Year of the Filly Princesses
Bath before Bed
“Princesses, this stopped by funny a long time ago!” screamed a stressed out unicorn.
This unicorn is none other then Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of Princess Celestia, ruler of the land of Equestia, and currently said princess’s official caretaker. Due to a prank gone wrong, horribly wrong, Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, were turned into fillies. And to make matters worse was that fact that the princesses were stuck like that for well over a year with no safe means to return them to normal.
This would normally put the entire county into one tight pickle, but it has quickly worsened for Twilight, all thanks to a certain law. The law states that if the princesses are unable to fulfill their duties, not including the control of the sun and moon that the pony that the princesses trust would take over until they are fit to return to their duties. And that left the only pony that the princesses trust completely; Twilight Sparkle.
And at this moment, I wish I could jump the fence, run back home and lock myself in my room until the year was up, Twilight thought bitterly.
The studious unicorn had dreaded this task when she first learn of it, mainly because she knew that the princesses would acted like little fillies they had become, and she knew from experience just how touch child-rearing can be. And add the fact that she has no clue what the princesses’ where like when they were originally fillies wasn’t helping to keep Twilight in a positive mood.
Twilight sighed faintly as she let those old memories slip into the back of her mind. She didn’t have time to be thinking old things; she had a more important matter at hoof. She narrowed her brow, and scanned the room, looking for any sighs of her targets. Shortly after they were turned into fillies, Twilight had asked the guards and several of the castle staff to set up a new bedchamber, so the princesses could sleep together, and so Twilight could keep her eyes on them better.
The magically-gifted unicorn looked at the room, and almost cringed at it coloring. The entire left side of the room was a bright sunny yellow, with various sun and clouds sticker all around the walls. Near the center of the left side of the room was a bed, with bright yellow sheets, and large red sun sewed into the coverings. There was a yellow toy chest at the foot of the bed, with a sun curved into it.
If anypony would walk into the room, they were guessed that the left side of the room belonged to the sun princess. Twilight turned her head slightly and studied the right side of the room; the side Luna currently calls her own.
The walls had been painted a midnight blue with moons, and stars stickers on them. Curiously, all of the star stickers were of Ursa Minors in different poses. Near the center of the blue side was a bed, with blue sheets that has stars and a full moon on it. There was a blue toy chest near the foot of the bed, much like Celestia’s bed. Twilight frowned when she saw the crescent moon curving, the pale green curving, on the front of chest.
Somepony was trying to be funny, I think, Twilight thought as she looked away clashing room, and began her searched anew.
The studious unicorn nearly groaned out loud as she searched the room for the fourth time, and still came up empty hoofed. The room was fairly large enough but there wasn’t nearly enough places for two school age fillies to hide. So, the question on the unicorn’s mind was this; where was her charges?
“Princess Celestia, Princesses Luna, this gotten old quick!!”
Twilight frowned in disapproval at her tone. She didn’t mean it, but the way she just talked seemed off to her. It seems like she was talking to a couple of fillies who didn’t want to take a bath just became they didn’t want to, which in some ways, was the case. Still, she didn’t like it when she talked to the princesses like she just did. She often found herself remaining herself that despite how they looked the princesses were still the rulers of Equstria. She should always talk and treat them with respect.
Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, and her head snapped up as a pair of giggling voices filled the air. She snapped her head around, trying to locate the source of the giggles. Unfortunately, the sound was seemingly echoing around the entire room, and thereby making it nearly impossible to pinpoint.
Twilight must have looked for nearly two minute before she sigh a frustrated sigh. She took a moment to calm herself, and then closed her eyes, concentrating. Soon, her horn lit up lavender, as its owner began to prepare a spell. She inhaled slightly, and exhaled quickly, the glow from her horn brightening ever so slightly. With a faint grunt, the unicorn threw her head up, and sent a spell channeling spell out as far as she could.
The echoing giggling stopped as effect of the spell reached to the corners of the room, but not the ceiling. Twilight almost grinned like a mad pony when she saw her targets appeared in the upper right corner of the room. She took off immediately after she saw the two filly-sized princesses, her horn glowing as she charged another spell. She was about to reach out with her magic and gently grabbed the two, when she was suddenly launched off of her hooves. She gasped as she passed right through the princesses, nothing more then illusions she realized, and crashed into a large pile of pillows, causing some loose feathers to fly up around her.
The magically-gifted unicorn spit out a feather as she turned onto her back. Now that echoing spell was gone, she could easily tell where the giggling was coming from, and she looked up. Floating on the ceiling were the filly princesses, without their bandana, hairclips, and bow, giggling at the small prank they just played. Celestia was trying to hide her soft giggles behind her hooves while Luna was giggling heartedly.
Twilight frown slightly when she saw that the two’s horns were lit, and that princesses’ underdeveloped wings were glowing a midnight blue. She knew that Princess Luna was keeping her sister and herself afloat, and Celestia was no doubt behind the other spells. It still amazed Twilight how much magic that princesses had despite their smaller bodies. If she would have to guess she would say the princesses have the magic level of a fully grown unicorn. Put that together with the fact that the princesses had thousands of year worth of spells, and the soul of children, that equals one bad headache waiting to happen.
Twilight sighed as she let that old train of thought die, and began charging her horn with a spell. She fired a weak spell channeling spell, hitting the space between the filly princesses, who yelped in surprise. The weak spell was enough to disrupt princesses’ spells and they found themselves trying to use their small wings to keep afloat. Twilight took this moment to take the princesses gently into her own magic, and lowered them to her level.
She looked at the fillies with a scolding glare, one that the two princesses tried to shrink away from. Twilight sigh a tired sigh, and walked over to Celestia’s side of the room, where a door that leads to a bathroom was located. Twilight sighed again when she used a hoof to open the door, and looked at the filled tub, and the water, which was now probably ice cold.
Two and a half weeks…that’s how long the princesses been like this, and they keep getting me with same trick every night, Twilight thought in exhaustion.
She closed the door with a short kick, and put the princesses down gently. The unicorn gave them a warning glare, one that caused the fillies princesses to hang their head, to avoid their caregiver’s glare. Twilight felt a strange mix of satisfaction and guilt as she turned her attention to the bath. She exhaled lightly and closed her eyes, allowing magic into her horn. She titled her head towards the tub, and with her horn pointing at the tub, used a weak heating spell to warm the tub’s water.
Unfortunately for Twilight, she was to focus on her task to notice Princess Luna inch herself closer to her current younger sister, and whispered something in Celestia’s ear. Celestia’s looked up, uncertain written all over her face, as she looked at her student-turned-nanny. She looked at Luna, her uncertainty growing. Unfortunately, the lunar filly just grinned and looked at Twilight, horn already glowing. With a faint sigh, Celestia’s horn also began to glow.
The floor beneath Twilight’s feet lit up in Luna’s magical aura, and Twilight’s feet themselves began aglow with Celestia’s magic. The studious unicorn ceased using her magic and stepped closer to the tub, unaware that her hooves were floating a mere inch from floor. The studious unicorn cautious dipped her right front hoof into the water. She smiled as she felt that the water was just right, and turned toward her charges, speaking as she turned.
“…Okay, princesses, the bath’s water-whoa!” Twilight suddenly found herself hurled backwards when Celestia stopped her spell; causing Luna’s repel-spell to send the unicorn into the tub.
The mini-princesses started to giggle madly when Twilight disappeared into the bath with a light splash. The unicorn lifted her now soaked head from the water, frowning and glaring at the fillies that caused her small “accident” in the first place. She once again noted how the princesses reacted to their prank. Luna wasn’t making any affect to hide her giggles, while Celestia was once more trying to hide her giggles behind her hooves.
Twilight sighed, bitter at herself for falling for the same prank, again, and filled her horn up with magic. Before the two fillies knew what had happened, they were thrown high into the air by a slighter stronger version of the repel spell. The princesses, out of pure instinct, began to flip their wings, hoping to stop their fall. The best the underdeveloped wings could offer was slowing them down and Twilight use this to her owe ends. She took the princesses into her own magic, and gently but quickly brought them into the tub.
“You have you’re fun and games, princesses,” Twilight said in a firm motherly voice. “But it getting close to your bedtime and you both has to get up early.”
Twilight found herself frowning mentally as she focused on the task at home. It lift a bad feeling the pit of her stomach when she talked to the princesses like they were actual fillies instead of thousands-of-year-old ponies tripped in the bodies of fillies. Still, the two were constantly playing pranks on her, testing her limits to the max, and it was starting to affect her. She found herself worrying more and more about the princesses’ well being. Were they eating right, were they exhausting their young bodies by running a whole kingdom? The list was long and getting longer with each passing day.
Twilight sigh as she let these worrying thoughts died, and looked toward a small counter, where shampoo and conditioner were, and levitated the shampoo over. The product in question was a child safe, no-tear brand, prefect for the filly princesses. She levitated the bottle over to Celestia and squirted a tiny bit into her magenta mane. She then brought the bottle over Luna, and did the same thing. Finally, Twilight brought the bottle over to her, and added some of the product into her own mane, figuring she could get her own bath out of the way.
She put the bottle down, and moved slightly closer to Princesses Celestia. She then gently ran her front hooves through the regressed princess‘s mane, working up a fine lather. She next moved to Luna and did the same thing to blue pony. Twilight did herself last, working the shampoo into a fine lather, and then together, the princesses, and unicorn dove under the water. The emerged a few minutes later, manes clean, and the shampoo dissolving slightly into the water.
Twilight next grabbed the conditioner, the child-safe conditioner, and a brush. She added a small bit of conditioner to the brush, and put the bottle back on the counter. She then began to gently brush Celestia’s coat, and began to hum a sing that her own mother hummed when she was bathing Twilight during her own filly years.
For the next few minutes, all that could be heard was the gentle sound of brushing and the soft humming of a certain unicorn. Soon, however, Twilight finished her brushing, and got out after putting the item on the counter. She grabbed a towel with her magic, and after using a small heating spell on it, begun to dry herself off. She looked at the two filly princesses as she dried herself and once more noted their behavior.
By the time that Twilight had exited the tub, the princesses have begun a small splash wars, and the unicorn studied, as she had many time in the past weeks, how they acted. The most surprising was Celestia, a pony that Twilight had known since she was a filly. She knew, from personal experience, that the solar princess has a small mischievous side that she lets out at times. The frilly version of Celestia, however, was the near opposite of her true self. Filly Celestia was shy, timid, and at times hesitant to do things outside of her royal duties. She was barely putting any force into her attacks, throwing small splashes at her currently older sister.
Princess Luna, who was throwing everything she had into her attacks, was a different story. Twilight would admit that she didn’t know the lunar princess like she knew Celestia, but she knew her enough to make a small character profile. Normally, Princess Luna was a stoic figure, speaking only when she felt it was important. She, however, wasn’t above telling jokes when she felt up to it. More then once, Twilight had found herself laughing at a joke the lunar princess had told, even if the wording was a bit off due to her limit understanding of modern speaking.
Filly Luna, however, was the complete opposite of her normal self. She was mischievous, devilish, and at times a headache waiting to happen. In fact, Twilight often found herself using a small pain relief spell to stop coming headaches. Still, the studious unicorn didn’t hold it against her; she was, after all, being a filly.
…But it’s almost like they not only change ages, but switched quirks as well, Twilight thought a bit whimsically.
She finished drying herself off, and looked toward her charges as she put the slightly used towel into a nearby bucket. The small water wars had taken the last of the princesses’ energy, and now both were fighting to keep their eyes opens. Twilight trotted up to the bath, and took the princesses gently into her magic as she brought her right front hoof into the slightly dirty water. She couldn’t stop the smile that blossom on her lip as she lifted her charges from the tub and pulled the stopper out at the same time.
“You had your fun and games, princesses,” Twilight said in a motherly tone. “But it’s time for bed.”
She lowered them to the ground, and grabbed a couple of towels with her magic. She used the same heating spell she’s been using this night, and began to dry the princesses. Once she was finished with the task of drying off the princesses, she threw the towels into the same basket she threw her own towel, and turned towards the counter near the tub. She levitated a mane brush, and brought it over to Celestia. She worked quickly, smoothing out the princesses of sun’s hair into a fine comb, and then turned the brush to Luna, doing the same thing. She put the brush back, and turned toward the door, trotting slowly toward it. The princesses were hot on her hooves, but barely, due to not having much energy left.
The three enter into the bedchamber, and the princesses stumble over to their beds. Twilight watched as the princesses tried to use their magic to get into their turn down beds. Unfortunately, they were to tired, and couldn’t focus their energies correctly. So, without word, Twilight’s horn lit up, and she gently picked up the princesses, softly putting them into their beds, and tucked them in. She then turned her magic to the princesses’ toy chest, and with skills of a talented mare, opened both chests at once, and took out two familiar plush toys. She gently gave the toys to their respective owners, and the princesses eagerly took them.
Twilight, satisfied, turned and began walking softly towards the door. She was halfway to the door, when she heard a soft, timid voice, forcing her to stop.
“…Tell me a bedtime story, Auntie Twilight.”
Twilight turned her head, and looked at the Celestia, the filly who just spoke. The filly princess had her toy over her mouth, and her eyes were half closed, but she looked eager for a bedtime story. Twilight couldn’t help but smiled in a motherly fashion as she trotted over to her teacher’s bed and took a seat. The unicorn was silent, taking a moment to think. She knows many bedtime stories, stories that ponies like Celestia would no doubt also know. Her smile grown tenfold as one of the most awkward conversions she had with Rainbow Dash, after she read a Daring Do book, rose to the surface. In it, the main character finds herself in a different reality, where her counterpart had found an enemy reborn and raised him as her son. Rainbow wasn’t too fond of that book. She thought that the writer had sold out, as the entire plot felt tact-on. Twilight let that thought die as the gears in her mind began to turn, quickly making up a story.
With the story in mind, she turned her charge. When she next spoke, she tried to put some flare behind her voice, like those story-teller that Celestia sometimes invite to her school, on special events.
“…Once upon time, there were three mares, sisters, one elder, and others twins. One who brought up the sun each day, one who raised the moon, and the final one, who painted the stars when her twin sister brought up the moon. However, the stars and the moon in the night were ignored by ponies that loved only the day. Soon, the two plotted to over throw their elder sister, and bring about an eternal night…”
Twilight paused in her tale, and looked over her right shoulder when she heard a whimper. Princess Luna had covered her entire face with her toy, but from the angle of her years, the unicorn knew that the lunar princess was listening. She looked back at Celestia, and through her voice starting to tremble slightly, she continued on with her tale.
“…T-To combat the elder sister, the twin sisters merged into one body, and drew in magic from others to grow in strength. And yet, when they, now one, confronted the elder sister, the power, even the body they now had, wasn’t enough to match their sister, and they were sent to the moon, for a 1000 year time-out…”
Twilight halted her tale once more, and looked her shoulder, taking note of Luna’s shape. She had lower her toy just enough that her eyes were peeking out, and her full attention to the story-telling mare. She noted that she didn’t looked afraid, and that brought encouragement to Twilight. The unicorn smiled slightly as she repositioned her body, so her voice could reach the two princesses easier. When she began her tale again, the tremble that was forming in her voice was gone.
“…When they time-out was over, the sisters, now of one body, mind and soul, returned to try once more to make the night last forever. Once again, the sisters were defeated, this time, by six normal, everyday ponies, and in the process, freed one of the sisters from her badness. The younger sister rejoined her older sister, feeling bad for her actions. But that left the question of where the other sister was, a question that was answered all too soon.”
Twilight paused for a third time, taking in a deep breath to regain some oxygen she had lost. She found herself sweating a bit, and it wasn’t from the air in the room. She had a new found respected for those ponies who can cast their voices across large rooms without even breaking into a sweat. She took a minute to catch her breath before continuing her tale.
“…The forgotten sister wasn’t gone, but she no longer had a body. Through bad means, she found a way recreate a body for herself, but it was small, the size of filly, and she didn’t have her memories. She would have been lost, if not for a kind mare, who knew who she was, but still took her in. It was through that kind mare, that the forgotten sister was given a new name, and even found love that she was robbed of in the past. The happy times wouldn’t to last, sadly, and soon, the forgotten sister remembered who she was, and soon began her plans again.”
Twilight took in another sharp breath not even realizing she had gone a long time between her telling her story without taking a breath. She hadn’t realized what she done until her lungs was screaming for air. She looked at the princesses, while she took a long paused to catch her third wind. The filly princesses looked like they had fallen asleep during the story; their eyes were closed and their favorite toy clinched lightly in their hooves. It looked like the little rulers were sound asleep, and yet, they ear told a different story. The fillies’ ear was pushed to their full height, inducting that they were listen, maybe on a sub-conscious level. Twilight would have marvel at this, just another page in her ever growing list of things she learned about Alicorns, if her mind wasn’t still in story teller mode.
With a faint smile, the unicorn gingerly began walking toward the door. She began to spin the final of her tale, allowing her voice to take on a gentler note, knowing that her charges could hear her, even if they were asleep.
“…Though the forgotten sister had her mind, body, and powers restored, she wasn’t the same as she was before. She no longer had hatred or vengeance in her heart, and that left her confused. She seized the land from her sisters, hoping it would ease her confusion, but it did the opposite; it left her even more confused. Every action she tried only caused the confusion to grown, tearing her apart. Eventually, she realized that her short time as a foal had changed her, and that she couldn’t carry out her actions like before. She returned the land to it rightful rulers, and submitted to their judgment. The sisters were kind, and returned their once forgotten sister to that of filly, placing her in the care of the mare that had found her, to be raised as the mare’s daughter. And though she would force more trials growing up, she would always remember the teaching of her mother; friendship and love are truly magic. The end…”
Twilight sigh contently as she reached the door, her tale at an end. She dared a looked behind her shoulder and her smile grew ever so slightly when she noticed that princesses’ ears were limp, meaning that they now soundly asleep. This caused the smile on Twilight’s face to grow even more. She lit her horn with her magic, and used it to magically turn off the magic lamp lighting the room, casting it into a calm darkness. She then turned her magic onto the door, and opened it enough to exit, but not enough for the light to shine through.
“…Good night, princesses,” Twilight said in a motherly tone, as she exited the room.
(…)
Twilight gently closed the door, insuring that it made no noise that could woke the sleeping princess. Once the door was fully shut, did the unicorn let it her magic fade from the door. Twilight sighed heavily as a tired expression appeared on her face. She was tired beyond belief, and she wanted nothing more then to head to the room she had prepared, and climb into bed for a long night’s rest. Unfortunately, she didn’t read the messages her body was sending her, and turned to her left. She was planning on heading towards the royal library, and doing a bit of lit reading before settling in for bed. She planned to use a short cut she learn back when she was Princess Celestia’s student. She hopped by taking this route she could reach the library much quicker before she gave into her body’s demands, and head to bed.
“Good evening, Miss Sparkle,” a voice said with kindness.
Mildly startled but keeping composure, Twilight look behind her shoulder and saw a unicorn guard walking close to the door she just left. Frowning a bit, and she turned her body around, so she could face him completely, and began to study him.
There were three things that stood out about this new pony. The first was his coat coloring; it wasn’t the standard white and gray that most of the guards seem to have. The stallion’s coat was a neo green, and it was well kept, nothing surprising for a member of her majesty’s royal guards.
The second thing that caught Twilight’s attention was the unicorn’s height. He wasn’t the normal size of what one would expect from a stallion in the guards. In fact, as Twilight continue to study the stallion; she realized that he was probably two to three inches shorter then Twilight herself. He also didn’t have the impressive build that all of the guards have, either. It was like he didn’t work out with the daily exercises that all guards are required to do.
The final thing that stood out about this stallion was his uniform. He wore the uniform of the captain of the guard, which, when Twilight thought about, looked silly on him. He neither had the built or the height to look imposing like most of the other captains. Even her own older brother, a pony of average height, was more imposing then the stallion standing before her. She would have laugh, if two things didn’t stop her. First, out of respect for the uniform, and second, she didn’t have the energy to even giggle lightly.
Still, she found the energy for a low, respectful bow. “Oh pardon me, I didn’t see you there-”
“-Quartz Guard, newly appointed captain of her majesty’s royal guard, at your serves,” the guard said politely and smiled a gentle smile.
Twilight lifted her head and returned the smile, as her eyes scan the stallion once more; taking in smaller detail she missed earlier. He has green eyes, a shad lighter then his coat, and though she couldn’t see the stallion’s mane due to his helmet, she looked toward his tail. The tail was cut short, barely reaching past his flank, and the tip was cut float. This was considered a standard style of cut for the guard, though only the most devoted guards choose to wear it.
Twilight’s eyes drifted up slightly, and she eyed the stallion’s cutie mark. It was an around shield, make entire out of quartz-crystals, and it had a few jabbed edges, suggesting battle-damage. Finally, the image was title slightly on the upper right corner. This suggested that it has been hit on the corner, but it didn’t break, suggesting that the pony in front of her was touch.
Twilight looked Quartz’s in the eyes, her smile turning a bit confusing. “With all due respect, sir, may I ask why are you here at this hour?” she asked, her voice calm but still carrying a hint of confusion in it.
Quartz’s smile flatter slightly at this question, and he looked over his right shoulder, where he could clearly see the door to the filly princesses’ room. When he spoke, his voice was low but still loud enough to hear, and filled with much respect. “A lot of the guards are having a hard time processing that the princesses, their rulers, are fillies. The veteran guards are even in denial that Princess Celestia is currently two year younger then her younger sister.”
Quartz looked back at Twilight and his eyes filled with uncertain and concern, as he took a step closer to the studious unicorns. “Plus, there have been rumors and talks about you being unfit or unable to handle running a county. I wouldn’t be able to face your brother if he would need to rush over here upon hearing that his little sister had collapsed due to the stress of running a whole county and keeping two filly princesses in line,” the captain of the guard said with sincerely.
Twilight was flattered, she truly was. Still, she didn’t allow the emotions she was feeling to reach her face. In these two short weeks running the county, she had learn to keep herself composed greatly, especially since she now consider the go-between pony for the princesses, and their subjects. She had learn this when some noble pony had tried to get on her good side so he could get a land-tax approved. Thankfully, Princesses Celestia had seen this, and intervened before things gone too far.
Twilight smiled a small, grateful smile, and moved closer to the captain, which allowed her to put a hoof on the stallion’s right shoulder. “I’m grateful for your kindness, but I believe I can handle things. Beside, despite the fact that princesses are fillies in body and soul, their minds are still intact. They had been a great help in keeping things in control. So I believe if I can keep myself in control, I should be able to last the year.”
Twilight let her hoof dropped from the captain’s shoulder and took a few steps back, allowing her a small, respectful bow. “Now if you would excuse me, I would like to do a bit of light reading before I turn in for night,” she said kindly after lifting her head up.
“Of course, miss,” Quartz replied with his own respectful bow. “I didn’t mean to hold you up.”
With that, the two ponies turned, and began walking away from the door. Quartz Guard suddenly stopped, a mere three inches away from the fillies’ room, and his horn lit up in a neo green. Soon, the sound of retreating hoof steps filled the halls, one that matched the weight of somepony Quartz’s size, and weight for somepony wearing armor. He kept his spell going for a few minutes, and kept his ears trained on the sounds behind him. He stopped his magic when he could no longer hear the steps of the mare, and then dared to look behind him. He grinned once he saw that the mare in question was nowhere in sight. Still, he stayed rooted to the ground, making sure no other pony was coming.
Once he was entirely sure the hall was completely empty, he turned his head towards the door leading to the princesses’ room. His grin turned into a small, sinister smirk, as he turned his body, and closed the small gasp between the door and himself. He took the door knob into his magic without a moment thought. He looked around one last time, confirming he wasn’t in danger of being caught, and with his smirk spreading out into a grin again, opened the door gingerly. He stepped into the dark room without a moment to spare, and close the door behind him with a sound click.
