Tiny Sickness for a Tiny student
Twiny’s Flu
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Tiny Sickness for a Tiny student
Seven years before Nightmare Moon's return
A sea of snow decorated the view from the balcony, covering the roofs of the tall stone buildings in Canterlot, as well as a forest, a small town, and mountains in the distance. Pointy parts of some roofs emerged from under the snow.
Decorations from Hearth’s Warming Eve were no longer present, but the cheerful atmosphere remained as many fillies and colts played in the snow, making snow-ponies and having snowball fights, occasionally sliding from a low roof before being lectured by their parents about safety.
Weak rays of the sun peeked from behind the clouds as snowflakes rained down upon the capital. Some of it gathered on the balcony and on the tall alicorn that stood upon it.
Princess Celestia took a moment to admire the view while feeling snowflakes landing softly on her alabaster coat. Some of the snow was already covering her muzzle, blending perfectly with her fur. Her gold-like shoes sunk into the snow. The cold temperature didn’t bother her in the least, as her fur kept her warm.
She turned her head away from the pleasant view to glance at her little student, who was perched comfortably between the feathers of Celestia’s spread wing. Two tiny forelegs held a feather for additional warm and comfort. She smiled warmly, receiving a tiny cheerful smile in return.
“Have you enjoyed my winter sunrise?” she asked, quickly noticing an energetic nod. “The scenery is so much calmer at this time of year, would you not agree?”
“It sure is!” Twilight shouted, putting enough force into her voice to be heard despite her size. She stood up from her feathery nest and walked towards the edge of the wing before pointing down. “Can we play in the snow, pretty please?”
“Now, now, Twilight,” Celestia chided, her voice now slightly more firm, “you know that we only have an hour before I will need to attend to my duties. I should be helping you with your training.” She slowly raised her right foreleg and gently poked the tip of Twilight’s horn, unintentionally leaving a small pile of snow on her head that slid from her shoe. “Only with hard work can you tame your outstanding magic.”
Twilight shook the snow from her head as her ears drooped.
Celestia noticed disappointment and sadness before her pupil lowered her head. “However,” she said, filling her student with hope as Twilight raised her head and looked into her larger eyes, “it does not mean that we cannot involve a little snow in your training to make it more enjoyable.”
Twilight hopped cheerfully, bouncing on the edge of the wing before jumping down into the pile of snow, quickly sinking into it.
The princess lied down, not taking her eyes away from the snow pile as a little head emerged from it. “Your first task will be,” she said, pointing at the snow-filled roof of her own tower, “to levitate the snow from the roof and place it on the balcony.”
The little unicorn nodded before digging herself from the snow and gritting her teeth, her horn now surrounded with a thin lavender aura.
“The rules are simple,” the princess whispered so as to not break her student’s concentration. “Make a snowball as big as you can before placing it next to me.”
***
Drops of sweat started to slide down Twilight’s face as she gathered snow. Little by little, the snowball grew before her half-opened eyes. While for a common pony it would seem big enough to make the head of a snowpony, for her it was enormous, big enough to climb on.
Unlike the small weights made of lead she levitated every so often, snow had much lower density, allowing her to form a snowball of much greater size. Recently, she had managed to levitate and control a weight marked as twenty kilograms, which was only a fifth that of an average pony, but nearly fifty times heavier than Twilight Sparkle.
She didn’t even need to imagine how big the snowball made of loose snow would be if it reached that weight. One look to the side was enough to see a large shadow covering half of her mentor, who looked down at her with an encouraging smile.
Even though the princess was lying on the balcony, she was still towering over her with raised head alone, staring down at her with those large, love-filled eyes. A mere look at her provided the tiny mare with a surge of determination. She wasn’t going to disappoint her teacher by giving up; she was going to exceed her expectations. Redoubling her efforts, she pulled more and more snow from the very top of the tower, funneling it into the snowball.
Twilight’s eyes shut close as a surge of pain struck through her horn, her eyes flashing as her magic had begun to rebel against her. The aura around the levitated snow vanished as it fell onto the balcony.
***
Celestia, noticing a power surge, chuckled, and didn’t bother to stop the snowball from splashing against her side. Instead, she spread her large wing protectively over her student, stopping the spreading snow that rained on the balcony from reaching Twilight, feeling tiny bolts of magic tickle her.
After wiping snow from her face, she pulled Twilight closer with the tip of her wing before slowly lowering her horn towards her, touching the tiny horn of her pupil as she drained her magic forcefully until the surge calmed down. Keeping the dangerous surges under control were proving so much easier thanks to the shrinking spell.
She counted to five in her mind before hearing countless apologies from Twilight for assaulting her with the snow, as she had expected. “Please, do not apologize. I may be a princess and your mentor, but I am not above a snowball fight.” With a weak move of her wing, she dropped a tiny bit of snow at her student, chuckling. “Now we are even.”
The term ‘even’ between Celestia and her student always proved to be very difficult to balance, especially when it came to sharing food. With a bit of concentration, she wrapped bits of snow on the balcony with her levitation, creating several tiny-sized snowballs to match Twilight’s head. If they were going to pop each other with snowballs, she was going to even the odds.
Twilight shook snow from herself and laughed. “Should I... try again?”
“Please go right ahead,” Celestia said encouragingly. “This time however, try to throw the snowball at me before losing control. Knowing your limits is important.”
“I will be more careful, I promise,” Twilight reassured as she repeated the process. This time she dropped a snowball of smaller size on her mentor’s head, who in response used her wing for protection.
Celestia shook her feathers gently, tossing bits of snow at her student, who jumped back, evading it effortlessly as she puffed her chest with pride. Celestia smirked, deciding to improve her student’s reflexes with a little game as she waited for the next large snowball to strike her.
Not bothering to block or evade, Celestia wiped snow from her face before levitating several tiny snowballs, tossing them at the small target with a hoof, tip of her wing and magic. As she expected, Twilight ran, rolled and jumped in attempt to avoid it, using her small size to her advantage. The practice ended with Twilight making a tiny crater in a pile of snow before they both laughed cheerfully.
Minutes passed as the roof lost nearly all of its covering of snow, while the balcony was now filled with it to a point where only Celestia’s head was visible among the white surface.
“Very good, my dear student. I hope you are not tired just yet.”
Twilight trotted through the snow before climbing her mentor’s neck and sitting on her muzzle. “I am far from being tired. What’s my next task, Princess?”
“I suppose making a snow igloo would do," she said, raising her hoof from under the white blanket.
She scooped some snow into a heap and poked a hole in it with her golden shoe, hollowing out the inside and shaping it on the outside into a dome. Her attempt to make a perfect igloo for Twilight's size was proving to be difficult as a certain lavender shape was sitting between her eyes, blocking her sight. Tiny hooves tickled Celestia's nose.
After retracting her foreleg, she could see her student giving her a glance of confusion before jumping from her muzzle, galloping towards the igloo as the princess waited patiently for her student to test it out.
Twilight bent her legs and walked inside, checking it for a few second. “It looks great, Princess, thank you,” she said, her voice slightly muffled. Her head emerged from the small entrance as she was now lying on the snow with a ceiling covering most of her body. “Do you want me to make a similar one?”
Celestia shook her head. “You can build anything you want, as long as you make it with the help of your magic.” She closed her eyes and smiled playfully. “Be careful to not surge by overstraining your mind, but most importantly, have fun.”
“On it,” Twilight said before stepping outside, her hooves slightly sinking into the snow. With a bit of effort, she levitated bits of snow into a wall, squeezing it to make the build material more durable. Much to her surprise and Celestia’s amusement, Twilight sank into the snow after levitating a larger pile. While her tiny body was not even half a kilogram heavy, with four percent of levitated weight turning into a pressure weighing on the caster, Twilight’s weight tripled in an instant.
As time passed while Twilight was struggling not to sink into the snow again. Celestia looked between her hoof-made little igloo and the much grander, bigger and more detailed snow-castle her student was working on. She felt both embarrassment and pride.
Despite being a powerful ruler of Equestria, most likely viewed as a giant and mighty mentor by her little student, she tried to show Twilight her task by presenting a basic and humble example, a small igloo scaled down to fit her student. Meanwhile Twilight, the tiniest of her subjects, did everything in her power to make the largest and most shiny castle just to impress her. It was stable, despite the free space inside. Building four sentry towers, one on each corner and stairs leading towards the second floor, overshadowing the igloo in every way. Such an irony.
I get the feeling that if not for the limited time we have together, as well as the size of the balcony, she would actually make this castle big enough for me to fit in, Celestia thought before looking up at the sky, her smile filled with joy.
***
“It seems that our time has come to an end,” Celestia observed. Upon being ignored, she slid her wing into the snow under Twilight’s hooves and picked her up. A lazier part of her wanted for her to lie on the balcony a bit longer, feeling somewhat comfortable, but the princess decided against it, standing up as her body fully emerged from under the snow.
After shaking herself, she stepped inside her bedchamber, leaving a trail of snow on the floor with each step. Upon noticing it, she cast a heating spell, drying herself and her student while both the floor and the carpet became wet. She stretched her wing towards her bed, letting Twilight slide onto it with a cheerful “weee” before sitting in front of her.
Twilight sat on the edge of the large bed, now staring up at her towering mentor. “But it was so fun! Can I play in the snow with Spike? Pretty please!”
The princess rubbed her chin, considering her options. While she wanted to keep Twilight safe and her status as tiny student a secret, she didn’t want to take any enjoyment from her life. She looked down at the little pony, who stared back at her as if awaiting judgement. “Alright, Twilight, but on two conditions.” She raised her forehoof in a lecturing gesture. “You will not play in the snow without any supervision, and you will hide yourself from the sight of my subjects.”
Twilight stood on her rear hooves and saluted.
After giving her student a cheerful smile, she walked towards the door, waiting for Miss Calm Song to enter. Instead of the foal-sitter who agreed to keep Twilight’s size and status a secret, she saw Overwatch and Steel Blade entering the room, her bedchamber guards who were recently appointed to keep Twilight safe whenever she wasn’t around.
“We have bad news, Your Highness,” Steel Blade said, rubbing his foreleg nervously. His ears and wings drooped. He bore a cutie mark of a single intricately-decorated sword, his look no different from a typical white pegasus guard thanks to the color-altering enhancement on the armor.
“Miss Calm Song called in sick,” Overwatch said, keeping a relaxed attitude. She was a lead charcoal unicorn as unlike all of the grey unicorn guards; the color enhancements didn’t work on her. She bore a single apricot with a leaf as her cutie mark and wore a non-regulatory heavy scarf patterned with wide stripes of gold and scarlet along with her armor.
“Oh dear,” Celestia said, raising forehoof up to her face. She glanced at her student, noticing disappointment despite the distance. She turned to her guards and spoke, “Steel Blade, Overwatch, I am tasking you both to keep an eye on my student. Make sure nothing happens to her and that nopony sees her while she plays with Spike on the balcony.”
Steel Blade was first to salute, “Yes, P-princess, I will k-keep her safe!”
Overwatch saluted. “And I will make sure no pegasus will notice her. Nopony will bypass my sight.”
Celestia smiled before casting a daily spell on her student, refreshing the effect the protection spell which doubled Twilight’s strength, endurance and raw power. A spell that worked only on magically shrunken ponies, as the spell had been developed to make them less vulnerable. With Twilight in the hooves of her trusty guards, she walked outside her bedchamber and closed the door behind her.
***
Steel Blade looked at his partner with a nervous smile before whispering, “Shouldn’t we… tell the princess about the flu epidemic overtaking the castle?”
Overwatch wiped her nose with a tissue before shaking her forehoof dismissively, “Nah. We came to the agreement with the rest of the castle staff to not worry the princess, remember? It should last a week or two at best.” She looked between the snow-castle and the excited rat-sized pony on the bed before clopping her forehooves. “Nice snow-craftsmanship, mind if I join in on the fun?“
Twilight trotted in place from excitement. “Of course I don’t mind. The more the merrier!” she shouted, gesturing with her forehoof for the guards to follow towards the balcony before climbing down onto the wet carpet.
Overwatch took a step forward to follow, only to feel Steel Blade’s forehoof on her shoulder.
“I think it will be best if you kept your distance. You wouldn’t want to infect Twilight with your flu? Would you?” Steel Blade asked.
“I already told you, I am not sick. I don’t get sick. If I was, you would be as well as we work together. You really worry too much.”
“You have a runny nose," he said suspiciously. “I really think it’s a bad idea.”
Overwatch rolled her eyes. “How about this? If Twilight somehow catches the flu from me… the flu I don’t have, I won’t tease or prank you for half a year, deal?”
Steel Blade stared back at her hesitantly for a moment before shaking Overwatch’s forehoof. “Deal.”
A few days had passed since the afternoon on the balcony. Celestia walked back to her bedchamber, though it was more of a nervous trot as worry about her student overtook her. Twilight was already fourteen years old, however, the past six years she had spent by Celestia’s side as a tiny student had taught her that Twilight was not only vulnerable, but also prone to getting herself into trouble.
Being interrupted from her paperwork by a panicked Steel Blade and being called back into her bedchamber could only mean that something bad had happened, which Twilight was no doubt at the center of.
Slowly reaching her bedchamber, she noticed Overwatch standing next to an open door, quickly examining the features of her guard. Her helmet was no longer pressed on the unicorn’s head, her left ear was replaced by a banana, and a long beard was visible under her muzzle. Overwatch’s tail was pasta. The rest of her armor had a few dents and cracks, aside from a half-melted chestplate. Her body itself had a few scratches and burn marks, and smelled of burned hair.
While the transformation magic was working only temporarily and never caused any negative side-effects, Twilight’s parents turning into the plants being the first of many examples, the pony responsible would no doubt be Twilight Sparkle under the effect of a powerful magic surge.
Not wasting time to ask questions, Celestia stepped into her bedchamber in search for her student, her eyes widening upon seeing the mess.
An eiderdown blanket, star-strewn sheets and two large blue pillows were filled with small holes. Some had pieces torn off, some had black burn marks. The carpet on the floor was turned into a jelly. The lamp laid broken on the floor, its parts gathered into a pile with a magical yellow gem on the top.
After taking a few slows nervous steps inside to examine her surroundings, her breathing and heart-rate skyrocketed, she noticed small marks of damage on a nearby desk. The thick oak bookshelves and their contents were unharmed, as well as the various paintings.
It was understandable that the paintings had survived the magical surge, as these things were irreplaceable and protected by Celestia's personal preservation spells, and kept behind magically enhanced glass. The surprising part was how the thick oak bookshelves and the books thereon were unharmed, not sharing the room’s fate despite lacking any significant protection.
She gave Overwatch a quick glance and asked, “Did Twilight ask you to protect the books?”
“She pleaded for me to protect them as my top priority, Princess,” Overwatch said with a nod.
“Is my student in the medical wing recovering from her magic surge?” Celestia asked.
Overwatch shook her head.
“Is she hiding, afraid of punishment?” she asked. It wasn’t the first time the little mare hid in embarrassment after causing unintentional damage, though never on such a scale.
“She is hiding, but fear of punishment isn’t the only reason,” Overwatch started, pointing at her own helmet lying in the corner of the room. She sneezed before levitating a tissue up to her nose. She blushed and tapped her forehooves together. “She may have… kind of… caught the flu.”
“The flu?” Celestia asked before slowly approaching the helmet. She lowered herself and called, “Twilight, please, do not hide from me. I am not going to punish you.” Her voice was as motherly and caring as she could muster. A moment later, her ears picked up a noise of metal shaking on the floor. It was caused by the helmet. She lit her horn to levitate the damaged helmet away, only for it to shatter into small pieces.
Celestia blinked in confusion before glancing down at the trembling Twilight, who looked up into her eyes in fear.
“P-princess. I’m sorry!” The little unicorn bowed, head pressed against the floor.
“Please stop apologizing and tell me if you are hurt,” Celestia said, taking off her gold-like shoe before levitating Twilight, placing her on the softer part of her forehoof. “Are you sick?”
Twilight nodded hesitantly, her cheeks and forehead red. Suddenly, her nose twitched before a weak little sneeze escaped her mouth. Much to the alicorn’s surprise, a thin beam shot from Twilight’s horn, hitting the ceiling. Small bits of rubble fell down onto the princess’ head.
In an instant, the pieces of the puzzle came together, and she looked around. So that’s what happened. Even after six years of training, she can only control a small part of her magic. Being sick weakens her control. She looked at her student in pity before sighing and shaking her head.
It’s not everyday I can say that a fourteen year old filly managed to damage a guard’s armor and ruin my bedchamber... unintentionally… because of the flu… at such diminutive size. I can only imagine the destruction she would cause at her full size.
With the help of a few repairing spells, Princess Celestia salvaged both pillows, partially fixed the rest of the bed while the jelly on the floor changed back to carpet.
"Um, princess?" Overwatch called, blushing in embarrassment.
"Oh, of course." Celestia turned her her attention to Overwatch, bathing her in a soft light. The guard sighed relief as the banana turned back into her ear and the pasta became her tail again.
After carefully placing her student on the blue pillow which served the tiny mare as a bed, Celestia glanced at the guard-mare and asked, “What was the cause behind my student’s sickness? Was it result of the cold as she played on the balcony? Or did somepony infect her?”
Overwatch rubbed back of her neck, her nose twitching as she smiled awkwardly. “Well… Your Highness…” She took a few quick breaths before sneezing, wiping her nose with a foreleg right after. Upon seeing a suspicious glare, she said, “It may… kind of… be my fault.”
“Explain?” Celestia said, taking a comfortable position on her bed next to her student.
“There is a flu epidemic in the castle… nothing serious. I probably caught it from others and spread it to Twilight. The symptoms started showing up earlier today, resulting in…” Overwatch’s explanation was interrupted by Twilight’s sneeze as little beam of magic struck the side of the alicorn’s neck, splashing harmlessly against an unnoticeable golden aura. “... that.”
A flu epidemic? Now it makes me wonder if my subjects at the castle are prone to hiding their illnesses from me, or am I so focused on paperwork and day court that I’ve stopped paying attention.
“Should I call the doctor?” Overwatch asked.
Celestia frowned thoughtfully, looking between her trembling student and the embarrassed guard-mare. She placed her wing over her student to warm her. While she’d ensured that the medical wing would be ready for Twilight in case of injury or accident caused by a magic surge, sickness was another story.
Spells to cure sickness were rarely used as they weakened the immune system, making the patient more vulnerable for many months. The best solution would be to help Twilight recuperate with some warm soup, basic medicine and care. With doctors most likely dealing with the flu epidemic, she wouldn’t want to burden them with uncontrollable surges of the tiny filly.
“That shall not be necessary, Overwatch. I need you to inform the kitchen staff to prepare some carrot soup and hot chocolate,” Celestia ordered before looking at head of Steel Blade peeking from behind the door. “Steel Blade, would you please summon my secretary and the doctor. I will need to ensure more openings in my schedule to take care of Twilight; have instructions of what medicine she should be taking and in what dose.”
Both guards saluted and followed her orders, closing the door behind them. If the nobles complain, I can always say that the castle is temporarily closed due to the epidemic. Celestia glanced at her surprisingly quiet student, who had a few feathers rolled around herself and was deep in sleep.
A cheerful smile grew on the princess face as she always found her sleeping student adorable, especially if she slept on or under her wing. She cast a quick spell, called health bubble, to prevent any outside force worsening the situation. Now I will need to focus on you, my dear student. As a nearly two millennia old alicorn, nursing you back to health shouldn’t be all that difficult.
Barely three days had passed and the task Celestia bestowed upon herself had proven to be much more difficult than she had expected. On a desk nearby she could see carrot soup, bagels, flat ginger, some barely used herbal medicine and a box of tissues. On a pillow on her right sat her sick student, her entire body wrapped up in a pink scarf with gold-colored strips.
While the scarf proved to be a poor substitute for much warmer and softer feathers, even the patience mastered over the centuries wasn’t enough for the princess to provide her student with her wing for several hours, with the desire to stretch or close her wing becoming stronger overtime.
Celestia bit her lip as she focused magic into her horn, carefully levitating a spoon filled with hot soup towards her student. Slowly descending it just enough for the tip of the spoon to touch Twilight’s little mouth, tilting it slightly as Twilight started drinking it.
Celestia’s struggled with even such a simple action.
“T-thank you… P-princess,” Twilight said with a tired voice, her forelegs trembling with each move as she barely kept herself stable in her sitting position. Constant sneezing had weakened and damaged her body, aside from the flu itself.
Unlike Twilight, who felt exhausted and slightly in pain, Celestia wasn’t tired from using too much magic. Quite the opposite, she felt strained from using too little. The problem with power being that, the more she had, the more difficult it was for her to use just a tiny portion.
As a powerful alicorn, a being whose magic grew more powerful over centuries and trained further by raising both sun and the moon for a millennium, Celestia always kept her her magic in check, in order to not harm her subjects. Her mental focus and control of her powerful magic had been mastered over centuries thanks to self-discipline.
This time, however, she was taking care of the tiniest and most vulnerable of her subjects, who was even further weakened by a flu. Every attempt of Celestia to use her magic as gently as possible so as in order not to hurt Twilight proving to be as great a challenge.
Using her hooves proved to be a poor alternative because of her student’s weakened state and their large size difference. Too strong touch ending up with a shriek of pain.
“Achoo…” Twilight sneezed as a spell shot from her horn, turning a spoon filled with hot-soup into a block of ice. “Sorry!”
Celestia exhaled the air she was holding before looking back at the desk, her magic pulling a tissue. “Here you go,” she said calmly, levitating tip of the tissue towards the runny nose. Twilight was about to grab it, but another sneeze interrupted her. The princess levitated the tissue back in an instant, noticing that it was now on fire, with ash and fragments of burned material falling onto the bed. She took a slow breath before clearing the ash and levitating over another tissue, this one successfully serving the little mare.
Upon noticing Twilight’s twitching nose, the princess spread her left wing, protecting the room from yet another tiny spell. She found casting weak barriers to be unnecessary as her own body could stop all the blows, protected by the barely visible golden aura of an alicorn, as it activated on its own whenever something was about to harm her. Another sneeze followed, this one causing a mustache to grow on the sides of the princess’s muzzle.
Celestia touched her new face decoration with a hoof, chuckling at the very look of embarrassment from the tiny pony. While the protective aura kept her from harm, it didn’t stop harmless spells.
“Your Highness,” called Overwatch with a respectful bow, wearing a maid’s uniform. Part of punishment for getting Twilight sick was to assist in taking care of her… once Overwatch was no longer sick herself. The other part was cleaning duty while wearing embarrassing outfits.
“Yes?” Celestia asked, looking at her guard who raised her head, resisting an urge to laugh.
“I brought… a cup of hot-chocolate, as requested,” she said, levitating said cup onto the desk, as well as a small cap she found in the kitchen, to better suit Twilight’s size.
The princess nodded as she reheated the frozen spoon with her magic, the soup on it was once again warm. With more struggle, gritting her teeth, she levitated a tiny fragment of herbal medicine for Twilight to eat. With this out of the way, she tilted the cup of hot-chocolate, filling the empty cap before levitating it to Twilight. The steam was visible above the bronze liquid as the little unicorn grabbed the cap with her trembling hooves and drank from it.
“Are you feeling warmer, Twilight?” Celestia asked, wiping sweat from her forehead with her wing.
“I… am,” Twilight responded, no longer trembling. She still felt pain in her bones but wasn’t complaining as it was nothing when compared to what she felt during a magic surge.
Celestia smiled, levitating over a tissue upon noticing two stains of chocolate on her student’s checks.
“May I… read something? Pretty please!” Twilight plead with drooped ears. Despite feeling tired, reading proved to be the best entertainment to distract herself from her sickness.
Overwatch rolled her eyes before levitating over a history book and presenting to the princess, who nodded in agreement.
***
Twilight walked from under her cover and stepped from the pillow, which was used as a support for the book a moment later. She sat in front of it and looked up, wishing to have a better seat as the book was at least three times her sitting height.
It didn’t take long before being picked up by a gentle golden aura and placed on a white foreleg, while an abandoned scarf landed on her back as if it was a tiny blanket. Twilight glanced behind her at the large face of her mentor, noticing a warm smile and closed eyes.
“Thank you,” Twilight said, copying her mentor’s smile before shifting her focus towards the large book. Head of the princess landing besides her as she joined reading to relax her tired mind.
Twilight tilted herself to the side, supporting herself against the princess’s check while giving it a quick, innocent nuzzle, feeling the warm fur and deep satisfaction for the companionship and affection she was receiving lately.
***
Overwatch looked at Twilight in guilt before sitting in the corner. Her boredom didn’t last long though, as the little mare sneezed again, turning around to not hit her book. The bolt struck the princess instead. Overwatch covered her mouth with a hoof, doing her best to resist laughing and failing miserably at it. She fell to her stomach. Tears of joy sliding down her cheeks.
Celestia moved the book to her side, revealing her entire face as she glanced at Overwatch in confusion. A moment later realizing that her muzzle had turned into a large carrot, a carrot with a mustache.
Steel Blade, who peeked into the room curiously, laughed as well.
The princess giggled and shook her head before removing the effect of the transformation spell from her herself.
The day continued as Celestia did her best to attend to needs of her student, providing her with tiny bits of food and herbal medicine while enduring spell after spell. While most of Twilight’s beams turned out to be offensive spells, not having any effect on the alicorn, the rest were always surprising.
Despite the pain her student felt with each sneeze, Twilight kept on a brave face, even when she took her to the bathroom for a quick bath in the sink, the little pony was fighting against her fear of that place.
Twilight’s eyes opened widely and her body trembled, feeling dread as she observed her surroundings from her spot on her mentor’s back. The bathroom was as big if not bigger than her mentor’s bedchamber. The spacious bathtub itself was like a canyon to the tiny mare, a place where she had once almost drowned in hot water; the memory still plagued her mind.
Opposite to it was sink raised to Celestia’s height. And while the bathtub was big enough to contain an alicorn, the sink was like three bathtubs merged together for Twilight.
In the middle of the room was located an artificial hot spring, an ideal place for the little mare to play and practice swimming, if only she did not have her fear of water which she still struggled against.
Gold trim and gems decorated the entire room and the furnishings, and a large mosaic of Celestia’s cutie mark dominated the space. Behind her, Twilight could see Overwatch sitting next to a door leading into a sauna, who waved at her while being ready to assist in case of trouble.
Twilight felt an itching in her nose. She rubbed it, resisting the urge to sneeze with all her might but to no avail. The moment Celestia took a step inside, Twilight sneezed, releasing a spell that hit the floor, creating a stretch of ice leading from the door into the hot spring itself.
Much to the princess’s surprise, her graceful walk was interrupted as her forehoof slipped against the ice. A yelp escaped her mouth as she slide into the artificial hot spring, her head and forelegs slamming against the bottom of the sizeable tub, while her hind legs were lying upwards in the air, making her look like a dog that half-rolled over only halfway.
Twilight looked down at her mentor as she was being levitated by Overwatch, who in last moment saved her feeble body from sharing the princess’s fate. She could see a blush of embarrassment the moment her mentor got herself to a sitting position, who looked between her and the frozen floor before melting the ice with her magic. While the fall didn’t seem to hurt the princess in the least, Twilight could tell that it was a difference case for her mentor’s pride.
“Thank you, Overwatch,” Celestia said to her guard, grateful for successfully keeping Twilight from harm. She climbed towards the sink and pointed at it, plugging the sink before Overwatch placed Twilight inside. “Please, do not be afraid. We will keep you safe,” Celestia said, gently touching the tap. A thin stream of hot water started to fill the sink.
Twilight skittered away from the water, keeping her foreleg raised defensively before looking up at her towering mentor and guard, receiving encouraging nods. With a deep breath, she hesitantly approached the water, which slowly reached her knees, feeling warmth rather than the burning pain she once endured. It didn’t last long though as she sneezed again, turning the water into jelly.
Overwatch chuckled while Celestia shook her head and cast a quick spell, reversing the transformation.
Twilight sat in the water, levitating over a cut-off fragment of soap to clean up her fur. Doing her best to clean herself before relaxing while the princess touched the tap again, turning it off.
The relaxation didn’t last long as Twilight sneezed again, splashing water a little before freezing it. Her head shivered and teeth clattered from the cold.
Overwatch laughed quietly while Celestia focused another spell. She grit her teeth, struggling to change the temperature slowly in order not to harm her student. Her action was interrupted as another sneeze and spell struck against the sink’s surface, blowing up as the water splashed and fell onto the floor. Celestia could see Twilight standing on the tips of her rear hooves while breathing heavily, shocked by the damage she has done.
Celestia sighed before preparing a repair spell. This is going to be a long bath.
***
Finally her student was clean, after half an hour long of back-and-forth spellcasting. Celestia walked back into her bedchamber, allowing Twilight to ride on her wing, as she was perched comfortably, lying in her feathery nest. Twilight yawned and held one feather with her forelegs, keeping it under her head as a pillow.
Upon noticing young Spike sitting on the bed, most likely hoping to hear a bedtime story, Celestia carefully levitated Twilight onto her pillow and took off her royal accessory, lying on the bed herself between her student and the young drake. She levitated over a fairy-tale book and started reading.
“Once upon a time, there was a brave and lonely prince, a pegasus named…”
***
“... and after being rescued by a very skilled and brave princess from the claws of a giant troll, they married each other, uniting their kingdoms and ruling them together as King and Queen, bringing happiness and peace to their subjects for generations to come. The End.”
Celestia slowly closed the book and looked around. On her left she could see Spike lying flat on the bed, saliva escaping his mouth as he snored, luckily not loud enough to wake up a tiny mare.
Twilight lied on her back, sinking into the pillow while her tiny legs were wrapped around the tip of Celestia’s wing, holding it in a vite-grip. Celestia lowered her head and nuzzled her student gently before looking towards the corner of the room, noticing Overwatch and Steel Blade sleeping there, supported against each other. With a weak jolt of magic, she woke them up, gesturing with a hoof for them to be silent.
“Please, escort Spike to his room,” she whispered, her voice tired. Once the door closed, she sighed and carefully retreated her wing from Twilight’s grap, not wanting to send her flying by accident while sleeping herself. With a bit of effort, she wrapped a scarf around Twilight, doing her best to not wake her up.
With her attention on the sun descending on the horizon, she gave it a little push, turning twilight into night before raising the moon. After releasing a long yawn, she closed her bloodshot eyes and slammed her head against her own pillow to give her tired mind some rest. The most tiring exercise for the princess, as ironic as it sounded, proved to be using as little magic and strength as possible.
She deeply hoped that Twilight would get better soon, if only so she wouldn’t need to restrain herself anymore. If power was water and a dam on the river was spellcasting, Celestia felt like a sea, trying to open the dam so slowly and carefully to let only a tiny stream to go through. Keeping all this water from bursting through proved to be difficult and tiring.
As her mentor, I should be the one teaching Twilight how to control and restrain her power. Yet, I am learning these things from her. Oh, the irony, she thought as her mind slowly went into the realm of dreams.
A week passed. Celestia struggled to open her eyes, her vision slowly sharpening. She carefully retreated the wing she held over her little pupil. Her horn lit as she gently levitated her student onto her hoof, casting a scanning spell to check on her condition and temperature. Her eyes widened as, much to her relief, the temperature was normal. She couldn’t detect any imbalances or symptoms of the sickness. She carefully moved the tip of her wing and tickled her student’s muzzle, causing her to sneeze, but not even a spark escaped Twilight’s tiny horn.
Celestia sighed in relief. No more spells turning parts of her body into random objects or plants, no more struggling to levitate spoons and medicine delicately, no more ice-cube on her student’s forehead. Everything was back to normal. With a satisfied smile, she cast two spells, one being the protection spell she regularly refreshed on her student, another being a health bubble.
Twilight’s eyes slowly opened, staring up at her before smiling back. The little mare immediately stood up onto her rear hooves and jumped, embracing Celestia’s nose.
“Feeling better?” she asked, careful to not shake her student off her muzzle.
“A lot,” Twilight responded, tightening her hold. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. It means a world to me.”
Celestia gently pressed softer part of her hoof against Twilight’s back, her own way of hugging her. “You're very welcome.”
After a moment of heart-warming hug, Celestia released her hold of Twilight, who landed back on her forehoof. “So, what we will do today? Weight levitating? Learning a new spell? Play in the sn… inside of a warm bedchamber?”
Celestia nuzzled her student’s belly, who blushed in response. “I believe you should have a break from your trainings for a few days. You may not be sick anymore, but your body still needs time to return to its full strength.” She waited for Twilight to jump off her hoof and land on the pillow, before asking, “How about a theory lesson, a game of chess and then a book reading instead?”
Twilight nodded. She knew that very soon, her mentor would once again assume her duties, reducing the time they could spend together to only two hours a day, so she was going to enjoy the time they had left. Even if past week was filled with pain and exhaustion, aside from a few embarrassing moments, she found the time she spent with Celestia worth those drawbacks.
The princess looked to the side as her face displayed sadness. While she was relieved that her student felt better, aside from the fact she would no longer need to keep her sea of her power in check, she had to admit that past week was far more enjoyable than her usual duties. Questions asked by her subjects or suggestions presented in files of paperwork nowhere as surprising and unexpected as random spells Twilight would cast whenever sneezing.
Author's Note
I tried to keep this one-shot story short, but ended up expanding it base on advices given to me by my pre-reader. I hope it was enjoyable and heartwarming regardless.
I am looking forward to your feedback, and if you're either confused why Twilight is so tiny, or would be interested in reading more about tiny Twilight, feel free to check on the main story "Celestia's Tiny Student"
Special thanks for pre-reading to ambion, I took some inspiration from his story called melt, worth checking it out for additional dose of cuteness.
List of editors, thanks for fixing grammar guys, you did a great job:
Solstice+Shimmer and Word Worthy
