My Little Hypnofetish

“...and that’s when the poor guy realized Shining Armor had been standing right behind him the whole time,” said Princess Cadence. “It took Shiny ten whole minutes to convince him he wasn’t going to be fired.”

Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun and immortal ruler of Equestria, did not quite chuckle at the anecdote. Even so, anyone who’d known her as long as Cadence had could recognize the amusement in her body language. “To be fair to him, the entire awkward situation could have been avoided if he hadn’t insisted on the wrenches.”

“Yes, Shiny pointed it out to him three days later, in a more relaxed situation.”

Cadence smiled. Her position as interim viceroy of the Crystal Empire - a position that was looking less and less interim by the day - did not let her visit Canterlot (or Ponyville for that matter) nearly as often as she would have liked. Yet another reason to try and master teleportation magic some time. As such, the times she got to meet Celestia were rare and treasured. Whether it was due to her wisdom or her kindness, the older alicorn’s presence always filled her with a familiar warm and fuzzy feeling.

Even so, she had little doubt there was a practical reason Celestia had invited her so soon, less than a month after their last meeting. “Forgive me, Celestia, but… I’m assuming there’s more to my visit than just pleasant conversation and a personal report on the Crystal Empire’s well-being? If that’s correct, then I was hoping to get the more serious matters out of the way first, rather than have them loom over the rest of my visit.”

Celestia closed her eyes. “That is reasonable. Follow me and I will explain.”

A few minutes later, in Celestia’s private chambers, Cadence was starting to get worried. “...You want to discuss this away from anyone who might listen. Just… how big a problem are we dealing with here?”

“If it reassures you, I did not bring you here to discuss a threat to Equestria-” the sun goddess caught herself and corrected, “Well, not anything with hostile intentions, at least. This conversation does, however, touch upon deeply private matters. More specifically, Twilight Sparkle’s privacy.”

If she hadn’t had Cadence’s full attention already, that would have done it. “What is it?”

“I have recently come to a realization concerning my former student. If I am correct, then someone ought to lend her a guiding hoof. You see…”

And Celestia explained. And Cadence was tempted at first to dismiss the ludicrous ideas, but the evidence was there. Thinking back, she could see there had been hints all along.

“That… is a little disturbing,” she admitted. “But what’s to be done?”

“What needs to be done,” Celestia gave a wing-shrug - something Cadence doubted she’d done in public for centuries - “is to have an adult conversation with Twilight, and offer her some guidance. Help her channel her impulses constructively.”

“Then why don’t… oh.” Of course. Celestia couldn’t do it - Twilight would find it unbearably embarrassing to discuss the matter with her mentor, who had been like a second mother to her. Luna would have been less awkward to deal with, but lacked the subtlety required for the task.

Cadence, though? Cadence was more like a beloved older sister. If anyone could have this conversation with Twilight, it was Cadence.

And, looking at certain incidents in Twilight’s past… whether they involved parasprites, vampire fruit bats, or the dreaded Want-It-Need-It spell… then someone had to have that conversation with Twilight. The sooner, the better.