Okay, here we go again ^^
Let's have the chaos die down, both in Twilights and my life.
Well... let's hope this lasts for a while, for both our sake.

Ah, darn it... exams draw near

Well, once more, special thanks to Sweetolebob18 for his help in proofreading and editing.

As Celestia’s eyes fluttered open, woken by the gentle reminder of her celestial body that it was time, another morning was slowly ushered in to greet the world.

Slowly but steadily, she sleepily let the sun glide over the horizon, her mind still fogged by the siren’s call of sleep.

While the morning was as beautiful as an autumn morning could get, the day seemed to bring with it the slow realization from every alicorn in Canterlot that the night was over entirely too quickly.

Even Cadance, who hadn’t even had an actual schedule during her stay and whose only obligation it was to show by her mere presence that everything was alright, was vocally annoyed by the sun’s march over the horizon.

While she loved her daughter Flurry Heart with more love than was physically possible, the young pony had kept both Cadance and Shining Armor up and running ever since she had first stepped hoof into this world.

Which included, to Cadance great annoyance, her little baby waking and screaming in the middle of the night.

Internally shuddering at her own treacherous mind for having formed such hideous thoughts, Cadance briefly shook her head and tried to banish them from her mind.

Flurry was still a baby after all.

The only one she could be mad at though was Shining, as he had the nagging tendency to sleep through Flurry’s calls like a rock.

Though, even that thought was something that made her sick to her stomach.

Besides, if she really needed it, she could always ask a few members of her staff to help her, though right now, only the most trusted friends and family were welcome to help her with what she believed was her responsibility.

Flurry was her child, not the one of a maid or some other pony. It would be bad parenting to do otherwise.

While Cadance silently muttered to herself, Celestia, on the other side of the castle, was swimming once more through an ocean of haziness while the last tendrils of sleep only slowly came loose.

Feeling the warmth of a pony pressed to her side, an internal battle was fought, though her common sense ultimately won over.

Lazily blinking her eyes clear, the sleepy white alicorn was about to draw the wonderful source of warmth closer to her and surrender back to sleep as her eyes landed upon her calendar.

Her eyes widening, Celestia felt her blood run cold and could almost swear she felt ice crystals growing in her veins as she looked at the day displayed on the hideous piece of parchment hanging from the wall above her nightstand.

Monday.

And as if the cursed day had not been enough bad news for the tired monarch, something had happened that she managed to avoid for almost thirty years and whose timing could not possibly have been worse right now.

She had already overslept 20 minutes.

Out of all days, it had to have happened today, she cursed while suddenly jumping into action and from her bed. Making her way over to her bathroom, Celestia woke, unbeknownst to her, the two other occupants of her sheets in the process.

Luna, whose mood soured almost instantly at being woken, and Twilight.

While Luna had to get up at roughly the same time as her sister, at least usually, the night princess never took too kindly to being woken and was about to make her displeasure known to the perpetrator who dared to disturb her rest as her eyes fell on the other pony which still occupied her sister’s bed.

Her ire short-lived, Luna watched how Twilight’s sleepy mind pieced together just where she woke up, again, by her eyes widening and face paling further and further to a point where the night princess wondered if Twilight would just faint on the spot for lack of blood in her head.

And while Twilight’s mind tried to find an adequate solution to her problem at, once again finding herself in Celestia’s bed chamber, the owner of said chamber rumbled and cluttered hastily through her morning routine.

Though as the young pony saw Celestia rushing out of her bathroom, toothbrush still in her mouth and intent on retrieving her regalia while a brush flew next to her and straightened her coat just to save a few precious seconds of time, the few fuses keeping her mind from overreacting finally blew.

Briefly halting because of the high-pitched scream ringing through her ears, Celestia considered whether to say something or not, though ultimately caught herself and returned to her morning routine, postponing the headache of Twilight and hoping her sister could handle it.

Luna, who was the only one who had not freaked out at either the time or her sight, was almost compelled to shove the sun back under the horizon and declare that all clocks in Equestria were, simultaneously, going wrong as she was forced to watch her sister speed through her room as well as Twilight’s attempt at fleeing their presence.

While unable to stop the latter as Twilight lit her horn and vanished in a lavender burst of magic, Luna sighed and rose from her spot.

Helping her sister, the two of them managed to arrive at breakfast only five minutes later than Celestia’s schedule dictated.

Though, to the surprise of neither of them, Twilight was missing.

Luckily, a few minutes later, the guards had been able to affirm that the young princess had in fact not fled the castle and was merely hiding in her room from which manic muttering could be heard.

Forced to accept the fact for now, both Celestia and Luna had settled down at the large table and waited for their meals.

Upon affirming that they were still alone and out of earshot of any guards or curious onlooker, Celestia glanced at her sister with an expectant gaze. “So, we keep to our plan?” she silently whispered.

Surprised at being addressed in such a manner, Luna stopped rubbing the grain out of her eyes and looked at her sister, blinking. “Pardon?” she asked, her voice still filled with the drowsiness of sleep.

Briefly looking left and right, Celestia leaned slightly closer and pretended to tiredly support herself with one of her hooves, “You know… our plan, for Twilight… do we stick to it or have you had any better ideas?” she asked conspiratorially.

Blinking once more, Luna regarded her sister for a second before a flash of realization struck. Leaning back in her throne-like plush seat, the night princess regarded her sister for a second before a small grin found its way onto her lips, “Ah, dost we see a hint of trepidation, dearest sister?” she asked, her gaze growing thoughtful as if thinking, “Or as the younger ponies would say these days, do thy hooves suddenly feel cold?”

Frowning and raising off from her hoof, Celestia too leaned back in her seat, “Well… of course not,” she said, the small break in her tone almost long enough for Luna to notice, “Though, I think I would feel better if we would go over it once more,” she admitted.

Rolling her eyes, Luna smirked at her sister, “Ah, and what precisely dost thou not understand?” she asked, her smirk spreading wider with every second, “it isn’t as if there is much to be misunderstood, Tia,” she clarified, holding a hoof up to her chest and the other in the air as if to lecture, “objective A, spend time with her, objective B, spend more time with her,” she said in an authoritative voice, her demeanor already cracking and betrayed by the occasional snicker.

Rolling her eyes, Celestia glared at her sister, “Yes, yes, I know, though once again, why?” she asked, her eyes flicking over the room once more as if to check for intruders. “I don’t know if simply telling her that we…”

“Well, isn’t it simple, sister?” Luna chipperly asked, dropping her act and scooting closer to Celestia, “We simply give her glimpses of what she could have until she finally burs… confesses,” she purred, correcting her error swiftly which made Celestia raise an eyebrow.

“And you really think this is a wise course of action?” Celestia murmured, her gaze fixed upon her sister and trying to judge her every move.

Brightening, Luna nodded and gave to her sister a calming smile, “We assure thee, sister, besides, we hath seen her dreams tonight, we doth not believe it will take much longer if we keep her from… getting us out of her mind,” she clarified after a second.

Sighing, Celestia nodded, “I still don’t feel alright with doing this, Luna. While I can accept and… see… that she clearly seems to have some kind of infatuation with us…,” she started to explain, only for her to have to think over her sentence for a second, “And I do have to admit, I find it intriguing, though I cannot help but think of how she sometimes gets,” Celestia said, twirling a hoof into the air, “worried.”

“Oh, hush now, it shalt be fine,” Luna said, shaking her head, “We are certain she can handle a bit of teasing, sister.”

Nodding apprehensively, Celestia sighed once more, “Usually, I would agree. Though as you remember, she has recently gone through some tough things, sister, I for one cannot tell if what we are doing is wise.”

Stopping and thinking for a second, Luna seemed to actually mull over her sister’s words before she nodded, “We hath to admit, thou art right,… we shouldst not overstrain her,” she started, stopping her sister’s reply with a hoof, “Though if not now, then when? Now might be the best time for her to open up, sister. She is hurting herself by not admitting it. If she keeps it up, other problems may arise. She even stops her dreams from playing out, which, if we hath to remind thee, is not very healthy. What we hath seen tonight is cause enough to worry, though it wilt not change by doing nothing.” Her tone softening, Luna reached out and touched her hoof to Celestia’s, “For now, we believe the best way we can help her is if we proceed. Seeing to it that she will let it out all at once may not be the romantic approach, sister, but tis the one she needs right now,” Luna affirmed gently.

“I see…” Celestia said, slightly hanging her head and nodding, “It is just… I don’t want to hurt her feelings, sister.”

“And thou shalt not, if we hath not achieved what we hope to reach at the end of the week, we will talk to her… together,” Luna said, seriously, drawing a nod and a small smile from her sister, “though up until then,” Luna started, a grin once more settling onto her lips, “let’s see who can make her blush the most, shall we?” she winked, drawing a snort from Celestia.

Smiling back at her sister, Celestia nodded warmly. Even she had to admit that if Twilight would confess on her own, even if coaxed, it would be the best outcome.

Suddenly though, the double door on the other side of the chamber opened, Cadance and Shining Armor casually strolling through it.

Quickly straightening themselves before either of them could see their rather intimate moment, both sisters gave each other a quick glance before they casually greeted the newcomers.

Happily joining the two older alicorns, the four of them held idle chit chat before their meals finally arrived.

Once finished, Celestia excused herself from the group, leaving her sister, Cadance and Shining Armor in the dining hall as she went to prepare court, intent for it to start as early as possible to show any pony who had witnessed the happenings from the last couple of days that everything was going to be alright.

As Celestia left, Cadance turned back to her meal only to notice that Luna hadn’t followed her sister and was in fact still seated at the table, gingerly nibbling at the remainder of an apple.

Glancing to her husband, she raised an eyebrow, “Um, auntie?”, she asked, causing Luna to glance up, “won’t you follow her?” she inquired, “I thought you usually held court together?”

Smiling, Luna nodded before she set down the apple grips on her plate, “We usually do, though sister and I have agreed that we shall take the day away from our duties to spend it with Twilight,” she answered, causing both to look at her expectantly.

Blinking, Luna frowned, “What? Hath we not promised that we wouldst keep an eye on her?” she asked, her gaze switching between both Cadance and Shining Armor.

Briefly glancing to his wife, Shining Armor reluctantly nodded, “Well, indeed, you have," he admitted thoughtfully. Resuming his meal, the stallion's ears went straight after a second of silence and he looked around, perturbed, his fork halted halfway to his mouth, "though if I might ask, where is my sister?”

Nodding understandingly, Luna sheepishly smiled back at him, “Well… we…

Her initial shock from when she had woken up finally worn down, and ‘other things’ thoroughly ignored by submerging herself in an ice-cold bathtub, Twilight wanted nothing more than to relax a little bit and let her mind calm down.

Because of that, she had, after what felt like hours spent in her room practicing breathing techniques, finally made her way to the castle’s library to make good on her promise to at last take one day for herself.

Though even as she walked through her most favorite place of the castle, or of the world if you would have asked her before she got her own library, Twilight had to admit that in the last year or so she had, somewhat, forgotten how to truly relax.

Adding to that was that the last few weeks had been stressful even without counting the last few days into the mix, though as she was simply unable to will Saturday and Sunday out of existence, Twilight found that her mind refused to calm down.

Walking through the alley of bookshelves stacked over each other, her thoughts jumping from her parents to the terrorists, over to her somewhat weird experience with the kittens, to the enchantment she had managed to lose and to the magical feats she had supposedly accomplished without her remembering.

All she knew was that she had a good Saturday up until Celestia’s letter arrived and after that, everything was hazy at best.

She knew some things, like that she had fought, though the exact details on how she had won was basically a blank spot in her mind that only added to her annoyance.

Her previous hypothesis that she had been captured and was being held prisoner in some kind of illusion or hallucination spell was also ruled out as Celestia had yesterday proved without a doubt that this was not the case.

Though just to be safe, once she had been alone this morning, she had tried multiple spells to check if she was really, really not in some kind of illusion.

As her every attempt at confirming that she was captured came back negatively, her mind had somewhat calmed down and treacherously returned to what Rainbow Dash would call ‘more fun places’.

Passing yet again the same intersection she had now passed thrice already; Twilight sighed and shook her head.

Half of her mind screamed at her that she should not waste time with a day off and get back to Ponyville, the other half welcomed the free time as she could start some research on why she had been able to lose her enchantments.

To her dismay, after Celestia had recast the nourishment spell on her yesterday, Twilight had taken the time earlier to figure out if other enchantments had been lost too.

While luckily not being the case, as setting up some of her diary enchantments on herself as well as a pocket dimensional anchor would probably take her at least a day full of work, every enchantment she had cast or woven onto herself had remained.

All with but one exception.

Her dream shield was gone, just as mysteriously as her nourishment spell.

The subsequent implications alone managed to make her head ache, though the fact that she couldn’t explain how it could have happened was even more jarring.

The only similarity between those two spells had been that they had been woven into her font of magic directly, which meant that she would have to lose all connection to her magic first before someone else could forcefully drain either spell of their own stored magical capacity before they would fall out.

Though if she would have lost her connection to her magic, Twilight was positive that she would now not be able to simply levitate the small tome in front of her which she had picked up earlier.

Not for an extended period of time, at least.

Stopping in the middle of the alley and lifting a hoof to her forehead, Twilight groaned slightly as she felt the remnants of the poison she had received as well as her building headache.

Shaking her head once more, Twilight glared at the book in front of her.

Transmogrification and Transformation of Objects and Beings, by Dusty Scrolls.

Her initial plan of having a day to herself still in place, Twilight hoped, that if she would take the middle way between a more serious study and one where she had previously simply toyed with the idea, that it would eventually help her to relax and to finally calm down enough for her mind to quiet down at least a bit.

Well, that was her hope anyway.

Shaking her head once more and tucking the book under her wing, Twilight trotted forward, taking the next corner out of the bookshelves and towards the exit where the head librarian happily nodded and smiled at her.

Nodding back, Twilight remembered how Miss Autumnshine had always been a nice pony to her and that she always had at least tried to help her locate any dusty and forgotten book the young pony had been in search of when she was still Celestia’s student.

Stopping for a few minutes to have a short chat with her old friend, Twilight, at last, made her way over to the kitchen.

Approaching the great halls in which some of the best cooks in all of Equestria were being employed, Twilight noted that the few cooks outside their domain reacted strangely to her presence.

Some of them merely glanced at her before hastily averting their gazes, others seemed to completely alter their course. One even, upon seeing her approach the door he just came out of, turned and vanished back into the warehouse, his crate wagon already forgotten and slowly rolling down the hall.

Sighing heavily, Twilight had a suspicion why they, again, seemed only too keen on avoiding her like the plague.

It was her ascension all over again.

Back then, Celestia had taken her back to Canterlot to explain everything Twilight wanted to know about her new body and responsibilities.

It had been fine, at first, though after only a matter of hours, she had slowly started to become more hungry and Celestia, while all the time having that knowing smile on her lips, had steadily supplied her with a constant stream of snacks and other delectables only too conveniently placed in her range while they talked.

As Twilight finally noticed that their conversation was not accompanied by tea and cake, but rather tea and cake was accompanied by a conversation, she was already finished with her fifth cake and who knew how many cups of tea.

What Celestia though hadn’t accounted for was her sudden sense of anxiety that she may have broken any form of decorum, and while Celestia had intended to ease her into the topic of something so life-changing, Twilight had then steadfastly refused to eat any more despite her body demanding more every second.

Though as her former mentor had finally taken notice of it, it was already too late, and Twilight was on the verge of snapping like she did yesterday.

Her resulting resumption of consumption was… too much… for the anticipation of the staff and they had found themselves in much the same situation as they had been in yesterday.

Muttering to herself, Twilight knew that her first incident had despite every attempt of Luna, Celestia, Cadance and herself, caused the kitchen staff to grow fearful of the appetite of an alicorn, and that yesterday had now only reminded them of that fact once more.

Silently cursing under her breath, Twilight briefly wondered if the few friends she had made in the kitchen staff all those years ago were also following the trend of their colleagues or if they would know better than to accuse her and every other princess of devouring ponies whole if they felt like it.

Shaking her head and dismissing the thought, Twilight was unwilling to cause yet another fit of panic among the all too easy to startle kitchen staff and so stopped halfway down the hall and turned briskly.

Slightly annoyed, she turned to the next guard she could find and asked him if he could kindly fetch her a thermos flask filled with hot chocolate.

The notion of sending someone for something so trivial made her sick to the stomach, though when she had a day to herself, she wanted something for once, damn it.

Her order sent and her request fulfilled only minutes after, Twilight briefly pondered at where to go now.

The castle was huge, much bigger than her own in Ponyville.

Though while she still thought of her castle as too much for her, Canterlot Castle’s size was justified, in a sense.

But to a small filly, Canterlot was a maze of wonders and she had found many secluded or hidden places, sometimes even some secret passages, to read in when she was young. More often than not, Celestia had been the only one who had known where her student had hidden away from the world around her.

Though after only a mere second of thought on where to go, Twilight decided on one of her favored places, one where even Celestia had sometimes tutored her.

The gardens.

More specifically, the hill just outside the window of her own quarters.

Settling down under an old cherry tree which had long since stopped carrying fruits, Twilight clutched her warm flask to her chest and sighed in contentment.

Looking around and down the small hill the tree stood atop, she could see a large portion of the guards’ training grounds where a group of soldiers was being chased along the runway by one of their sergeants.

Watching them exercise for a moment, Twilight smiled to herself and remembered the time when Shining had been among those running in circles. Her brother had always taken pride in his abilities and he had always aimed to be the best.

His later achievements spoke volumes of his success.

While she looked down the hill and at the guards, her thoughts miles away, the captain overseeing the current training spotted her and hastily rushed over to the sergeant shouting at the guards.

Tearing her eyes away, Twilight opened her wing and brought out the book she had carried with her, cracking it open before lighting her horn and letting both quills, ink and parchment pop into existence.

Warmed by both her fur and the perfectly heated hot chocolate she slowly drank; Twilight wasn’t fazed by the slightly chilled autumn winds as her mind got more and more absorbed by the book and her research.

Though as the time ticked by and the sun slowly crawled up further and further into the sky, her hot chocolate slowly emptying itself and her stacks of parchment she wrote on grew, Twilight’s mind sneakily wandered away from equations and theories to the image of Luna with her dark blue fur sitting in front of her, as a cat, demanding fish and belly rubs.

Shaking her head, Twilight blinked as she stared at the doodle of a cat curled up and sleeping on the top right corner of her paper.

Sighing slightly, Twilight turned her head away from her research and looked down the mountain, in the direction of Ponyville, and briefly wondered how Fellora and her kittens were doing.

Hearing hoofsteps slowly approaching from down the hill, her ears swiveled in that direction before she turned her head.

The sergeant she had seen earlier, his head beet red and out of breath, followed by a guard captain, who didn’t seem any better, slowly made his way up to where she was nestled under the tree.

As they arrived, both bowed as deeply in the grass as their armor would allow before the Captain straightened up again, “My Princess,” he said, his voice shaking slightly, “I am afraid our soldiers can last no longer.”

Surprised, Twilight blinked at him in confusion, “We have exceeded our normal training routines now almost five times,” he continued, puffing his chest out, “And while I know that your highness hasn’t announced an inspection, I couldn’t help but notice that your highness has graced us with her presence,” he added, a small smirk on his lips.

Blinking once more before briefly glancing down the hill to see the whole guard regiment from before wheezing in exhaustion, Twilight glanced back at the two ponies and shook her head slightly, “Um… okay…,” she started, her voice uncertain, “and uh… what exactly is it that you want from me now?”

Briefly glancing at his superior, the Sergeant rose as well and straightened before he spoke, “We had hoped that your highness’s impression has been a good one and we would request that you do us the honor of judging our troops upon their performance,” he said, his eyes narrowing slightly towards his superior while one of his ears briefly flick back in confusion.

Suddenly lost completely, Twilight stared at the two soldiers in front of her, her ears slowly falling back onto her head and her wings rustling in sudden worry at having misunderstood something very critical very wrong.

As the seconds ticked by in which her mind raced and in which multiple attempts at saying something appeasing failed as she neither knew exactly what the two guards expected of her now, nor had she actively followed the proceedings on the training ground to have her formulate an adequate answer.

Mistaking her lack of an immediate response for disapproval, the guard captain seemed to straighten up even more, “I see, your highness, I am sorry,” he started, his head bowing slightly, “For what it is worth, Princess, I apologize for my lack of oversight so that our troops have succumbed to a state you do not approve of.” Briefly glancing back at the Sergeant and narrowing his eyes slightly he continued, “I will personally see to it that our troops are brought up to standard and that the next time your Highness is visiting the state of our…”

“Princess Twilight, Captain Wind Shield?” another voice cut into the rather one-sided conversation, this one brisk and authoritative.

Turning her confused gaze away from the guards and towards the source of the voice, which turned out to be Princess Luna casually wandering up the hill, Twilight’s already confused mind made a sudden jolt of panic as she now definitely knew that she had done something wrong.

Her concentration slipping, the papers she had been holding previously in her magic were now free of their constraints and were about to flutter into all directions by the aid of the gentle breeze carrying over the hill.

Though, before it could come to that, Luna lit her horn briefly and caught the stack of parchment in her magic. Setting them down in front of Twilight, Luna turned her attention away from the young pony and directed it at the two guards, an almost amused smile on her lips, “Captain Wind Shield, I am sorry, but I believe you may have misunderstood the reasoning for Princess Twilight’s presence today,” she calmly explained, making both guards bow hastily in her presence and Twilight to rustle in sudden discomfort.

Briefly motioning them to rise, the Captain was the first one who did so and who found his voice, “Princess Luna, I am sorry, but we haven’t seen you-” he started but was interrupted by the night Princess.

“Oh, this is no reason to apologize, Captain,” she brushed off his concern with a gentle smile on her lips, “now rise, the both of you!” she commanded once more.

Following her command, the sergeant rose as well, his ears laid flat onto his helmetless head and his gaze suddenly troubled.

Startled at first, the captain quickly recovered from being interrupted and opened his mouth once more, “Princess… if I may, what did your highness mean we have misunderstood something in, um, Princess Twilight’s presence?”

Chuckling slightly, Luna briefly glanced at Twilight who merely stared back wide-eyed, “Oh, I just overheard your conversation,” she started, turning back to both guards, “and without implying anything, I believe that Princess Twilight has merely come here to read a book and not to judge you or your soldiers for their performance?” she asked, looking at Twilight and waiting for her to nod hastily.

Feeling the sudden glare of his comrade, the guard captain suddenly had to wring with his voice, “B-but I thought… she… I mean her Highness had… I…” shaking his head, the guard bowed once more, this time to Twilight again, “I am sorry your Highness for making assumptions, I-I had thought you would…”

“Which does not mean that your extensive training has remained unnoticed,” Luna suddenly interjected once more, “While Princess Twilight may not have the intention of judging you, I on the other hoof have noticed your guards exercising as well, and I am willing to share my insights,” Luna stated, drawing the attention of both guards once more and causing the Captain to relax slightly.

Turning her head and flicking a bit of hair out of her face, Luna glared down at the smaller stallion in front of him, “And I have to say, I am most displeased with what I have come to witness.”

Hearing the gulp from the guard even from her spot under the tree, Twilight suddenly felt bad for the captain in front of her. “While the endurance of both yourself and your guards could surely be improved, you have intentionally altered the standardized training routines and even extended them for far longer than they are supposed to last. While normally I would welcome such a change in practice, you have done so in an ill-advised attempt to gain favors from one of your superiors and have not taken into consideration the best interests of your subordinates.”

Holding up a hoof to forestall any excuses, Luna hardened her glare, “AND You… have willingly taken the risk of potentially hurting one or more of your soldiers for your personal gain!”

Flicking her gaze to the sergeant next to him, her glare didn’t soften, “And you, even though you have only followed orders from a superior, Sergeant, the wellbeing of the regiment had been placed in your hooves first and foremost and you have willingly played along to support Captain Wind Shield’s ill-intended agenda.”

Waiting for a moment for her words to settle in, Luna turned back to the captain, “Which abhors me the most is not that you pushed the limits of your troops, but the fact that you did so without taking their health and fitness into consideration,” Luna said, looking down the hill and at the only slowly recovering regiment, “These are still rookies after all. Bestowing upon them the same drill some of our older guards have bestowed upon them is neither fair to them, nor to yourself as it is only damaging their morale.”

Turning away from the regiment and back to the Guard Captain and Sergeant, Luna let her hoof fall onto the ground with a residing thud, “Besides, it should not matter to you that a Princess is watching as you are supposed to train your troops the same as if we were watching all the time,” she finished, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Regarding the two ponies one last time, Luna sharply drew away, “I will decide at a later date as to your punishment!” she said, stepping forwards and towards Twilight, “You are both dismissed!”

As both guards hastily scurried away, Twilight found that she was now faced with Luna purposefully marching towards where she had curled up under the tree.

Laying her ears flat once more and feeling like bolting as well, Twilight suddenly felt out of place.

Though without any additional word spoken from the night princess, the larger pony came briskly to a stop right before her while Twilight still stared wide-eyed back up at her.

Still drawn to her full height and looking down towards the younger princess, Luna slowly laid her head askew and blinked curiously at Twilight, “Dost there be something wrong with our mane?” she asked, her posture slumping slightly and her wings rustling, “Or hath we done something displeasing to thee?” she asked, lighting her horn and attempting to comb through her hair with her magic.

Blinking in sudden confusion once again, Twilight’s eyes widened briefly even more before she shook her head slightly, “Oh, no, no… I… I just thought for a second you would… well… umm…you know… I… um,” shaking her head and forcing herself to calm down, Twilight inclined her head to Luna, “Um… thank you.”

Chuckling slightly, Luna loosened her stance before slowly settling down onto her haunches, “Oh, we see,” she said, her voice filled with mirth, “If it makes it any better, the only thing we could say is that thou shouldst not lay on the cold ground without something under thee,” Luna added, her voice teasing which only made Twilight blush suddenly.

Shaking her head once more, Twilight stared down at her book for a second to reorganize her thoughts. “Still… um… thank you,” she said, a slight hint of a smile on her lips and her gaze unable to reach up to Luna’s face.

Smiling and shaking her head, Luna relaxed a bit and inhaled deeply before glancing around. As her eyes fell upon Twilight once more, the young pony had cracked her book open once again and was trying to distract herself by reading, something Luna would have none of, “This is truly a good day to spend outside,” she started, unfurling her wings, stretching and flapping them slightly which drew Twilight’s gaze away from her book.

Playing innocent, Luna simply smiled to herself and nodded to Twilight, “Wouldst thou mind it if we joined thee for a bit?” she asked, laying her wings back onto her sides which caused Twilight to remember her manners.

Letting her gaze quickly snap back down to the opened pages of her book, Twilight nodded hastily, “Oh, of course not, I-I would be happy for the company.”

Nodding to herself, Luna settled down under the tree.

Her front hoofs neatly tucked under her and her hindlegs slightly touching the ends of Twilight’s tail, the night Princess slightly shuffled with her peytral before swiftly removing it alongside her crown and horseshoes.

Leaning her regalia neatly behind the tree, Luna sighed contently before stretching her wings once more which caused Twilight’s gaze to slowly wander back to her.

Affirming that she had the undivided attention of the younger pony by a covert glance of her own, she gingerly brushed herself through her chest fluff to help her fur realign naturally. Inhaling deeply, which made her barrel and chest expand slightly, causing her elongated fur to puff out even more, Luna let the air out in a drawn-out sigh.

Fluffing her wings to complete the cycle, Luna glanced at Twilight once more and found that her gaze was fixed onto her chest like a magnet.

Silently giggling, Luna glanced down to her own coat, observing how her fur danced in the slight wind that was blowing over the hill, “Does thou think we should get a cut for our winter coat?” she asked suddenly, causing Twilight to startle slightly.

“Buha, what, um… why?”

Giggling innocently, Luna ruffled through her fur with one hoof, “A simple cut,” she explained, drawing a circle over her chest, “Mayhap we could have one of our maids trim our coat here a bit so our regalia is not flattening it the whole time.”

Averting her gaze, Twilight glanced away, “Um… well… if you think so.”

“We don’t know, honestly,” Luna said in earnest, shrugging slightly and glaring at her regalia out of the corner of her eyes.

“On the one hoof, it would not cause us to have our coat flattened uncomfortably below our peytral, on the other, we would no longer be able to enjoy the soothing comforts of an elongated coat,” she sighed. “It would be easier to maintain, yes, though it feels very pleasant when it’s taken care of,” Luna added, causing Twilight to briefly glance at her chest once more before she averted her gaze.

“W-well, I-I am probably not the right pony to ask that, I don’t wear my regalia very often and so I simply have it g-grow until spring,” Twilight explained meekly.

Nodding, Luna glanced briefly to Twilight’s chest and she could swear she saw the young ponies heart beating rapidly behind, “Hmm, thou mayst be right, though still, what wouldst be thy recommendation?”

Causing Twilight to blush once more, the young pony slightly ducked her head, “Umm… I-I d-don’t know,” she shrugged, “h-how is C-Celestia handling the p-problem?” she asked, stuttering.

Humming softly and admitting the reasoning behind Twilight’s answer, Luna thought for a moment if her sister had told her about a recent cut to her coat, “Hmm, we do not know for certain, though we believe she is not doing anything against it and simply lets it grow as well.”

Watching the blush on Twilight’s face redouble despite her attempt at hiding it behind the papers she was holding, Luna smirked slightly and waited for her friend to answer.

“W-well, if C-Celestia is not having it cut, m-maybe y-you don’t have to as well?” Twilight asked and Luna found that behind her reasoning a poorly hidden hint of self-interest could be heard in her answer.

Smiling to herself, Luna nodded, “Mayhap thou art right and we simply ought to endure it, after all, it truly is pleasantly soft.”

Watching Twilight ring with her words, Luna decided that this would have to do and looked down at her book in an attempt to read while the young pony rustled her wings slightly.

Smiling to herself, Luna leaned her head askew as if to read a line or two from the book in Twilight’s hoofs, “If we mayest ask, what art thou reading?”

Latching on to the opportunity to stir the conversation into safer territory, Twilight shook her head slightly, “Um, it’s a book from the archmagician Dusty Scrolls, Transmogrification and Transformation of Objects and Beings,” Twilight answered hastily, closing the book with one hoof and showing the title.

Turning her head to better read the title, Luna nodded, “A most interesting topic,” she approved, “though we hath to admit, we hath never heard of the author,” she said, her curiosity peaked.

Thinking briefly, Twilight reopened her book to the page she had been on, “I believe he lived around 100 or 150 years ago,” she said, her ears slightly flicking, “So… um… I am not surprised you don’t know of him,” she sheepishly added.

Humming softly, Luna leaned closer once more in an attempt to read a few more lines, “Whilst we don’t know the author, we hath learned the theory back in our days as well,” she said, her mouth only inches away from one of Twilight’s ears, “This is a most useful branch of magic, especially for us, and we can proudly say that we claim to master it in many regards,” she added, leaning back and looking at Twilight whose face was now beet red once more.

Thinking for a second, Luna glanced at Twilight, “Is there a reason thou seekest knowledge of this particular topic?”

Nodding slightly, Twilight averted her gaze and looked down to Ponyville, “Well, I, um, I have recently tried something with it and the outcome has been very peculiar.”

“Peculiar thou sayeth? Hast thou tried to transform an object and the result has been not what thou wouldst have expected?

Nodding slightly, Twilight slowly turned her research paper over to hide the doodle still proudly displayed at the top of the page, “Well, you could say so… though I haven’t attempted to transform anything.”

“Then anyone, we can assume?” Luna added, her gaze growing thoughtful.

“Well, anyone, yes… though this anyone was, well… me.”

A faint smirk found its way onto Luna’s lips, “Ah, and thy attempt has led to… questionable results?” she hummed, “Hast thou not transformed into whatever thee wouldst have expected, or didst thou end up with more or less limbs than thou hath intended? Maybe thou hast changed gender?”

“Well, neither, though I found that I’ve come out with the wrong… age, I guess?”

“Age?”

“Well, for the lack of any better explanation so far, yes.”

“Ah… and how’s that, pray tell, in what form wouldst thou have wanted to transform that could be affected by age so vastly as to notice?”

Her blush redoubling, Twilight glanced away, “Um, a cat?”

“And thou ended up as a?”

“Kitten…”

Humming softly, Luna found that the image of a small purple kitten standing in front of her did not help her suppress the fit of giggles she felt welling up in her stomach. Hiding her laughter poorly behind a hoof, her amusement suddenly doubled as she found Twilight glaring up at her. “Oh, this surely hast been a lovely sight,” she giggled, making Twilight blush anew and shy way.

Having none of that, Luna opened one of her wings and drew Twilight closer with a startled ‘eep’, “So, pray tell, why wouldst thou want to transform thyself into a feline recently?” she asked, her voice still strained by suppressed laughter.

“W-well, I-I had visited Fluttershy a-and she has currently a young cat mother in her care who has asked to spend the winter at her cottage.”

“So, we see an opportunity, but not a reason for thee to transform into a cat,” Luna prodded further.

“W-well, I h-had helped her feed them a-and I-I had seen the kittens, which has been the first time I have seen kittens a-and so, I-I kind of did it on impulse,” Twilight tried to defend herself, her ears splaying back onto the back of her head.

“Thou hast cast a transformation spell on impulse?” Luna asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

Nodding, Twilight averted her gaze and shrugged slightly, “Well, it’s not the first time I have done something like it on impulse… or the hardest,” she reflected after a second.

Shaking her head, Luna was about to inquire further about the other spells she might have cast on impulse though let it slide for now, “So, um… dost thou remember what spell thou hast been using?” she asked, still trying to digest that Twilight could cast such a spell on a whim.

Nodding her head once, Twilight lit her horn and created a visual representation of the spell matrix she had cast, “Well, um… this one, I think,” she said, pointing her hoof at the hovering lavender construct of arcane runes, symbols, and lines.

Frowning slightly at the unfamiliar construct, Luna looked over the matrix with interest, noting at several points that Twilight’s spell was superior to that which she had used previously.

After a solid minute of studying the spell Twilight had set before her, Luna hummed in thought, “While we hath to admit that this spell most certainly hath many advantages over that which we would tend to use,” she pondered aloud, “we fail to see any component which wouldst affect the state of something, like age, form or gender taken into consideration for thy spell.”

Smiling at Luna, her previous embarrassment forgotten, Twilight rotated the spell slightly and pointed with her hoof at a rune circle linked to it, “The spell I’ve used is a simple transformation spell. There is no way for the caster to alter the target’s form by any more than the general idea of what to transform into. I can put into the equation a goal, like becoming a cat, and the spell takes age, gender, form, and the basic structure of the target to match a general magical copy of the goal.” Twilight started to explain, “So when directed at myself, I should transform into a female cat with the physical equivalent of my strength and body broken down to the proportions I’d have if I’d been born a cat. For all intents, the spell transforms someone into the version of themselves that they would have been if they’d been born as the creature.”

“While I cannot perform a pony to object transformation with this spell, it is a rather easy spell to perform because…”

Listening to Twilight’s explanation, Luna’s thoughts suddenly had a hiccup, “If THIS is what thou name ‘easy’,” she thought bitterly, “then we wouldst hate to see what thou would name ‘hard’ then,” she complained before returning her attention back to Twilight’s explanation.

“… Over the years, I’ve used this spell multiple times when I was still Celestia’s student to study different kinds of animals and animal behavior. As I grew older, my transformations followed and had become more and more mature like I did, though once I used it now as an alicorn for the first time, I found myself back into a state of a foal, barely older than the equivalent if I’d been maybe 5 or 6 years old.”

Nodding along, Luna studied the link Twilight had pointed at, “We hath to admit, this is a genius spell, and we most certainly can see the use for it.”

Smiling, Twilight looked back at Luna, “Yeah, but there is the problem. I cannot explain why I’ve transformed into a kitten and not into a grown cat. I mean I am a grown pony, a pony turned alicorn maybe, but still, I am still a grown pony, or am I not?”

Humming in thought, Luna looked Twilight over, “Thou art right, thy physical appearance is that of a mature pony,” Luna admitted.

“What I wonder now, is it because I’ve ascended so rather recently that the spell thinks I am a child or is there some other component added to it? I mean, I have multiple ideas on what could have influenced that. Maybe we are not truly… well… immortal and simply age slower than a normal pony which would shift the part I’ve already aged into a much smaller margin of my life,” Twilight pondered aloud, “Or we age like the time and the further we reach the endpoint of time the older we get by the spell,” she mused, for the first time turning her pages around and leafing through them.

Showing Luna one of her pages filled with equations, Twilight pointed at the bottom of it, “Which would lead me to conclude that the universe should only persist another 80 to 90 thousand years,” she said.

Lowering her parchments, Twilight stared at Luna, the pleasant sensation of Luna’s wing on her back only barely registering in her mind as she excitedly started to wiggle slightly.

“Hmmm, this is a most gruesome thought,” Luna admitted, observing the spell Twilight still projected once more, “maybe thou ought to cast the spell on us for reference, we hath been an alicorn for thousands of years, maybe the spell reacts differently to us.”

Suddenly halted in her excitement, Twilight stared wide-eyed at Luna, “C-cast t-the spell on you?” she asked, in disbelief, the image of a small night blue kitten sitting in front of her and demanding belly rubs once more coming to her mind.

Shrugging, Luna glanced at Twilight, seeing the bright blush which started to spread over her features once more slowly reach the young pony’s ears. “Hmm, why not, we see no harm in trying it,” she said, a small smile of her own settling onto her lips.

Sputtering slightly, Twilight frantically shook her head, “No, no… I um… I could never…”

“Why ever not? Tis simply would be like one of thy experiments or would it not?” Luna asked, drawing her wing a bit closer and lightly squeezing Twilight, “We wouldst do it ourselves, though we wouldst have to learn the spell first,” she said softly.

Averting her gaze, Twilight seemed to consider it for a second before finally giving up and nodding. “Fine, I’ll do it, though if I am already on it, I would like to do it multiple times, maybe there is something else to it.”

Shrugging, Luna slowly furled her wing back onto her side and stood up. “Thou mayst. Feel free to begin when thou art ready,” she said, her own excitement and curiosity barely hidden.

Inhaling deeply, Twilight motioned with her hoofs the breathing techniques Cadance had taught her before standing up as well. Lighting her horn, she briefly closed her eyes, “Ready?” she asked, holding the spell safely in her mind’s grasp.

Nodding Luna looked over her body once more before saying, “Thou mayst start.”

Hearing Luna’s affirmation, Twilight’s horn flashed brightly, and Luna was enveloped by a lavender sheen of magic.

Once the sheen faded away, a small dark blue kitten stood at the place Luna had stood before, glancing up at the much larger pony and mewling in sudden surprise.

Staring at the kitten in front of her, Twilight had to suppress the urge to hyperventilate and quickly lit her horn once more, the counterspell already prepared and another flash of magic transforming Luna back to her usual stature.

Giggling, the night princess stood in front of Twilight, now once more larger than the young pony and smiling down at her, “So, as it turned out, we become a kitten as well,” Luna said, Twilight already furiously scribbling notes onto her papers.

Sideling up to her friend, Luna almost purred into her ears, “But why so quick to revert? Hast we not been a cute little kitten?” she asked, Twilight’s already prominent blush slightly spreading and her head-turning away.

“Well… um… you didn’t… well…” Inhaling once more deeply to try and calm down, Twilight looked away, “We wanted to try it multiple times,” she pointed out, making Luna nod slightly, “Which meant I had to revert you back.” Twilight concluded.

Rolling her eyes, Luna shook her head and stepped once more in front of Twilight, “Then feel free to recast,” she said, a hint of mischief to her voice.

Nodding, Twilight lit her horn anew and cast the spell on Luna once more.

This time, Luna turned out to be a grown cat and not a kitten, which made both Luna as well as Twilight halt in sudden surprise.

Shaking her head, Twilight was the first to recover as Luna still felt somewhat dizzy from her transformation.

Lighting her horn, Twilight countered her spell once more to the audible protest of Luna.

After performing the spell a few times more, in which Luna turned out to be a grown cat twice and a kitten once, Twilight lit her horn one last time to transform the lunar alicorn into a cat.

The spell cast and the magical sheen vanishing, Twilight blanched as Luna had suddenly vanished.

Panic already rising, Twilight was on the verge of screaming in horror as suddenly a scratchy feeling attacked her left front hoof.

Looking down, the dark-blue kitten Luna had now three times turned into had attached itself to her hoof and was steadily trying to climb up her limb which made Twilight almost jump in shock.

Trying to scurry back and only tripping over her own hoofs, Twilight fell onto her back in an impressive display of failed eye to hoof coordination.

Luna, visibly happy for her target to no longer be so high up, let go of Twilight’s front hoof and gingerly landed on Twilight’s belly, her tiny claws not even penetrating her fur but causing Twilight to giggle slightly.

Her shock slowly fading away, Twilight watched in abject horror how Luna slowly padded up her belly and over her chest, her catface somehow forming a determined glare and her eyes filled with mischief.

As Luna finally reached Twilight’s chest after what felt like minutes of struggling to not fall off, while all the while staring the young pony directly into her eyes, the little kitten let loose a screeching attempt of a roar before jumping and flopping down on her chest, her belly turned up and wiggling around.

Surprised, Twilight stared at Luna who was rubbing her head and back all over her chest fur, happy little meows coming from her and her tiny body pleasantly tingling as she did so.

Starstruck, all Twilight could do was stare at Luna, whose movements slowed down and whose eyes found Twilight’s once more before meowing almost demandingly.

As if tranced, Twilight slowly lifted one of her forehooves from her side and gingerly brought it closer to Luna.

Seeing this, the small kitten attempted to reach for it, her tiny paws eagerly batting after the enclosing appendage.

Though while failing at first, Luna soon got hold of Twilight’s hoof.

Her tiny claws firmly taking hold of the appendage, the kitten slowly guided it to her fluffed-up chest fur while her head and body relaxed back, lazily blinking up at the large pony beneath her.

Understanding the demand, Twilight absently started to carefully rub up and down Luna’s chest and belly, eliciting some mostly failed attempts of purrs from the tiny kitten on top of her.

Her blush prominently spread over her cheeks; Twilight couldn’t fathom how it had come to this.

Though suddenly, as if Twilight wasn’t embarrassed enough, Luna managed it to convey her satisfaction of having her belly rubbed by starting to purr in earnest.

Following her new instincts, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the ministrations, her tiny body sinking even deeper into Twilight’s fur.

Helplessly watching as one of her crushes lazily relaxed on top of her chest, Twilight found that despite everything that had happened recently, despite her supposed embarrassment, her mind had finally started to quiet down and was more and more focusing on the pleasant tingle emanating from the little kitten.

Embarrassment forgotten; all Twilight could think now was that she wanted to stay here for all eternity.