Princesses and Stepladders

It was the eve of the Fall Equinox festival, and Canterlot's palace square was densely packed with excited ponies. Normally the Fall Equinox was a much more subdued affair than the matching spring celebrations, because of the cold. This year was different. Every pony for miles around wanted to see the royal blessing, because for the first time in a thousand years the festival would take its original form of a ceremonial passage of power between Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna.

Of course, most ponies didn't care much about the symbolism of winter and summer being a macrocosm of night and day. They just wanted a chance to see their new co-ruler, who until so recently was just a monster of legend.

Duskwind cared, however. He had even written a short article on the subject of the Equinox Festival from antiquity to the present day. Nopony had published it yet, but he had used his position at the Canterlot public library to get a couple of self-published copies put into circulation. Maybe someone would even check one of them out some day.

In any other world the violet librarian might have been cynical about royalty, but there had always been something about Celestia that made him feel like she really cared about each and every pony over whom she ruled. Duskwind was intensely curious to find out if Princess Luna would be the same. He was even taking notes, hoping there might be the makings of another essay in this.

At least, he was trying to take notes. The square was so crowded that he had been forced to resort to levitating his quill and scroll above his head, and craning his head up at an unpleasant angle to see what he was writing.

As the speeches and invocations of the Princesses began on a balcony high above the square, an angry voice came from behind him.

“Put that damn thing away! I can't see! Damned unicorns think you can do whatever you want.”

Without turning to see who had spoken, Duskwind sighed and let quill and scroll drop to the ground. He would just have to remember the speeches and transcribe them later, he decided, and satisfied himself with watching the princesses. The speeches were everything he had hoped and more. As the princess of the day cast her eyes over the massed crowd, he felt like she took the time to look right at him. Of course, that was silly, but it only went to show how good she was at making all of Equestria feel loved.

When all of the oration, displays of magic, and general pomp and circumstance were finished, the crowd began to file out of the square. Most ponies were eager to get to the markets and taverns where smaller-scale but more accesible festivities would be starting any minute. For his part, Duskwind was far more interested in getting home to begin his written analysis of the ceremony. He was so deeply engrossed in thought that he ran headfirst into two large guard ponies who had stepped into his path to block him, and fell backwards onto his rump.

He looked up at the imposing bulk of the two white armored stallions, and squeaked out a choked, “Uh... I'm sorry.”

One said, “Please come with us, sir.”

The other said, “We have orders to take you into the palace.”

Both looked at him slightly disdainfully.

Duskwind darted his eyes from side to side, shakily climbing back onto his hooves. “Why? Did I do something?” he asked as the two guards flanked him and led him from the square, “What did I do? Was it because I stared at the princess too much? I'm sorry!” Pinned between the imposing bulk of the two stallions he had no choice but to walk with them through a dark stone doorway and into the palace proper.

“I'm sorry sir,” one said, “We were just given orders to bring you in. We weren't told why.”

Growing increasingly frantic, the normally quiet unicorn began to ramble with rising volume and pitch. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect! I thought the whole point was for everyone to look at her! Please don't lock me up! I didn't mean to stare, I DIDN'T MEAN TO STARE!”

By this time they had arrived in a room with a desk, lit only by torchlight. One of the guards saluted the fussy looking pegasus at the desk, and said, “Here he is, as requested.” Some papers were signed and passed back and forth. Duskwind was only dimly aware of this, as he paced back and forth across the small room, muttering apologies and guesses as to his crime, to nopony in particular.

“Ahem.” The polite cough broke him out of his trance. He looked up to see the pegasus gesturing down a hallway with a hoof. “This way, sir, if you would be so good.” Duskwind was beyond protesting at this point, and meekly began to walk in the direction indicated. The other pony walked next to him, not saying a word.

Several increasingly fancy offices, functionaries, and hallways later he found himself facing a large imposing oak door inlaid with gold. The finely attired and immaculately groomed unicorn mare who had been his most recent escort pulled a velvet rope next to the door that produced a soft chime from inside the room. Then with a glow of magic from her horn, she opened the enormous door, bowed at Duskwind, and silently gestured at the doorway with a hoof.

Duskwind had no idea what to make of this. This clearly wasn't the entrance to a dungeon. Quite the opposite, in fact. As he stepped through the doorway and heard the door swing closed behind him, he took in walls hung with elaborate tapestries, plush rugs, blazing fireplaces on both ends of the room, and a table laden with food, drink and finely worked candle holders.

“H-hello?”

There was no response, so after a few moments he walked skittishly to the table, sat down in a high-backed and surprisingly uncomfortable chair, and waited. After a few minutes, boredom got the better of him and he levitated a tomato off of the spread of food on the table. The food seemed to be there to be eaten, he figured, so why not?

He jumped in surprise, sending the tomato flying and nearly knocking his chair backwards when he heard a silky, graceful voice from just behind him, so close he could feel breath on his ear. “Hello, my little pony. I'm glad you could join me.”

He didn't have to see to know who was speaking. There was no mistaking that voice that he had heard so many times giving proclamations and addressing crowds. The cowering pony slowly turned around in his chair and met the gaze of Princess Celstia. Duskwind had always thought his monarch was beautiful, but now that the huge white alicorn was towering over him, her faintly glowing polychromatic hair waving gently in a breeze that was not actually there, she was terrifying.

His mouth was dry and he could barely breathe, and when he finally found his voice it came out in a squeak as he said “I'm sorry that I stared. I'm so, so sorry, I won't ever do it again...”

She regarded him for a moment in confusion before throwing her head back with a soft laugh and saying “Oh no, my loyal but silly subject. You're not in any trouble. I saw you in the crowd and you caught my eye. I thought you might want to...” she paused, clearly pretending to search for the right words, “spend some time with me. Are you hungry?”

Duskwind looked at his hooves and silently shook his head. He was relieved, but no less terrified. How does a pony talk to a princess and a living demigod?

Celestia chuckled and fluttered her wings slightly in amusement as she slowly paced around the table, regarding him with an affectionate gaze. Her gold clad hooves made no sound on the soft rugs.

“In that case, my little pony, we can skip the meal. Why don't you stand by the fireplace so I can get a good look at you?”

He slid off of his chair and obediently walked where he had been told to, keeping his eyes downcast except for furtive glances at her. “Yes, your Majesty.”

With another soft laugh and a flutter of wings, the princess responded “Oh dear, oh dear, so very polite. I'm flattered.” She paced around him, holding her head high with regal poise, but something in her eyes flared with mischief. “Yes,” she went on after slowly circling around him several times, “You'll do nicely, though you'll need a bit of help, my little pony, unless we want to use a stepladder.”

For a moment the unicorn forgot to be terrified and just blinked in incomprehension. “St...stepladder? Why would...”

Before he could finish, Celestia's horn glowed and her eyes narrowed in concentration. A tingling sensation filled Duskwind's body, and then turned to pain. The world shifted around him, seeming to shrink. His entire body pulsed with strange sensations and finally he became aware of what was happening. He was growing! His body swelled, his legs stretched, and his horn grew longer and sharper. What began as dull ache in his back exploded into pain for a moment and a pair of wings unfurled from his body. He would have flailed in terror (or perhaps collapsed), but the princess' spell held him immobile until his transformation was complete.

“There,” she said just a touch breathlessly as she released him from the magic that had surrounded and permeated him. Through her white coat her face seemed slightly flushed, and her pupils were enormous as she stared at the transformed Duskwind admiringly. “You took that well. Congratulations, my loyal subject,” she said, filling the word “loyal” full of weight that Duskwind was struggling to make sense of, “you will be an alicorn, like me, for a little while. Go ahead, look.” She gestured a hoof towards a gilt framed full length mirror attached to one wall.

The newly minted alicorn gingerly stepped closer to the mirror and reared up in surprise when he saw himself, hardly noticing that he knocked a vase off of a pedestal with a flap of his enormous wings. Wings! He really was an alicorn, just like Celestia! The mirror showed that he was still recognizably himself. His face was larger, but still looked like his own. His coat was the same violet color, and his crescent moon and book cutie mark was unchanged.

He turned to the beaming princess and looked at her in wonder. Not up at her, but actually slightly downwards. She had stepped closer to him while he stared at himself in the mirror, and he was apparently just slightly taller than her.

“How...” he gasped, “...how long?”

“About twelve hours,” she purred, batting her eyelashes and stepping closer to him, “Long enough.”

He flapped his unfamiliar wings and his eyes widened as realization finally dawned on him. Looking into her piercing gaze which was now only inches away, he whispered, “Long enough... for what?”

The snowy white goddess didn't respond for a moment, and simply stepped closer to Duskwind, her wings flared. She softly nuzzled his cheek and brought her lips to his ear. Her lips and breath were hot against his skin as she whispered, “What do you think, my big pony? You won't need a stepladder now...”

He would never admit it in a thousand years, but Duskwind had dreamed of moments like this many times before, after seeing his princess from a distance. Somehow, being seduced by an aggressive god-princess was not, in reality, the exciting fun time he had thought it might be. Instead, it was terrifying. His world had been turned upside down. He had feared for his freedom, and now he had been violated, changed into some sort of toy for her amusement. He felt helpless. He felt trapped. He stood, frozen with rage and terror for several long moments as her hot cheek and breath warmed his face.

Then the trance broke. Something snapped inside him, and he did the only thing he could think to do. He ran.

A single flap of his wings propelled him over the table and to the door. Without even thinking, he kicked it entirely off of its hinges, which he could never have done with his normal body. The frightened would be seducee's hooves drew sparks from the stone floor as he bolted along the passage, taking turns at random.

After some time he regained some control over himself and slowed, still fleeing but able to think about what he was doing. There was no way he could get out of the palace looking like this, he realized. He had to get out of sight. He didn't hear any sounds of pursuit, but that could just mean that those who he knew must be looking for him were being slow and systematic.

Since he had no idea where he was, he picked a door at random that looked small enough that it obviously didn't lead into a ballroom or something similar. It felt like it may have been locked, but the strength that this strange form afforded him flung it open with only a quick groan and snap of protest from the door latch. Once on the other side he closed it as quietly as he could manage and slid onto his rump with his back against the abused door, eyes closed and panting.

He had only a moment to try to regain his composure, however, because a loud, booming voice assaulted him from inside the room.

“WHO DARES TO INTRUDE UPON...”

The voice halted in mid sentence with a sigh. The same speaker continued in a more conversational, even sympathetic tone. “Oh... we see. Shall we assume that thou'rt one of our sister's playthings... I beg your pardon, I mean courtesans.”

Hardly believing that this day could have gotten any worse, Duskwind opened his eyes. Sure enough, none other than Princess Luna, the darker and slightly smaller moon to her royal sister's sun, was the one addressing him.

He blinked in confusion, because other than that fact, nothing about the scene before him matched the expectations he had formed in the few moments when his eyes were shut tight with fear. They were in a comfortable but modest looking suite, plush but hardly royal in appointment. Rather than towering over him with a horn burning fiercely with magic that would surely smite him on the spot, the midnight blue alicorn lay on a finely made but well worn and comfortable looking sofa with a book resting between her front hooves. Her horn was indeed glowing, but only faintly, as her magic levitated a half empty glass of wine. And finally, rather than silvery and regal hipposandals on her hooves, Equestria's second god-princess wore four much-abused battered pink fuzzy slippers.

After taking all of this in for several moments, Duskwind forgot his terror entirely. This felt somehow even more surreal and strange than what had happened to him just previously. He found his voice more quickly than he had expected and politely but not grovelingly said, “I... yes, I suppose I am. I'm so sorry for intruding. I had no idea this door led to your chambers. I was just trying to get away. I'll go right away.” Remembering that fuzzy slippers and comfy sofa or not, he was still addressing the co-ruler of his home kingdom, he added a quick, “Your Majesty,” and bowed his head.

As he carefully pulled himself onto his hooves, still uncertain on his recently elongated legs, she rolled her eyes slightly and sighed, gesturing to another old sofa facing hers. She gestured towards it with one slippered hoof. “Trouble thyself not. Sit, please,” she said wryly, her words formal and archaic, but her tone sympathetic and gentle, “This manner of thing was oft her wont in the days before our exile, and we are scarcely surprised that she still...'honours' a few subjects in this manner. Though I must say that most have not fled, and none have ever sought sanctuary with us. Thou may bide thy time as well here as in any other place. Thy company is welcome, and none shall dare search our royal chambers for you.”

He hesitated a moment, but since nothing else seemed sensible, he did as she asked and sat awkwardly on the old sofa.

After a moment's thought she added. “How rude of us to forget... Have a drink.”

While she spoke, the dark princess's magic retrieved another glass from a shelf and filled it from her open wine bottle. She passed it to him, and he took it with his own levitation spell.

He took a sip, and closed his eyes for several long, slow breaths. Another sip helped calm him further. The wine really was quite excellent. He sat for a moment, composing his thoughts before opening his eyes and asking, “She does this a lot, then, your Majesty?”

Princess Luna sipped her own wine and regarded him over her glass. “Aye, that she does. Please, thou needn't be so formal. Since thou art apparently our sister's royal flavour of the month, thou'rt for the moment a member of the royal household. Pray, simply call us 'Luna'. That is far less of a liberty than what our sister had in mind.”

“Yes, your...er, Luna. Thank you.” he said and drained his glass without thinking. She levitated the bottle over to him and refilled his glass, as well as her own.

“Thou'rt most welcome, surely. So... since we shall be here for some time, speak to us of thyself. May we venture to guess that you were were purple before you were enchanted? And perchance a unicorn as well? She did always have a...thing for purple unicorns.”

“Yes, I was, your ma... your Luna...err... Luna. I'm a librarian at one of the Canterlot University branch libraries, near the edge of the city. I just came to the palace to see the invocation. I was going to write an essay about your involvement now that you are... back, begging your pardon.” He was unsure if he should have mentioned that last, and covered his barbarament with another swallow of wine.

“Hello, truly? A librarian as well? We are deeply unsurprised. Pray, tell me more. I shall summon a porter for more wine from the cellar.” A glow of her telekinesis pulled a silk rope on one wall several times, and she looked at him expectantly until he continued.

Princess Luna seemed to be so genuinely pleased by the company that Duskwind kept forgetting he was talking to divine royalty. She opened up as well, and as hours disappeared into the past and several more bottles disappeared down their throats, she opened up as well. They swapped stories and laughed (and once or twice cried) until the very small hours. Between the wine and exhaustion after the evening's terror, the night and early morning became a pleasant blur for him.

The sun was high in the sky when Duskwind awoke in an unfamiliar bed. He didn't know where he was, and didn't remember going to bed. Sleepy confusion gave way to rising panic as yesterday's events began to emerge out of the fog in his mind. Surely all of that must have been a dream!

He sat up in bed and looked at his hooves. He touched his horn and his back. With a sigh of relief he knew that his body was once again his own.

Looking around the room, more of the night gradually came back to him. He remembered fleeing accidentally to Princess Luna's chambers. He remembered wine, and talking and laughter, jokes about stepladders, and... and what? The rest was a haze. Had he stayed in a guest room? The bed he sat in was large. The room was too unkempt for a guest room. There were half open drawers in the dresser, brushes and bottles sitting on a vanity table, and... the details of the room started to sink in. A set of fuzzy pink slippers lay in a pile on the floor next to a small pile of silver hipposandals in need of a polish. Several black tiaras and a metal collar emblazoned with a moon hung from hooks on the door.

Was he...? Had he...? But that was impossible. Fighting down the rising panic, he looked about for anything that could explain why he appeared to be in Princess Luna's bed.

His eyes landed on a folded note on the bedside table, with his name written on it in elegant letters. He levitated it to him and hastily opened it, shaking with fear and confusion. It was in the same elegant writing, and read:

”My dearest Duskwind, we are sorry to leave only a note for thee, but we must rise early this morn whilst thou slumberest . Worry not about our sister; we shall ensure that she knows we have laid claim to thee. We had a marvelous time, and most dearly wish to see thee again soon, with thine own visage rather than a transformed one. If thou will provide thy presence, we will provide libations... and a stepladder.”

The letter was signed with a crescent moon.

“Sweet Cel...” he started to whisper as he let the note drop, then corrected himself. “Sweet Luna, what have I gotten myself into?” After a moment, he realized that he had answered his own question. “Sweet Luna” was precisely what he had gotten himself into.

The sound of his frantic half mad laughter rang off of stone walls across an entire wing of the palace.