The sun rose slowly over the sleepy town of Ponyville. The roosters crowed, and ponies began to about their morning routines of opening shops, getting the kids ready for school, or preparing to commute via train to Canterlot for a job there.
About an hour after the sun rose, Princess Twilight Sparkle blearily opened her eyes.
She had been up late the previous night working on a new spell, this one an enchantment for a wearable device designed to deflect ponies’ attentions away from the wearer, rendering them effectively invisible. Much more power-efficient than true invisibility spells. Nopony would question anypony, Twilight had reasoned, if the ponies around them declared them to be “not my problem.”
Twilight, after having completed Starswirl the Bearded’s final spell and ascending to Alicornhood, now constantly created new magic whenever she could. However, as was the case the night prior, that habit had led to some groggy mornings.
Her eyes open, Twilight unceremoniously rolled out of bed and half-walked, half-stumbled over to the mirror in her room. It was made of crystal, same as the rest of her castle, but was coated in silver and polished until a reflection was visible. In this case, that reflection showed Twilight, her mane a complete mess, her coat in dire need of brushing, and her feathers in dire need of preening.
“Ugh,” she blearily commented. “I look almost as bad as the time I thought Zecora cursed my -- HIC”
Twilight paused. A spark jumped from her horn briefly. Had she just hiccuped?
“--cursed my hair. And I really hope this isn’t a case of the hiccups, because I have some very important --HIC” A pillow on her bed flopped over.
Twilight groaned, then ran a hoof through her mess-of-a-mane. “Guess not anymore.” She turned away from her mirror and walked towards the kitchen. At least, that’s what she called it. It was one of the few rooms that Twilight insisted on having running water installed, along with natural gas. She and Spike still needed to eat and the Tree of Harmony had not had the forethought to put in a kitchen. Or, for that matter, a working bathroom. That had made the first night spent at the castle interesting.
Twilight tried to stifle a yawn as she walked the corridors of her new home, but it was interrupted by another HIC, followed by a groan from Twilight. A gust of wind blew through the curtains of the hall, ruffling Twilight’s mane.
“Huh,” she wondered aloud.
Arriving at the kitchen, she was greeted by her number one assistant, Spike, already at the stove making pancakes. “Morning, Twi,” he said.
“Morning, Spike. How’d you-- HIC.” A set of pots sitting on a countertop clattered loudly to the ground.
“You okay there, Twi?” asked Spike, concern in his voice. “What was that?”
“It’s just hiccups,” replied Twilight, levitating the pots that had mysteriously fallen over. “It’s nothing to be HIC”
The pots flew upwards, crashing into the ceiling in a cacophony of noise and embedding themselves there.
Spike looked up. “Huh,” he said. “Was that supposed to happen?”
“No, I don’t think so. That was some kind of magic surge that interefered with my spell.”
“Does that normally happen with unicorns? Or alicorns, for that matter?” Spike inquired.
"Not that I know of, no."
“Did you try drinking water upside-down?”
“What?”
“Nevermind. Maybe Fluttershy would know, you could go ask her.”
“That’s a great id-HIC!”
The assorted fruits on the kitchen table suddenly became oranges. The pancakes in the pan Spike had been cooking became orange slices. The glass of oranges Spike was drinking became orange juice.
“Heh,” giggled Twilight nervously. “Guess I should get a move on?”
“Yeah,” said Spike, distracted by his transformed breakfast. The orange slices in the pan sizzled slightly. “You know, I think I might be onto something with this…”
Twilight strolled through town on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage. Most of the town had gotten used to the newest alicorn princess and gave her no more than a second glance or a friendly wave. A few, possibly in Ponyville on business, did a double-take on seeing the Princess of Magic strolling down the street with no Royal Regalia and no Royal Guard.
Twilight’s route took her past the market, and she hoped to say hello to Applejack on the way. Ponies were already beginning to sell their wares, and the normal collage of smells wrapped themselves around Twilight.
This, unfortunately, caused Twilight to sneeze, followed by a hiccup. The entire market square, from the main road up to Town Hall, became covered in a layer of ice.
Surprised by the sudden loss of traction, Twilight slipped and fell, sliding into one of the shopkeeper’s stalls. The bump caused one of the displays to fall, and Twilight was pelted with apples.
“Twilight? Sugarcube, what happened? Why is the market covered in ice in the middle of summer? I look down for one minute, and this happens!”
“Applejack? I’m not sure, but I woke up this morning with the hiccups, and now I’ve been having magic surges.”
All the apples from Applejack’s stand spontaneously became rainbow-striped and reflective.
“Zap apples?” asked Applejack, bewildered. “But that’s impossible, none of the sign’s have appeared. Twilight, did you try drinkin’ a glass of water upside-down?”
“Upside-down? How does that even work?”
“Nevermind. Twi, Ah think ya need ta go see Princess Celestia. Ain’t no one ‘round here that knows how ta deal with the likes ‘a this problem ‘a yers.”
“Princess Celestia? But I think she and Princess Luna went to Stalliongrad to meet with the Caribou ambassador. There’s no way I could HIC.”
A bright flash briefly enveloped Twilight, and a moment later she was gone.
Princesses Celestia and Luna were enjoying afternoon tea with the ambassador of Caribou to Equestria in his private study.
“Thank you again for inviting us to tea,” said Celestia, taking a sip from her cup.
“Of course, princess,” said the ambassador, his Equestrian heavily accented. “These trade negotiations are going to be very beneficial to both our nations, but working out the details can be tedious.”
“Strewth,” said Luna, sipping her coffee.
The ambassador lifted his teacup to his lips. Suddenly, all three present were blinded by a brilliant white flash, followed by a crash.
Princess Celestia blinked the stars out of her eyes, already braced to fight off any intruder. The trade agreement was not universally liked, and an attack could have occurred to attempted to delay the treaty. She and Luna were nigh-indestructible, but she rather liked the ambassador and didn’t want to see him dead.
A moment later, her eyes alighted on the form of Twilight Sparkle, her former faithful student, prone on the top of the coffee table. Many of the teacups were broken or had fallen off.
Twilight moaned, then blearily climbed off the table and brushed herself off.
“Twilight Sparkle?” asked Celestia, bewildered. “What are you doing here? Not that it isn’t lovely to see you, but how did you get here?”
“Princesses Celestia? But, I thought you were in Stalliongrad with the trade agreement.”
“We are,” said Princess Luna, levitating up the shards up cup on the floor into a bin. She opened a window and gestured to the snow outside.
“Wait, wait, how is this possible? I was just in Ponyville. I didn’t even mean to teleport, I just had a hiccup thinking of going to - HIC.”
A solid white refrigerator appeared from nowhere and crashed onto the table, falling on its side.
“Yo mayo,” said the ambassador under his breath, dumbstruck. “You ponies can do all this?”
“Uh…” said Twilight sheepishly.
“Apparently,” said Luna cooly, walking over to the refrigerator and poking it with her hoof, confirming that it was, in fact, real. She reached over and opened it. It was filled to the brim with varying kinds of cheese. “Anypony care for cheese?” she asked with a smirk.
At the sight of the cheese-filled refrigerator, Celestia glanced at Luna, panic flashing across her face for the briefest of moments.
“Sister, it’s a code-chartreuse,” said Celestia, regaining some of her composure and struggling to keep the panic out of her voice. Luna’s eyes widened in fear at her words. “You get the supplies,” continued Celestia, “and I’ll get everypony out of here.”
“Aye,” said Luna hurriedly, dashing out of the room. A moment later, she poked her head in and addressed the ambassador. “Ambassador, do you have a bathroom with a sink?”
“Second door on your left,” he replied, not really comprehending why this was relevant.
“Perfect.” Luna stepped back into the hallway, levitating one of the few unbroken cups past her.
As soon as Luna left, a bright banana-colored flash from Celestia teleported everypony out of the room.
The moon was a desolate place on its surface. It was livened, however, by the appearance of Celestia, Twilight, the Caribou Ambassador, and a certain refrigerator full of cheese.
“Celestia, what are we doing he--” Celestia put her hoof over Twilight’s muzzle.
“Shhh…”
“But-”
“Shhh! Not until Luna comes back with the supplies. Just hold tight.” Twilight kept quiet.
Seconds later, a blue flash deposited Luna in the lunar rock. She was holding a glass of water in her hoof.
“Thanks for letting us borrow the moon for this,” said Celestia to her sister, hoof still over Twilight’s mouth. Celestia address Twilight now. “Now, what you’re going through now is something all maturing alicorns have to go through when more of their alicorn magic comes in. It always starts with hiccups, followed by continually-growing magic surges. Understand?”
“Yes, I - HIC.”
Before anything strange could happen, a quick flick of Celestia’s hoof to Twilight’s redirected much of the surge. A single banana dropped from nowhere.
“Luna, the cup!”
“Right!” Luna moved the cup to Twilight’s face. “Twilight, drink this upside-down.”
“I’ve been hearing that all day, what is that?”
“Like this.” Luna quickly demonstrated putting the far side of the cup between her lips and tilting it under her chin, letting her drink, before levitating it back over to Twilight.
Twilight mimicked the movements, drinking the water. “Huh, I wonder if it worked. Is it supposed to--”
Twilight’s eyes shone pure white. A massive beam of light, meters across, bright as the sun, lavender-colored, and shaking the lunar surface, shot straight up into space. Celestia, Luna, and the ambassador were blinded.
Luna gasped. “Sweet mother Faust…”
Time slowed to a crawl. Twilight’s entire body glowed as bright as the sun, but pure lavender in color. She began to hover above the assembled ponies, waves of power radiating off of her. Twilight’s mane began to flow and sparkle, despite the windless void of space.
“Celestia…” Twilight whispered, her eyes still aglow. “Celestia, there’s so much magic.”
The ambassador stared, mouth open. “Holy sh-”
“Celestia,” interrupted Twilight. “I’m scared. There’s so much… energy.” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
Celestia walked over to the floating Twilight, uncertainty clear in her face. Never had she felt such power coming from a single being. But this was a being that was asking for her help. “I’m here,” she said, her voice cracking. “I will always be here for you.” Celestia reached out her hoof and grabbed onto Twilight’s.
The visions faded from Celestia’s view. She just realized she was floating above the ground with Twilight, and unceremoniously plopped onto the lunar rock. Twilight was still floating, but she blinked her eyes, the glow fading from her body. She drifted towards the ground, alighting much more gracefully than Celestia did.
When Celestia could look upon her, she first noticed Twilight’s size. She was now taller than Celestia herself. Twilight’s coat was much shinier than a normal pony’s, and her fur was impeccably groomed. Not a single feather was out of place from her now much larger wings. Twilight’s face was more angular and elongated, like Celestia’s, and Twilight’s spiraling horn was much longer. It sparked with purple, arcane power.
Luna laughed nervously. “Well, I guess this means you're an adult now! Good thing half of the moon didn’t have to be destroyed to do it!” Luna nudged her sister in the barrel.
“Yes, yes. Perhaps we should get back to Equestria. Your alicorn adulthood is something to be celebrated, Twilight!”
“Huh.” Twilight looked at her hooves. “Perhaps not right now. I feel so… different. Let’s get home.” Twilight stepped forward, and fell on her face. “My legs appear to be longer than I remember. Princess, I don’t suppose I could go back to my normal form, could I?”
“Oh. But why?”
Twilight raised a hoof to her face. However, a single femur was visible where her foreleg should have been. Panicking, she wrenched her head around. Her coat and skin were now transparent, and her internal organs were startlingly visible.
“Ah! That wasn’t supposed to happen! I’ve cast this spell before, what happened?”
Luna, suppressing a giggle, responded. “It will most likely take some time to adjust to your changing magic levels. I certainly had to get used to my power after being on the moon. Some spells may miscast until you get used to it.” Luna’s horn glowed, and Twilight’s skin returned to it’s standard opacity.
Celestia smiled at their antics, then lit her horn and the three of them disappeared.
Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight’s five friends all sat in Pony Joe’s in Canterlot.
Twilight bit into a chocolate doughnut. “Pretty much.”
“So why aren’t ya as tall as Celestia and Luna?”
“I didn’t fancy having to relearn how to walk. Also I’d look very imposing, and I don’t really want that. I get enough attention from the wings.”
“I see what you mean,” said Fluttershy. “Some of the really small animals I take care of are afraid of me when I first meet them.”
“Exactly! And I didn’t want that. I might do it later, but not right now.”
Luna took another drink from her coffee. “‘Tis your choice, after all. However, I cannot shake the feeling that we are forgetting something. Or somepony? I am not quite sure.”
Twilight chewed on her doughnut thoughtfully. “I’m not sure either, but I know what you mean. It’s almost as though -- oh no.” She looked at Celestia. “The ambassador.”
The three alicorns eyes widened.
The ambassador of the caribou to Equestria sat on his haunches in the lunar dust next to a small refrigerator. He held a chunk of cheese in his hoof, taking small bites from it. He wondered when the princesses would be back.
“At least the cheese is good.”
