the griffins butt in. “You were spying on the mouse pony, trying to capture her for a ransom, but you kept complaining that her guards would never leave her side!”

“Shut up, feather brain,” the unicorn growled in reply.

“And we were annoyed by that yellow pegasus crossing our hunting grounds.”

“I said shut up!” the masked unicorn shouted, much to Spitfire’s amusement.

“And then we met by accident and you told us we could get tons of bits if we capture them both, so we teamed up and prepared a trap to—” The griffon was swiftly interrupted by his partner, who grabbed the back of his head and dunked it deep into the snowy ground.

Spitfire burst out laughing despite the pain she felt in her damaged wing. “Don’t stop now! It was just getting interesting! Oh, could you also tell us the names of those masked unicorns? Please?”

The two masked bandits facehooved as the other griffin gave his employers an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. The sad unicorn gave a snort as he turned back to glare at Spitfire. “Enough of that. I’m sure that the princess will pay us handsomely in exchange for your lives, and with your broken wing, you’re not a threat to us at all, Captain,” he said as he lit his horn, his partner following suit. Before Spitfire could say a word, she and Twilight were wrapped in levitation auras, lifted up above their captors’ heads against their will.

Spitfire struggled fruitlessly to free herself, but without the help of her wings, she could not escape its magical grasp. She smirked when Twilight, who was being levitated next to her, disappeared in a flash of teleportation spell, but her sense of hope quickly evaporated the moment her little charge reappeared in the same spot. Anti-teleportation wards, figures. These hornheads are well prepared and equipped, Spitfire thought, once again staring at the masked unicorns. “Release us or the Wonderbolts and the Royal Guards will hunt you to the ends of Equestria!”

The two unicorns simply laughed in response. “I don’t fear your threats. The guards wouldn’t even know where to start! They know neither our faces, our cutie marks, nor our true fur color with a few choice enchantments,” the happy unicorn boasted, gesturing to their large concealing outfits. “As for the Wonderbolts…” He paused to give them a devilish smirk. “Too bad they’re all on vacation. But enough talk. Tie them up!”

The two griffins began to fly up towards them, ropes in their talons, as a very tiny magic restraining ring was being slowly levitated towards Twilight. Spitfire looked to her charge, blinking a few times in confusion as she noticed a rather big magical aura surrounding Twilight’s tiny horn. I hope that spell’s going to get us out of this mess. Lucky those unicorns can’t see it from this distance against the sky, Spitfire thought with renewed hope as Twilight moved her head to aim, shooting a tiny, but powerful, beam of energy directly towards her target.

“My horn!” the happy unicorn shrieked as lightning coursed along its length. Spitfire immediately felt the field holding her up dissipate and, without wasting any time, drop-kicked the closer of the griffons into the other, causing the two of them to careen to the ground in a heap as the Wonderbolt landed with a crisp crunch of snow. Before she could brush herself off, one of the griffins lunged to grab her, but she jumped over him and galloped towards the unicorns.

Caught off guard, the sad unicorn who held Twilight shifted his focus to Spitfire, but was promptly kicked in the horn before he could immobilize her. His injured partner in crime tried to jump on Spitfire, but received a solid hoof to the face instead. Both unicorns found themselves defenseless against the Wonderbolt despite her broken wing, her agility and training more than capable of preventing them from focusing on their magic.

Spitfire’s victory against the unicorns was short-lived as she felt claws slashing across her back. She turned, now facing the two griffins, both of whom were ready to attack. If my wing wasn’t broken, I would kick their sorry flanks with ease, she thought, grimacing. I need to rely on my knowledge of the area to escape them. She smoothly evaded one griffin’s talons before breaking into a sprint towards Twilight, who was charging another spell. Spitfire heard the fluff of wings opening as the two griffins took to the air, but she was focused intently on her charge.

“Close your eyes!” Twilight screamed, gritting her teeth as her horn grew brighter and brighter.

Spitfire did as she was told just as a bright flash of light burst from Twilight’s horn, blinding all in the vicinity and causing the two griffins to shriek as they collided into the trees. With that opportune moment, Spitfire grabbed Twilight with her working wing before dashing off as fast as she could. Though her light weight and fleet hooves kept her tracks faint in the newly fallen snow, she quickly had her tail sweep the snow behind her as she ran, hiding her trail. Confident that she had gained some distance between her and her pursuers, Spitfire gave a triumphant smirk as she made a sudden sharp turn, diving straight into a snowbank at the base of the mountain.

The griffins slowly regained their vision as the two unicorns ran towards them. “Don’t stand here like a bunch of buffoons! They’re getting away! Find them!” Both griffins nodded to one another as they snatched up their bows and took flight.

Spitfire pushed her way out from the pile of snow into complete darkness, lowering her charge delicately to the ground. ”Could you give us a bit of light here, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, despite knowing that Spitfire couldn’t see her, and cast an illumination spell, brightening up a large cave. She looked back at the entrance, which was totally covered as snow moved in to fill the hole left by Spitfire. "Wow, what is this place? How did you knew we could hide here?"

“I often take shelter here whenever a strong blizzard makes flying back to Canterlot impossible, or when I want to take a break to eat something. The entrance is pretty much always covered in snow, so no pony or griffin should know about it,” Spitfire explained as she led the way deeper into the tunnel.

“A-are you sure?” Twilight asked hesitantly, doing her best to create a strong enough light to give Spitfire sufficient visibility.

“Yeah, we can settle here for a moment until things calm down—Ouch!” Spitfire suddenly dropped to her knees as she cried in pain, gritting her teeth as Twilight looked upon her wounded wing worriedly.

“Your wing... It must hurt a lot!”

“Yeah, it does, but what's odd is that I’ve never crashed into anything sharp while practicing on this part of the mountain. I bet those damn unicorns set up a magical trap or something—” Spitfire stopped, noticing Twilight’s despondent expression under her glowing horn. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Twilight ignored Spitfire as she walked closer to the damaged wing with renewed determination. “I think I may be able to help,” she stated before casting a spell that created a tiny floating orb of light, giving her a bit of visibility without having to maintain the illumination spell all the time.

She took a quick survey of the damage. I need to remember to thank the princess for teaching me this spell after I tried to preen her wings in the darkness. I had no idea I would need it so soon. With her horn free and the orb lighting the area, Twilight carefully levitated each of the sharp objects out of the pegasus’s wing, one by one.

Spitfire bit her lip, wincing as each of the sharp fragments was pulled out, hardly able to keep her eyes open. “I'll need to get this wing to a doctor pronto before the wound gets any worse.”

Twilight gave her a wide smile. “Not with me around,” she said cheerfully as she cast a scanning spell to check the status of the bones inside the penetrated wing. “It’s not as bad as I thought. Those rocks did some damage, but the arrows only penetrated the wing in three small points. I think I can heal it.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow at the little mare. “And when did you attend medical school, Doctor Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight frowned at this remark, charging more magic into her horn as she lowered herself as close to the hole in the wing as possible. “I may not be a doctor, but I bet I have the knowledge and magic to help you better than any doctor in Equestria.”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right, sorry if I don't believe you,” she said disbelievingly.

Twilight looked up at Spitfire with a pleading look. “I want to get out of this mess as much as you do, and with your wing healed, we can escape from those bandits. I know what I’m doing, so please... Just trust me.”

Spitfire gave a defeated sigh as she deflated. “Fine, fine, newbie. If you want to give it a try, go ahead. It’s not like we have anything better to do. Just try not damage it more than it already is.”

Twilight nodded as she once again focused, gathering her magic on a pierced point in the wing. Lowering her horn very close to the wound, she cast her spell, weaving her magic into the injury. Slowly and carefully, part by part, Twilight regenerated the broken bone before moving on to the next puncture wound to repeat the process.

Spitfire kept her teeth grit in a pained grimace, knowing that even a small yelp would alert the bandits to their location. “Whatever you’re doing, finish it quickly. It really hurts,” she said, her voice strained.

Twilight ignored Spitfire, continuing to focus on the magical surgery as she moved to the multiple points of the wing cut or slashed by the dagger-like stones. The little mare carefully healed the wing bone by bone, feather by feather with exacting precision, breathing heavily as the process drained her magic.

After a few more minutes, Twilight collapsed from exhaustion, her eyes closed and sweat soaking her entire body. “I... did… it...” she said, taking deep breaths between each word before promptly losing consciousness.

Spitfire slowly opened her eyes, relaxing her tense muscles as she began to realize that most of the pain was gone. She looked at Twilight, who was now sleeping on her damaged wing, the orb of light still bobbing gently just above her head. “It… doesn’t hurt,” Spitfire said in astonishment as she moved her wing closer to examine it.

She could no longer see any holes in her wing, and her wounds were already half healed. “Amazing. I thought only a surgeon could heal a wing so quickly and so precisely. It does lack some feathers, but it should be good enough to fly.” Spitfire smiled at the tiny unicorn, curled up like a ball of wool on her wing. “The Princess was right, you are anything but an ordinary unicorn... Sleep well. You deserve it. I’ll handle the rest.”

Spitfire put Twilight on the ground before delicately flapping her wings, and in a moment she was flying to the entrance of the cave. It still hurts a bit, but at least I can fly again. Let’s see how tough they are in a fight against a pegasus without broken wings?” She gave herself a sly smile before diving headfirst into the snow.

“I can’t find them anywhere,” the smaller of the two griffins said nervously. “They just vanished.”

“Fools. Your target is a pegasus with a broken wing and a purple unicorn the size of a rat. How you could let them escape is beyond my comprehension!” the unicorn wearing the sad mask snarled caustically.

“Oh yeah? I didn’t see you being much of help. That rat of a unicorn had your partner shrieking like a hatchling after she zapped him, and a few moments later, that pegasus with a broken wing was beating the crap out of you, so how about you find them yourself with that hocus pocus magic of yours?” the other griffin said angrily, giving him a challenging stare.

The unicorn in the happy mask gave a huff. “As much as I detest being called a hatchling, I think he’s got the right idea. Those vermin are probably hiding behind a rock or under the snow or something. A long range scanning spell should show us if there are any hideouts in the area.”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” a voice echoed, causing both the unicorns and the griffins to start looking around for its source.

“Don’t just stand there! Get her!” the unicorn wearing the happy mask ordered, prompting the two griffins forward, though the larger one shot a hostile glare back at the two ponies.

Once the griffins were checking behind some nearby boulders for the source of the voice, something passed in front of the happy-masked pony, sending his partner crashing into the nearby cliff face, knocked out cold. “She’s here!”

The griffins quickly flew back at his alarmed call, only for a sharp blow from above to send both of them crashing into the unicorn in question.

“Had enough?” the scratchy voice taunted. “I can do this all day.”

“Get off of me, you featherbrains,” grunted the annoyed unicorn as he threw the griffons away with his magic. “Show yourself, coward!” he shouted before casting a scanning spell around himself. An initial sweep immediately picked up a moving object, a ridiculously fast moving object, diving straight for him. Before he could react, Spitfire had swept him off his hooves, climbing up into the air.

The terrified unicorn watched with wide eyes as the distance between him and the ground increased with each second. “H-how?” he sputtered. “Your wing was broken! There’s no way you could have recovered from my trap that quickly!”

Spitfire let out a victorious laugh. “I knew it! So it was your fault! Now give me one reason why I shouldn’t just drop you and let you break some of your bones as payback. Oh, and if you think that those griffins can catch you, think again. No griffin can defeat a Wonderbolt in aerial combat.”

“I... I give up! I surrender! Just please, don’t drop me! I’ll do whatever you want!” the masked criminal pled fearfully.

Spitfire rolled her eyes at the display. “Oh, and you will tell me everything I want to know, but for now...” she said with a sly smile as she threw the unicorn to a small ledge nearby and dove down towards the griffins, evading the multitude of arrows shot at her.

“Let’s see how well griffins can handle a blizzard!” Spitfire said as she flew in a tight circle around the griffins, almost immediately kicking up a tornado that swirled with a pure, opaque white, the tempestuous winds funnelling freezing snow and brown feathers over the entire area.

The unicorn wearing the sad theatre mask slowly got back on his hooves. “W-what was that?” he murmured. “Who just hit me?”

He started to look around blearily, trying to clear up his nasty headache. “Boss? Griffins! Where are you?”

“Right here.”

The unicorn jumped up in surprise, turning around sharply to find himself confronted with a Wonderbolt—a very angry Wonderbolt—who was currently standing on the pile composed of two unconscious griffins with an unmasked unicorn draped across the top. His eyes flickered around fearfully as he desperately began to charge his horn.

“Bad idea, rookie. I just took out your boss and these two slackers single-hoofedly. Do you think you stand a chance?” Spitfire challenged. “Well, do ya? Punk?”

Sweat rolled down the unicorn’s face under his mask, a few moments passing before the aura around his horn disappeared. “That’s what I thought,” Spitfire stated sternly. “Now I think it’s time for you to answer some of my questions, and I assure you that being cooperative is in your best interests. Well, unless you want me to leave you alone in this frozen wasteland?”

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, stretching as she tried to stand on her hooves, only for the sudden dull pain to remind her about the mountain-surfing they had endured not long ago. Trotting carefully and almost overtaken by the weakness caused by her empty magic reserves, Twilight slowly lit her horn to illuminate the surrounding area.

“Spitfire! Where are you?” Twilight shouted as she walked back to the camouflaged entrance, Did... did she leave me here? No, she wouldn’t, Twilight thought, feeling abandoned and wondering if Spitfire would leave her for being a burden.

Once she had finally reached the entrance, she jumped into snow without hesitation as she tried to dig herself out of the cave, the cold snow acting as a balm to her aching hooves. Unable to make much progress, Twilight tried to cast a fire spell to melt a path through the snow, but found the task far too draining in her weakened state.

Still, she dug deeper and deeper until she hit something. “Well, hello there, Twilight! Awake already?”

Twilight jumped at the sight of Spitfire’s head emerging from the snow, and a moment later, she was swept up in a pair of hooves before she could say a word and pulled outside of the cave. “S-S-Spitfire... You... c-came back. For me?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Of course I came back for you. You didn’t think I’d abandon a friend, did you?”

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Well… It kinda crossed my mind—” She suddenly paused. “Wait a moment. Did you say ‘friend’?”

“Yeah! What better way to start a friendship than by kicking the flanks of some foolish bandits side by side?” Spitfire asked, her voice cheerful and ecstatic.

“Wait... what about those foalnappers? Where are they?” Twilight asked as she looked around in panic, only to notice the griffins and unicorns tied up with their own ropes and the magic restraining rings in place on the horns of the unicorns.

“After you fixed my wing and took a nap, I gave them the beating of a lifetime. That’ll teach them not mess with an angry Wonderbolt. I found the ropes and magic restraining rings in their saddlebags to tie them up afterwards,” Spitfire explained, before looking thoughtfully at the two unicorns, who were futilely attempting to get their ropes off. “I’m guessing those two are specialized in capturing unicorn nobles for ransom. They’ve been carrying a huge magic arsenal in those saddlebags this whole time.”

Spitfire reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a small jar of white powder. She popped off the cap and sprinkled a bit on the noses of the caught crooks, who immediately stopped struggling and slumped over.

“Sleeping powder,” she said, recapping the jar and tying herself to the captured criminals before turning her attention to her little friend. “Hop up, Twilight. It’s going to be a long way home.”

***

Spitfire flew at a fairly average speed, the pegasus magic that reduced her weight not much use when carrying two sleeping unicorns and a pair of griffins. Her wing was still aching slightly, but was working well enough for her to keep flying. Twilight was lying in her saddle, exhausted from the day’s events.

“Hey Twilight, can I ask you a question?” Spitfire asked, getting the attention of the tired pony.

“S-sure...” she replied, gathering some of her strength to take a sitting position in her saddle.

“How did you heal my wing? I mean, it was cool and all, but it’d be kind of difficult even for a trained doctor.”

Twilight thought for a moment before answering. “Well, you see, I used an advanced healing spell. I ended up hurt so often that I become subject to healing magic on a daily basis, so I had plenty of opportunities to learn healing spells myself. And not that long ago, I read a bunch of books on the topic and even asked the doctor who took care of me to teach me.”

“It still doesn’t answer my question. There aren’t any spells that could heal such an injury in such a short amount of time, so how did you pull it off?”

Twilight smiled proudly. “There are two ways you can use healing magic on other ponies. One of them is simple: you just cast the spell and send a wave of healing magic into the target and hope that the body’s natural healing abilities can fix the damage caused,” she lectured.

“Let me guess. You did it the hard way?” Spitfire asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Correct. The other way relies on the caster’s knowledge of his target’s anatomy. Basically, you direct the magic yourself and guide it to repair the damage yourself. You would need to know where the damage is and how to heal it, so it requires a lot of concentration and perception.”

Spitfire’s expression quickly turned into fearful. “W-wait a moment, that sounds like you performed surgery on my wing with your magic. No, it was more than surgery. Isn’t that type of healing dangerous?”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yes it is, and that’s why only the most skilled doctors attempt to use it. Luckily for you, I had two factors to my advantage, the first one being the knowledge I accumulated from books, as well as from Soarin's private lessons about pegasus anatomy. He’s smarter than he looks.”

“And what about the other factor? It’s not luck, is it?”

Twilight shook her head. “Of course not! Who would rely on luck in such important operation? My other advantage is my size.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Your size? How can your tiny size be of any advantage to you? Doesn’t it limit your power?”

“Yes, it’s true, it does limit my magic power, but it also lets me see even the smallest wound clearly and heal it with microscopic precision, something that every surgeon could only dream of. And from what Princess Celestia says, even with my size disadvantage, I have almost as much magical power as an average unicorn. Not to mention the protection spell my body absorbed doubles my innate power, so yes, I am probably the only unicorn strong enough to cast such a healing spell at such a small size,” Twilight lectured smoothly, before taking a deep breath.

“So as I understand it... because you read a bunch of books about pegasus anatomy and because you’re tiny, you could perform a complicated healing operation with careful precision, which thanks to your incredible power, you were strong enough to pull off and heal a wing far bigger than you?”

Twilight scratched her neck with her hoof. “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

Spitfire burst out in a laugh. “Listen Twilight. When the month Princess Celestia gave you to study pegasus magic is over and the Wonderbolts come back from their vacation, we could really use a talented healer like you. Despite our safely measures, our hard training gets us injured a lot and it can force us out of the show, sometimes for weeks.”

“You... you want to hire me? But I’m still the princess’s student, I have to finish my studies before I can search for a job!” Twilight replied hesitantly, almost in panic.

“Listen Twilight, you can’t learn the wonders of pegasus magic in just one month, and working as a healer would give you a lot of opportunities to learn from us. Outside of the knowledge you’ll get, you’ll get paid... hmn... how about a hundred bits a day?”

“A h-h-hundred!” Twilight asked, her mouth agape. The opportunity to earn her first bits was more than a bit overwhelming. She hadn’t needed to have any bits to pay for anything before, since everything was provided to her by her mentor and written off into the mysterious ‘study expenses’, but the chance to have bits to her name...

“Not enough? How about a hundred twenty?”

“One hundred twenty? T-that’s very generous, but—”

“Still not enough? You sure value your talent, then how about—”

“No no... It’s not about payment, it’s... the other Wonderbolts hate me, and I can’t take the job in good conscience without Princess Celestia’s permission.”

Spitfire good mood vanished at the swift reminder. I’d completely forgotten about them. Damnit, I knew that the tension between the nobles and Wonderbolts had been boiling up for years, but to pick on the princess’s student? She sighed. “Don’t worry about my teammates. They may hate you because of a few circumstances—perhaps your friendship with Blueblood—but I’ll keep them in line.” Spitfire paused and looked back at her passenger with an encouraging smile. “Once they get to know you, they’ll accept you like family for sure, especially the first time they crash into something harder than their heads. As for the princess, just ask her. I am sure she won’t refuse.”

Twilight thought deeply for a moment, “Well, if the princess is alright with the idea, I’ll gladly accept the offer.” She quickly returned the smile, waving her tired hoof. “To be honest, I’m glad that we’re friends now, and that we were able to deal with the ponies and griffins that tried to catch us,” she said, pointing a hoof towards the hauled prisoners. “I’m sure we’ll finally have a good time together these next few weeks.”

Spitfire nodded her head before turning back, her attention focused on the snowless trees on the horizon. “Yeah, and those black sheeps of the Wonderbolts will be properly punished for what they’ve done to you.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “Punished? But why?”

“Why?” Spitfire asked, looking with a disbelieving expression at her passenger. “Why? Not only because you’ve been avoiding me like the plague after whatever they did, but also because they’ve broken a bunch of protocols. Besides the psychological effects, I’m guessing that they’ve probably laid a hoof against an easy target like you, but to do it against the princess’s student? I should kick them on the sp—”

“No!” Twilight shouted, cutting off Spitfire, “Please don’t. I forgive them, so please, don’t punish them.”

“Don’t punish them? I didn’t exactly hear you protest when I just now accused them of assault, and yet you still want to forgive them just like that?” Spitfire asked, looking at Twilight suspiciously. When her charge nodded, she turned back around with a sigh. “If only it were that simple.”

“W-what do you mean? They only hurt me because I lost my temper and pushed one of them with my magic, so please—”

“You know what that sounds like? That sound like they provoked you,” Spitfire said, frowning. “Sorry Twilight. Even if you are willing to forgive them, I cannot. It is my responsibility as Captain to keep discipline, if I don’t make an example out of them, these kinds of assaults will become much more frequent, especially with their prevailing attitudes at the moment.”

Twilight’s little ears fell back against her head in defeat as she pouted. “Is there… is there anything I can do to change your mind? In the end, they’re going to blame their punishment on me.”

Spitfire opened her mouth to answer but instead paused as an idea struck her. “Well, as captain, it’s my responsibility to punish them, but considering their actions, I think the princess should be the one to decide it instead. After all, it was her student who was picked on.”

Twilight gave her a faint smile, hopeful that she could convince her mentor to go easy on her tormentors. “I think that’ll work better, and besides, I could always preen their wings so they’ll get used to me faster.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “You know how to preen wings too?”

“Well, it’s a funny story. I read a book about preening and was really interested in how pegasi did it, so when my mentor went to sleep, I...” Twilight started, beginning the story of how she had spent the entire night making Princess Celestia’s wings as look wonderful and presentable as possible, although she was careful to not to mention her training injuries.

As Spitfire listened to Twilight’s story, she came to the conclusion that if hired, Twilight would be worth every bit she payed her, and once again, she was more confident than ever that Twilight was anything but an ordinary unicorn.

Bonus Ch - My Little Medic

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Bonus Chapter

My Little Medic

When the landing pad emptied, leaving only Celestia, Spitfire, Spike, Twilight and three shackled Wonderbolts, the alicorn stomped her hoof with sharp CLANG. “What are your names!?”

Two of the shackled pegasi gulped as their relaxed friend pushed forward to speak for the group. “My name is Whirlwind, Your Highness.” He tried to point his hoof towards his friends, only for the chains to remind him of the situation he was in. “The stallion on my left side’s name is Winter Wonder, while the mare on my right is called Hurricane.”

Celestia turned to Spitfire and asked, “What are their charges?”

“Mental and physical assault against your student, Your Highness,” Spitfire said when suddenly Twilight appeared on the captain’s muzzle in a flash, standing on her rear hooves as she tried to get her mentor’s attention.

“Actually, it was kind of my fault,” Twilight said, “I got angry at their teasing and pushed one of them with my levitation, they just defended themselves!”

Spitfire, now forced to look at Twilight cross eyed, cleared her throat, not realizing that the action would cause the little mare to fall on her flank and try to anchor her rear hooves against the sides of her muzzle. “They provoked you, Twilight, and the idea of them defending themselves against a mare of your size is just stupid.”

“Wait, so you three hurt Twilight?” Spike asked with half-closed eyes and a stomp of his leg as smoke emerged from his nostrils. “Why would you do that you jerks?”

Whirlwind frowned at the insult and answered sharply, “For being a showoff. She levitated herself around as if she owned this place. I would not tolerate a tiny brat who decides to show everyone how superior unicorns are to pegasi, especially in our very headquarters.” Spike lunged at Whirlwind for calling his mom a brat, but was quickly pulled away by Twilight’s magic while the two Wonderbolts behind their representative bit their lips and started to sweat. Whirlwind frowned before continuing, “All we did was put that little rat in her place so she wouldn’t bother our captain for the next month.”

Spitfire stomped both of her hooves as Hurricane flinched, though Whirlwind stood his ground with a passive expression. “Because of you, Twilight was avoiding me like the plague for an entire week! If you want to keep your rank in the Wonderbolts, don’t do me any favors ever again, is that clear?” Spitfire shouted, but her speech brought about the opposite effect she had hoped for, as the Wonderbolt just gave her a satisfied smile. As Captain of the Wonderbolts, she knew her subordinates better than anypony else, and what she admired in Whirlwind was his honesty as he always spoke his mind, but his attitude always angered her.

Celestia cleared her throat to capture everyone’s attention and spoke, “I think I’ve heard enough. Guards!” The two pegasi on her side saluted as she pointed her hoof at the trio of Wonderbolts and added, “Escort them to Canterlot and lock them in an interrogation room. I will decide a proper punishment on my way back.”

The guards looked at eachother, wondering if it was safe to leave the Princess unguarded, when suddenly a purple flash appearing over Celestia's nose, catching their attention. Celestia narrowed her eyes at Twilight, who was now standing on her rear-hooves, forelegs curled under her neck and staring at the alicorn with wide eyes. “Please go easy on them Princess! It was just teasing, and I hardly felt anything when they pressed me against the bed, please!”

Despite her sharp and strong mind, Celestia could hardly resist the puppy stare of her student, more or less refuse her plea. She was about to answer, but Whirlwind beat her to the punch. “That’s right, it was just some harmless teasing, just like your pet said, Your Highn–” His speech was cut of by his teammates, who shoved their hooves on his mouth as much as their shackles allowed them to, which resulted in some rather awkward positioning.

“Please, do not listen to him, Princess. He is not thinking clearly, lack of sleep and all,” Hurricane spoke.

“Yeah, he probably drank far too many hard ciders last night,” added Winter Wonder, only to get a ‘shut up’ glare from Hurricane while Spitfire face hoofed.

Celestia raised her eyebrow before levitating Twilight onto Spike’s head and said, “I think I’ve heard more than enough.” As the alicorn was about to capture the trio in her levitation field, with her attention focused on the most talkative one, she was beaten to it. Celestia could only stare at the awkwardly levitating Wonderbolts who looked back at her from their upside down position.

“You may not like me, you may not respect me, but there is only so much rudeness I can take. I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess’s Protege, and I am like this because of my talent, power, and hard work!” Twilight shouted while giving the trio an enraged glare. “Would a pet or a living toy the size of a large rat be capable of levitating you all in front of the princess?” Upon noticing their shaking heads, a golden aura replaced her lavender one. Twilight released her breath as her frustration receded. Spike quickly fist-bumped her for showing the bullies who the boss is, though the little mare hesitated, realising what she had just done. Twilight turned towards her mentor who looked at her with an amused smile. She bowed and said, “I apologize for my outburst, Your Highness. I let my pride get the best of me. I didn’t mean to lash out like that, and I still forgive them, please, I beg y–” but was cut off by the gesture of Celestia’s regal hoof.

The proud alicorn looked down at Twilight and spoke, “I will take your plea to go easy on them into consideration, Twilight. Rest assured,” Celestia then turned towards her prisoners, speaking fervently, “You three should be thankful for my student. If it wasn’t for her, I would not tolerate such a lack of respect in as prestigious an organization as the Wonderbolts.” She smirked towards the one who called her student a pet. He will make a wonderful target for practice. Hopefully it will teach him a lesson or two.

The rest of the Wonderbolts, now in clean uniforms and Soarin' no longer in his pajamas, landed at the platform, achieving a new academy record for cleaning and changing clothes, only to take a step back at the scene in front of them. Princess Celestia continued without pausing, “-For the disrespectful act of mental and physical violence against my student, I am personally going to escort Winter Wonder, Hurricane and,” her glare hardened, “Whirlwind... to Canterlot Castle. There I shall contemplate their punishment.” The group’s attention focused on Twilight, who tried to hide behind Spike’s head by hanging to his scales, as the princess knelt to her student and spread her wing. “Hop on Twilight. Your studies regarding pegasus magic are over. Let’s return to the castle so you can share your experiences and learned lessons with me.”

Celestia waited patiently for Twilight to climb up on her wing, but the little mare didn’t budge. She became concerned as it was evident that Twilight was not moving. Perturbed, she asked, “Is something wrong, Twilight? I already told you that I will not be to harsh on those who wronged you.”

As the sad smile on her student’s face didn’t change, it made the alicorn uneasy. She moved her wing to lightly stroke her student’s back and asked, “Whatever is bothering you? Please tell me.”

Noticing her little friend’s hesitation, Spitfire walked closer and spoke, “Your Highness, I have a request that involves your student.” Celestia looked between Twilight and the captain before she nodded. Spitfire continued, “I would like to ask for your permission to let Twilight work for me… as a medic.”

Celestia blinked in confusion, her muzzle almost touching Twilight’s face as she searched for confirmation. Her student just nodded and said, “Can I, Princess? I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I never had a chance to put my knowledge and power to use. Working as a medic will help me learn more about pegasus magic and anatomy first-hoof.” Twilight’s hold on Spike’s scales strengthened as he started to move his head. Surely the idea of being without Twilight any longer didn’t please him.

Celestia rose her head to Spitfire’s level and asked, “Are you sure that my student can handle this responsibility, Captain? Twilight was not planning to dispel the effect of the shrinking spell anytime soon.”

Spitfire nodded and said, “I am confident in her abilities, and that her size will help her perform hazardous operations.”

“I promise to work hard, Princess. But if you don’t want me to…” Twilight added as Celestia closed her eyes, losing herself to a storm of thoughts.

There is only one year before my sister’s return, I need Twilight in Canterlot on standby by then… but I cannot hold my student back, and she can learn a lot about teamwork from the Wonderbolts… surely such lessons would help her befriend the other potential bearers that live in Ponyville...

The group of Wonderbolts began whispering to one another while Soarin' started to bite his own hooves as they awaited Celestia’s decision. As the silence ensued, Spike decided to break it. “You can’t be serious, Twilight. You left me for an entire month, and now this?” He frowned and crossed his arms, annoyed that his mom was attached to the back of his head and yet, she’s still out of his reach.

Twilight climbed onto his head and stroke it before moving to the edge. “Sorry Spike, I should’ve considered your feelings first, but what would you say about accompanying me… as a medic assistant?”

Spike’s mood lightened up like lava in an erupting volcano as his eyes looked up at Twilight’s head. “Really? I can really stay?”

“If the princess agrees, that is.”

Celestia looked down at Spike’s pleading expression, though compared to Twilight’s, it was nowhere near as effective. Suddenly her eyes opened wide as an idea struck her. Celestia knelt, her horn surrounded by a golden aura as she send wave of magic through the confused drake, while Twilight started to examine the spell with a thoughtful expression. “What was that?” Spike asked.

Celestia smirked. “You will find out in a moment,” she stated, levitating a small piece of a Wonderbolts’ uniform, only for it to disintegrate mid air. Suddenly Spike burped as the same uniform part appeared from his green flames. “S-sorry.. wait, what just happened?”

“Woow…” Twilight said, her mouth agape. “I have never seen a teleportation spell like this before. How did you do it, Princess?”

Celestia didn’t responded as she levitated the piece of material back to Spike and pointed at it. “Now Spike, I want you to blow your flames at this material, but while doing so, think about sending it to me. The spell should recognize your desire and work accordingly.”

Spike nodded and did as he was told, only for the piece of clothing to disappear and then rematerialize in front of the princess.

After receiving several stares, pleading for an explanation, she spoke, “I have enhanced your flames, Spike. Thanks to this, we can communicate with one another. I am counting on you to keep Twilight company on her new job and send me her letters with reports on her progress.”

The alicorn giggled as she could swear that Spike’s and Twilight’s eyes were filled with stars. No words were needed as their expressions told her that she made the right choice. With her attention focused on Spitfire, she spoke, “While I agreed to let Twilight work for you, Spitfire, as it will be very beneficial for her, Twilight’s studies under my guidance are not yet over. I will expect her to return to the castle in half a year. Do you find these terms satisfactory?”

After receiving a nod, Celestia spread her wings and embraced Spike and Twilight, pressing the drake against her chest while the tips of her wings moved Twilight up to her muzzle. She nuzzled her student who returned it affectionately before hugging princess's muzzle in a firm hold.

“Even though I missed you princess, and will miss you even more for the next six months… Thank you! I will work really hard and report my progress regularly!”

Spike blushed and pushed himself out of the group hug. Although he felt warm and safe between Celestia’s strong wing and soft chest, he also felt slightly embarrassed. “Yea, thanks. And if somepony would dare tease or capture Twilight, I’ll burn their flank!”

Celestia chuckled before releasing her student and her adoptive son as Twilight landed on Spike’s head. “I am sure you will. Now, if you'll excuse me,” she said before pointing her hoof at the still awkwardly levitated Wonderbolts. “I have some lessons to teach.”

Twilight and Spike waved goodbye as Celestia took off, her guards and levitated Wonderbolts by her side. The little unicorn kept waving until she felt a hoof pat her on the back, almost throwing her off Spike’s head, her forelegs grabbing his scales just in time.

“Welcome aboard Twilight, or should I say, Miss Wonderbolt Medic,” Spitfire said with an encouraging tone as the captain’s hoof straightened towards her. With growing excitement, Twilight embraced the hoof and shook it energetically, only to feel Spitfire’s muzzle touching her ear as she whispered, “By the way, congratulation on standing up for yourself. I knew you had guts when it came to facing dangers, but to stand up against those who bullied you takes real courage.”

Twilight lowered her head slightly as her ears drooped. “I… I didn’t mean too. I had forgiven them for bullying me, but when he called me the Princess’s pet, in front of her… I… I just couldn’t restrain myself."

“I take it that was not the first time somepony called you like that?”

Twilight nodded in response and said depressingly, “The nobles often did until after Blueblood’s party, and it always really hurt. I always tried to not be angry, but…”

“I understand. It is not good to bottle your emotions inside. No matter how humble you may be, sometimes you must defend your pride,” Spitfire said as Twilight’s smile returned to her the moment she heard the clapping of somepony’s hooves. The smile vanished in an instant as only Soarin' was clapping for her accomplishment, while almost every other Wonderbolt looked at her with open hostility and distrust. Ears flattened against her lowered head and her confidence crushed, she gulped as her fears that the other Wonderbolts may dislike or even hate her became reality.

Ch21 - Twilight’s Birthday

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 21

Twilight’s Birthday

It wasn’t long before Celestia found out about the failed attempt to capture Spitfire and Twilight for ransom. On one hoof, she was proud that Twilight was able to work as a team with Spitfire and defeat their foes, a good warm up before she faced Nightmare Moon. On the other hoof, she once again feared for Twilight’s safely, and Steel Blade and Overwatch were soon reassigned to keep a close eye on the tiny unicorn, cutting their vacations short.

The Wonderbolts’ one month vacation ended, and Celestia visited their headquarters to bring Twilight back, only to find Spitfire offering to give her student a temporary job as the Wonderbolts’ medic. Celestia was caught off guard by the proposition, but agreed on the condition that it would last no longer than half a year, making sure that Twilight would be on standby when the time came to send her to Ponyville.

Spike had gotten a bit antsy once he had heard Twilight was going to stay at with the Wonderbolts rather than return and insisted on spending more time with her, which gave Celestia an interesting idea; she enchanted his dragon fire so he could send messages back and forth, giving Celestia and Twilight an easy way to contact one another while keeping Spike from feeling lonely.

Shining Armor and Cadence were updated about Celestia’s plans for Nightmare Moon, though both of them raised countless objections about the very idea of sending Twilight to Ponyville. Still, for the next couple of months, they trained alongside Celestia during her free time as she led sparring rounds with the guards, hoping to prepare herself and her soldiers for the upcoming battle.

She even dragged in a few very specific Wonderbolts to assist with her aerial combat abilities.

“I can’t feel my flank,” the tired wonderbolt whined as he walked along on his shaking hooves. His wings dragged lifelessly along the ground as he kept his head low from exhaustion, and several holes and burn marks covered his uniform, a very large one in particular revealing his tornado cutie mark.

“This’s all your fault, Whirlwind.” Hurricane said accusingly before continuing in a mocking tone. “‘The captain will be on our side,' you said. ‘The princess doesn’t care about her little toy,’ you said. Well, thanks a lot.” She stretched out her sore wings with a grunt before bringing them tenderly back into place. “We really shouldn’t have listened to you in the first place. You know where it got us? As the princess’s personal flying teachers and...” She let out a defeated huff before adding on in a mutter, “Sparring partners.”

Both pegasi finally reached their room at the Wonderbolts Headquarters, each slumping down on their beds without a word as they took inventory of their aches and pains. They had just finished wrestling themselves out of their uniforms, still lying down on the soft covers as they threw the destroyed garments to the floor in disdain, when their last roommate finally caught up with them, slamming the door as he approached his own bed.

“Well, I take it you didn’t fare any better than us. Right, Winter Wonder?” the mare said, somewhat amused.

The stallion shot her a quick glare before shaking his head in defeat, an embarrassed expression on his face. “I don’t know what hurts more,” he groaned, “my injuries from the training session or my pride for having my flank handed to me by a tiny princess.” With a huff, he jumped on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. “There’s still a lot we have to teach her about aerial combat, but daaamn. Even small, she hits hard.”

“Well, what’d you expect?” Hurricane said, smirking. “Just because she’s royalty doesn’t mean she can kick somepony’s fla—”

The door clicked open, and the Wonderbolts turned towards it, despite knowing full well who had just arrived. A tiny mare trotted in, wearing a small white medic’s coat rimmed with a blue stripe and a white nurse’s cap with the bright red medical cross.

“Look who’s back,” Winter Wonder murmured, looking up from his pillow only to get pegged by another.

“Oh, give her a break. She literally begged the princess to go easy on us,” Hurricane stated, flopping down on her belly onto the bed, the images of what would happen if Twilight didn’t stick up for them almost making her shiver in fear.

In a flash of magic, Twilight teleported onto Hurricane’s back, her horn scanning several burned patches on the pegasus’s coat. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Wow, the princess really went all-out on you guys. I-I’m sorry I couldn’t convince her to turn it down a bit more than this,” she murmured, wearing an expression of pity as she lowered her head and lit her horn.

Hurricane frowned as Twilight began to patch her up, one wound at a time. The other Wonderbolts watched as the unicorn worked, finding it ironic that the one they picked on would be the one to heal them after their punishment. The pegasus mare was the first to smile, making a bit of effort to raise her head and look back at Twilight.

“The princess was kind enough to share a few stories of your hardships between sessions, and I was particularly interested in one. Did you really fall from a tower all the way down to Canterlot?”

The little energetic unicorn took her work seriously, healing injuries and wings with incredible precision thanks to her tiny size. Her occasional preening service from time to time allowed her to gain useful experience and to get on the Wonderbolts’ good side, despite their initial reactions. Her job as a healer had not only taught her the ins-and-outs of pegasus anatomy, but was also slowly turning the hatred of the Wonderbolts into professional neutrality.

Twilight’s family had also been informed about recent events, and while they’d felt proud of their tiny filly for becoming a personal medic working for an organization as prestigious as the Wonderbolts, they had to first overcome their initial attack of insanity once Twilight mentioned how a group of criminals tried to capture her and Spitfire for ransom.

As she had done everyday for thousands of years, Celestia walked back to her bedchamber, though her walk was no longer as spirited as it used to be. I miss Twilight so much. Whenever she woke me up, whenever she welcomed me with that cheerful smile, whenever she learned from me with her undying hunger for knowledge, or whenever we had a small, but entertaining, adventure together, those were the happiest moments of my entire day, the moments when I could drop the mask of a ruler and just enjoy the day. I may still have Philomena for company now, but it’s just not the same. She sighed as she continued on, her eyes unseeing as she stared straight ahead.

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” said the guard standing at the entrance to her bedchamber, opening it immediately with a half-bow. Celestia did her best to hide her boredom as she walked into her empty bedchamber.

“Ahhh, Your Majesty! You're just in time!”

“Yes, we’ve been waiting here for hours.”

“Please sit with us, Princess! We have a lot of planning to do.”

Celestia was floored. Only hundreds of years of practice keeping her calm prevented her from jumping back in surprise. She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes for good measure, but the bowing ponies in front of her were indeed real.

Twilight’s parents sat directly across the central coffee table, and from what her student had told her, they had a very memorable family reunion a little more than a year ago. On her left side sat Fancy Pants, Fleur, and White Path while her right was host to her niece Cadence and her special somepony. Sitting at the back were two of the Wonderbolts Twilight had befriended, who, surprisingly enough, were sitting quietly beside her nephew Blueblood, a miracle in every sense of the word. Moments later, Steel Blade flew in through the balcony with Overwatch and Spike, the charcoal unicorn and the dragon releasing their stranglehold on the pegasus as the trio moved to sit quietly with the rest of the group.

Finding her voice, Celestia said, “I must say, I did not expect so many visitors, especially so many uninvited ones. What brings you to my humble bedchamber?”

“My deepest apologies for the intrusion, Your Highness. However, Lady Cadence convinced us that you wouldn’t mind a little surprise, especially considering the reason we are all gathered here today,” Fancy Pants said, bowing his head again.

“Yep! All me. Consider it payback for when you conveniently ‘forgot’ to tell me and Shining that you’d shrunk Twilight before either of us had met her that first time,” Cadence said cheerfully, Shining Armor giving a small grin in agreement.

Celestia raised her eyebrow. “Hmm... fair enough, and I’d have to say I’m quite interested in the purpose of this meeting,” she said calmly.

“Your Highness, permission to speak?” Night Light interjected.

“Please, speak freely. I see no point in formalities,” Celestia replied with a small chuckle.

“Of course, Your Highness. You see... tomorrow is our daughter’s birthday, and we hoped that we could organize a surprise party in the ballroom. I-if it’s not too much trouble for you, Your Highness,” Night Light said respectfully.

Celestia smiled as she looked over the small crowd gathered in her bedchamber. Twilight, you’ve gained so many friends here in Canterlot. I hope that you’ll manage to befriend the other Element Bearers when the time comes. “I think this is a wonderful idea. Still, if I may ask, how did you all come up with the idea in the first place?”

Cadence giggled. “It’s not as complicated as you might think, Auntie Celestia. Shining Armor told me that Twilight’s birthday was coming up and asked if I could come with the rest of his family.”

“And then Cadence suggested that we ask you for your permission to use the ballroom,” Twilight Velvet said cheerfully, “as well as invite you and all of Twilight’s friends.”

“So she sent Overwatch to invite me and my family,” Fancy Pants continued, “and while we all felt honored to attend, I asked her to extend the invitation to Prince Blueblood as well.”

“I still don’t know why I had to be the one to deliver those invitations,” Overwatch muttered, perhaps a little louder than she intended.

“Hey, I was busy helping out Twilight with her research!” Steel Blade said, perhaps a little louder than he had intended.

Overwatch turned to him with a devilish grin. “More like you were busy getting your wings preened by the magnificent Twilight Sparkle,” she said, exactly as loudly as she had intended. “But seriously though, if I had wings, I’d be all over that.”

Steel Blade suddenly turned to the rest of the group, blushing a deep red as he realized that he had gained a few more listeners than he would like. “S-so how about that party?” he said with a nervous smile before whispering out the side of his mouth, “That’s not what it started out as, and you know it.”

“Yay! A party with a super pony and two princesses!” White Path said enthusiastically, drawing everypony’s attention. “I always have a lot of fun whenever Twilight and Spike comes to visit, but I wish it would happen more often.”

Fleur de Lis gave her child a warm smile as she nuzzled him. “How many times do I have to repeat myself, mon chère. Twilight is not a super pony. She is very talented and powerful, but she is still a unicorn. She does not have skin that can deflect arrows, she does not shoot lasers from her eyes, she does not fly, and she does not fight crime.”

Spike jumped up onto the coffee table, crossing his arms as he looked directly at Fleur. “Oh yeah? I saw her create a barrier that can deflect arrows. She can also shoot a powerful laser from her horn, and she recently learned how to levitate herself,” he said, before his face lit up in a grin. “Not only that, a few months ago, she and Spitfire captured some criminals who tried to foalnap them for ransom, so yeah, White Path is right. She is a super pony! Or, at least, a super pony in training.”

White Path looked up beaming at Fleur. “See mom, I was right! I do know a super pony!”

“Well, what about the part where Twilight was almost foalnapped?” Twilight Velvet said, leveling a serious glare at Celestia.

“Don’t get us wrong,” Night Light interjected. “We’re happy that Twilight made it through safely, but how could such a thing have happened? Where were the guards who were supposed to keep her safe?”

Celestia opened her mouth to respond, but found herself unable to speak and instead lowered her head guiltily. Twilight… She’s been hurt so often under my care, hasn’t she? Almost drowning in a bathtub, being attacked by my pet phoenix, and being the subject of a foalnapping attempt. The guards... my protection spell... I have measures to keep her safe and yet with all my power, I can’t keep her away from danger. I should know better. I should do better. And yet, I’ve even hurt her myself, haven’t I?

And for what purpose? Is this part of fate’s plan to make her stronger? Does she truly need all this to confront Nightmare Moon? Or is there something more?

She was snapped out of her contemplation when Spitfire cleared her throat. “I don’t want to tell you what to think, but to be honest, your daughter can take care of herself. If it weren’t for her quick thinking and spell casting, we would never have escaped those scumbags in the first place.” Spitfire said defensively. “Not only that, your daughter performed a very complicated magical surgery to heal my damaged wing so I could kick flank and get her back safely.”

Steel Blade nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Your daughter’s become very skilled with a lot more than just her magic. As for why we weren’t there… I’m sorry, I should have stayed with her,” he said, his ears pressing down submissively.

Overwatch bumped Steel Blade with an elbow. “What he means is...” she said sternly, speaking more to her fellow guard than to Velvet, “...is that her safety was entrusted to the Wonderbolts so that we could get a bit of vacation time to recover from our mishap with the princess’s phoenix. He is absolutely not to blame for something that he had no idea would occur.” She turned to Twilight Velvet, her expression serious. “Rest assured that with the recent failed attempt to capture Twilight, we will be on our guard now more than ever to keep her safe.”

“And we will be ready to defend her with our lives!” Steel Blade concluded, only to withdraw as every pony in the room stared at him, a small blush on his face.

“Ahem,” coughed Blueblood, drawing the group’s attention. “I believe we are going off topic here. The reason we’ve gathered here today is to organize a surprise birthday party for Lady Sparkle, an important occasion that I believe should be open to everypony.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, no way,” Spitfire interjected, leveling a challenging stare at Blueblood. “The last thing we need is a bunch of attention-seeking nobles turning it into another Grand Galloping Gala. This party should be private.”

“Pffft. I understand that you and the other Wonderbolts object to much of what the noble unicorns are up to, but I advise you not to push your opinions on others,” Blueblood replied evenly, though he couldn’t hide the hint of annoyance in his words.

“So you knew! The Wonderbolts and I detest the nobility because they are useless, self-centered jerks. The only reason I would even talk to you and Fancy Pants is because you’re both Twilight’s friends, and she said that you’re both cool,” Spitfire said firmly. “It’s funny, really. I promised Twilight to give you and Fancy Pants a chance, and in the end, I’m much more inclined to believe Twilight’s evaluation of Fancy Pants.”

Blueblood frowned. “If you and Fancy Pants are now friends, then where does that leave me?” he asked curiously.

“Well... I don’t think you’re a jerk inside, but you act like the biggest jerk in the world. Fancy Pants tries to manipulate nobles into doing something useful, maybe give them a bit of brain while they’re at it. You manipulate them by acting like you don’t have a brain at all,” Spitfire replied calmly, giving him a smirk as she added, “You’re weird.”

Celestia burst out into a fit of laughter, though once she recovered and noticed that everypony in the room was staring at her, she quickly reasserted herself. “I think that a private party with friends and family is a wonderful idea. After all, with so many famous ponies in one ballroom, we’d end up with half of Canterlot on our heads, and it wouldn’t be Twilight’s birthday party for very long,” she said firmly, much to the agreement of everypony in the room.

Soarin', however, sat silently the entire time until Spitfire punched him lightly in the wing. “O-oh yes, A private birthday party would be best. It would certainly leave us with more cake for everypony,” he added absentmindedly as he began to compare the merits of cake and pie.

“Where is everypony?” Twilight asked curiously. Spike, Soarin', and Spitfire had been conspicuously missing since she’d woken up, and the group of Wonderbolts bothering her to join in on the exercises in the training room or for wing preenings was not helping at all. They no longer hate me, but there’s no way they would suddenly want to spend this much time with me. Something’s fishy around here.

When she questioned one of the pegasi, however, all she got were attempts to stonewall her from the truth.

“How should we know?” Winter Wonder said with a shrug. “The only thing Spitfire told us was that she and Soarin’ went to hang out somewhere. Maybe they’re on a date? Iunno.”

“And what about Spike and my guards? Their disappearance doesn’t seem odd to you?” Twilight asked, growing more and more suspicious.

“We already told you. We don’t know,” Whirlwind said, sounding a touch peeved.

“I’m not sure where your friends or your guards are, but you looked a bit lonely so we thought we could at least try to involve you in our daily routine. You sure you don’t want to fly with us?” Hurricane pled, her expression nervous.

Twilight gave her former bullies a stern glare, but found that each of them intentionally avoided her gaze as she passed over them. They’re hiding something, but if they think that they can stall me from finding out what it is...

Twilight smiled cheerfully. “Actually, I do feel like flying with you all. To be honest, I was hoping to find somepony who could teach me how to use my wings.”

All the pegasi looked at Twilight confusedly as she began to focus a large quantity of magic into her horn. Moments later, the gathered ponies stared in awe as the tiny unicorn began to float above the ground, her horn glowing brighter and brighter.

The magenta glow of her magic had turned white, enveloping her in a tiny orb before dropping her unceremoniously to the ground, gasping as she swept the beads of sweat from her brow. Once she had caught her breath, Twilight turned to look at her back, where she saw a pair of feathery, lavender wings. “Yes! It worked! It worked!” she exclaimed, before indulging in a bit of hysterical laughter.

“You... how... Is this the spell you’ve been working on all this time?” Hurricane asked as she and the other Wonderbolts lowered their heads to take a closer look at the winged unicorn.

“Well, you don’t really look like an alicorn like Celestia. The wings are way too small for that, but without your horn...” Winter Wonder said, pausing as he appraised Twilight’s new appearance, “I’d say you’d look just like any other pegasus.”

“Thanks!” Twilight replied proudly. “Preening and healing your wings during my job really gave me plenty of opportunities to examine your wings feather by feather, and I think I did a pretty detailed job of it too.”

“Wait... So you crafted a spell that can give a pony pegasus wings? And you based it on our wings?” asked a curious pegasus.

“Of course I did! You all are the best fliers in Equestria, so I designed the spell to replicate your wings as best as possible, but since wings alone won’t allow a pony to fly, the spell will also temporarily change a pony’s inherent magic into pegasus magic.”

“Wait a moment. Does that mean that you turned all your magic into pegasus magic? So if you’re one of the most powerful unicorns this side of Equestria, wouldn’t that make you the fastest pegasus too?” asked a worried Whirlwind.

Twilight simply burst out laughing. “I… The fastest pegasus in Equestria? That’s hilarious! It’s true that my spell is advanced enough to grow temporary wings and change muscle and bone structure, but changing magic types is the hardest part. Only a small fraction of my magic is actually pegasus magic, and furthermore, that still doesn’t mean I know how to use these wings in the first place.”

Whirlwind let out a sigh of relief. “I see... So you’ve gained the ability to fly and managed to keep your horn. Does that mean that you can fly and cast spells at the same time?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. In order to let a pony fly as fast as a pegasus, my spell must also change body structure temporarily. My bones are lighter and more flexible now, but they’re terrible conduits of magic, and as a result, I can cast only weak spells,” she stated calmly, though with a tinge of disappointment. “I’m still working on increasing the amount of magic that I can transform. Otherwise, this spell won’t be any more useful than the spell that gives you butterfly wings.”

Hurricane clapped her hooves excitedly. “But you still need to learn how to use your wings, right?” she said cheerfully as she looked between the members of their group. “C’mon, I’m sure we can teach you something!”

Twilight simply smiled as she followed them outside, making a quick note of where the castle was. After all, all she needed was an alternative to self levitation that won’t exhaust her magic reserves in ten minutes, and she would be on her way.

“She has to be somewhere around here. Keep looking,” Whirlwind said, flying low while keeping his head on a swivel.

The whoosh of his flight ruffled Twilight’s feathers as he passed her. They may be far faster than I am, but I’m the master of hide and seek here, Twilight thought as she left her hiding spot under the overhang of a building’s roof. She felt a bit guilty for bailing on the Wonderbolts as soon as they’d gotten through the basics, but she was more curious about the recent disappearances.

It took a while, but Twilight had managed to reach the castle, gliding in silently. Without wasting any time, she banked upwards, flying very closely under the ceiling and hoping that whatever was going on, she would find answers here. She quickly dove behind a pillar when she noticed Lady Cadence walking calming down the hallway, accompanied by the castle cook. Twilight moved surreptitiously between the pillars to follow them, her ears picking up a short snippet of their conversation.

“Once again, thank you for providing us with all the food for the party, and I expect that you and the rest of the kitchen staff will keep it a secret,” Cadence said kindly.

The cook gave a curt nod. “Yes, of course, Lady Mi Amore Cadenza. The only thing left to bake is the birthday cake, and I guarantee you that this cake will be delicioso!” he replied confidently.

Twilight flew carefully as not to attract attention, wondering whose birthday party it could be if Spitfire, Soarin', Spike, and even the other Wonderbolts were involved.

The door to the ballroom slowly opened, and as Cadence and the palace cook walked in, Twilight took the opportunity to fly inside as well. What she saw left her speechless.

Though there were only a few tables, those tables were packed with all sorts of decorations and a wide variety of food. A big banner with the words ‘Happy Birthday Twilight’ hung between two chandeliers above it all, and the entire area was a bright motley of colors as the light coming in from the stained glass windows reflected off the centerpiece flower displays. A quick scan revealed that her entire family, Spike, the princess, and all of her friends were present. Twilight looked back quickly and, before the doors could close again, dashed outside and hid behind a pillar.

Oh dear Celestia, I completely forgot it was my birthday! They even tried to throw a surprise party for me! A surprise party... that I just blew up, Twilight thought with a pout. Now that I’ve seen everything, it’s no longer a surprise party. I could always act surprised, but it wouldn’t be the same. Hey, wait a moment, it can still be a surprise party, but I can just surprise them instead! Twilight smiled devilishly as she flew towards the kitchen, though her attempt at speed combined with her unsteady flying caused her to collide into a few of the pillars.

“Ouch,” Twilight said as she face planted into the door to the kitchen, rubbing her nose as she took a few flaps to position herself above the doorway. Well, it seems like that part of the spell’s working. Considering how many times I crashed today, even with my protection spell, the only reason I’m not in horrible pain right now is that I now have pegasus magic and bones.

Twilight waited patiently for the doors to open before quickly flying inside, unnoticed by anypony on the kitchen staff. She continued to fly close to the ceiling, her eyes sweeping the kitchen until she finally noticed a group of differently-sized pans filled with batter. Bingo.

Twilight flew towards to the batter, examining it at a closer range. Looks like this cake will be far larger than I expected, especially with this many pans. They’re making enough for everypony at my birthday party to eat themselves sick. Perfect.

Surveying the pans, Twilight noticed a small figure of a pony made of sugar lying nearby, which she flew over to examine in awe. They even made a sugar replica of me to use as a decoration! And it’s even my size! At first, I’d thought I would have to hide in the cake before jumping out and surprising everypony, but maybe I can just wait till the cake is ready and then climb on—

Twilight’s thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of approaching hooves. She looked around urgently for a hiding spot, but found the pans too low to hide her properly. In her panic, she dove into the biggest pan, waiting beneath the surface for the pony to go away, only for the pan itself to suddenly lurch up and begin gliding to another part of the kitchen. Twilight was suddenly jolted as the pan was placed down again, the sound of metal sliding on metal grinding her hiding place down to a halt.

Oh, this can’t be good. Twilight's head slowly emerged from the unbaked mass to take a peek at what was going on, only to discover that she was now at the very interior of a large stone oven, the other cake pans sliding in after her own. The blazing fire at the back blasted her with a wave of heat, casting an eerie flickering light over the space. Twilight desperately flapped her dough-sodden wings in a dash for the exit, only for her face to make an unpleasant acquaintance with the reinforced steel door as it slammed shut.

Twilight massaged her poor nose with a groan, before suddenly realizing she had been trapped. “Oh no no no no no. This is bad, this is baaad,” she muttered as she tried futilely to push the door open. She tried to light up her horn, but found that she could only eke out a weak telekinesis spell, thanks to her pegasus anatomy. Twilight shook off the batter that still stuck to her, moving to the back of the oven before charging like a bullet straight at the door. She collided heavily with it, but besides giving her a few more aches to worry about, the effort had yielded nothing.

Sweat already began to bead down Twilight’s face, evaporating soon after each drop formed. That fire’s starting to make it really hot in here, and—oh sweet Celestia, they’re going to bake me! “Lemme out! Lemme out!” Twilight shouted, slamming her hooves against the exit as she began to hyperventilate. After realizing that her efforts barely made a sound worth noticing, she stepped back, dancing lightly on the hot surface. Calm down Twilight. They’re baking a cake, so that means that they’re going to keep the temperature around one hundred seventy-five degrees Celesius and bake for about half an hour, give or take. There should be plenty of oxygen here to last me that long, so all I need to do is wait patiently until the baking is over. Yes, sounds like a plan.

She looked around the interior of the oven, the flickering of the flames providing a bare minimal distraction from her new ordeal, the latest in the line of problems she’d gotten herself into. She felt just like the time she was trapped waiting in Philomena’s cage: helpless and incompetent.

She sighed mournfully. Where are you this time, Princess?

***

Twilight made an attempt at meditation as she tried to endure the high temperature, feeling her hooves and flank burning as the seconds passed mercilessly, one by one. Come on, this should be nothing compared to the temperature of a fire spell. I’ve endured worse than this!

Utilizing what she learned from Fleur, Twilight stood on the tip of a hoof to minimize her contact with the hot metal, changing her hoof every fifteen seconds as she tried to distract herself from her own baking. Despite her best efforts to brave the heat, she could no longer stop herself from dancing around frantically, repeating “hothothothot” as the temperature ate away at her resolve.

Unable to take it any longer, she jumped from the burning floor onto the partially cooked batter, and, no longer feeling the hot metal surface, Twilight facehoofed. Why didn’t I do this in the first place? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Immediately, she dug a hole through the surface to the wet batter underneath, hoping that the damage she’d done would be unnoticeable by the time the baking was finished. Hopefully I’ll be able to endure the temperature a bit better in here, provided I make myself a tiny breathing hole, and when the cake arrives in the ballroom, I can just jump out and surprise everypony! What could possibly go wrong?

With her plan updated, Twilight waited patiently inside the hot mass, wishing fervently for a cup of water to quench her dry mouth. And after that, I’m going straight to work on figuring out how to reverse this spell ahead of schedule. Last time I’m ever going to be caught helpless as a pegasus with only a fraction of their magic.

Several more minutes passed before Twilight finally fell asleep, lured into unconsciousness by the drying heat and the monotony of the sounds of baking. Her dreams brought her to an endless desert, sand stretching out to the horizon in every direction, swirling as the wind carved out dunes and hills. The sun beat down on her heavily, watching her, but never lifting the sweltering heat that she was wrapped in.

She began to walk, each burning step marking a small hoofprint in the sand behind her. She began to squint through the sand as the wind picked up, blasting her with stinging particles as she looked hopelessly around.

“P-Princess?” she said hesitantly as she caught sight of a familiar figure on the horizon. The unicorn picked up her pace, speeding up to a run as Celestia disappeared over the dune.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight shouted as she finally crested the hill, only to find that her savior from the heat was but an illusion. She sat down somberly as the swirling dust covered her tracks behind her, leaving her lost and alone.

“P-princess...” she murmured to herself, dipping her head down, the lone sound of the gusting winds her only companion. She pounded a hoof into the sand in frustration. “Where are you, Princess, when I need you the most?”

She sighed, looking up at the sun with dry eyes as the sand slowly enveloped her, bringing her into its endless solitude.

“How many guards are in the area?”

“Just three. Apparently it’s a private party and nopony was informed about it outside of the kitchen staff and the guests themselves,” the baker pony replied, looking around nervously to ensure that they were alone..

“Good,” replied the hooded mare, shoving a heavy bag into his outstretched hoof. “One thousand bits for the information. Now go home and remember: you didn’t see anything.”

The pony nodded trotting away quickly as several more hooded ponies gathered around. The hooded mare turned to her associate with a grin. “See? Medical degree. Planning. I’m not stupid, you know.”

The hooded stallion gave a snort before turning to the rest of the group. “You heard that, everypony. All the observation targets Celestia cares about the most are together in one room, and there are only three guards in the area. Take out the guards silently and prepare your equipment. Our operation starts in two hours. It’s now or never.”

“That cake looks simply magnificent,” Fancy Pants said, almost salivating as he looked over its towering height.

“I wonder if it tastes anything like a good apple pie,” Soarin' murmured, resisting the urge to dig into the giant birthday cake in front of him. “How long before the guest of honour arrives?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Those blockheads should’ve gotten Twilight here ten minutes ago. They probably lost track of time,” she said, looking impatiently at a nearby clock before letting out a groan and dashing out. “Ughhh. I’ll just bring Twilight here myself. Hold on a sec.”

“Alright alright, it’s good enough!” Steel Blade said, pouting as Overwatch ran a comb through his mane again. Both of them had left their armor behind at the barracks for the party, and though Steel Blade had put on a suit, Overwatch had come in nothing but her signature gold and scarlet scarf.

“‘Good enough’ isn’t going to get you noticed amongst these rich nobles, especially with your coat colors,” Overwatch said, gesturing to his indigo mane and stark white coat, barely a few shades off from the official colors of the pegasi guards. “Just be thankful I haven’t gotten the hair pins out.”

Steel Blade brightened up in a blush. “Again, I’m not trying to get noticed by Twilight. You were the one who insisted that a gentlecolt should dress for the occasio—Oh forget it.” He sat patiently as Overwatch finished, stowing the comb back into his pocket as she plucked a nearby rose and tucked it into his lapel.

He raised an eyebrow at his new decoration. “Uhh, thanks, I guess,” Steel Blade mumbled before turning to the massive cake. “Anyways, doesn’t that look good? Looks like they’ve taken every expense to make it perfect.”

Overwatch turned towards the cake as well. “Wow, that really does look good. It’s just...” she looked suspiciously at it, her eyebrows knitting together in a small frown. She suddenly shook her head. “Sorry, I guess I’m not at the top of my game right now. Just some strange feelings, is all.”

“This cake really does look delicious,” Blueblood whispered to Celestia, “but considering the number of guests, isn’t it a bit too... big?”

The princess nodded happily. “Yes it is! Perhaps we should fix that,” Celestia said, licking her lips. There was just something about the huge cake, with its creamy vanilla icing, chocolate borders, and strawberry decorations carefully arranged into Twilight's cutie mark, that made it simply irresistible.

“Your Highness, it’s improper to start eating it without the guest of honour,” Shining Armor protested, though he quickly took a step back when Soarin’ and Celestia shot him hungry stares. “O-of course, I’m sure that she won’t see the difference if we just eat the top part of the cake. J-just make sure you don’t eat the figurine.”

Soarin’ gave a determined nod. “Spitfire should return with Twilight in few minutes, so let’s eat the top quickly before they arrive,” he said as Celestia eagerly used her magic to split the top part of the cake four ways, leaving the knife untouched where it sat.

Celestia licked her lips expectantly as she levitated her own slice of cake up, leaving the other three quarters to whoever wanted them. She slowly put it into her mouth, removing half of it in one fell stroke before settling down to enjoy it. However, her enjoyment of the delicious cake was quickly cut short as she encountered something unusual in it. She put a little more effort into figuring out what it was as she ran her tongue over it and bit it a few times experimentally, but in the end decided that she would have to ask what it was later and swallowed it.

It got stuck in her throat, and as Celestia moved a hoof to touch it, it began to move. Her eyes suddenly went wide, and she opened her mouth in a gagging sound, sweat beginning to fall from her face. Nonononono... Please, no, please, don’t let it be her, DON’T LET IT BE HER. Her mind began to panic, feverish as she began to realize the small purple flecks in the uneaten half of her cake were tiny lavender feathers.

***

Everypony stared at the stock-still Celestia uncertainly. “Is everything alright, Princess?” Shining Armor asked curiously, though the princess simply replied with a gagging noise and a desperate look.

Celestia’s breathing slowed down as she tried to push what was almost certainly her student out of her throat with a hoof, making a few failed attempts to cough the blockage out. Don’t swallow, don’t swallow, don’t swallow. Celestia fought against her own reflexes with all her willpower, despite every single muscle in her throat begging her to gulp down whatever was stuck in it.

“I think she’s got cake stuck in her throat!” Blueblood said, levitating a glass of water towards the princess. Celestia closed her mouth urgently, blocking the glass from entering, but an unexpected cough opened the way for the besieging liquid. With water flowing down her throat, she could no longer resist her nerves, and she swallowed.

Ch22 - Best Wishes

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 22

Best Wishes

The alicorn sat down listlessly on the floor, her eyes wide as tears fell from them, too distraught to answer her concerned subjects. Did I... did I just eat my faithful student? Celestia thought, terrified about what she had just done. Determined to find the answer, she lit her horn and cast a scanning spell on her own body. Oh no, there’s… there’s a living creature in my stomach. What have I done?

Celestia turned to look at Twilight Velvet and Night Light, who, alongside many others, had asked her if she felt alright. Not bothering to stop her tears, she lowered her head. “I am so sorry... I failed you! I didn’t keep my promise!”

Everypony in the room was shocked to see the princess cry so openly and so uncontrollably. They looked at each other silently and confusedly, trying to gauge how to react to such a situation.

Overwatch choked, holding a hoof to her mouth as if she was sick. “Yeah, I don’t think I need to say this, but something’s gone really wrong,” she said, slowly backing off towards the door. “S-somepony ask her what she means by a broken promise. My gut’s not cooperating with me right now.”

Night Light turned to her, an eyebrow raised. “But what could it be? What promise could she have made to me? Promise... promise…” he murmured, before his eyes lit up in realization. “C-could it be?”

Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and even Shining Armor turned urgently towards the princess, though Shining was the first to speak. “D-did something happen to my sister?” he stammered, a note of fear in his voice.

“Princess, please, tell us! Did something happen to Twilight? We have to know!” Twilight Velvet pled, already beginning to panic.

Celestia looked at them with tears in her eyes.

“I... e... h..r.”

“E-excuse me princess, could you please repeat yourself?” Night Light asked hesitantly.

“I at... her.”

“You at her? I don’t understand, princess” Shining Armor said, a confused expression on his face.

“I ate her!” Celestia burst out, shocking everypony with the sudden volume of her voice.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Twilight Velvet and Night Light laughed hesitantly. “I-I get it. It’s meant to be a joke, right? Princess?” Night Light asked hopefully, only for this hope to be completely crushed by Celestia's shaking head and defeated expression.

“What... but... how?” Twilight Velvet asked as everypony surrounded Celestia, waiting for an answer.

“My f-f-faithful s-student was in the p-piece of c-cake I ate... I am so sorry. If you wish to punish me, I will accept anything...” Celestia said as more tears fell from her eyes, looking upon Twilight’s family submissively.

The insulting words or physical action Celestia expected never came as Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Shining Armor approached her and lowered their heads towards her belly, poking it with their hooves. “Twilight? You there? Please answer me,” Shining armor said as he put an ear to her barrel.

Celestia quickly understood their actions, but before she could explain the unfortunate interactions between their Twilight and her stomach acid, she felt something moving inside her belly. S-she’s alive! She quickly tried lowering her own head to her belly. “Twilight, is that you? Are you alright?”

“Wait, so Twilight actually is inside Auntie Celestia?” Cadence asked curiously, walking closer to Shining Armor.

Celestia turned an eye to her, keeping her head steady. “Yes she is, and she’s moving, but even if she’s saying anything, we can’t hear her.”

“Oh… oh dear,” Fancy Pants said as Fleur fainted dramatically right into his embrace.

“Coooool...” said White Path excitedly. “The super pony got eaten by her mentor! I can’t wait until she gets out so she can tell me what it’s like to be eaten by a princess.”

Spike crossed his arms. “Yeah, I have no idea what all this drama is about. So the princess ate Twilight by accident. Big deal. All she needs to do is teleport out and the problem’s solved.”

Blueblood sat on his flank, dumbfounded by the current circumstances, as Spitfire flew into the room and landed next to him. “Those featherbrains lost Twilight…” she muttered, before quickly noticing the unusual behavior around Celestia. “Why is everypony so gloomy? Did I miss anything?”

“Twilight got eaten by the princess,” Soarin’ stated, catching Spitfire’s attention. “Good thing she wasn’t in a pie. If I’d accidentally eaten her, I don’t think I’d ever be able to eat another pie again. Terrifying.”

“That wasn’t funny,” Steel Blade said, narrowing his eyes at Soarin’ as Spitfire looked at both of them as if they were insane. The pegasus guard raised a hoof menacingly at Soarin’ while trembling in anger, but a touch on his shoulder quickly deflected his attention.

“No need to be so uptight,” Overwatch said, her former grimace now a relaxed grin. “Ten bits says Twilight’s alright and probably having a lot of fun exploring her newest dungeon.”

Steel Blade raised an eyebrow at her. “Your intuition again?”

“I thought by now you’d stop questioning it, Steelie,” Overwatch replied with a smirk.

“Okay, so even if Twilight’s safe, how do we communicate with her?” Shining Armor asked.

Celestia took a moment to think before lighting up her horn, catching Shining’s attention. “This spell is the opposite of a soundproofing spell. Instead of absorbing or reflecting all sound waves, it lets them pass through obstacles,” she stated hastily, despite her efforts to think calmly about the situation.

“But how do you know a spell like this?” Shining Armor asked curiously. “I had no idea that this kind of spell even existed.”

Cadence put a hoof on his shoulder, her face serious. “You’d be surprised what one might learn over hundreds of years.”

“Can I learn how to cast this spell too? Pretty please?” asked a muted voice from the alicorn’s belly.

“Twilight! Are you alright? Please, speak to me!” Twilight Velvet asked urgently.

“Yes, I’m fine. A bit wet and dirty, but fine,” Twilight replied.

Everypony heaved a deep sigh of relief. Cadence's head made contact with her auntie's belly as she spoke, “Listen Twilight, everypony is worried about you. Can you teleport outside?”

“I am afraid I can’t, I kind of... cast a spell to turn myself into a pegasus, and I can’t charge enough magic to teleport outside without my unicorn bones to support the flow of magic,” Twilight explained with a tinge of embarrassment.

“Can’t you transform yourself back to normal?” Shining Armor asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not. I need to wait until the spell wears off, which should take at least a few hours.”

Celestia looked towards Twilight‘s family. “We cannot wait those hours,” she said anxiously. “Twilight may act as if she is alright, but I dread to think what the acids in my stomach might do to her. Time is not on our side.”

“You heard the princess, right Twilight? We gotta get you out of there. Can you climb up the same way you got inside?” Shining Armor asked.

“I can try,” Twilight said as Celestia felt something try to escape from her belly. It was not pleasant. “I’m not strong enough. The passage is too tight.”

“Shining Armor, can you use a levitation spell and get your sister out?” Celestia asked urgently, lighting up her own horn.

“I can’t without—” Shining Armor said, only to be caught off guard as the princess’ body became transparent like glass, his sister easily visible inside Celestia’s esophagus. “Alright, I can levitate her out, but it won’t be a pleasant experience for you, Princess,” Shining Armor warned.

Celestia looked at him angrily. “I don’t care if you have to make a bleeding hole in my belly to get her out. Just save my faithful student!” she ordered with a mix of determination and desperation. Shining Armor immediately did as he was told and levitated Twilight, squishing her up to the princess’s throat. In a few more seconds, Twilight was free, leaving Celestia to try and stop herself from puking.

***

Twilight sat unsteadily next to the cake she was sleeping in not too long ago, her fur and wings covered in tiny pieces of cake, saliva, and acid and her hooves, flank, and wingtips slightly singed and chewed on. A crowd stood before her, varied expressions on their faces as Twilight smiled awkwardly at them. “Umm... surprise...?” she said hesitantly, only to jump when a glass of water and a towel were suddenly being levitated towards her.

Without a moment to react, Twilight was swiftly drenched in cold water before being wrapped up in the levitated towel, wiping off what it could. After the quick cleaning session was over, Twilight was swept up into a hug by her giant, worried mother.

“Oh Twilight, I don’t know if I should jump with joy that you’re alright or ground you for half a year for pulling this on all of us! Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

Before Twilight could reply, her father joined in on the hug, a smirk on his face. “You are in big trouble, little missy.”

It wasn’t long before Shining Armor and Cadence joined in the hug as well, everypony else in the room unsure whether they should ‘d’awww’ at the adorable scene before them or feel pity for the little unicorn, who had just moments ago escaped after being baked and eaten alive only to be smothered by a four-pony hug as if they were trying to finish what the princess’s teeth and belly acids failed to do.

Celestia hung her head guiltily as she walked away, unnoticed by the others as they focused on Twilight. She lit her horn and shrunk herself, vanishing down into the shadows of the party.

“I... c-can’t... b-b-breaaaaathe…!” Twilight wheezed out as loudly as she could, causing the hug to almost immediately recede, much to her relief.

Twilight landed lightly on the floor as White Path eagerly appeared in front of her, a little bigger than the last time she saw him. “So was it fun? Exciting? Scary?”

Twilight gave him a confused look. “Being eaten alive, you mean?” she asked. White Path gave her an energetic nod, and the tiny unicorn put a hoof to her mouth in contemplation. “Well... I guess it was gross,” she said with an awkward smile.

The excited colt quickly wrapped Twilight in a hug, much to her sudden displeasure. “Wow, you’re so amazing! A super pony who was just eaten alive by her own mentor, surviving thanks to her super prowess, of course.”

Twilight tried to free herself from White Path’s hug, but found herself too tired to do even that, especially without magic to aid her, so she simply gave up and let her friend to squeeze her temporarily elastic pegasus bones as she protested, “But I’m not a super pony! I don’t have any super powers!”

“Sure you are, Twilight! You and Spitfire beat up the criminals who tried to filly-nap you, remember?” Spike stated, gesturing his hands as if trying to give her a secret message.

Spike is right, if White Path sees me as a superhero, it would be mean of me to ruin his fun. “Alright, so I am a super pony, but keep in mind that I’m still a super pony in training, so I would rather not go out and fight crime just yet.”

White Path smiled and released Twilight from his hug, giving her a moment to breathe before being wrapped up in yet another embrace. Hurt, exhausted, chewed, and now slightly annoyed, the now half-pegasus turned her head, only to find Princess Celestia herself hugging her, who, instead of the mighty giant who ate her just a moment ago, was now the same size as her.

“P-princess...”

“I’m so glad that you’re alright, Twilight! I am so terribly sorry for what I did, and I know that what I did is inexcusable!” Celestia said with tears in her eyes, ignoring the many ponies in the room looking at her in utter surprise. Personal image and pride were the last things she could care about at this point.

“P-princess...” Twilight repeated, unable to find any other words to say.

“Twilight, I am truly sorry. I know that I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and that you may fear me from now on, but there is something I must ask of you,” Celestia said, her emotionless mask simply gone.

“Y-yes, Princess Celestia. I’ll gladly do whatever you ask,” Twilight replied hesitantly, still processing what was going on.

“Punish me!” Celestia shouted with a pleading look on her face.

“W-what? Punish you? For what? I can’t do that!” Twilight replied, taking a step back as she found the strength to free herself from the princess’s embrace.

“For what? For what! I swore to protect you and take care of you, and yet I still can’t protect you from danger. Two weeks after I took you in as my student, you almost drown in the bathtub. Several years later, you fall from my tower. I almost crushed you with my hoof during a game of tag!”

Twilight, now shocked, looked wide-eyed at her mentor, who simply took a deep breath and continued feverishly. “During your final exam, I pushed you so hard that you ended up in a coma for two days. When I sent you to the Wonderbolts Headquarters to learn about pegasus magic, you were almost filly-napped! And now, even for your own birthday, I’ve actually eaten you! I cannot stand it any longer, I want—no, I demand to be punished. I need at least some consequence for failing to keep you safe!” Celestia shouted, before suddenly deflating, taking a few deep breaths as the ends of her majestic mane dropped limply onto her back.

Twilight closed her eyes, thinking deeply as Celestia continued with a firm stomp of her hoof. “I shrunk myself to be more vulnerable for whatever punishment you see fit. I will accept anything, whether it be crushed under a one ton weight or thrown into fire or something. Just please... give me a chance to pay for my mistakes.”

Twilight Velvet looked between her bedraggled daughter and the rapidly deteriorating princess. “I relieved you’re safe, Twilight, but I still can’t help but agree with the princess on this. I should feel angry—furious even—that she ate you, but...” She breathed out a deep sigh. “This one’s on you, Twi.”

Celestia turned to look at Twilight desperately, pleadingly as images of her sister raced through her mind, another ugly reminder of her inability to be there for those she cared about. I’ve gotten away with condemning Lulu to a thousand years on the moon, even though I was the one who didn’t stop her from becoming Nightmare Moon. But for this, I don’t want to go away unpunished for hurting my student over her faithful and forgiving years with me, for failing to be with her when she was in danger. I can’t stand this guilt anymore! I don’t want to get away with hurting the ponies I love the most.

Twilight finally opened her eyes, giving Celestia a warm smile as she wrapped up her mentor in a hug instead. “I’ve come to a realization, Princess, and I cannot punish you for something that wasn’t your fault. If anything, the past years as your student have been the happiest years of my life.”

Celestia sat dumbfounded, her eye giving a small twitch. No no no no no. I’ve tried to protect my subjects, yet I always end up hurting them instead, and no matter what, I am never punished for it. Why am I not allowed the privilege of paying up for my mistakes? Why?

Velvet looked down uncertainly at her hooves, trying to process her daughter’s words through the turmoil of emotions in her mind. She was brought out of her shaky contemplation when Night light gave her a simple nuzzle. Velvet looked up at him, breathing out a deep sigh before looking back at her daughter, silently acknowledging Twilight’s decision despite finding difficulties understanding it.

Twilight guided her mentor to a small tabletop with a few flaps of her wings and a tug, seating the princess down with her at the center. “Gather around, everypony. It’s still my birthday, and so much more has happened during my years here than just a few of my accidents, so I’d like to hear a bit about the good points of life from everypony, whether it be heartwarming or simply amusing.“

Everypony looked at each other uncertainly until Velvet walked forward and sat down, providing the precedent for everypony else. “Twilight, as much as I would like to listen to a good story,” she began, as the table was soon surrounded by friends and family, “shouldn’t you first tell us how you ended up inside the cake, much less why you suddenly look like an alicorn?”

Cadence let out a giggle. “She’s not quite an alicorn. Alicorn wings are far bigger than pegasus wings, allowing us to focus a great deal more pegasus magic into them. This allows our bones more leeway in resembling those of a unicorn, which, in turn, allows us to channel magic into our horns,” she said, gesturing to the size difference between Celestia’s and Twilight’s wings. “You see, if Twilight was an alicorn, she would have no problems casting her spells.”

Spitfire gave an amused snort, grinning. “She said as much when she was still trying to develop her spell to change earth pony or unicorn magic into pegasus magic over at headquarters. Still, for a fresh pegasus, she’s not that bad,” she said with a smirk. “But hey, if she manages to turn all her magic into pegasus magic, she might be able to fly even faster than the Wonderbolts. Well, after several years of training, that is.”

Twilight returned Spitfire’s grin before turning to her mother. “Well, I guess I did suggest a storytelling circle, so I guess I’ll be the first and start from the beginning,” she said happily.

***

“It ended up being a rather disorienting experience, waking up lodged in the princess’s throat, but I think you ponies know the rest of the story from there.”

“Twilight,” Velvet said, a concerned look on her face, “I understand that you would prefer to stay small in order to challenge yourself, but I was wondering when you planned on returning to your normal size.”

Twilight shook her head. “There’s still a lot for me to learn, so it’ll have to wait, even if I do get myself stuck in strange situations. Either way, I was able to figure out the shrinking spell by repeatedly watching the princess cast it, and even though I don’t think I can cast it, I’m fairly certain I can dispel it, even at my size, so I’d prefer to wait until a serious emergency came up before I return to my normal size.”

“How can you say that, Twilight?” Celestia said, her eyes still red from her tears as she moved to sit in front of her student. “Your life has been in danger so many times, and you haven’t lifted your curse even once to protect yourself.”

“Princess, do you remember when you taught me how ponies adapted to the world around them? How we strengthen our magic to enhance our bodies?” Twilight asked.

Celestia looked at her student uncertainly before giving a hesitant nod.

“Every accident I had, Every adventure or painful experience I’ve gone through, has helped me grow not just physically, but mentally as well.”

Twilight looked into Celestia’s eyes, an encouraging hoof on her mentor’s. “After my first power surge, I was... afraid to use my magic. But that changed when my own power surge rescued me from drowning in the bathtub.”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight was faster. “When I hurt myself with a needle, I learned to be more cautious and not so overconfident in myself, though perhaps that’s a lesson I should relearn for my own good,” she said with a giggle. “When I survived the fall from your tower without breaking a single bone, I’ve learned that I don’t need to be afraid of heights.”

Celestia cut off Twilight with a hoof. “And the game of tag where I almost killed you?”

“It was a terrifying experience, but to be honest, I should probably thank you for that,” Twilight said cheerfully.

Celestia blinked a few times in confusion. “W-w-why?”

“Well first off,” Twilight said, lifting her forearms in a grand gesture, “I’m not dead. Second, if your hoof can’t squish me, what pony can?”

“And your final exam?” Celestia protested. “Or the day when you almost got fillynapped? Or today when I ate you?”

Twilight gave her mentor a warm smile. “I would not have done nearly so well on my final exam if it weren’t for everything you taught me. I would’ve failed to help Spitfire defeat those criminals if it weren’t for everything I’d learned under your tutelage and in the hospital. I wouldn’t have tried to stay calm in the oven if it weren’t for our training exercises and a few choice fireballs.”

Twilight looked down contemplatively. “And even today, I think I learned something,” she said, before turning back up to look straight at Celestia. “Princess, don’t blame yourself for the dangers I keep getting into. It’s strange, but my experience in that oven made me realize that I may not always have others to help me when I get in trouble. You’re not always going to be around when I encounter a problem, and I should be stronger so that you don’t have to worry so much. I need to be able to take anything thrown at me so you don’t need to guilt yourself over my hardships.”

Celestia looked at her student speechlessly as Twilight shed a few tears. “ But all those years with you, not only was it fun and enjoyable, but it’s helped me to be stronger in the end, even all the bad and painful experiences. There’s still so much I can work on, so many ways I can improve myself, but if I can face the world as a tiny unicorn, there’s nothing I can’t overcome when I return to my original size. Who I am today, it’s all thanks to you. I love you, Princess. You’re like a mother to me,” she said, wrapping up the princess in a tight hug.

Celestia returned the embrace, her eyes once again teary. “I-I love you too, Twilight.”

Once she freed the princess from her hug, Twilight jumped towards Cadence, hugging the alicorn’s neck tightly. “And you, Cadence, you’ve been the best foal-sitter I could ever wish for, and I’d like to thank you for teaching me so much about illusion, love, and age-changing magic!”

Cadence lifted her hoof towards Twilight and touched her gently. “You're very welcome, and I’ve truly enjoyed foal-sitting you. I hope you’re still not too old to be my little charge,” she said as Twilight climbed up towards her nose.

“I will never be too old to spend time with you, sooo… can we do it?”

Cadence breathed out a contented sigh, and as soon as Twilight jumped from her nose, she ducked down with the motions, not bothering to reduce her age as she usually did. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” they chanted as part of their adorable welcome dance, Cadence clapping her hooves even more lightly against Twilight’s due to her size. While the last clap sent Twilight flying as a part of their performance, the little pegasus ended up flying in a confused circle before crashing to the floor, not used to her temporary wings. I think I'll stick with my backflip as usual.

“I understand them doing this when Cadence was the size of a filly, but this...” Night Light said, looking at them with an astounded expression.

Shining Armor chuckled lightly. “Age spell or not, I don’t think a size difference can stop them,” he said, before he suddenly noticed the princess surreptitiously walking away, her head low. Before he could call for her, however, he was interrupted by a tiny unicorn tackling him.

“I love you too, B.B.B.F.F. You were always there for me, even before I became Princess Celestia’s student, and I’ve always enjoyed your visits. Not to mention how much safer I feel with all those defensive and offensive spells you’ve taught me,” Twilight said cheerfully, hugging her brother’s belly as hard as she could as his hoof lightly hugged her back.

Twilight trotted over to her parents as well, wrapping each of them in an embrace. "Mom, Dad? I know you’re both concerned about my safety, but you don't have to worry. I'm growing up so much under Princess Celestia, but no matter how grown up I get, I'll always be your daughter, and I’ll always love you no matter what, even if I do spend most of my time with my mentor."

“We love you too, Twilight,” Twilight Velvet said sincerely, resisting the urge to hug her daughter again as the tiny unicorn moved to hug her father.

“She’s growing up so fast,” Night Light murmured as Twilight broke from his hug and walked to White Path.

The tiny unicorn beamed up at the colt. “We sure had a lot of fun together. Considering that most of my friends are far older than I am, it’s nice to have a younger pony as a friend too,” she said enthusiastically, lifting her tiny foreleg towards him.

White Path bumped his hoof against hers. “Are you kidding? Not only have I met a cool pony like you, I got to meet the princess herself as well as her niece! And what pony can say that he met a dragon too? It’s thanks to you. I just wish we could see each other more often.”

“Perhaps in the future, we can spend more time together, White Path,” she said, giving him a warm smile before walking towards Blueblood. “Thank you for being a friend as well. You’ve completely changed the nobility’s behavior towards me thanks to that party. Despite some of your actions, I can say that during the snowball fight, you helped teach me a little about courage and self sacrifice,” Twilight said respectfully with a small bow.

Blueblood gave an amused snort as he remembered escaping from being bombarded by a hailstorm of snowballs for half an hour. “You’re welcome, and if I might add, you taught me that life is more than just popularity and wealth,” he said, giving a knowing look to Shining Armor and Spitfire, who returned it with an innocent smile.

Next, Twilight walked to Fancy Pants and Fleur. “Thank you for all the hospitality you showed me in my time of need, for all the wonders I had the pleasure to see at your residence, and for letting me play with your son. It is an honour to be your friend.” Twilight gave a deep, respectful bow, which Fancy and Fleur reciprocated as best they could.

“And you are such a charming, well-behaved young lady. The pleasure is all ours,” Fancy Pants said.

“It was indeed, and I am glad that our son found a friend to play with who likes him not only because he came from a rich family. It can be very hard to find a true friend sometimes with our status,” Fleur said, before adding hesitantly, “though I hope that our son will not take the whole ‘super pony’ business too seriously. F-for his own safety.”

Twilight nodded happily before walking towards Spitfire and Soarin', but this time, Spitfire beat her to the punch. “You can spare me the emotional speech. The last thing I need is to start tearing up from all the sentimentality. Long story short, you’re cool, a good friend, dependable team member, and the first unicorn friend I’ve ever had. Well actually, I guess I now have two and a half unicorns as friends,” Spitfire said, glancing at Fancy Pants and Blueblood before giving an amused snort, “If somepony told me a year ago that I would befriend such a nerdy gal like you, I would’ve laughed.”

The prince frowned. “Let me guess. Am I that half unicorn?”

Spitfire gave him a happy nod. “Yep! You’re just weird. If you ever decide to stop acting like a jerk whenever you’re around nobles or at your fancy parties, I may consider accepting you as a friend, but until then, you’re going to be a half of a unicorn friend.”

Twilight and Soarin' shared a laugh before the stallion lowered himself to Twilight’s level. “I’ve had quite a bit of fun too, and I hope the saddle we made together will serve you well, but please, never hide in a pie. I don’t want to live in fear of eating you by accident.”

Twilight rolled her eyes with a grin. “I promise,” she said, before she walked towards Spike.

“Spike, I—”

“Yeah, it was fun being your friend, whatever, just don’t go all sentimental on me. Far too much drama today if you ask me,” Spike said with crossed arms, closed eyes, and a pout.

Twilight raised an eyebrow amusedly before turning to walk away, only to be grabbed in a hug from behind. “Oh forget it, I don’t care about all the drama. I love you, Twilight. You’re like a mother to me. Just please, let me protect you whenever you go on another crazy adventure? Don’t leave me behind,” he said worriedly.

Twilight’s eyes widened. With so many friends, studying, training, reading, and adventuring she’d done, she’d also spent less time with her adoptive son than she used to. Twilight nuzzled Spike’s hand with her head. “I’m sorry Spike. We’ll go on our next adventures together. I promise.”

Once free from Spike’s embrace, Twilight moved towards her two guards. “And I would like to thank you for always being there with me, for always watching over me. I know that you were ordered to be my personal guards, but I hope that one day we could become friends as well,” Twilight said calmly, before she was swept up in yet another crushing hug. Will these hugs ever end? Good thing turning myself into a pegasus gave me their elastic bones, or they would’ve broken already. On the other hoof, I should be thankful that nopony decided to use a knife to cut the cake, or I doubt my endurance would have been much use.

“Of course we’re your friends, Twilight,” Steel Blade said, tearing up. “Don’t you ever think otherwise.” Overwatch sat there silently, a small smile on her face as she stared wistfully at the loving embrace.

“Alright then,” Twilight said, returning the hug before extricating herself from his embrace. “Now, I suggested that we all tell stories, so who’s going to be next to share?”

***

While everypony enjoyed the cheerful atmosphere of the party, one tiny alicorn sat separately from the rest of the group, watching their smiling faces as she wrestled with her own turbulent emotions. Why? Why is she so forgiving? Any normal pony would have yelled at me, but Twilight...

She breathed a deep sigh. I haven’t opened my heart to anypony like this in a long time. In just a few short years, she has done what no other pony has been able to do for nearly a millennia. Thanks to her, I’ve been able to breathe freer from my royal trappings and enjoy life as any other pony, not to mention the joy she’s brought to all of us. The princess turned to look at her faithful student, surrounded by family and friends, all of whom treasured her in their own way. She hadn’t thought it was possible for ponies like Blueblood and Spitfire to share each other’s company, yet here it was, happening despite all their former animosity.

In just a few short months, I will be sending that same pony to face Nightmare Moon. Into a peril that dwarfs anything she’s ever encountered so far.

Celestia looked down absentmindedly at the table she was sitting on. Could I do it? Could I consciously send the pony who refuses to punish me for my actions against her into a danger I know about?

Could I send the pony I’ve hurt so much to fix another of my mistakes?

“Cake?” Overwatch asked, causing Celestia to jump. The guard levitated a large piece of cake in front of her, and though Celestia would have jumped at it earlier, all she could see now was green.

“I-I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself, Your Majesty,” Overwatch said, a happy smile as she speared the slice with a fork, taking a large bite before trotting back to the rest of the group. Celestia watched her go, and as soon as she was sure that nopony was watching, she collapsed on the table, feeling as if she was going to puke.

I-I think I’ve had enough cake... for the rest of my life.

Ch23 - Sundown

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 23

Sundown

“The day we’ve waited for so long is finally upon us, brothers and sisters! Today is the day when we dethrone the sun tyrant! Today is the day when one pony will no longer hold absolute power over an entire nation. Today is the day when Equestria will no longer be at the mercy of Celestia, who can destroy it whenever she wishes!” the hooded stallion proclaimed to his followers. “Today, we will take Celestia’s rule. We will take back her sun, floating in the sky as her sword, ready to destroy us at her whim.”

He smirked as the ponies in front of him let out a shout before pointing his hoof towards the ballroom. “Go forth and bring Equestria’s leadership back to the ponies. Bring the sun and the moon back to the unicorns, to guard as our ancestors once did. Go and make us proud!”

The hooded stallion smiled devilishly as his followers, filled with excitement and determination, left to fulfill their orders.

“Nice speech. Shame you didn’t tell them why you’re really doing this.”

The stallion turned around to face his accomplice, who was smirking at him from under her hood. “Should I have? I only offered you all something you’ve wanted for a long time, and once Celestia’s thrown off her throne and Equestria’s plunged into a civil war, our dark master can finally take over after his return, and—”

The mare held up a hoof to stop him. “You’ve told me multiple times already. You get to rule alongside him because you’re part of his ‘chosen.’ Now shoo. While you may not want to keep an eye on your henchmen, I am most certainly going to make sure they get the job done right, especially since I’m the only one who knows how to check a pulse properly around here,” she said as she trotted past the three dead guards on the floor. The stallion snorted before turning to leave in the opposite direction, the gears already in motion as the seeds of betrayal they’d planted had finally begun to bloom.

“Cadance, really?” Shining Armor said, raising an eyebrow at his marefriend. “I’m okay with you telling about how we fell in love, but did you really have to mention that I had an Oubliettes & Ogres character from when I was young? I stopped playing that years before I even met you!”

“Awww, but you looked like you invested so much time in your paladin, and it had such lovely illustrations! I just had to keep your character sheet, though you should probably roll up somepony new,” Cadence said, looking amusedly at Shining Armor. “You had absolutely no charisma points at all.”

Spitfire smirked at Shining Armor’s reddened expression. “I think there was a buuurn in there somewhere, but don’t worry about anyone remembering that you had a role-playing character,” she said happily. “Just wait ‘til you hear about what Soarin’ did when we tried to divert a few dragons from a town’s treasure vault.”

Soarin’ suddenly looked very self conscious. “T-that sounds like a great idea, but maybe we should check on the princess first?” he said, an awkward smile on his face. “She’s been gone for an awfully long time.”

“She has, but after getting a big bite out of Twilight after trying to enjoy a slice of cake, I can imagine why she would want to step outside for a breath of fresh air,” Spitfire said, shrugging before she put on a devilish smile. “Now hush, Cadence was about to get to the good parts. So what happened after Shining—”

The door to the ballroom suddenly opened, and a group of hooded ponies walked casually into the room. The party members rose from their seats, Spitfire, Steel Blade, and Shining Armor in particular looking suspiciously at the newcomers as they approached.

“Excuse me,” Twilight Velvet said, an apprehensive look on her face as she approached one of the hooded ponies, “but I don’t remember inviting anypony besides us. Who are you?”

A hoof shot out from under the pony’s cloak, grabbing Velvet as a restraining ring was swiftly placed on her horn. “Attention everypony!” the stallion announced, pushing his hostage to one of his followers to guard as the rest of the hooded ponies fanned out around the room, about forty in all guarding the other entrances and windows. ”From today onwards, Equestria will no longer belong in the hooves of a single pony, and in order to bring freedom to the nation and accomplish our noble goal, everypony in this room is now our prisoner.”

Night Light stepped to the front, pushing past Overwatch to take a fighting stance, his horn aimed at the intruders. “Release my wife this instant!” he shouted.

“She’s our hostage now,” the pony with Velvet said, “so you’ll do as we say or else—”

He was quickly cut off as Twilight Velvet’s horn suddenly lit up in a blinding glow, wrapping him in a levitation field before tossing him into a group of his companions. She quickly took advantage of the distraction, dashing back to the protection of the three guardponies in their party group.

“H-how?” the hooded stallion stammered, looking at the broken pieces of the restraining ring on the tiled floor.

Twilight Velvet stuck her tongue out at her. “Please, Night Light and I may not be as powerful as Shining Armor or Twilight, but if you think a basic model will work on us, think again.”

The stallion snorted. “Enough. I don’t believe that you realise the situation you’re in.”

“Really? Then maybe you can enlighten us before I lock you all in the dungeon myself?” Shining Armor said, glaring at the intruders as he widened his stance.

“Shut up, Celestia’s dog. Our ideals have been passed down from generation to generation while you weren’t even born yet. We’ve been observing your ruler for signs of weakness, waiting to strike for hundreds of years, and finally, the time has come!”

Overwatch couldn’t help but smirk at them. “Wow, they sound exactly like a bunch of fanatics and cliché villains,” she said, looking evenly at the ponies around them. “What are you going to do next? Call yourself a liberation army and call Princess Celestia a tyrant? Come on, I know you’re dying to say it."

“C-cliché villains? Fanatics? We’re the only ponies who can see Celestia for what she really is! She manipulates everypony from behind the scenes, and you all are nothing but pieces on her chessboard, too blind to see it! But we... we will expose what Celestia is so desperate to hide! We will open everypony’s eyes!”

With a few flaps, Twilight landed on her brother’s head as she gave the caped unicorns an angry frown. “And how are you going to accomplish that?”

“Very simple, my little pony,” the hooded pony laughed. “Princess Celestia will tell all of Equestria herself what kind of manipulative tyrant she is.” Overwatch rolled her eyes at ‘tyrant’, shooting Steel Blade a smirk. “And if she does not... well, Equestria will simply have to go on without her."

“Go on without her? Oh please!” Spitfire challenged, “I can hardly imagine what a bunch of lame chumps like you can do against the princess! But hey, why should she even bother? I bet we could just knock you all out and continue this party as if nothing happened.”

“I agree with Spitfire,” Shining Armor added, turning to a group of guards entering the room behind him. “You’re all just in time. Arrest the intruders! I’ll interrogate them later,” he ordered, but to his confusion—and to the amusement of the hooded ponies—the guards ignored him. “I gave you a direct order. What are you—”

Two guards dove into their group, grabbing Spike and White Path as they passed through and holding them by their necks threateningly as they darted out. The party group’s confusion was swiftly replaced with fear as one of the guards shouted, “One move, and the colt dies!”

Shining Armor and Spitfire moved forward to intervene, but were captured in the levitation fields of the intruders. The guards walked backwards with their new hostages, levitating their enchanted spears at the party group. “I said, nopony move!”

“Back to your question, Miss Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts,” the stallion said, grinning widely. “Just like you won’t move to keep the lives of these two intact, Celestia will have to cooperate too or we’ll just kill you all.” The intruders threw off their cloaks, exposing vests covered in round, hoof-sized packages. “Each of these are magically crafted explosives, so don’t even think about fighting back. We also have anti-teleportation wards on and around this ballroom, and all the exits are blocked.”

Overwatch blinked in disbelief. “Well ponyfeathers, they really are fanatics, and I suddenly doubt they’re above blowing themselves up for their dumb cause too,” she muttered, looking around warily.

Shining Armor gulped at Overwatch’s remark, but turned to look at the stallion. “Wait, how did you manage to set up all those wards? How you even got in here with all those bombs? We have guards all over Canterlot.”

The pony who seemed to be the leader of the terrorists shook his head, chuckling. “Who do you think we are? Cliché villains who will gladly lay out their plans for you to peruse? All you need to know is that we have our ways and that this scheme is far bigger than you and every VIP in this room,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, and thanks for having this birthday party in secret. I’m sure failing to inform the guards that the most important ponies in Canterlot and the tyrant’s personal dogs would be spending time together in one ballroom was a wise decision.”

“Considering what you’ve said and the actions you’ve taken,” Cadence started, catching everypony’s attention, “I assume that you’ve been observing Auntie Celestia’s every move and have access to quite a large number of resources, even to the point of having moles in the guard.” She looked worriedly at White Path and Spike, still held by the traitorous guards, before continuing. “Why didn't you attack earlier? Why now, of all times?”

“Because the sun tyrant is too powerful otherwise,” replied an impatient guard. “She could easily escape from any trap we could possibly set up to capture her, not to mention she would likely sacrifice the lives of a few nobles and civilians rather than give up her leadership to us.” He tightened his hold against White Path’s neck as his hostage struggled to free himself, redirecting his spear to the colt’s neck. “But will she risk the lives of the most important ponies in Equestria, her closest and dearest friends?”

One of the crazier pegasi suddenly shifted his gaze to Blueblood, who had been slowly backing towards a nearby window. “Going somewhere?” he said, prompting the prince to quietly return to the rest of the group. “If one of you tries to escape, the two cute kiddos here die. Or we could just use our bombs and BOOM. Everyone dies,” he cackled, juggling his explosives haphazardly.

“So you’re willing to sacrifice the life of innocent foals to accomplish your goals?” Fancy Pants asked fearfully, looking involuntarily towards his trapped son.

“I’m s-scared, dad,” White Path stuttered out, hardly able to draw breath. “And s-super pony can’t use h-her magic... or regain her f-full size... to save the day,” he murmured as his tiny friend lowered her head in shame. White Path looked around frantically before focusing on the reassuring smile of his mother.

“Shhh, everything will be fine. There are still many strong and brave ponies here, and they’ll protect us,” Fleur said, attempting to soothe her son despite her own fears about the situation.

Spitfire stamped a hoof into the ground. “There’s no way we can get all the ponies out of here in time. I don’t like this, but we’ve lost, no matter what we do,” she muttered, looking agitatedly between the terrorists surrounding them.

“It’s not over yet,” Overwatch murmured, her gaze focused on a hooded mare near the back of the group, still in her cloak amongst her stripped-down companions. “Situations can change quickly, and there’s always a way out.”

The stallion grinned widely, before levitating up a multitude of shackles and restraining rings. “As much as I’d like to gloat about how hopeless your situation is, we need to leave, and I expect you won’t make much of a resistance if you value your lives.”

Feeling refreshed with the cake’s rather original flavor no longer in her mouth, Celestia flew back towards the ballroom, only to notice a multitude of ponies guarding every window and entrance. Out of curiosity, she landed in the hallway and walked closer to investigate, only for two royal guards to fly towards her and block her way, stern, impassive expressions on their faces.

“Is something the matter? What is all this commotion?” Celestia asked calmly, finding it odd that her guards hadn’t bowed as they always have. “Who are those ponies?” she asked, pointing her hoof at the mob inside.

“Your Highness,” one guard said condescendingly. “The ponies that were inside this ballroom. Are they really dear to you?”

Celestia nodded hesitantly. “They are, but wh—”

“Then if you want to save them, Your Highness, follow us.”

Celestia furrowed her eyebrows into a frown. “Save them? What is the meaning of this?” she asked confusedly as her guards walked into a narrow side hallway, gesturing with their hooves to follow them. Celestia, concerned and confused about what was happening, followed.

She caught up with the guards, stomping her hoof on the tile. “I demand an answer!” she stated authoritatively. “What is the meaning of this? And who are those ponies?”

“Those ponies are here to liberate Equestria from your singular control. No pony should possess absolute power like you do,” one guard said firmly, his face serious and stern.

Liberate Equestria? No, they wouldn’t... They wouldn’t dare. Celestia scowled at the two guards as unwelcome thoughts surfaced in her mind.

“If you are cooperative and do as our leaders say, then the ponies you care about so much will not be harmed. If no—”

The guard’s words fizzled out into a gurgle as a levitation field lifted him up by his neck. In a split second, it snapped, both breaking his neck and crushing his windpipe, and his lifeless corpse was dropped unceremoniously to the ground before the other guard was soon captured in the same powerful force. Celestia looked at the dead body on the floor, surprised by her own actions but careful to maintain an impassive expression through her magical outburst. Calm yourself. Don’t lose control of your power again. She took a deep breath before looking at the remaining guard, who was struggling fearfully in her grasp. Too late to go back now. I’m going to have to improvise.

The guard wheezed out a weak breath as she looked wide-eyed into his ruler’s vengeful glare. “You dare... to use those I care about… to manipulate me? To trade their lives for my obedience?” Celestia asked, her teeth grit angrily as she barely weakened her levitation field enough to let the guard nod and speak quietly.

The interrogation didn’t last very long, and the guard told her most of what he knew, begging for his life. Celestia, her anger rising like lava in an active volcano, levitated the guard to her eye level. “Is everypony still in the ballroom, or did your leader move them?” Celestia asked sternly.

“W-w-what?”

Celestia’s eye twitched as she resisted the urge to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. “I asked you a question, and I’m not going to take ‘what’ for an answer. Where. Are. They?”

The group of hostages walked restlessly through the hallway leading from the ballroom to the kitchen. Twilight lied flat on her brother’s head, her wings spread in defeat as she poked her brother’s horn lightly with her hoof. Still a pegasus, Twilight felt more defenseless and useless than ever as she looked at Spike and White Path, still being carried by the two traitorous guards a considerable distance in front of her. They looked back at her with hopeless looks in their eyes.

She turned her head around to look at the armed ponies flanking them, the unicorns continuing to draw anti-teleportation runes as they walked. They kept a close eye on her brother and foalsitter, not giving any openings for Cadence or Shining Armor to take action. Twilight looked back at her friends, now with shackles on their legs, wings tied up in chains, and rings on each horn, this time special military ones with a much higher tolerance against being broken. She lifted her own foreleg and looked at the threads tying her to her brother’s horn, shackles or ropes being too big for the tiny mare.

A loud explosion roared through the air, the blast’s shockwave causing the floor to rumble below them. The group turned around, noticing that the doors to the ballroom had been thrown off their hinges as curling black smoke and dust drifted out from the open entrance.

“Curse you, Celestia! You just had to make it hard for all of us,” the leader of the rebel forces said, pointing a hoof towards the door. “What are you waiting for? Somepony check it up!” At his words, the cloaked mare scoffed at him, waving a few of the pegasi terrorists to follow her as she trotted back to the ballroom.

The stallion turned back to the hostages, a snarl on his face. “Keep moving if you don’t want to share your former ruler’s fate.”

Twilight stood immediately upon hearing this, fearful and confused, as Shining Armor asked angrily, “What do you mean by ‘share our ruler’s fate,’ traitor?”

The leader growled in response, and one of the rebel ponies punched Shining Armor hard across his face. Twilight would have fallen off if not for the thread holding her to her brother’s horn. “Shut up and go!” the stallion shouted.

Shining Armor bared his teeth as he took a fighting stance against the leader. He could feel his sister struggle against the threads, pulling it with all of her strength and attempting to gnaw through it with her teeth. The commanding terrorist stood to face the captain, looking at Twilight disappointedly. “Pity, and here we hoped that this would end without bloodshed.”

Twilight snapped the threads and flew towards the enemy leader, flying in front of his face. “What have you done? What’s happened?” she said, giving him a suspicious glare. “You didn’t try something as stupid as trying to hurt the princess, did you?”

The leader simply glared at her impassively until the hooded mare and the pegasi under her command returned, pieces of gold in one of the pegasus’s hooves. The sight put a pale expression on Twilight’s face as well as on her friends as they began to recognize the familiar shapes. Cadence, however, looked at the pile suspiciously.

“We found it next to her motionless body,” the hooded mare said. “She was quite burnt up, but we were able to identify her by her cutie mark. Checked her vitals myself, and I’m pretty sure she’s dead as a doornail. Unfortunately, the ponies who were setting up the bombs in the ballroom weren’t fast enough to finish before Celestia entered.”

The stallion looked at her calmly and shrugged. “Not a big loss; they were expendable,” he said coldly, before he noticed the uneasy expression on many of his followers' faces, some even angered. He snorted in response. “Sometimes, you can’t earn freedom without a few sacrifices,” he added, before he was suddenly struck in the face.

“Who dares?” he demanded as he swiveled his head around, only to see the tiny unicorn with wings tackling his head with her body. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, smirking. “Missing your mentor already?”

“You monsters! You dumbheads! Do you even realise what you’ve done?” Twilight screamed in rage as she once again threw herself at the leader, this time striking him in the opened eye and causing him to take few steps back as he covered the injured eye with a hoof. “Why would you do this? Why would you want to kill the princess? Why would you sacrifice your own ponies to accomplish this?” Twilight tried to strike the other eye, but a giant hoof blocked the attack. “Who will control the sun? We are all going to die because of you!” she shouted, slamming herself against his nose. “I can’t believe you ponies!”

Annoyed by the constant assault of the little unicorn, flying at his head like a bee, the stallion swatted the mare to the floor. He then swiftly grabbed her in his levitation field, glaring at the struggling winged unicorn. “It’s her fault. We gave her the choice to be obedient in exchange for your lives, but considering that the guards pointed her to a ballroom full of bombs instead of the meeting place, she didn’t quite intend to cooperate.”

Shining Armor, Steel Blade, and the Wonderbolts had begun to struggle in their restraints, though the leader’s escorts kept them back from the tiny unicorn. Overwatch’s ears perked up and she looked around briefly, as if searching for something, before fumbling with her scarf. “That’s it. I’m gettin’ out the hair pins,” she grumbled quietly, moving to position herself out of sight behind the other ponies.

“It was meant to be our plan B,” the leader continued. “Eliminating the princess was supposed to be our last resort, so if you want to blame anypony, blame her now dead body or her spirit in the afterlife.”

“But without the princess, there will be anarchy! The unmoving sun will turn Equestria into a burning wasteland! Why?” Twilight asked desperately as she struggled fruitlessly against his hold over her, tears falling from her eyes.

The giant stallion laughed in her face. “For so well educated a pony, you sure are clueless,” he remarked, Twilight glowering back at him. “Unicorns will once again control the sun and the moon as it should be, and a new government will be formed in your ruler’s place, headed by our factions in the nobility. As you can see, we have prepared ourselves quite well.”

“Nopony will submit to the rule of the princess’s murderers!” Twilight shouted.

“Oh, this is where you come in, Miss Sparkle,” he said, shaking her violently in his aura. “Or should I say, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”

Twilight blinked her eyes confusedly before the levitation field slammed her against the wall, pinning her to the surface of the stone. “You have made quite a show at your party, Miss Sparkle. A mare the size of a rat levitating a bunch of nobles. A mare that our dear princess looked at with pity and even offered to teach and take care of. A mare too dangerous to be allowed to stay at her normal size,” the stallion said, slamming a hoof into her pinned form.

Shining Armor and Steel Blade fought against their chains to aid Twilight, shouting in anger, but their struggles soon stopped as the guards pushed their spears lightly into White Path and Spike. Thought Spike’s scales resisted it, the terrified colt let out a small peep of pain as a trickle of blood slid down the tip of the spear. “May I advise you to stay calm, for the child’s sake.”

Steel Blade snarled at the traitorous guard, but was quickly silenced when he felt something draping around his shoulders. He looked down to see Overwatch’s scarf and was about to turn around before he heard her whisper quietly, “Just keep looking forward. Also, guard that scarf with your life, lest I come for you later.”

Twilight could feel punch after punch as the giant unicorn paid her back for striking him in the eye. She grit her teeth as she refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out, the fact that she now had elastic pegasus bones the only thing preventing them from breaking under the her opponent’s blows. The hostages glared at the stallion, unable to stop him from his revenge as he began to mock the little unicorn. “How tragic that our dear princess decided to dispel her shrinking spell from this dangerous mare as her birthday present, only for the dear student she taught and cared about so much to kill her and the other guests in an uncontrollable magical surge!”

“N-no one w-will… b-believe th…” Twilight tried to say between punches, which were now beginning to tear down her strength and durability.

“Oh, they will. After all, Equestria has been a very peaceful nation for hundreds of years and your mentor hasn’t exactly had a chance to remind them of how powerful and durable her magic makes her. A few announcements and rumours, and they will all blame you, believing foolishly that unicorn magic could destroy her alicorn flesh,” the leader said as he lit his horn, annoyed at how ineffective his punches appeared to be against the tiny mare and now ready to smite her with offensive magic instead. “Any last words?”

Twilight looked up at him, a determined glint in her weary eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, only to hear a familiar voice call out.

“NOW!”

After knocking out the interrogated guard and stowing his body away, not wanting to let her anger purposely claim another victim, Celestia flew towards a window into the ballroom, which was by now closed and covered. She lit her horn and sealed the mouths of the hooded ponies guarding the windows so they wouldn’t alarm anypony inside before trapping them in her magic and bringing them back with her to the isolated area. The furious alicorn put her enemies to the ground by striking them one by one with stunning spells before knocking them out and stashing their bodies with those of the traitorous guards.

With that task of the way, Celestia flew back towards the ballroom and gently pushed the window open, immediately noticing a few ponies inside doing something she could not recognize. Where are they? Have they relocated them after all? She snorted under her breath. I don’t have time to wake that traitorous guard again. I’ll just have to ask the ponies in here instead, Celestia thought as she rushed in and grabbed everypony in her magic, sealing their mouths in the process. However, the several bombs set up across the room suddenly ignited in a blast of magic at her intrusion.

To Celestia’s surprise, the years she spend adventuring with her student, training with the guards, and practicing with the Wonderbolts had improved her reflexes significantly. Before she knew what was happening, her wings threw her away from the blast points as she set out a barrier instinctively. Moments later, the huge explosion reverberated through the air, a sea of flames slamming against her barrier before breaking it apart.

Celestia shook the rubble from her body as she slowly opened her eyes, dust from the explosion all over her. Though her reflexes had minimized the damage she received, she still had a few burn marks and her golden regalia was shattered by the shockwave. A trap, most likely set up in case I would not cooperate. I should have seen this coming, Celestia thought as she stood and surveyed the area, looking pitily at the ponies who were setting up the bombs, now burned beyond recognition. She sighed. If they think I’m dead, maybe I can use it to my advantage.

Celestia used her magic to transform fragments of a damaged pillar, covered in blood and ash, into a copy of herself, casting an illusion spell on it to make it look like a dead version of herself. To ensure that her assailants would buy it, Celestia used what she learned from Cadence and added on an illusion spell of the highest level, making any living creature touching the illusion feel it as if it was real.

Celestia could hear hoofsteps behind the doors, so she charged her horn and, as she had done many times over the past years, shrunk herself to her student’s size before hiding behind a damaged pillar.

She took a peek from behind the pillar to see a group ponies walk in and begin to search the rubble. One of them, a hooded mare, immediately walked over to her illusion, placing a hoof to its neck before checking for signs of breathing. She gave a dark chuckle before turning to the others, shaking her head. They took fragments of her golden regalia and departed, failing to notice as Celestia began to follow them, teleporting from pillar to pillar until they returned to the main group and began to speak to who she suspected was their leader. Another quick glance confirmed that her friends were chained up and restrained, though she bristled at the sight of White Path and Spike being held at spear point.

Think, Celestia, think. They’re using military rings to keep them down, which means they’ll have self-destruct mechanisms. Without the key, any attempts to remove it by force may damage their horn beyond recognition, but the self-destruct mechanism can be averted if the pony manages to overload it with their magic. Celestia turned to focus on the chains on Spitfire’s and Soarin’s wings, a determined look on her face. But I can still break those chains, since it seems everypony is distracted.

Celestia flew swiftly to Spitfire, hiding in the pegasus’s mane and sealing her mouth with magic to ensure that she wouldn’t attract any attention. “Shhh... It’s me. I’m going to damage the chains, so stay quiet for now,” Celestia whispered, lighting up her horn in a small laser and carving the metal locks until she could remove them.

Overwatch had surreptitiously maneuvered out of sight behind the other ponies in their group, and before Celestia could wonder what she was doing, the charcoal unicorn produced a few thin black pins from her scarf and began to pick the locks on her chains, efficiently working through the complex mechanisms. Celestia raised an eyebrow at the guard’s work before she turned to work on Soarin’s chains, leaving the question of where Overwatch had learned that particular skill to be answered at a more convenient time.

Once she was done, Celestia looked from behind Spitfire’s neck, noticing White Path and Spike close by, still being held as hostages behind the enemy leader. Ponyfeathers, it seems that taking out their commander is out of the question for now, Celestia thought as she whispered, “Once I give you the signal, you will rescue Spike and White Path. They should think that you’re still shackled, so you should catch them off guard.”

Both Spitfire and Soarin’ nodded their heads gently, though a loud sound caught all of their attention, and Celestia turned to look as her student was slammed against the hallway wall. The princess could feel her hooves trembling as her horn and muscles stood ready to unleash their power and save her student, but she decided against it. Hang in there, Twilight. Just a little longer.

Noticing that everypony’s attention was focused on her student, Celestia flew towards Cadence to hide in her mane. She repeated what she said to Spitfire and Soarin’ before adding quietly, “Cadence, I know that you didn’t have to raise the sun and the moon for a millenium like I did, but I know that you are not a pushover. The moment I give the signal, I want you to overpower your restraining ring and push the intruders away. Once they are out of range, cast as strong of a shield as you can.”

She felt Cadence’s head nod slightly, and she looked out from behind the pink alicorn’s neck, planning to go to Shining Armor. Oh no. Celestia’s eyes widened as she noticed the enemy leader charging a spell at Twilight’s beaten body. Without thinking, Celestia spread her wings and flew towards the enemy leader as fast as she could, her horn lit as her determination pushed her onwards.

“NOW!” Celestia shouted as she shot a powerful beam from her tiny horn, striking the enemy commander in the face and causing his spell to discharge safely away from her student. She used the opportunity to grab Twilight in a levitation field and toss her over to Shining as the rest of the group took action.

A blinding light burst from Cadence’s horn, and the startled rebels were suddenly taken up in a light blue aura and slammed against the wall. The two Wonderbolts flew above her head to strike the confused guards, returning rapidly as they took Spike and White Path from the enemy’s grasp and bringing them to safety. Overwatch had leapt out like a cat, bringing a hoof to the hooded mare’s face as she tackled her into a nearby hallway, taking them both out of sight as she rounded the corner at the T-intersection.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the enemy commander shouted, the eye next to his burned cheek scrunched close as he pointed a hoof at the hostages. “Restrain them!”

The fanatics had recovered from the surprise attack and and begun throwing bombs at the group, only for the explosions to splash harmlessly onto a shimmering pale blue shield. Despite the apparently impenetrability of the shield, Celestia looked at Cadence worriedly as more bombs detonated against its surface. Without Shining Armor’s help, her barrier won’t last under the continued assault of so many bombs. It seems I have no choice, she thought as she lit her horn and enveloped herself in her own magic.

“C-Celestia? You’re alive? How?” the leader asked in shock as Celestia’s tiny body grew before the terrorist’s very eyes, too paralyzed by her sudden presence to even consider attacking her. Celestia regained her full size, her lightly burned wings spread intimidatingly as her face expressed nothing but anger.

The unicorn stallion was about to speak when he was suddenly cut off by another voice. “You incompetent idiot!” the hooded mare shouted as she rounded the corner again, this time with a restraining ring on her horn. “How did you let that mare get through and how did you not secure her ring properly—” Her mouth opened in surprise as she looked at Celestia. “I thought she was dead! I checked her myself!”

“Apparently not, doctor,” the stallion snarled. “No time to argue now. Somepony get that ring off her; we need all the firepower we can get.”

He turned angrily towards Celestia. “You tricked us, you witch!” he shouted, before he was forcefully pulled closer to the furious princess in a golden levitation field.

“You dare to lay a hoof on my faithful student?” Celestia shouted, liberally using the Royal Canterlot Voice as her mane burst into flames. In a second, the rebel leader was smashed into a nearby wall with so much force that he ended up creating a crater in it as two nearby unicorns covered in fear, covering their heads with their hooves, the cracks in the wall branching out like a spider’s web as he fell to the ground coughing.

Many terrorists trembled at the sight of their defeated leader, while some run for their lives, though among them were many who didn't even blink. “Nice display of power,” a hostile pegasus said, snorting as he tossed an explosive haphazardly into the air, “but ask yourself this: do you truly believe that this barrier can stop the combined explosions of all our bombs?”

Celestia paid him little attention as she lit her horn, gathering more and more magic before layering a bright golden barrier on top of Cadence’s. “I will not let you hurt my subjects, nor my friends, as long as I am around.”

The rebel stallion unicorn began to laugh darkly. “Yes, that’ll withstand all of our bombs as long as you put all your magic into your barrier,” he said with a smirk while many trembling and cowering ponies suddenly stood up and smirked as well, bombs ready in their hooves. “How disappointing that you can’t use magic to defend yourself while you keep it up.”

Celestia returned the grin. “I do not need magic to deal with you,” she said, bucking one of the earth ponies with her back hooves, sending him crashing into the golden barrier before he bounced off onto the floor.

Before the earth pony could recover himself and stand again, Celestia jumped on him, raising a hoof. “So you can beat one or two of us with your strength, but can you fight all of us with nothing but your hooves?” the unicorn asked, a confident grin on his face. Celestia looked back over at him with a smirk before turning to the pony below her.

“Wait... no no no—” the earth pony scream as the alicorn, instead of hitting him, slugged one of magical bombs attached to his harness. Everypony behind the two barriers watched in awe as they exploded, the flames and smoke enveloping the princess entirely.

***

“Princess!” Twilight screamed as she threw herself against the barrier, only for her beaten body to bounce off of it, her wings fluttering weakly as she fell into Steel Blade’s hooves. Restrained by the guard so she wouldn’t hurt herself, Twilight shouted her mentor’s name again as the dark smoke and dust slowly began to clear.

Much to her relief, her mentor stood confidently about the remains of the rebel pony, the blast that had obliterated the terrorist and the ground around him accomplishing little outside of spraying soot on the princess’s fur and lighting a few fires around her hooves.

The Captain of the Royal Guards looked in awe at what was happening before shifting his attention to his special somepony. “Hang in there, Cadence!” Shining Armor said encouragingly as he lit his horn, cursing the fact that he wasn’t as strong as her as he began fighting against his restraining ring. He had only seconds to overpower it before the self-destruct mechanism would activate, but it was seconds more than if anypony had tried to remove it from the outside. Come on, break, you piece of junk, break!

***

Celestia turned to glare at the hostile ponies as they watched disbelievingly, some even stepping back as their confidence vanished. “Go ahead. Throw your bombs at me. Detonate them all at the same time if you want to. I will gladly take it as long as my friends and subjects don’t have to.”

“You have ruled far too long! Give up your throne or die!” two pegasi shouted as they removed their explosive harnesses, flinging them into Celestia as they activated their bombs, though not even the princess noticed a flash of green and black smoke in their eyes as it lasted for mere second. The blast threw her back into her own barrier behind her, but did little else besides give her a few more small burn marks thanks to her innate magic.

Celestia walked out of the flames, her wings spread. “I have had a very bad day today! I have been reminded of all of my failures in protecting my student, even eating her by accident. The last thing I want is to deal with ponies like you.” To her surprise, more of the ponies began to run in her direction as their fear suddenly vanished, Celestia launched herself into the air with one strong flap of her wings and let her Wonderbolts training take over.

The fanatic rebels rushed to attack, hitting her with blades and bombs, but her alicorn flesh resisted each hit as if they were nothing more than a mere annoyance. In exchange, Celestia gave more than a few kicks back. Her large hooves left noticeable imprints on each hit, surprising the white alicorn by how greatly her own strength had improved over the past years.

The battle only lasted for a minute or two. Celestia breathed heavily as the fight drew to a close. Burn marks were scattered all over her body, and her muscles and hooves were sore from swatting down ponies. At least half of the intruders lay around to her, knocked out by the alicorn’s physical attacks or by their own bombs catching them in the crossfire. Most of the remaining enemies were pegasi, their elastic bodies having better resisted Celestia’s blunt force attacks.

Celestia steeled her scorched hooves, preparing herself for round two against the pegasi as she suddenly noticed an additional tint already present under her shield. She released her own barrier, smirking. It seems that Shining Armor did it. You truly make your noble house and family proud, Captain.

As she expected, a barrage of bombs flew above her head to explode against Cadence’s barrier, shattering it, but stopping short on the second one. The rebel ponies gulped as they took stock of their nearly depleted arsenal, the unicorn stallion backing off unsteadily.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense, my little ponies?” Celestia asked calmly as she lit her horn, ready to use her magic to force them to submission.

“Y-you weren’t supposed to survive the trap. How did you manage to win against us without the help of your magic? You were supposed to be weak, too softened by your royal duties and obligations to stand against us!” he said as he took a few more steps back, only for all his followers to be captured in a powerful golden aura. The stallion focused on the barrier, scowling. “It was you, wasn’t it, Twilight Sparkle? This is all your fault! You were meant to be our trump card, our main hostage against the tyrant, and now it turns out you helped prepare her to prevail against us inste—”

Celestia threw him into a wall for the second time, creating another crater before bringing him to her eye level. “I would like nothing more than to return the favour for hurting my student, but I am not like you,” she remarked as she released the unicorn, dropping him onto the floor. “It’s over. Tell me who sent you and who gave you your resources. Who are the other moles in my guards? And by the way, if you think you can hide any information from me...” Celestia smirked as she lit her horn. “I know a certain spell that will make you tell me everything.”

***

Shining Armor released his barrier, seeing that all hostile forces were either unconscious or too injured to be a threat with their leader in Celestia’s grasp. Everypony walked carefully towards the enemy leader, giving him angry glares.

Steel Blade looked around warily. “We seem to be missing somepony. The hooded mare’s not among the bodies.”

“And Overwatch is nowhere to be seen either,” Soarin said, suspicious of the fleety mare.

“I wouldn’t worry about her,” Steel Blade said. “Overwatch isn’t exactly the type to run from something. My guess is she’s either off stalking somepony or lurking in the background.”

Spitfire snorted. “We’ll figure out where both of them are later. For now though, It’s over,” she said, before turning to the captured leader angrily. “You and your bunch of terrorist friends lost, so for your own good, you’d better speak up.”

“I would understand using me as a hostage,” Fancy Pants said sternly, “but to think that you would use my son and a baby dragon as hostages against us? How shameful.” He paused as he nuzzled White Path, his son returning it with a tight hug. “I will not rest until those responsible are locked behind bars.”

Twilight ignored the pain in her body as she fluttered up unsteadily to sit on Celestia’s shoulder, looking at the wounds covering her mentor’s body worriedly. “Princess, you’re hurt, and some of these look pretty severe. We need to get you to a hospital.”

Celestia shook her head as she drew on her magic again, quickly covering her foe’s horn with dark crystals and stopping the flow of magic through it. She hurled the bombs attached to his harness away from him, making sure that he would not try to hurt anypony in a last act of desperation. Once the enemy commander was defenseless, Celestia looked to Twilight, lingering once again on the injuries her student had accumulated by the enemy’s hoof.

As if her day wasn’t painful enough already.

Celestia sighed. “Do not worry about me, dear Twilight,” she said in a motherly voice. “My wounds are nothing compared to yours.”

“B-but I’m fine, Princess,” said Twilight.

“As am I,” Celestia added cheerfully, smiling at her student.

Unnoticed by anypony in the party group, one of the hostile unicorns slowly lifted his head and, noticing that the princess was distracted, hurled a pack of bombs towards them. “Boss, it’s not over yet! Don’t give up!”

Everypony turned their attention forward him, Shining Armor and Cadence quickly capturing the bombs in their levitation fields. However, before Celestia could hit him with a stunning spell, he levitated Twilight from her shoulder right into his leader’s grasp.

Celestia quickly turned towards the stallion leader, her eyes wide at the bomb in his hoof from the body of an unconscious pegasus follower. The distraction had bought him dear seconds to turn the tables, despite the dark crystals blocking his magic.

“I won’t stand for this humiliation, nor will I tell you the names of my superiors,” he said, Twilight held tightly in his hoof, his eyes green as black smoke streamed out of them, “If I’m going down, then I will take your smallest, most valuable treasure with me!”

The seconds he spent talking felt like minutes as Celestia dashed towards Twilight with a flap of her wings, and everypony stared in horror as the leader activated his bomb, the bright blast of the explosion enveloping the princess and her student.

Epilogue

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Celestia’s Tiny Student

Epilogue

For the ponies of Canterlot, it had become a sorrowful day on a day that began like any other. Ponies woke up reading the headlines on the newspapers in disbelief. Many of them called it lies, often looking to see if the news was the same in other papers. To their horror, each story was the same:

The Sun Has Fallen

By Quick Quill

Readers, it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that yesterday, our beloved Princess Celestia, the raiser of the sun and ruler of Equestria, breathed her final breath and left this world. Last night, a group of terrorists launched an attack on the birthday party of our ruler’s apprentice, Twilight Sparkle, hoping to hold her closest friends hostage so that they could control Equestria using our beloved princess as a figurehead. Princess Celestia, however, refused to acquiesce to their demands and, despite her best intentions, was greatly wounded in the surprise attack on her student.

Princess Celestia was taken to the Royal Canterlot Hospital, though the healers there could do little for her. Her death was a private affair, surrounded by friends and companions, but a new public statement has been released, officially handing Princess Celestia’s rule to Prince Blueblood with Fancy Pants as his advisor.

“She has guided Equestria for over a thousand years,” said Prince Blueblood, our new leader, as he wiped tears from his eyes. “If anybody deserves a good, peaceful rest, it is her.”

No news has been given as to the fate of the captured terrorists, but rumor has it they are currently awaiting trial and possible execution, the first since the Griffo-Draconic War many hundreds of years ago.

Princess Celestia’s funeral will first be held for the esteemable nobles of Canterlot this coming Saturday. A state funeral for her subjects will be held the day after before her burial in the Royal Gardens. Readers, this is a sad day for us all. We of the Canterlot Globe wish Princess Celestia safe passage in the afterlife. Rest in Peace.

The most influential ponies from across Canterlot slowly gathered in and around the palace throne room, where, after a single day of preparations, the funeral was meant to take place.

As ponies walked in, many glanced nervously at the motionless sun, already a source of concern throughout Equestria. Ambassadors from other countries joined the funeral, if only to find out who would take control over the sun and prevent the world from burning into a searing desert.

The throne room was no different than usual. As always, it was bright and well decorated, the only additions being a number of small cushions for everypony to sit on and a small pedestal erected in front of the princess’s opulent throne. Dozens of flowers, gifts, and wreaths were arranged before it, leaving a space for the inevitable coffin that would hold their ruler for eternity. There, the ponies of Equestria would look upon her one last time and say their farewells. The sight of such a place brought many of the guests to tears, though many others simply looked on, silent and inexpressive.

The first ones to sit were the ponies from the Sparkle House and the Pants House. Twilight and Fancy Pants’ families were in the first seats, and next to them sat Spitfire and Soarin’ from the Wonderbolts.

To the surprise of many ponies, a pink earth pony they’d never seen nor heard anything about sat with them, causing many murmurs about who the mysterious friend of the princess might be.

The murmurs stopped when the doors to the throne room opened again, slowly, but surely. Blueblood eased them open with his magic, struggling a little as he led the four unicorns levitating the coffin down the center aisle.

Everypony looked in silence at the well-decorated coffin where their princess rested. It was assembled from a fine white wood, much like the coat of its occupant, and bordered with expertly cut diamonds that twinkled in the day’s light. Celestia’s cutie mark was recreated at the center of its lid with an assortment of yellow and orange gemstones. Blueblood walked towards the center platform as the coffin was slowly hauled behind him, an orchestra playing a mournful dirge in the background.

Tears fell, but nopony dared to break the silence as the princess’s coffin was placed gently before the platform in front of the throne and opened. Everypony wanted to see their princess, finding it hard to believe that she was really there, but the gravity of the gathering kept them from craning their necks too hard to take a look.

Blueblood stood at the head of the coffin and looked at Celestia, the proud alicorn now lying in front of him. Powder hid burn marks on her white body and her majestic wings were folded close to her. Her golden regalia had been placed in their rightful locations, though her mane was a lifeless pink, no longer the flowing rainbow it had been. Her front hooves had been placed together on her breast and she had a peaceful smile, as if she was just taking a nap, but many of the ponies present burst into tears seeing their ruler like this. Some who had prayed that this was a joke now knew the truth. Princess Celestia was dead.

Blueblood murmured something to himself before walking solemnly behind the pedestal and turning towards the crowd. “I do not deserve to be the leader of Equestria on this day, but rather my aunt, who we are all here for. She, who had stood resolutely against the foes of Equestria, has been a mother to us all and warmed us with her kindness and love. It is Celestia who should be here, treating this like any other day at court. Though I do not possess the same wisdom and love she had for us all, I will take an example from her and try to rule as best I can.”

Blueblood sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. “My Aunt Celestia is now at peace after her long rule. Perhaps she found comfort knowing that she died saving those she loved. I can only pray that wherever she is now, she is happy and free.” He turned to Celestia and bowed. “Goodbye, Auntie. Rest now, for you have done your duty.”

After Blueblood was done, many ponies followed his lead and gave their speeches, but none of those ponies drew the attention of the crowd more than a tiny mare who now approached the speaker’s space.

The tiny unicorn finally reached the platform and levitated herself upon it. She cast a spell on herself, and, despite the worries of some that they wouldn’t be able to hear her, when she opened her mouth, her speech sounded clearly throughout the entire throne room. “Princess Celestia was more than just a mentor to me. She was... a friend—a mother even—somepony I trusted more than anything and would do everything for. It’s not fair... it’s not fair!”

Twilight began to sob quietly as she continued, her voice becoming more and more broken. “She shouldn’t have died to save me! I’m just a unicorn! She was the Princess of Equestria! I should be dead! Not her! Not her...”

It took Twilight a long time to recover before she calmed down, taking a deep breath. “What I will remember most about Princess Celestia isn’t the magic she taught me, but the adventures we had, the smiles we shared, and the times we used to read and play together. She was my best friend and I will treasure everything we had together. I love her... and I always will.”

Twilight wiped her tears with a hoof, before levitating herself towards the coffin and, after a moment’s hesitation, entered it. Twilight stood on her mentor’s motionless body as she levitated a lily into the princess’s hooves. She marched towards the head and nuzzled a burned spot on her mentor’s cheek, before giving it a small farewell kiss. Twilight levitated herself out of the coffin before running towards her family and crying in her mother’s embrace.

Once all the speeches were over, ponies started, one by one, to walk towards the coffin to take a look at their fallen ruler, tears in their eyes. One of nobles lowered his head closer to the princess’s head and whispered, “You can sleep peacefully forever now, my dear princess. Rest assured that your Equestria will be in good hooves. My hooves.”

Celestia suddenly opened her eyes and, before the noble could jump back, grabbed his neck in her telekinesis.

“Gotcha.”

Almost every pony in the throne room began to panic or faint at the sight of their ruler rising from her coffin like a zombie. The entire room was swiftly sealed by several of the Royal Guards, blocking all the exits and calming the mob.

The captured noble writhed desperately in the hold. “S-Soothing? What’s the meaning of this?” he called out to someone in the crowd. “I thought you made sure she was dead!”

“I did!” a unicorn mare with a stethoscope for a cutie mark shouted as she was suddenly arrested by a levitation field herself. “The explosives from the ballroom turned her into a charred corpse! I checked everything, I swear!”

Her mouth was magically clamped together before she could say anything further, and she turned to look into the predatory eyes of Overwatch. “That’s quite enough out of you, traitor,” she said as her captive began to panic at the sight of her. “By the way, you’re an idiot, so thanks for making this so easy.”

Celestia looked confusedly at the captured mare before turning back to look angrily at her own captive. “Now, I want to know the names of everypony involved, and I will not take ‘no’ for an answer,” she said firmly, the pony in front of her terrified to the bone. Without wasting any time, Celestia cast a Want-it-Need-it spell on the lily her student put into her hooves, and soon the noble began to say the names of everypony he cooperated with, the words leaving him like a stream as he focused intently on the lily.

As Celestia enhanced the voice of captured noble with her magic, the names he spoke began echoing throughout the throne room, and the guards were more than happy to arrest anypony mentioned, at least to hold as suspects until their identity was confirmed. As Celestia expected, the majority of them were present at her funeral.

Once arrests were over, over twenty percent of the seats in throne room were empty. Celestia turned the captured noble over to the guards, the prisoner holding the lily in his hooves as if it was the most important thing in the world. Celestia walked over to stand behind the pedestal, looking upon her little ponies who stared back at her with a mix of happiness and shock.

“I assume that every single one of you is surprised by my sudden awakening,” she said, giving them an innocent smile before she began to explain what had really happened and how she hoped for the traitors to be exposed by faking her death, though she avoided going into the details, namely the fact that she had expected the rebels to approach her nephew to force his cooperation.

She snorted as she thought over the actual course of events. I didn’t expect that they’d expose themselves so quickly. How could fools like them even get so close to taking over my country? Could there be a third party involved?

She dismissed the thought for later so that she could give a final statement on the affair. “I would like to give a warning to most of you,” she said sternly. “I am very disappointed by how little the nobility resembles the proud and hard working houses I shared my power with a thousand years ago.”

She swept an angry glare over the assembled group in the throne room. “For all rights and reasons, I should remove each of you from your status. Just because most of you are unicorns with wealth and power, do not act as if you are better than your fellow ponies. Equestria was built with the intention of all of us working together in harmony.”

“However,” Celestia said, her gaze softening, “I am not the tyrant they would lead you to believe. I will grant you all another chance to show what nobles should be. Are you willing to forgive me for my deception if I forgive you?”

Her subjects said nothing at first, but it wasn’t long before they walked up and paid their respects, teary eyed as they vowed to lead a better life. Stuck up or not, they were still her beloved ponies, and nothing could change that.

The throne room became much emptier as ponies finally began to depart, and as the doors to her funeral closed for the day, Celestia turned back to those still remaining, a friendly, familiar group that bowed as soon as she could look at them.

Celestia let out a hearty laugh. “Stop it, you may rise. If anypony should be bowing, it’s me. You all played your parts wonderfully.”

“Shucks, it was nothing,” said Soarin’. “If anything, it was worth it just to see the reactions of those traitors. I thought they were gonna piss themselves right then and there.”

“Ditto,” Spitfire said, snickering. “Wished I had a camera on me for the occasion.”

“Wish I could have actually seen more of it,” Overwatch murmured, having suddenly and speedily departed the room due to nausea soon after Celestia began interrogating her captive. “By the way, Princess, what spell did you cast back there?”

“It was the Want-it-Need-it spell,” Steel Blade interjected, shuttering. “It makes anyone looking at an object immediately want it, forgoing all feelings besides an overpowering desire for it. More importantly, you should really see a doctor about your stomach problems, especially if they’re that strong.”

Overwatch harrumphed. “I’ll be fine. I’ve never had a great constitution anyways,” she said, waving off the issue as she took her scarf back from Steel Blade with a thankful smile. “Oh yes, by the way, I brought back a few souvenirs!” she said, suddenly producing a few bombs, clutched in her teeth by a piece of string.

Steel Blade’s eyes widened. “Somepony get that away from her.”

Twilight stepped forward as Steel Blade attempted to relieve Overwatch of her prizes, levitating herself onto her teacher’s shoulder since she didn’t feel strong enough to climb up as she usually did. “You’re okay though, right Princess?”

Celestia sighed. “Physically, I am fine, Twilight, but this entire ordeal has been an emotional rollercoaster.” She levitated up the list of traitors she’d written up, looking at their names with cold, yet sorrowful, eyes. The crimes they’ve committed were long and numerous, but soon this would all be put to the end. She would try to avoid giving death penalties if possible, but she knew that in the next few days a few families would be having their own funerals to arrange. “So many of my own ponies caused all this pain and suffering. How many have lost their lives because of the goals of these individuals? You all almost perished as well. If I had lost you Twilight, I...”

Twilight nuzzled her mentor. “It’s okay, Princess Celestia. Everything worked out fine, right? I’m not in danger anymore.”

Celestia gave her student a weak smile, despite her growing guilt. No, Twilight, you are. From a foe that I have been planning for you to face ever since I met you.

“I think we all deserve a good night’s rest after this. The sun’s been up way too long anyway,” Celestia said, finding it amusing that she had done the opposite of what Nightmare Moon desired to do in order to keep this act up. While the ambassadors were rightly furious, they were understanding of her actions. She would calm them down somehow. She always did.

“Agreed, I could use a long sleep,” Blueblood said, heading for the door as Shining Armor caught up with him.

“Aww, upset that you didn’t become the next ruler of Equestria, Blueblood?” Shining Armor asked with a smirk.

Blueblood snorted. “Please. And deal with all the paperwork? I’d rather fake my own death before I do that.”

“Yeah, and then we’d have half of Equestria celebrating over your coffin,” Spitfire remarked.

Everypony laughed as they began to exit the throne room. Twilight was almost about to leave with them when a thought hit Celestia. “Wait, Twilight?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Twilight, your speech at the funeral. Was it... all true? Do you really care about me that much?” Celestia asked, unable to stop the quiver in her voice.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Of course I do, Princess. You mean so much to me. Every bit of it was the truth, excluding the whole ‘being dead’ part, of course.”

This did nothing to help Celestia’s heart as she forced a smile and nodded. “Thank you, Twilight. I... I feel the same way.”

Celestia watched her tiny faithful student walk away, leaving her alone in the throne room. With nopony around, she rested on her throne and thought about the past day’s events.

I took the lives of many of those who tried to harm the ponies most dear to me. Should I imprison those ponies who would not hesitate to use a colt as a hostage? Must I sign documents to end more lives? She sighed in defeat, Was it my fault? Was I a bad ruler? Did I make a mistake trying to break the barrier between ruler and subject with my interactions with Twilight? Did that turn those dear to me into targets for my foes?

She thought of the words the traitors shouted during their attack. Is that what I’m doing? Manipulating ponies like Twilight to save my sister? Am I so selfish that I am, in some ways, abusing my power? Twilight may be willing to do everything for me, but what about the other Element Bearers? Is it fair to risk their lives without giving them a choice?

She stomped in frustration, leaving a small dent in her throne. No matter what I do, I cannot avoid mistakes. I am not omnipotent. I have more than enough power to protect my subjects—to protect Twilight—but this power is useless if I don’t use it in the right time and place. Twilight almost died because I lowered my guard for a moment.

This party... Not only did I almost eat you, my faithful student, but I’d almost lost you and the other ponies I care about to an unexpected and avoidable attack.

“Yet Twilight has grown so much. She’s faced trial after trial and still came out on top, but how long could it last?” Celestia murmured to herself fearfully, closing her eyes. What if, one day, I am forced to attend a real funeral? One with a little coffin that holds my precious student instead? I can’t deny it any longer: Twilight is too important to me, perhaps to the point where the only pony I care for more is my sister.

Celestia opened her eyes with a new resolve. She had been a teacher, a manipulator, and a politician, but now it was time to change that. Too many of the ponies she had come to care about had gotten hurt in her manipulations. It was time to take action, to be the protector she was supposed to be.

And this time shall come very soon, Nightmare Moon. I will not let the ponies I love so much be hurt, even if I need to capture you and free my sister myself.

“You called, Your Majesty?” asked Silver Scroll, bowing her head in respect.

“If this is about those mad ponies who were behind the attack yesterday, we are still investigating it,” Shining Armor said, also bowing down. “But after your funeral, there’re only a few leftovers to be concerned about.”

“I don’t think that’s the case. Princess, this is about Nightmare Moon, is it not?” Brave Blade asked, his age lending his voice a weary tone as he saluted.

“That is correct, Brave Blade. The return of my sister is close by, and I’ve summoned you all here to inform you about an alteration to my plans. Captain Shining Armor, could you remind us what the original plan was?” Celestia asked authoritatively.

“Yes, Your Highness. We were to make sure that Twilight reads about the tale of Nightmare Moon. Expecting her letter, you will disregard her warning and send her to Ponyville where she will interact with the other Element Bearers, who will be preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. Ponyville library is equipped with a book about the Elements of Harmony that Twilight will be inexorably drawn to read,” Shining Armor said, his face carefully impassive as he talked about the fate of his sister.

“Very good. Continue,” Celestia replied calmly.

“Nightmare Moon will return to the same place she was banished from, the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Discovering that the Elements are nothing but stones and confident they are no longer a threat, she will make a move at the closest settlement at Ponyville. She might go directly to Canterlot, but taking on the entire capital would be suicidal, so I doubt it.”

“And what will be our move?” Celestia asked.

“Our elite forces will be hidden in the Everfree Forest. The monsters in the forest are nothing we can’t handle, especially with Princess Cadance there as well. We will let Nightmare Moon go to Ponyville where she will announce her return, giving Twilight the motivation to recover the Elements of Harmony. Twilight will most likely assume that you have been captured when, of course, you will be nearby, ready to lure Nightmare Moon away with a wave of your magic before she can attack your subjects so she will follow you to the Everfree Forest.”

“You memorized the plan to the letter,” Celestia said, smiling. “Now, what will be my and Twilight's role" Celestia asked curiously as Shining Armor sighed.

“You will engage Nightmare Moon in the Everfree Forest to weaken her. Cadence will recharge you after the fight, as you will have severed your connection with the sun. An army of guards will be on standby to engage the weakened Nightmare Moon, though we will fall back once we force her to retreat. Twilight and the other Element Bearers will be already on the move towards the ruins of the old castle, where Nightmare Moon will try to stop them, but in her weakened state, she will be unable to attack full force. Twilight and her new friends will reactivate the Elements of Harmony and cleanse your sister, though you will be ready to engage Nightmare Moon in case the Elements do not activate,” he said, taking a deep breath as he finished his non-stop monologue.

Celestia clapped her hooves. “You have an impressive memory, Captain Shining Armor. Indeed, that was the plan before the terrorist’s attack.”

Shining Armor and Brave Blade looked at her confusedly, though they remained silent.

“Please do not worry, my friends. This’ll just make the plan easier. We will simply intercept Nightmare Moon on her way to Ponyville, capture her and lock her in the dungeon. Once the danger is over, I will send my student to Ponyville to begin learning to activate the Elements, so—”

Brave Blade cleared his throat loudly. “Your Majesty, many soldiers will die going the extra mile to capture Nightmare Moon. How will you get your sister back without the help of the Elements?”

“As I’ve said, Twilight will be sent to Ponyville once Nightmare Moon is captured. She will be given as much time as she needs to befriend the other Element Bearers, and with Spike’s help, I will set up any trials to bring the Elements closer myself. Those trials will not be any easier than the ones Nightmare Moon would use to stop Twilight and the other Bearers, but I will be nearby, ready to save them if they fail.”

“But you will sacrifice the lives of many guards when a simpler solution is at hoof!” Brave Blade protested.

“Yet the most important component, the lives of the Bearers of Elements themselves, will be placed at a much smaller risk. The lives of the Royal Guards are dear to me as the lives of all my subjects, but we cannot lose the lives of the Bearers themselves, lest we wait decades or centuries for the Elements to find new ponies.”

“Your Highness, as relieved as I am that my sister will not be sent to confront Nightmare Moon on the night of her arrival, as Captain of the Royal Guard, I still cannot risk the lives of my soldiers needlessly,” Shining Armor said authoritatively.

“The Royal Guards have sworn to lay down their lives to protect Equestria. Twilight and the other Bearers are civilians. In either case, you do not have to worry about the safety of your soldiers, Captain. For the past several years, I have trained whenever I could, and I will do everything in my power to overpower Nightmare Moon and protect as many guards as I can,” Celestia said, calmly and professionally.

“I-I have not thought about it that way, Your Majesty. As guards, it has always been our duty to protect you, Equestria, and every pony. As an extension of that, I suppose we cannot let civilians put themselves in danger when we could,” Shining Armor said hesitantly, torn between the lives of his soldiers and the life of his sister.

“Is that the best resistance you can put up?” Brave Blade growled. “Are you truly willing to sacrifice the lives of my soldiers to protect your dear sister? The lives of countless fathers and mothers for one pony?”

“They are my soldiers now, and they are my responsibility, not yours. If victory could be better assured with another plan than with Celestia’s idea to keep the current bearers safe until they could activate the elements, I would take it, but we risk losing not only one pony, but being stuck keeping Nightmare Moon in check for centuries until she could be cleansed,” Shining Armor replied, glaring sternly at the former captain.

“Enough!” Celestia shouted with authority in her voice, swiftly separating the two with her magic. “It is my decision, and I will bear the consequences of my actions, but I will not change my plans.”

Brave Blade scowled at the princess, storming out of Celestia’s bedchamber as he slammed the door. Shining Armor looked at the old stallion worriedly as Celestia placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Let him go. He has every right to be angry,” Celestia said, looking after the old captain somberly.

“Princess, if you don’t mind me asking, why have you decided to change your mind?” Shining Armor said, looking up at her. “The original plan would have been less costly and difficult to implement and would have resulted in a faster resolution to the problem of Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia sighed, sitting back down. “I’ve already endangered Twilight so much. She’s had no fewer than seven life threatening events under my care, and I’m in no hurry to make that eight. I don’t want to carry the pain of losing two of the most important ponies in my life, and because of that, I’m not going to gamble Twilight’s life. I will not risk the life of a loved one to save my sister if there’s another safer way.”

Shining Armor scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. “I see… but you are aware that Twilight will one day leave you, while your sister will stay with you for hundreds of years?”

Celestia’s eyes began to tear up as she looked on determinedly. “I don’t care. I’ve failed to protect Twilight so many times and I’m not going to let her fight my enemies and risk her life to rescue my sister. In the past, many Element Bearers had been chosen during Discord’s reign, but only Luna and I succeeded. Being chosen to bear the Elements does not guarantee a happy ending.”

Shining Armor stayed silent for a few moments before answering. “I-I understand, and I will do everything in my power to protect my guards while they help you capture Nightmare Moon,” he said, bowing before he left the room.

Celestia turned towards Silver Scroll, who had listened to the conversation silently this entire time. “Thank you for your patience,” the princess said.

“There is nothing to thank me for, Your Highness. It is my duty as your secretary to be patient and to assist wherever I can,” Silver Scroll replied with a professional tone.

Celestia smiled. “It was originally your duty to make sure that Twilight reads the tale of Nightmare Moon.”

“And that order has been canceled. I understand, Your Highness.”

Celestia nodded. “That is all. You are free to leave.”

“Are you on my side or not?” Brave Blade asked.

Silver Scroll nodded, the book containing the tale of Nightmare Moon in her magical aura. “Yes, I am. I’m afraid that Her Majesty has let her emotions get the best of her. Twilight and the other potential bearers can unlock the Elements of Harmony without her assistance,” she said seriously, looking at the former captain with determination in her eyes. “A powerful alicorn that can move both the sun and the moon and the most powerful artifacts in the world? Too much is at stake to hesitate now.”

“Indeed. The princess has let her emotions cloud her judgement. I saw Twilight during her training in combat magic. If she removes the shrinking spell from herself, she could easily become the most powerful unicorn warrior in Equestria’s history. Even shrunken, she’s not a pony to be messed with,” Brave Blade replied, stomping his hoof into the ground firmly. “If anypony, it will be Twilight who leads the other Element Bearers to free Luna and destroy Nightmare Moon. Celestia may have lost faith in her student, but I have not.” He moved a hoof to Silver Scroll, who returned it by clapping her hoof against his.

“For a better and stronger Equestria.”

Celestia's Tiny Student

by CommanderX5

Prologue ( updated )

Bonus Ch - Past and Memories ( updated )

Ch1 - Fears ( updated )

Ch2 - Learning ( updated )

Ch3 - The Dragon and the Knight ( updated )

Ch4 - Stargazing

Bonus Ch - Twiny's Flu

Ch5 - Lost

Bonus Ch - The Return of Fort Book

Ch6 - Games, Missteps, and Miscreants

Ch7 - Cadence, Blueblood, and BBBFF

Ch8 - Snowball War

Bonus Ch - Dolls and Adventures

Ch9 - Final Exam

Ch10 - Student on the run

Ch11 - Confrontation

Ch12 - Celestia's Tiny Adventure

Ch13 - Magic Duel

Ch14 - Home Visit

Ch15 - The Shakedown

Ch16 - Princess, I Broke My Parents

Bonus Ch - Magic Duel, Round 2

Ch17 - Pegasus Magic

Bonus Ch - The Return of Philomena

Bonus Ch - Twilight The Pet

Bonus Ch - My Little Twiny April Foal's Day

Ch18 - The Wonderbolts

Ch19 - Friends among Foes

Ch20 - Camping Trip

Bonus Ch - My Little Medic

Ch21 - Twilight’s Birthday

Ch22 - Best Wishes

Ch23 - Sundown

Epilogue

Bonus Ch - Day Before Summer Sun Celebration