Celestia's Tiny Student

by CommanderX5

First published 14th of June, 2013

Twilight is unable to control her powers during the entrance exam to the School for Talented Unicorns, and in order to reduce the damage caused by her power surges, Celestia shrinks her down until she would later learn how to control her powers.

During the entrance exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight completely loses control of her magic. Celestia tries in vain to calm her down, but having no other choice she's forced to use a shrinking spell on the filly in order to tone down her dangerous surge of power.

After the exam, Celestia takes the tiny Twilight as her personal student to teach the young unicorn control over her powerful magic, making sure that she will pose no threat to other beings.

Will tiny Twilight be able to step out into a world designed for someone far larger than her? And will her size impede her in the trials of life as princess personal student ?
Side stories: "My Little Twiny April Foals Day" and "My Little Medic"

[img]https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/109x149q90/138/zvuu.png[/img] [img]https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/136x137q90/843/7m25.png[/img]

Sub-autors:
Kydois (Audience <3!)
Georg

Editors:
kingtiger666
Ultra1437
Frozen Ice King

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar

Prologue ( updated )

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.

Author's Notes:

Editors:
Georg
Kydois (Audience <3!)
Ultra1437
Diarch
Twidash

Pre-reader:
metallusionsismagic
Seattle - Reviewer from Ponychan
DPV111

Bonus Ch - Past and Memories ( updated )

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.

Author's Notes:

Editors:
Georg
Kydois (Audience <3!)
kingtiger666
Ultra1437
Diarch
Wolf

Pre-reader:
metallusionsismagic
DPV111

Ch1 - Fears ( updated )

“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.

Author's Notes:

Twilight improves! She has now bested both sugar cube and bathroom! A veritable scourge of the castle!

Sub author:
Kydois (My <3 to all of you readers~)

Special thanks to editors:
kingtiger666
Georg
Twidash

Feel free to comment ( both feedback how to make this story better and grammar mistakes, as well as what you like and enjoy in the story ).

Ch2 - Learning ( updated )

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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
kingtiger666
Georg
Diarch

Ch3 - The Dragon and the Knight ( updated )

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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
kingtiger666
Georg
Diarch

Art "A cup of Twiley" made by: Neko-me

Feel free to comment.

Ch4 - Stargazing

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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:

Ultra1437
Georg
Diarch

Bonus Ch - Twiny's Flu

Author's Notes:

I would like to inform everyone that a sidestory "Twiny's Flu" is now complete.

It takes place around a year after chapter 4 "Stargazing" and before chapter 5 "Lost"
It is a one-shot story from Celestia's perspective as she first played with her student on the balcony in the snow, only to end up nursing her back to health.

The story isn't long ( around 7k words) and the quality is quite good, so everyone who would like to see more of interaction between cute tiny Twilight and very carying Celestia, I would advice to read it. Have fun, and prepare for overdose of cuteness.

(In this bonus chapter you can see fragment of "Twiny's Flu" to see what to expect and if it is worth checking.)

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

“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.

Author's Notes:

Sub authors:
Georg
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
Ultra1437
Diarch

Pre-reader:
Alana
Octavia Harmony

Bonus Ch - 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.

Author's Notes:

Sub authors:
Georg

Editors:

Kydois (Audience <3!)
Ultra1437
Diarch

Pre-reader:

Alana
Octavia Harmony

Ch6 - Games, Missteps, and Miscreants

"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?

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
Ultra1437
Georg
Diarch

Pre-reader:
Alana

Ch7 - 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!

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
Ultra1437
Georg
Diarch

Pre-readers:
Alana
Octavia Harmony

Ch8 - 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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)
Georg

Editors:

Ultra1437

Special congratulations to:
Nova007 and Penguin_Lord
Who vote on "Twilight Blue Team"

Bonus Ch - 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

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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois (Audience <3!)

Editors:
Ultra1437
Georg

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar

Due to lack of editing time for my editors, second half of chapter was edited on lower level than the first half, my apologise.
Feel free to report any error or mistake or leave a comment.

Also, my apology for re-uploading the same chapter, as last one was buggy.

Ch10 - Student on the run

"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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 85% of the story.

Editors:
Ultra1437 - Quick basic editing
Hereward - Quick basic editing
Georg - High Quality editing 15% of the story

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices

Ch11 - 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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Georg - High Quality editing 80% of the story

Editors:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 20% of the story and fixing after Georg
Kritziebomelu - Quick basic editing

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices

Ch12 - 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.

Author's Notes:

Say hello to new editor on the board Kritziebomelu.

Sub author:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 65% of the chapter.

Editors:
Kritziebomelu - Medium Quality editing, 35% of the chapter. Finishing after Kydois.
Frozen Ice King - Quick basic editing

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices

Ch13 - 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.

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 100% of the chapter.

Editors:
Kritziebomelu - Medium Quality editing, 100% of the chapter.
Frozen Ice King - Quick basic editing

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices

Ch14 - 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?”

Author's Notes:

Our little Twilight is growing up and is finally ready to leave walls of the castle to visit her parents. Though it quickly turns into family reunion with many unexpected quests.

Will her parents stay sane in the end of the visit, or will it be a lesson Zero all over again?

Sub author:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 100% of the chapter.

Editor:
Frozen Ice King - Quick basic editing

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices

Ch15 - 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.”

Author's Notes:

Sub author:
Kydois - High Quality editing, 100% of the chapter.

Editor:
Frozen Ice King - Quick basic editing

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar - Advices