Ponyville's Tiny Librarian

Chapters

Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 1
Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 3
Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 4
Ch3 - Magical Research
Ch4 - Applebuck Season - Part 1 (revised)
Ch4 - Applebuck Season - Part 2
Ch4 - Applebuck Season - part 3
Ch4 - Applebuck Season - part 4
Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 1
Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 2
Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 3
Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 1
Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 2
Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 3
Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 4
Ch6.5 - Major Nightmare - Part 1
Ch6.5 - Major Nightmare - Part 2
Ch7 - Race to Canterlot - Part 1
Ch7 - Race to Canterlot - Part 2
Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - Part 1
Bonus Ch - Cadence’s Ballad - Part 1
Bonus Ch - Cadence’s Ballad - Part 2
Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - Part 2
Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - part 3
Ch8 - Luna's Fun - Part 4
Ch8 - Luna's Fun - Part 5
Ch9 - Secrets and Dreams - Part 1
Ch9 - Dreams and Secrets - Part 2
Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 1
Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 2
Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 3
Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 4
Ch 10 - Dragonshy - Part 5
Ch.10 - Dragonshy - Part 6
Ch.10 - Dragonshy - Part 7
Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 1
Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 2
Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 3
Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 4
Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 5
Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 1
Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 2
Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 3
Ch1 - Welcome Ponyville
Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 2

Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 2

Ticket Master
-
Part 1

Twilight’s attention was split amongst a lot of different details, but it was a while before she focused squarely on repairing the fractures in her nearly broken legs. Her healing magic benefitted greatly from the experience she gained during her time as a medic for the Wonderbolts, repairing tiny sprains and flight injuries on multiple occasions. Even after the healing was done, Twilight ended up lying on Applejack’s back to give her still sore legs the rest they deserved as she continued her research.

She had gathered a lot of information in her notepad as she observed the earth ponies’ magic in action, noting whether each tree, plant, or even individual seed were planted by Applejack, by Big Macintosh, or simply by her own magic. She collected a few seeds and some wheat samples with her sickle for research at home. To her surprise, even Rainbow Dash helped provide a few data points.

Twilight’s intensive research was interrupted, however, when she heard a loud growling noise.

“Hungry, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly. “Y-yes, a bit. Time must have gone a lot faster than I expected. I don’t even know how many hours have passed since I last ate with Overwatch and Steel Blade.”

“Well, shucks,” Applejack said as she took one of the apples from her basket and threw it to her back. As she’d expected, Twilight jumped and caught it flawlessly, her legs mostly recovered.

“Thank you,” Twilight said politely as she used her magic to open her tiny saddlebag and pull out a few bits, still holding the apple in her embrace. “How much do you charge for each apple?”

The farm mare blinked. “Oh no no no, sugarcube, it’s a gift. Ah wouldn’t charge a guest for one apple.”

Twilight levitated her bits in front of Applejack. “But I insist, I wouldn’t want to take advantage of your hospitality.”

Applejack just pushed the bits back to Twilight. “No need, sugarcube.”

Twilight levitated it back. “Please, Applejack.”

“Just take the freaking apple already!” Rainbow Dash burst out. “Jeez!”

Twilight blushed, but she did put the bits back into her saddlebag before once again grabbing the big apple in her embrace and taking a big bite, her tiny teeth sinking in the juicy fruit. It wasn’t the first time she was happy that the protection spell, which made her twice as strong, also required her to eat twice as much her mass would normally require, a dream come true when it came to devouring cookies or slices of cake.

Once she finished half of the apple, she wiped a few tiny leftovers from her face and spoke, “I'm sorry, Applejack.”

The farm mare frowned and, with a jump, threw Twilight over her head, who landed on the grass in front of her, unfazed. “For what, sugarcube?”

“For wasting your time,” Twilight responded, turning towards Applejack with an embarrassed expression. “Here I am, asking you to participate in my research when you have lots of work to get through.”

The farm mare drew her gaze across her trees and sighed. “Ah was already behind schedule anyway,” she said, before shooting the pegasus an unamused, half-lidded glare, causing her target to flinch. “‘Cause somepony who promised ta help was too busy nappin’ in one of mah trees.”

Rainbow Dash let out an awkward laugh. “I uhh, it… slipped my mind… no hard feelings, right?”

Applejack frowned, only to feel as if something was climbing up her foreleg. A blink of an eye later and she was staring straight at the little unicorn hanging onto her nose.

“In that case, it would only be fair if I helped and returned the favor.”

The farm mare chuckled and said, “Sorry Twi, but aren’t ya a bit short to work on a farm?” Applejack’s laugh died quickly under the serious glare from Twilight, still anchored onto her nose. She watched as the little unicorn jumped to the ground and lit her horn.

In just a moment, the half-filled baskets Applejack was carrying on her sides, as well as a few full baskets lying under a nearby tree levitated above the huge cart behind Big Macintosh and tipped over, the apples pouring out like an avalanche. The now empty baskets were whisked away to the next tree, ready to receive yet more apples.

“Any objections?” Twilight asked with a smirk as the farm mare chuckled awkwardly.

Applejack shook her head, recovered from the display of power. “Well, Ah still owe ya for the harsh welcome Ah gave ya. And for riskin’ yer life, facing Nightmare Moon.”

“And you repaid it by helping me in the Everfree Forest. Please Applejack, I just want to help.”

Applejack sighed in defeat, rubbing her foreleg with a hoof. “All right.” She gave Twilight a serious glare, “But just this once, sugarcube. Just. This. Once.”

Twilight grinned widely, rubbing her hooves together with stars in her eyes. “Splendid, so here’s what we’ll do.”

And before the farm mare could protest, she ended up conscripted under the direct orders of General Twiny Sparkle.

“Applejack, Big Macintosh,” Twilight started, standing up on her rear hooves and pointing at both earth ponies, “your magic’s necessary for the trees to grow apples faster, so you both will focus on applebucking duty!” They nodded, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at being ordered around on how to do their job, and by a unicorn of such size.

“Rainbow Dash, you’re fast and have strong wings so you’ll be on the hauling duty. Use the smaller cart to deliver the apples to the barn by air as fast as possible and return here for more. In the meantime, we’ll gather more apples in the big one for you.“

“Consider it done!” Rainbow Dash saluted and hitched herself to Applejack’s cart. Its weight proved no challenge for her athletic skills, and she flew away swiftly and easily.

“I’ll levitate full baskets and drop each load into the big cart—the one pulled by Big Macintosh —and then levitate them under the next trees. This way, you and Big Mac can just kick trees and save the time you waste on hauling apples and baskets from place to place! Sound good?”

Applejack stared back wordlessly, but finally nodded after a moment of consideration.

“Good, then let's do this!”

After half an hour of work, Rainbow Dash sank into the comfortable embrace of a cloud, recovering her stamina from her non-stop apple delivery, yet knowing that this nap wouldn't last long before Twilight sent her to work again. She didn’t mind it though. Watching her tiny friend working so hard had inspired her. Furthermore, it was also a perfect opportunity to impress the tiny mare with her strength and flying speed.

Twilight, instead of levitating several baskets, was now levitating just one at a time, her power exhausted after hauling Big Mac’s cart with her magic for too long. Applejack easily noticed the tired expression with one glance at Twilight’s sweaty face, the aura around the unicorn’s horn weakening with each passing second. “Everythin’ alright sugarcube? You seem out of heat.”

Twilight dropped a few apples from the basket she was levitating. She quickly recovered from her mistake and turned towards Applejack, who was looking down at her in concern. “I’m fine, Applejack… just low on magic reserves, is all.”

“Well horsefeathers,” Applejack said, pointing her hoof towards the cloud Rainbow Dash was napping on. “Maybe ya should take an example from Dash and take a nap too. After all, this mus’ be the first time ya’ve worked on a farm.”

Twilight shook her head and said, “It is not my lack of farming experience that’s the problem.” She sat and hung her head low, stroking her tail between her hooves. “My size disadvantage can’t be completely avoided, even with my magic.”

Applejack knelt to Twilight’s level and asked, “What do ya mean? Ah saw yer magic. Yer darn powerful. Ya can do a normal sized pony’s work just fine.”

“No, I can’t!”

Applejack blinked and almost flinched from Twilight’s sudden outburst as she looked at her again.

“I am powerful, true, but it’s because I have the potential to use an incredible amount of magic at once. However, my body can hardly store a sufficient amount of magic to use it for long.”

Twilight looked her friend in the eyes and poked her own horn. “Almost all of my training and challenges I’ve faced focused on using as much strength and power as possible. Weight-lifting objects twenty times heavier than me, levitating half a ton boulders, casting barriers and fireballs… all meant to help me compensate for my size.” She rubbed back of her neck, blushing, “Though I can’t deny that the love for adventure and desire to push my limits was also half-responsible for this style of training… and for my current size.”

“Ya don’t say,” Applejack responded with a roll of her eyes.

Twilight nodded before sighing, her ears drooped. “The problem however is that my body cannot catch up with my power. Whenever I push my limits, I run out of my magic very quickly and I need a lot of time to recover.”

Applejack nodded. “So ya can kick hard but not for long?”

Twilight nodded. “Exactly.” She pointed at her friend and continued, “While you can work on this farm for hours without a break thanks to the stamina that your lifestyle and the earth pony magic provides you, I’ll barely last twenty minutes if I use my magic to my full potential.”

Applejack leaned down, picking Twilight up in her hooves. “Even so, if ya were a normal-size pony, ya would finish mine and Big Mac’s day of work in half an hour. Even now ya manage to lift so many apples; ya could probably levitate thousands with yer fancy magic.”

Twilight shook her head. “And then wait far far longer for the apples to grow back? No thanks; I would finish yours and Big Mac’s work much faster, but I would need a way bigger farm to get the same amount of apples you do in the long-run. On top of that, the quality of apples would also drop.”

Applejack nodded and said, “Fair enough.” She placed the little mare under a tree and patted lightly on the head, only to get a frown in response as Twilight pushed her hoof away. “Ya helped me more than ya reckon. In half an hour we did as much work as Big Mac and Ah usually do in four. Ya deserve a good rest.”

Applejack turned towards the baskets full of apples and raised her forehoof, only for Twilight to run from under her belly before she could make the first step. She could see the little mare crawling under one of the baskets and asked, “Twilight? What’re ya doin’?”

Much to her surprise, Twilight stood on her four hooves proudly with the huge weight on her back before walking towards Big Mac’s cart. The moment she was near it, the little unicorn jumped and threw the basket into it, making all the apples fall in.

Applejack quickly ran towards the tiny mare, who climbed up inside of the cart and threw the basket back to the ground before pushing it towards a nearby tree. “Yer gotta be kidding me!” The farm mare blocked Twilight’s path with her hoof and said, “Ya said yer tired from using that magic of yours.”

Twilight raised her head and gave Applejack a proud glance, her ears straightened upward while she rubbed her own chest. “Correction, I ran out of my magic, but I have more than enough stamina to continue working with you.”

Applejack opened her mouth agape as Twilight smiled and continued, “I never liked sitting in place while doing nothing, so I often switch between using my magic and my hooves.” She placed forehooves on her sides and grinned. “That way I can train both, and while I use my strength, my magic will slowly recharge.”

After those words Twilight pushed the basket towards a nearby tree before doing the same with the others. Applejack sighed and went back to work, still finding it hard to believe that the little mare was indeed real.

After an hour and a half of work, Twilight ran out of both her magic and stamina, deciding to take a break under a tree as Applejack suggested. Now relaxed and perched against the wooden surface, grass and leaves under her flank and legs, Twilight’s mind focused on good memories. Adventures she had alongside her tiny mentor, who willingly shrank herself to her level to see the world from her perspective being first to surface.

“I will miss all those adventures I had with the princess, I wonder if she misses them too?” Twilight murmured to herself before shrugging as she closed her eyes. “I bet she’s having fun with Luna instead.”

Luna stood in the Canterlot Royal Garden, her stoic gaze passing over several royal guards who looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. Next to her sat Cadence, who gave her a questioning glance and asked, “So what did Auntie Celestia tell you?”

Luna’s attention focused on the still bigger pink alicorn. “She said about two hours of time free from her duties and her wish to spend them with us, relaxing in this charming garden.”

Cadence nodded and said, “I see.” She looked at the guards before speaking suspiciously. “She told me that you wanted to spend this evening with me in the royal garden, what about you?” Cadence asked as she pointed her hoof towards the closest royal guard.

The guards looked at each other in silence until one more courageous unicorn stepped forward and spoke, “Her Highness, Princess Celestia, informed us that there will be an important training drill performed in the royal garden; we’re still waiting for an update...” The royal guard paused, his eyes opened widely as he looked at the midnight-blue alicorn’s head, his forehoof pointing towards her. Hardly any word could come out of his throat as a mix of confusion and shock was noticeable on his face.

Luna looked back at the guard for a moment before she spoke in annoyance, “What is it, proud warrior of Equestria? Have We something on our face?”

The guard cleared his throat with a sharp cough and spoke hastily, “Not on your face, Your Highness, above your head.”

Luna blinked a few times before she looked up while moving her hoof up to her head, only to feel as if her hoof made a contact with something familiar. Before she could react, a white blur landed on her muzzle, blocking some of her vision.

Celestia looked into the giant surprised eyes of her sister and smiled. “Hello Luna, how nice of you to join us.”

Luna flinched, startled as her sister fell from her muzzle and stopped her fall with a flap of her tiny wings, landing on the ground gracefully, tip of her hoof gently pressing against a leaf before her other hooves touched the grass.

Luna’s mouth went agape as she glared daggers at her now tiny sister. "Celestia... what is the meaning of this?"

Celestia giggled before jogging towards her now huge sister as she looked up with a cheerful smile, ignoring the guards who stared at her tiny posture in disbelief. “Just a little game that I have organised, dear sister!” She chuckled. “My student and I have had little adventures for the past three years, and I found them to be very enjoyable, a pleasant escape from my boring routine!”

Luna and Cadence lowered themselves to the tiny alicorn.

Celestia stood up onto her rear hooves and grabbed Luna’s muzzle with her forelegs before speaking, “I am certain you remember saying how you seeked wisdom from Captain Shining Armor. I decided to do the same and reviewed my memories of activities I had with my little student, and that’s how I came up with a great idea.”

Her wings spread and flapped joyfully. “We could shrink ourselves and play against the royal guards in a game of tag, like my student did, adding small spites of difficulty. Trust me, it will be a lot of fun.” Celestia jumped back as Luna moved her nose from under her forelegs and stood proudly, towering and casting a long shadow over her.

Cadence smiled and spoke cheerfully, “Well, to be honest, I always wanted to see the world from my little charge’s perspective, count me in.” She gave Celestia a agreeing smile before looking at Luna, whose eyes were closed. “What about you, Auntie Luna? Would you like to join in as well?”

Silence continued as Celestia poked her sister’s foreleg, worry in her voice. “Sister… is something wrong?”

Luna grinned as her horn lit with magic, and while her crown temporarily transformed into a trainer’s hat, her peytral turned into a whistle. The night princess slowly opened her eyes and glared upon Celestia, who just gulped and stepped back hesitantly.

“S-sister, be reasonable.”

Luna raised her foreleg above the ground in a regal posture. “Thou hast manipulated us, thy student’s former foalsitter and thy warriors into coming here to make us play a game of tag,” she said with authority as she made two steps towards her little sister while giving her a serious glare, Celestia returned it with an awkward laugh. “We swore to do our best to heal thee from thy manipulative ways, art thou willing to accept punishment for thy ways of manipulation?”

Celestia wanted to refuse, but stopped upon looking at the judgemental glare of her sister. In the past, her unwillingness to compromise or even listen to Luna caused her fall into darkness, leading to a battle that in the end forced Luna to endure thousand years of cold and loneliness. If anything, it was a debt she had to... no, she wanted to repay. With a firm nod of her head, she spoke, “I am ready to accept your punishment.”

Luna rubbed her chin as she thought while not taking her glare from her tiny sister, only for a smirk to appear her face. “Hast thou student endured being stomped upon considering her life shackled by her size?”

Celestia nodded. “She did many times.” The shrunken alicorn lowered her head slightly and sighed as ears flattened against her head, regret apparent in her voice. “As she grew more confident in her skills, Twilight became more reckless, often running into a crowd of ponies, avoiding being stomped just for the sake of challenge, though she always shrugged it off as a mere annoyance.”

Luna’s smirk didn’t leave her face as she slowly moved her raised foreleg closer towards her sister and said, “Thy student is but a unicorn and yet she has endured such fate as a mere annoyance? Surely thou would benefit to take an example from such resolve.”

She chuckled. “We made up our mind. We declare thy punishment to be...” she paused while lowering herself to take a closer look at her sister’s features, causing Celestia to gulp with lowered ears. The larger alicorn slammed her hoof against the ground, nearly knocking the shrunken alicorn of off her hooves by the quake as she finished, “...Being stomped by our mighty hoof.”

The tiny princess looked up at Luna with a relieved expression, but her vision was quickly covered by a giant silver horseshoe that was now directly above her. “Is that all, sister? You made me worried for a moment.” Celestia laughed as she added in a joking tone, “Unlike my student I am an alicorn, I could easily stay under your hoof for a long time without any suffering.”

Celestia’s laughter didn’t last long as Luna spoke with a cheerful tone, “If thou insist, We shall respect thy wishes and expand thy punishment. ”

Eyes of the tiny alicorn opened widely as she quickly said, “What? wait, I didn’t mean…” only for Luna’s hoof to drop on her like an anvil.

Celestia’s legs trembled as she fought against the weight of her sister’s foreleg that pressed against her kilogram heavy body, feeling cold silver making contact with the fur on her back. Even though she was now exactly the same size that her faithful student, the earth pony magic inside her as well as the lifting exercises she had let her fight against Luna with all her might.

Meanwhile, the guards looked at each other, conflicted as to whether they should protect their ruler or just stay aside from family matters. After a moment of thinking and lack of a call for help, they agreed to stay out of this.

Celestia didn’t dare to use her magic to levitate Luna’s hoof away, knowing that it will just make her sister press her with even more force as a counter for cheating. While enduring her well deserved punishment, Celestia peeked from under hoof–which weighed on her–at her sister’s face and asked calmly, “Are you enjoying this, Luna?”

The bigger alicorn smirked and put more strength into her foreleg, easily overpowering Celestia’s resistance as she was now squeezing her little sister in amusement. While counting 60 seconds in her mind, Luna said with a sly smile. “Certainly!”

Twilight stretched as most of her stamina and magic returned to her, ending her half an hour long nap. With one strong jump she was now standing on her four hooves, ready to tackle the day as she once again thought about her mentor.

“I am sure Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are having a lot of fun,” she remarked to herself before trotting towards Applejack, who kicked another tree. Dash assisted by grabbing two baskets at a time the moment the last apple fall in, dropping the cargo into Big Mac’s cart. The stallion kept hauling the cargo towards the barn, having run out of space for the time being.

“Hey Applejack, how is harvesting apples going?” Twilight asked with renewed vigour as the giant farm mare looked at her with a cheerful smile, wiping the sweat from her head with a swing move of her foreleg.

“It’s goin’ great, sugarcube, and Ah have to admit, ya were right,” Applejack said as Twilight tilted her head to the side in confusion. Applejack pointed towards hundreds of now appleless trees and said, “Big Mac and Ah spend a lot of time moving baskets and transportin’ apples. Now with ya and Dash taking care of that, Ah’m bucking apples much faster. Ah’m now once again ahead of schedule.”

Twilight smiled and said cheerfully, “I am glad to have been of help.” She lit her horn and levitated several baskets, only for her tiny horn to be weakly poked by Applejack’s hoof, baskets falling to back to the ground as the result. “What was that for, Applejack?”

“Ya helped more than Ah could ask for, Ah ain’t want to waste more of yer time,” Applejack said while pointing towards the exit from her farm. “Ah’m sure ya can spend time better than by working here for the whole day.”

“Oh no Applejack, it’s no trouble at all.”

“Ah insist.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes briefly at the farm mare, but finally relented with a sigh. “Now that I think about it, there’s something I wanted to ask Rarity about, so I’ll be on my way.” She bowed politely in front of the bigger mare and walked towards the exit, only to jump back when Rainbow Dash dropped in front of her with a loud thump, earth shaking beneath her hooves.

Twilight frowned, pointing her hoof accusingly. “You’re doing that on purpose, admit it!”

“Maayyyybeee,” Rainbow Dash replied, receiving a frown in response as Twilight bypassed her. She chuckled and followed, walking next to her jogging friend. “Why are you going to Rarity’s of all places?”

Twilight kept trotting as she answered, not bothering to look up at her pegasus friend. “I just want to pay her for all the clothes she made for me.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “You know that she gave you those as a gift, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to take any free gifts because of my status as the princess’s student. I’m going to pay like every common pony would, whether she likes it or not.”

The pegasus straightened her wing, placing it on the ground in front of the tiny unicorn, slipping it under her the moment she raised her forehoof. With one swift flap she threw Twilight upwards right onto her back as she bounced on it. “I’ll give you a lift there… unless you want another game of tag and give me another taste of victory?”

Twilight stomped strongly and pointed her hoof towards Applejack, who was following them. “I’m sure Applejack could use more of your help,” she said firmly. The moment she noticed a pout on Dash’s face, she massaged her friend's back, rubbing her hooves against the soft fur as she continued, “Don’t worry, Dash. I know that you want to have some fun adventures with me. Once I give my ticket to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ to Rarity, I will have an entire day to–”

Twilight hadn't finished her sentence as her ride beamed, throwing her off before catching between her hooves in mid air. Before Twilight could speak, Applejack stood right behind her as both ponies yelled in unison. “Grand Galloping Gala?”

Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 2

Ticket Master
-
Part 3

Twilight’s mind was a mess. Almost all of her friends wanted to go to the Grand Galloping Gala, not understanding that they would be bored to the bone or become a laughing stock for nobility. Meanwhile, the only pony who would actually enjoy it firmly refused.

Oh, well. At least Fluttershy isn’t asking me for the ticket. I probably should ask the princess for three more. If my friends won’t listen, they will need to find out how awful it is for themselves, Twilight thought as she trotted back home while levitating several tiny fancy dresses besides her.

She took a deep breath, finally reaching her home as she once again admired the towering tree she was proud to live in. I wonder if Overwatch or Steel would be interested in going to the Gala? They like each other’s company after all, Twilight thought as she performed her standard ritual of bouncing on the handles to unlatch them. She dropped to the ground, but instead of pushing the door open, she turned around and bucked it, taking an example from Applejack.

Suddenly, the sound of a singing voice attracted her attention.

Twilight could see Fluttershy and several birds cleaning the library while Angel Bunny was preparing a salad. The little unicorn sat and stared at the scene with her mouth agape. She took a deep breath and groaned before walking towards the singing pegasus while Angel got in her way, a plate of salad in his paws.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, your owner wants to go to the Gala?”

Angel nodded energetically and placed the plate in front of her. There was enough lettuce and other vegetables stacked up above her head that she could have eaten it for a week. Maybe a day or two if she kept exercising or would have been unable to stare a lettuce leaf in the chlorophyll again.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she said, peeking around the outside edge of the plate. "I've already eaten."

Twilight took advantage of her edible concealment to observe Fluttershy, who appeared not to have notice her entrance. It seemed odd that the shy pegasus, of all ponies, would want to go such a crowded and stuffy party.

"Maybe she doesn't really know how uncomfortable she would be at the party," mused Twilight as she watched Fluttershy sing. "As boring and unpleasant as the Gala would be for the rest of my friends, Fluttershy would be traumatized. She might even panic and run away."

A very weak pain in the leg interrupted her thoughts as Angel began gesturing wildly in her direction, coming very close to kicking her a second time as his paws waved around.

“Sorry, Angel. I can’t understand what you’re trying to say, but I’d better explain to Fluttershy why going to the Gala is such a terrible idea.” She bypassed the bunny and with one solid jump landed on the table. “Fluttershy!” Twilight called, waving with her forelegs as she caught Fluttershy’s attention.

“Oh! Hello, Twilight…” Fluttershy said hesitantly, now hovering in front of the table with a feather duster between her forehooves. “I hope you don’t mind this itty bitty cleaning I organized for you as a welcome to Ponyville gift.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and crossed her forelegs. “And I assume this has nothing to do with my extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala?”

Fluttershy blushed, hiding her cheek behind her mane, tapping her forehooves together. “M-maybe a little.”

Twilight sighed. “I think it will be best if I explained what the Gala really is.” She stood on her rear hooves and pointed towards the kitchen. “Maybe we can discuss it over a cup of tea and a little salad?”

"I would love to." Fluttershy smiled and nodded while moving towards the kitchen. "I like brewing tea. It always calms me down whenever I get excited. Could I pour?"

"Be my guest," Twilight said, following her friend into the kitchen.

***

“You know, Fluttershy,” Twilight said firmly from her spot on the table, “since you will be away from the party itself and just visiting the garden instead, you may actually enjoy the Gala.” She gave a quick glance at the nodding bunny in search for confirmation before returning her attention to the towering form of Fluttershy.

“I’ve made my decision! Since Rarity refused to come with me, I will take you instead.” The little unicorn raised her muzzle proudly, only to find herself wrapped up in Fluttershy's gentle hug.

"Thank you," whispered Fluttershy. "Thank you so much, Twilight. Thank you. Oh, Angel. Stop that. I'm sorry, Twilight! Please don't take the ticket away."

The happy rabbit had climbed up onto a wooden statue on a nearby table and was doing some sort of a victory dance. It did not seem that he was doing any damage to the statue, so as Fluttershy reached over to grab the disobedient little bunny, Twilight opened her mouth to tell her that there was no problem.

Only to be grabbed by something pink and shoved into a dark bag that smelled of cupcakes and icing.

***

The little unicorn was thrown into the air by several larger ponies as if she was a basketball, listening to Pinkie Pie’s cheerful song. Despite spinning in mid air, she could see Angel relentlessly fighting against the ponies to get her down, but to no avail. Finally, with her patience running low she enhanced her voice and screamed, “PINKIE!”

The group of ponies flinched as Twilight rolled in mid air, landing on her four hooves effortlessly despite falling from nearly the height of the humongous tree.

Pinkie Pie was quick to tower over Twilight, and fluttered her eyes as she asked, “Yes, Twilight?”

After taking a moment to pull her legs out of the ground, Twilight took a deep calming breath.

Angel had hopped over next to her and was holding a fork between his paws, prepared to go into battle at her side against the one who got between his owner from the precious ticket. It was a supportive gesture, but Twilight preferred to fight her own battles.

"First of all, Pinkie," she started, trying to keep her voice calm, "I already decided to give Fluttershy the ticket."

The word 'ticket' seemed to take on a life of its own as it echoes from the surrounding ponies, who whispered to each other while looking around to see if perhaps it was laying around for anypony to grab.

“And second, the Grand Galloping Gala is the most boring party in existence. Why would you want to go there?” Twilight asked before being surrounded. She gulped, feeling as if she was a little rat surrounded by at least a hundred cats, or perhaps a small house in the middle of a large city. Her miniature body was now in the shadow of towering and excited ponies.

What have I done?

Without a second thought, Twilight lit her horn and teleported out of the crowd, galloping as fast as her little legs could carry her. She glanced over her shoulder, horrified by the sight she witnessed. Just as she’d expected, the entire town was chasing her while Angel Bunny, who had tried to get in their way, was now lying flat.

Poor Angel. I know how you feel, buddy, because I was there more times than I care to remember.

For the next few minutes Twilight played a game of tag with all of Ponyville as everypony tried to grab her, begging for the ticket, showering her with favors as well as praise. Luckily for her, none of those ponies was Rainbow Dash.

***

“Well, that’s… something,” Steel Blade commented as he watched the growing cloud of dust and dirt from his spot on the balcony. “Should we actually intervene this time?”

Overwatch snuggled herself deeper into her scarf as she leaned over the railing. “Depends. How much experience do you have in crowd control?”

Steel Blade shrugged. “As much as you do, really. The only real time we’ve had to stop a ‘riot,’ we just kinda glared at them until they stopped.”

The unicorn mare chuckled. “I remember that. Nobles are so easy.” She stretched up, working out a few kinks in her neck. “Well, wanna see what we can do on a real mob?”

Steel Blade stopped, before quickly narrowing his eyes at his partner. “I’m suddenly reminded that your definition of crowd control usually ends with everypony on the floor. And not the dance floor either.”

“Hey, are you insulting my moves? I bet I could outdance your scraggly little flank any day,” Overwatch said, an expression of mock hurt on her face. “Either way, I’m not getting too close to this crowd. There’s no way two guards can do anything to that without some actual equipment.”

“Well, I can always try to find Twilight and get her out of there, if nothing else.”

Overwatch snorted. “You can do that. I’ll just stay here and keep an eye on her.”

Steel Blade raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to come?”

“It’s a mob,” the unicorn guard said, rolling her eyes. “I’m not going on hoof to try and catch Twiny of all ponies. Sure, I can keep track of where she is from up here with no problem, but I’m not going to be able to extract her from this crap if she doesn’t want to be caught.”

Steel Blade snickered. “And what makes you think that I can do any better, if Twilight doesn’t want to be caught? I don’t have a horn like you do.”

“Well, if you screw up, you won’t end up in the middle of a stampede with no way out,” Overwatch said, running her hoof down his wing in a somewhat inappropriate fashion. “I’d just get in the way if I went along. If Twi needs to get out, just you would be fine.”

The guard stallion harrumphed. “I’ll see what I can do. Make sure you keep an eye out for if she comes back.”

“Will do. Go get ‘er, Steelie!” Overwatch encouraged as Steel Blade spread his wings and took off with a whoosh of air.

She waited a few seconds before walking back into the library from the balcony, steadily approaching Spike’s bed. She glanced at the lined pillow in Twilight’s basket with a smirk before poking the drake. “Get up, Spike! You’re nowhere nearly old enough to be hibernating.”

Spike groaned, shifting around slightly and making the trail of drool from his bottom lip to the bed covers glisten in the morning sunlight. "Five more minutes," he mumbled.

The guard mare snorted in amusement. In a quick motion, she yanked the covers down off of Spike before levitating over a frying pan and a hammer and smashing them together in a loud cacophony of clangs and bonks.

There was an immediate response. Spike launched out of his bed, flailing his arms wildly. “I’m awake, I’m awake! Sweet Celestia, stop that!”

Overwatch gave him a smug grin. “Hey, be thankful you didn’t have to endure that at five in the morning.” She sighed wistfully. “Ahh, the joys of training in the guard.”

Spike flopped back onto the bed and groaned. He slowly turned over and crawled to the edge of the bed before stopping. “Hey, what’s that?” the drake asked, pointing at the edge of a scroll peeking out from under the bed.

Overwatch drew it up in her magic, placing her pan and hammer on the nightstand before unfurling the ribbon around the scroll. Several small tickets fluttered out as she unrolled it, which she quickly caught before turning back to read the letter itself.

“Well, what does it say?” Spike asked, seating himself as close as the bed would allow.

“It’s… an apology letter,” Overwatch commented, turning to examine the tickets she held. “From Celestia.”

“Celestia apologizing?” Spike’s brow furrowed. “For what?”

“For trying to teach Twi a lesson by forcing a conflict. Looks like Luna’s already exercising that sweet, sweet royal privilege on Celestia,” the unicorn guard responded before counting the tickets. “Seven. So with the two tickets that Twi has, that’s enough gala tickets for each of Twilight’s friends with three more for you, me, and Steelie to come along too.”

“Gala tickets? Bleh, that party’s horrible!” Spike stuck his tongue out in disgust and crossed his arms. “I hope she’s not actually planning to take me there.”

“You can ask her once she's done running away from that crazy herd of ponies.”

“I’ll be sure to—wait, what?” Spike asked before jumping from the bed, tripping over the basket and landing on his face. He massaged his nose, somewhat thankful for his hard scales, before asking, “Why are they chasing her?”

“Because somedragon overslept and didn’t deliver a message from the princess in time,” Overwatch replied as she fixed the basket and realigned the pillow, though she knew Twilight would notice her hoofwork.

Spike blushed, tapping his fingers together nervously. “So errr… what now?”

“Now we wait,” Overwatch said as she went downstairs. When she reemerged from the door a moment later, she was levitating a tray with a tea set spread across it and, more notably, a few slices of cake saved from the Summer Sun Celebration atop small plates.

“Well, it’s a good thing Fluttershy has good taste in tea. C’mon,” she said, walking out onto the balcony. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a tea party with a dragon.”

Half an hour passed as Twilight was now anchored against part of the bridge with her four legs, holding it in a tight-grip while hanging upside down. She could feel the bridge trembling in her hooves as the crowd of ponies passed it, galloping. Twilight closed her eyes sighed, her hassle far from over. “Why, on the very first day of my life without Celestia watching over me, did everybody in this town just have to go crazy!"

The tired mare didn’t dare to relax her muscles as she opened her eyes and looked at the water under her. She bit her lip as she reminisced how she almost drowned in Celestia’s bathtub.

I hope that Cadence and Luna are faring better than me. She shook her head. “Come on, Twilight. Cadence is just introducing Luna to the standards of modern Equestria. Unlike me, as long as she never gets as hurt or has to deal with the craziness I put up with, she should be fine. I hope.”

She listened intently as the thunder of hooves on the bridge above her began to die down. "Cadence is just going to be showing Luna around town, so there's nothing to worry about. Maybe they'll go for a peaceful stroll around a museum to discuss the changes in Equestria. Or a spa. That's probably where they went. Cadence loves going to the spa. Nice and relaxing, with nothing to worry about at all."

"Ouch!" Cadence winced as a beam of magic knocked her across the ground in an awkward tumble until she smashed into a tree. The moment she opened her eyes as the sensation of pain passed, she looked up at a tall unicorn guard who towered overhead. Cadence had gotten so used to being a little taller than everypony else that only coming up to his ankle was a considerable shock.

Thankfully, instead of just stomping her into the ground, he lit his horn up and cast a spell. Unfortunately, anti-teleportation runes glowed into life around their field of battle, stopping her next move.

Cheater! Well, there's more than one way to escape.

Bursting into the air in a flurry of rapidly-beating wings, Cadence shot upwards and away from the unfair contest, but only for a moment. A pegasus crashed down on her before she could get more than her former body-length above the ground, slamming her back against the familiar tree with one cold horseshoe pressed against her entire body.

“You’re surrounded! There is no chance of escape! Surrender while you still can!” The unicorn guard demanded as he looked at her with the best warface he could muster, though his facial expression was not much different than his usual stoic face.

So this is what the world is like for her, poor Twilight. She squirmed out from under the imprisoning hoof and rolled, evading a second strike before leaping to her hooves.

As an alicorn, I can withstand attacks that could kill an ordinary pony several times over, but it's still terrifying to face everything in the world being so huge, let alone such big ponies.

Cadence lunged for the cover behind a tree, only to be pulled back by a levitation field and smashed back against the spot she was pushed into mere moments ago. Some small portion of her mind was a little concerned about the dent she was making in the dense wood as the alicorn-shaped impact area became deeper and more detailed with each strike.

“This is your last warning! Princess Celestia ordered us to not hesitate to use lethal force in order to capture her and the other two alicorns, and it just so happens that you’re one of them.” The guard chuckled as he stomped his hoof on the ground, causing Cadence to shiver. “Stop resisting and this harsh game will be over for you. Then you can go back to whatever trivial tasks you were doing before.”

Despite being a unicorn, Twilight endures and faces challenges like this on a daily basis. If she can find the courage, Cadence thought as her resolve became stronger with every passing second, So can I.

The tiny alicorn proudly stood and faced the three Royal Guards as she shook her head. “I am not going down without a fight!”

The pegasus guards looked at one another before they started to laugh hysterically while the unicorn guard said, “Oh, we are so scared! Is the Princess Heartbutt going to hug us all to death? Or will she just blow kisses at us until we fall over from overdose of cuteness?”

The unicorn guard pointed his hoof at Cadence’s flank, which made her more irritated, anger barely hidden behind a blush on her cheek.

“Who do you think you are? Princess Celestia?” one pegasus guard called out in a mocking tone as the other joined in.

“Oh, maybe she thinks that she's as powerful as the Princess of the Sun." He laughed, shaking his head. "What a joke."

The unicorn guard added, “Or maybe she thinks she’s as smart as Twilight Sparkle. That little mare always pulled something unexpected when training in barracks. You're just a weak little pampered piece of fluff.”

The guards laughed even harder as Cadence clenched her jaw, then began to grind her teeth in an attempt to control herself. It is true that Twilight is an extraordinary and skillful unicorn, whose hard work I admire, but her power isn’t on an alicorn’s level.

“Oh, I get it. You think that because you’re an alicorn, you can fare better than the Princess of the Sun or her little battle mage. Well, too bad.”

“Yeah, you’re just a random alicorn nopony has even heard about, you’re the weakest link of the chain. Once we catch you, we can focus on Celestia who, unlike you, can fight back!”

Cadence’s eye twitched. Now it was obvious that those guards were rookies recently drafted from the barracks for this game by the princess and weren’t informed who they were dealing with. They most likely saw Twilight in action when she practiced combat magic, as well as Auntie Celestia when she was secretly training to confront Nightmare Moon. No wonder they respect the two of them so much.

A mere look at the chuckling pegasi told her that they were inexperienced, while the smug look on the unicorn’s face showed his arrogance. I bet that this unicorn guard came from a noble house, and his special talents must be magical wards. Not many unicorns can cast anti-teleportation runes, which no doubt boosts his ego. I believe they all deserve a lesson of humility, she thought as an odd smile spread across her face.

“You know what? At first, I was holding back, because I detest violence." Cadence let her lips peel back into a feral grin. "But I believe the three of you deserve a good solid spanking."

The tiny alicorn’s horn lit in a blue aura while the unicorn guard mocked her again, “Oh, so the alicorn of loooove is going to bite? And here I was hoping for a tiny hug on the muzzle.” The guard’s facial expression turned serious. “Enough of the jokes. Listen up. I don’t know who you are, but you’re no warrior, and this game is far over your head. Go back to whatever you were doing before you get hurt.”

With a sharp pop of magic, the laughter of the pegasi guards abruptly cut off while the unicorn guard’s mouth dropped open. In front of them was no longer one tiny alicorn, but a hundred.

“That’s new,” remarked one of the pegasi.

Tiny alicorns exploded into motion, charging at all of the stunned guards at once.

They fought back with punches and kicks, but each hit against one of the swarm of rat-sized alicorns merely cause it to poof into nothingness. Thin magical beams felt like jab stung, as if the guards were in the middle of a cloud of bees.

"They aren't real!" snapped one pegasus guard who was flailing at a little alicorn clinging to his ear. "They're just illusions! Can't you do something like a wall of fire or a tornado? Ow!"

"What kind of unicorn do you think I am?" he shouted, trying to dislodge his unwilling passengers. "Do I look like a Battle-Mage to you? This isn't a game any more and I've never dealt with illusions like this before!"

“That’s too bad,” a calm voice spoke from the unicorn guard’s shoulder, and the moment he looked at the source, he saw the tiny pink alicorn leap onto his muzzle. In one smooth motion, she turned around and flexed her hind legs while the guard stood motionless as his brain tried to catch up with circumstances.

"Here's your lesson for today, that I learned while working at a cherry farm in Dodge Junction for almost ten years. Watch carefully."

Cadence coiled up and let go with a powerful kick that struck the guard on the side of his eye. In the orchard, a kick that precise would clean all of the ripe cherries off a tree in one stroke, but for the guard, it gave him a slightly different experience.

Temporary blindness.

Cadence grabbed the guard’s helmet and flew up while pulling it. The moment she saw the unicorn’s horn lighting up, she flew down and hit his horn with the stolen gear, canceling the spellcasting. “And this is what I learned when I worked for a pegasus delivering company, and trust me, I was lucky when the heaviest object I had to carry was a piano.”

The guard shook his head and grit his teeth, looking around for his target, only to see a few stars the moment a small stone slammed against his face. “Did you know that working on a rock farm is great to build up muscles? It has been three centuries, and I still have some left in me.”

Cadence landed on the ground with a few strong flaps of her wings, noticing that the two pegasi ignored her illusions and flew at her. “And this is what I learned from Twilight!” the little alicorn spoke proudly as she lit her horn and aimed at their wings. While at her normal size she wouldn’t be precise enough to cast a levitation spell on wings of moving pegasi, from her current perspective wings were too big targets to miss.

With one wing on each pegasus immobile, they lost control and crashed to the ground. “Now time for some spanking,” Cadence said as she grit her teeth, focusing more and more magic into her horn. It has been so long since I used so much power at once, while Twilight pushes her limits daily. Cadence’s determination rose as every thought of Twilight’s hard training inspired her even more.

The unicorn guard recovered and was about to cast a spell, only for his eyes to open widely as a force of levitation spell pushed him right towards a tree, his head slamming against it with full force as his horn was now stuck in a piece of wood. Two guards shared his fate a mere moment later as they were levitated towards the tree so hard, their heads got stuck in the trunk of the very same tree.

“Did I also mention that five hundred years ago I taught ponies self-defense in a Dojo. You’d be surprised what one can learn over a millennium,” Cadence lectured as she flew into air and started to kick the guards’ flanks while she levitated a piece of wood to aid her in this spanking. Acting as if the guards were fillies deserving a punishment.

Once done, Cadence looked at her work before walking away proudly, her head held high as she spoke. “Oh Twilight, Shining Armor, if only you two could see me now.” She spread her wings and flew up, now glancing over the garden. “I wonder how Luna is doing, it’s her first time participating in such a game after all,” she murmured to herself.

“I think we are safe,” Celestia said as she peeked out from the bush, her head barely visible between two leaves. After withdrawing back into her hiding spot, she glanced at Luna, who was now lying on her back, exhausted. Her body was covered in burn marks and bruises while her star-filled mane lost some of its brightness and slowed down its wavy movements. She heard her sister murmuring but didn't recognise the words.

She pushed the branches to the side with her forelegs, slowly walking deeper into the bush before placing her sister on a pillow of leaves. “I should go easier on you when deciding rules for this game. Wait here and rest while I will look around.”

With slow flaps of her wings, she emerged from the bush and flew upward, a few leaves falling from her body. Bruises and sweat were present on her once regal posture. She looked around with her ears raised upward, trying to pick up noise of recruits that were chasing her. Out of reflex, she flew upward, evading being grabbed by a pegasus before pushing her pursuer off with levitation.

She bit her lips as the guard slammed into the bush. Not wasting a moment, she levitated the guard to the side before doing the same with leaves and branches, revealing her sister’s slightly flattened body. Landing in front of her, she lowered her head and asked, “I am really sorry. Are you alright?” Upon noting how her sister raised her head and said something quietly, she leaned down further, exposing her ear. “Would you repeat it, sister?”

“Fifteen!” Luna yelled, pushing her sister away with strength of her voice.

Author's Note

Special thanks to georg for his improvements, especially with Cadence's scene.

As always, I am looking forward to comments and feedback. I hope that you all are liking my alternative take on Twilight's incident with the ticket, as well as Cadence's scene where she finally decided to use her centuries for experience for her advantage.

Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 4

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 2

Ticket Master
-
Part 4

"Now that's somethin' Ah didn't expect to see. D'ya need any help in there?"

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Let me guess. You dreamed of becoming a trophy, but exposed the wrong side by mistake.”

Rarity’s face turned red, though nopony could see it. “This is not what it looks like.”

“Do you… need some help?” Steel Blade asked, staring openly.

“Do Ah need to pull ya like a carrot or somethin’?” Applejack asked in a mocking tone while Rainbow Dash tried to restrain her laughter.

Rarity pressed her forehooves against the wall and pushed. After a few seconds, she freed her head with a loud cracking noise as fragments of the wall decorated her neck and horn.

“Ah see yer tryin' a new fashion thingy. Ah reckon it's an outdoors thingy, 'cause indoors, well, you bring the door in with ya.”

Rarity frowned before removing her unwanted decoration with her hooves and magic, dirting her clean floor as the result. The mud still present on Dash’s and Applejack’s hooves dropping onto the floor quickly fueled her frustration.

“Right. So. We’re looking for Twilight, who’s still being chased around town over a gala ticket. Could we ask for your assistance?” Steel Blade ventured, bravely getting between the mares before the situation could escalate.

The fashionista grit her teeth as she looked over the room. Cleaning it and fixing the hole in the wall now added to her to-do-list. After taking a few calming breaths, she said, “I will gladly help in resolving this issue.”

“Yer… not mad?” Applejack asked.

“Of course not,” she responded while forcing a smile. If she was going to ever become the better pony she wished to be, she couldn’t let such trivial events annoy her.

With the little unicorn nowhere to be found and the crowd dispersed, the pack arrived back home where they regrouped with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who had joined Spike’s and Overwatch’s tea party.

A fuming Angel was sitting in the corner of the room with crossed paws and half-closed eyes. News of the extra tickets only worsened his mood as all his efforts, even being flattened by the mob of ponies, were all for nothing.

Overwatch set down the teapot after pouring yet another cup and shoving another piece of cake in her mouth. “Hey, Phteelie,” she said, still chewing. “Twineeth’s bach.”

Steel Blade started, looking at his partner suspiciously before glancing out the window. Sure enough, a tiny purple blob could be seen approaching from around a distant house.

He turned back to the charcoal mare. “Okay, how did you do that?”

“Eathee,” Overwatch said, before finally swallowing and sipping at her tea nonchalantly. “The air has the distinctive taste of peaches and raspberries. Very delightful. Goes well with the tea.”

At this, Fluttershy also turned to Overwatch, an eyebrow raised. She tentatively drew in a breath, holding it for a moment as she continued to level a calculating glare at the guard mare.

Overwatch simply beamed back at the butter-yellow pegasus.

Steel Blade rolled his eyes. “Figures you wouldn’t give me a straight answer,” he said, before rushing outside to Twilight’s aid alongside a panicked dragon, his partner and the rest of Twilight’s friends.

Noticing them, Twilight galloped before appearing in a flash of teleportation in front of their hooves.

The group looked down at the tiny unicorn in pity as the tired mare collapsed onto the ground, sweat covering her entire body. Twilight raised her head with some effort and looked in the eyes of Rainbow Dash and smiled. “I just,” Twilight took a deep breath, her lungs desperate for air after the torment she endured, “beat an entire town… in a game of tag.” She took another deep breath and pointed her trembling hoof at the pegasus. “Just wait, Rainbow Dash, y-your defeat is coming f-faster than you... t-t-think.”

Applejack gave her pegasus friend a questioning glance. “Mind kindly tell us what’s tha’ all about?”

Rainbow Dash raised her head proudly and responded, “It’s one of those games we athletes play to compete with each other, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Come again?” Applejack asked with a stomp. “Are ya sain’ Ah’m not good enough to be an athlete? Did ya forgot yer humiliating defeats during our hoof-wrestle and wrestle in the mud?"

Overwatch giggled. “I remember that! Very entertaining, I might add.” At the surprised glances from the arguing ponies, she added, “Protecting Twilight is my job. Barring exceptional circumstances like vacation, cake, and angry-moon-goddess-bringing-about-nighttime-eternal, I’m always keeping an eye on Twilight. Also, I won ten bits from Steelie thanks to you.”

Steel Blade let out a deep sigh. “Hey, you have to believe sometimes.”

“Yeah, and your faith led you to ruin and despair,” Overwatch continued with an evil cackle. “You should know better than to bet on a pegasus beating an earth pony in a strength contest.”

Dash pressed her muzzle against Applejack’s and said, “Just wait ‘til I get my earth pony stuff mastered and kick your flank.”

“Yer welcome to try,” Applejack responded with a determined look.

Spike rolled his eyes before bypassing the group and gently picking up Twilight.

Pinkie Pie jumped over the group, landing in front of them and said, “I’m really sorry for my big mouth, I was so excited that I didn’t think about your feelings. I was a really bad friend, can you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Twilight answered as she looked at her energetic friend from her spot lying down in Spike’s hands. “I do lots of silly things when I am excited, and besides, it was fun.”

Pinkie smiled cheerfully and was about to hug the little mare, but Spike walked backward in time to avoid it and shoot Pinkie a glare of disapproval.

Fluttershy slowly emerged from behind Pinkie Pie and lowered herself to Twilight’s level. “And I am really sorry for cleaning your room just to get the ticket.” Angel kicked a pebble before sitting next to Fluttershy’s left foreleg.

“Please, stop apologizing, I understand.” Twilight added cheerfully, “Besides, I already decided to give you the ticket since Rarity refused.”

The shy pegasus rubbed her foreleg nervously. “Oh… about that.” She glanced at Rarity in worry and asked, “Should we tell her?”

Rarity nodded and took a few elegant steps forward. “Darling, the lack of tickets is not a problem any longer. Princess Celestia send additional ones for each of us alongside an apology letter.”

“What?” Twilight shouted, almost jumping from her spot before reasserting herself in Spike’s embrace. “When did she send it?”

Upon receiving glances from the rest of the group, Spike blushed. “Well, about that…”

***

Spike took Twilight back into the library and put her exhausted body into her basket, which was now equipped with a pillow that served Twilight as bed for past thirteen years. The young drake expected the reunion between the pillow and his pony mother sooner or later, but was surprised it would be delivered so quickly.

“Twilight, I am really really sorry, it fell over behind the bed when I was sleeping,” Spike started before showing Twilight the scroll and additional tickets as now all of Twilight’s friends and guards with him included had one.

Without wasting a moment, the little unicorn beamed and levitated over the letter to read it, curiosity and excitement overcoming her exhaustion.

My Dearest Little Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

I would like to apologize and tell you the entire truth behind the tickets I had sent you.

I know that you have five great friends and Spike, who is like son to you. Yet, I sent you only two tickets to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ despite my sister’s wishes to invite them all.

The true reason why I did such a shameful thing is because I wanted to teach you and your friends a lesson. I wished to see how you would react when forced to choose between your friends while being able to please only one.

In the end I was going to send all the tickets anyway.

I am deeply sorry for this manipulative act and I hope you can forgive me.

I also hope that I managed to send you additional tickets before their lack caused any trouble.

I wish you best of luck on this new chapter of your life.

Your Forever Grateful Mentor, Princess Celestia.

Twilight smiled as she rolled the huge scroll and levitated it into the chest next to the bed. A few firm words left her mouth, “Spike, take a letter.”

In a burst of green flames, a letter appeared in the air and fell onto the floor, catching the attention of a certain princess as a midnight-blue aura surrounded it.

“What is this?”

Slowly, the letter unrolled as two curious eyes started reading it. “It appears that thy student has finally responded to thine apology letter. Would you like to hear what she wrote?”

Feeling a few movements under her silver shoe, she smirked and read aloud.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Luna started as she took deep breath and continued.

“I am afraid that the additional tickets, as well as the letter, has arrived when I most likely left to visit my friend Applejack for my first day of studies on the topic of earth pony magic. I must say I was surprised by their reaction when I mentioned that I had two tickets.” Luna raised her eyebrow as she felt the alicorn crawling from under her hoof and looked down, seeing her tiny sister’s head emerge a little from under the shoe. “It seems that thy apology letter arrived a bit late, sister.”

“Luna!” Celestia yelled while still feeling the undying metal pinning her to the floor. “It is not very polite to read other ponies’ correspondences.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Luna mocked as she gave her sister a disappointed glare. “As thy trainer, We must take direct action when teaching thou about honesty and heal thee from thy manipulative ways. We cannot ignore a letter that thine student sent after thou had lied to her.”

Celestia bit her lip before sighing in defeat, now listening to Luna who was reading the letter from her student. Despite feeling a bit uncomfortable under the weight, she decided to accept her sister’s punishment as it was a fair trade for the exciting adventure they had earlier today. Celestia winced at the unpleasant feeling coming from her healed wounds. Maybe ordering her guards to use lethal force wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Luna turned back to the letter and continued, “All of my friends desired to go to this awful party no matter how much I tried to convince them otherwise, while Rarity, who I expected would love to attend, has learned an important lesson about generosity, giving up her life's dream for her friends. As for me, I still think that this party will turn into a disaster, but I am going to stick by their side.” Luna chuckled at the sentence she noticed next, catching her sister’s attention.

“PS: Once the ponies in Ponyville learned I had two tickets, I ended up playing in the biggest and longest game of tag in my entire life. I can proudly say I have defeated an entire town, and if I keep practicing, I may one day defeat Rainbow Dash and become the unbeaten world champion at it.” Luna lowered the letter to the ground as she spoke the last line, “Your Little Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia’s ears fell as she smiled awkwardly while her bigger sister looked down at her.

“Thou hast caused quite a disturbance in this peaceful town, sister.”

Celestia took a deep breath, even though as an alicorn she didn’t need to breathe to survive, something her sister proved by enduring a thousand years banishment on the moon. “There was a happy ending. So... no hard feelings?”

Celestia’s hopes were crushed the moment Luna levitated the hourglass, which counted her 15 minutes of punishment. Half of the sand that had already passed through was levitated back to the top. Celestia released her breath and lowered her head, feeling cold floor making contact with the lower part of her muzzle.

“We wish to expand the time of punishment for the trouble thy action caused, dear sister. Unless thou got tired of us squeezing out thy manipulative ways?"

Celestia grit her teeth and put more strength into her legs as she lifted Luna’s foreleg slightly. Feeling the weight of a giant leg on her back for so long was rather uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to end this, quite the opposite. Was it her desire to regain her sister’s trust? Was it her student resolve to fight against any challenge that inspired her? No, it was more than that. Maybe her guilt for banishing her sister for a thousand years that haunted her for an millennium, an inner desire to be judged, to be punished for all her mistakes she made during her long rule.

The realization struck her like lightning. She wanted to be judged, to have a pony point out her mistakes. She wanted her sister to have her revenge, to make her happy. For the first time in a millennium she had a pony who could tell her what she’s doing wrong, who could inflict a proper punishment suitable for an alicorn of her power.

“I trust your judgement, Luna. After all you had to endure, this punishment is a mercy. Even at my size, my body is full of power and my punishment should be heavy so I can learn from it.” Celestia looked at her sister while drops of sweat were falling down her face, easily noticing a cheerful smile. “You are really enjoying it, sister?”

“We would be lying if We said We didn’t,” Luna answered as she put more strength into her hoof, overpowering Celestia’s resistance and silencing her for the time being. Aside from feeling pleasure from being atop her sister for once, in more ways than one, was something she wasn’t proud of. She also felt pride towards Celestia, knowing that she was more than willing to accept punishments and atone for her mistakes.

Ch3 - Magical Research

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 3

Magical Research

“Go to sleep already!” Spike pleaded once again, this time loudly with clenched fists as Twilight looked at him with her thin pupils. “It’s three in the morning! You cannot spend so many restless nights on your research.”

Twilight frowned as her forelegs buckled a little from the pressure they were enduring. The little unicorn bit her lip and straightened her legs before taking a deep breath. “The blessing Nightmare Moon honored me with can only be researched at night.”

Spike groaned.

“Besides, the moon keeps me awake and stronger than I ever could've imagined,” Twilight said in determination as yet another drop of sweat fell onto her muzzle.

“But this is your tenth sleepless night, Twilight! The more you research it, the more tired you’ll be the next day! You’re really worrying me!” Spike said with a concerned look, but Twilight just ignored him as she poured more magic into her horn.

A one-ton load in the appearance of a few bookshelves, levitated in mid air. The pressure of casting so strong of a levitation field made her tiny body forty times heavier, as both the levitated weight and pressure gave Twilight’s hooves and horn quite the workout.

The young dragon stomped and said, “Fine, do whatever you want, I don't care anymore.” He walked upstairs, leaving his adoptive mother alone to her research, as he finally gave up on convincing her to get some rest. Steel Blade had given up on this futile quest three days ago, while Overwatch had lasted six before she gave into the fatigue.

After a few more minutes of struggling and sweating, Twilight placed the bookshelves on the floor and levitated a miniature notepad and pen. “I think I have enough data to eliminate any potential mistakes,” she remarked before noting the weight of bookshelves and the time she managed to keep them suspended in the air.

“If my calculations are correct, my raw power increases by twenty percent at night compared to how much magic I can use during the day and my reserves recover fifty percent faster, all thanks to Luna’s blessing. Wow, the moon really does fill me with magic.”

Twilight placed the notepad and pen on the floor as she lit her horn, now focused as a large object slowly advanced towards her, blocking any light from reaching her tired body. The tiny unicorn raised her head and looked up at the horse-like statue floating over her.

The wooden statue is hollow, though it still weighs fifty kilograms at best, ten more than my body just a moment ago, Twilight thought as she started the stopwatch before releasing her telekinesis, and a loud thump followed.

Twilight grit her teeth while her tiny legs trembled as they fought against the crushing weight with all their might, keeping her muzzle just a few millimeters above the floor. Meanwhile, the notepad was lying on the ground next to the pen, waiting for more information to be added.

“Wake up!”

Overwatch tapped a hoof impatiently as she glared at her current problem. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon, and her partner was outside convincing Rainbow Dash that Twilight couldn’t come out and play for the fifth time today. To top it all off, Spike was snoozing in his own bed, completely dead to the world.

“Right! Plan B!” Overwatch shouted, using her levitation to sweep the curled-up unicorn from her basket and shake her violently. Twilight’s eyes snapped open in alarm, and the guard could easily see the bloodshot eyes of her little charge.

“Oh umm… hey Overwatch. W-what time is it?” Twilight asked with a yawn before dozing off, her legs hanging down motionlessly like those of a doll. The guard mare rolled her eyes and proceeded to trot to the bathroom, her captive in tow.

A minute later, Twilight found herself unexpectedly drowning under a stream of cold water. With a shriek, she opened her eyes again, though there wasn’t much to see with the shower spray obscuring her vision.

The moment she was removed from the waterfall, Twilight brought her forelegs up to wipe the water from her eyes. “O-Overwatch!” she managed to blubber out.

The charcoal mare levitated Twilight up to her nose and took a couple preliminary sniffs. She grimaced, sticking her tongue out in disgust. “Sweet Celestia, you smell like Steelie after he chaperones his guard buddies to the bar,” Overwatch said, before levitating over a bar of lavender-scented soap and scrubbing furiously at Twilight’s fur. “Mostly just puke and sadness.”

“W-w-what are you doing?” The tiny unicorn sputtered, waving her hooves around as she tried to see through the wet mane flopped on her face.

“Well before, I was doing what you told me to do, but now there’s a fifty-fifty chance I shove a bar of soap up my nose,” Overwatch replied, bringing Twilight up to sniff again before putting her back under the stream.

“What I t-t-told you t-to do?” she asked, shivering from the cold. “I didn’t a-ask y-you t-to f-freeze me.”

After taking one final sniff, Overwatch gently placed the tiny unicorn on a towel. “You asked me to wake you up at this specific hour if you overslept,” she said, watching as Twilight shook herself like a dog, causing tiny drops of water to land on the towel and Overwatch’s foreleg. “Not my fault that you sleep like a rock after nine sleepless nights. You try this again, and I’ll start adding ice cubes to your wake-up bath.”

With the help of her magic, Twilight wiped her fur with the blanket until her body shone and sparkled. Not wasting a moment, she jumped onto the floor and ran past Overwatch’s hooves before leaving the bathroom, her guard following right behind her.

“Well, at least the shower did what it was supposed to,” Overwatch remarked. “Where’re you going now?”

“To continue my research, of course!” Twilight remarked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, causing Overwatch to roll her eyes. In just a few seconds, the little mare levitated several books and research equipment right above her head as she ran downstairs to the basement. My own underground laboratory, the princess sure thought of everything.

Two alicorns under the disguise of illusion magic were eating ice cream cones, enjoying their break after Cadence had shown Luna the wonders of Canterlot. Not everything went calmly during their excursion though as more than once she ended up restraining the night princess from beating up a few nobles for… how Luna phrased it? ‘Being a band of useless, snobbish good-for-nothing traitorous bags of hay.’

“Luna, you cannot just assault your subjects like that,” Cadence whispered as they sat under an umbrella at the restaurant, trying not to capture any pony’s attention.

“Those ponies deserved it,” Luna whispered in defense, “How can our sister even put up with them?” She licked her ice cream. “The fact that our sister even let such an ungrateful bunch grow under her nose to the point where one house even dared to take hostages at her student’s birthday party is shameful. We prefer the fools who fear our night, but at least work hard for the good of Equestria, rather than this bunch of bit-wasting flanks.”

Cadence lowered her head and spoke, a smile no longer present on her face, “Position and power corrupts, Luna. After Celestia–” she bit her lower lip before continuing, “–banished you to the moon because of that huge misunderstanding,” Luna frowned, but inclined her ear anyway, “-she found that she couldn’t do it alone. Despite my best efforts to help, Auntie Celestia couldn’t rule Equestria by herself; she needed ponies who could help her rebuild it, so she shared her rule with the more deserving and trusted ones.”

Cadence sighed deeply. “Nobles from the first three hundred years were very dedicated to leading Equestria into a bright future as we faced a war, famine and other disasters that followed. However, as the situation improved, every following generation cared less and less. Holding a high position while having great influence, made them think they were better than other ponies. Outside of the Sparkle and Pants’ houses, the majority of nobles are nothing but dead-weight.”

Luna blinked. “House Sparkle, like... Twilight Sparkle?”

Cadence smiled and nodded as she spoke cheerfully. “Correct, Twilight belongs to a house that was formed a thousand years ago by several very talented unicorns, who dedicated their lives for self-improvement and research to better Equestria. Every subsequent generation worked harder and was more powerful than the previous one.”

Luna raised her head proudly as she swallowed the last piece of ice cream. “Pity that thy worthless nobles would not take an example from the Sparkles. I am sure that while the upper class wastes their time and bits on pointless parties, our sister’s student is doing some diligent research as we speak.”

Cadence nodded. “I am sure she is too, and Auntie Celestia was even kind enough to equip the library basement with a laboratory many years in advance.”

Luna paused. “Our sister did what?”

Cadence put hoof on Luna’s mouth before looking around, luckily no pony seemed to look in their direction. A chuckle quickly followed as she spoke, “I forgot she didn’t tell you. In her original plan, once Twilight saved you from Nightmare Moon’s influence, Celestia wanted to convince her to stay in Ponyville with the other Element Bearers. Knowing her student’s nature, she prepared the library with all kinds of advanced equipment for her to work with.”

Luna stood and walked away from the table. “We think We may need to have a talk with our sister. Please excuse us, Cadence,” she said before walking away from the table.

Cadence quickly levitated bits to pay for the food before following. “No underhooved treatment of your sister, please!”

“So umm... why are we here, Twilight?” Steel Blade asked hesitantly, glancing down at the cables attached to his body. His partner, Overwatch, shared the same fate, though with much less concern.

Twilight turned away from the monitoring equipment and jumped on Steel Blade’s nose, hanging onto it with her forelegs. “Because I need additional test subjects for my experiment,” she answered matter-of-factly. “When I scanned my body a month ago, I couldn’t detect anything but unicorn magic. The day after the Nightmare Moon incident, I discovered that I have both pegasus and earth pony magic.”

Steel Blade’s eyes flickered towards a line of bottles on a shelf, dark fragments of Nightmare Moon’s flesh were isolated in each one like samples for some sort of secret magical experiment. He shook his head quickly, dispelling the memories of the night’s events.

Twilight, however, completely missed his moment of trepidation, mistaking it for surprise at her words as she plowed on, “My friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash also possess both pegasus and earth pony magic. My theory is that it has to be connected with the Elements, since that’s the only thing we’ve all shared since then.”

“So let me get this straight,” Overwatch started. “You think that the Elements of Harmony gave you and your friends… magic. From the other types of ponies.”

Twilight jumped from Steel Blade’s nose right onto Overwatch’s, clinging to her muzzle instead. “Of course! According to what I’ve learned from Celestia, she had already suspected that the Elements chose us. When the Elements activated in the ruins, I saw how the rainboom linked all of my friends together in acquiring our cutie marks.”

She jumped back to the floor, gesturing grandly with a hoof. “It’s so simple! Once we activated the Elements, they gave us more than one type of magic to make us even stronger. The Elements must have boosted our inner magic so we could face even tougher upcoming challenges! ”

Twilight raised her head high, looking at each of them in turn with a gleam in her eye. “Also, it seems that my earth pony magic and pegasus magic get a little stronger the more I use them. My dreams of being as strong and athletic as an earth pony and as agile as a pegasus may finally come true!”

Steel Blade let out an amused snort. “Right, cause you're not strong or agile enough already.”

Twilight beamed at him. “I knew you’d understand, Steelie!”

Overwatch, however, just looked confused. “Well, that still doesn't explain why you need us to do anything.”

Twilight pointed her hoof at them in turn. “Well, you're a unicorn, Steel Blade is a pegasus, and neither of you were affected by the Elements. By scanning your magic, I can be sure that my spell is working correctly as well as help establish a baseline to compare my data to.”

“That’s all?” Steel Blade asked.

Twilight lit her horn and responded, “That’s all.”

The guard pegasus let out a sigh, having realized his role in his charge’s important research amounted to little more than acting as the control. The scanning spell passed through him quickly, and Twilight noted the result on a clipboard she had levitated over.

“So, how strong is my magic?” he asked, a hint of interest in his voice.

“Well…” Twilight started, giving him an awkward smile. “For a Royal Guard, the results are fairly standard, I guess.”

“And compared to Rainbow Dash?” Steel Blade asked. It was difficult gauging the weather manager’s formidable flying prowess from just watching her or attempting to shoo her off from bothering Twilight, but knowing how he stacked against her meant that he could figure out exactly how formidable she really was.

Twilight muttered something under her breath and Steel Blade leaned in closer. “Wait, say that again?”

She coughed. “Twenty percent.”

He blinked. “W-what…?” His eyes widened, and his mouth fell agape. “What?”

Overwatch snickered. “Wow, Steelie, looks like you’ve already been struck with senility.”

“Haw haw, laugh it up,” Steel Blade said without amusement, poking at the floor with his hoof. “I thought I’d be able to do a bit better than that after two decades in the guard.”

Overwatch pouted, nuzzling at her partner’s cheek. “Aww, don’t be like that, Steelie. It’s unbecoming of you to be all moody and depressing,” she said, before flashing him a smile. “It’s not like anyone’s going to turn Rainbow Dash into a guard just because her magic’s stronger than yours.”

The guard stallion just snorted, rolling his eyes. “She might as well be, with how often she comes by the library.” The charcoal mare glared at him a while longer before he finally relented. “Alright alright, fine. I’ll try not to be jealous.”

The little unicorn looked between the two, somewhat cluelessly, before she shrugged and cast her scanning spell on Overwatch. At the first pass through, she stopped. Twilight cast it again. And again and again, and every time she did so, her eyes grew wider than before.

“Is something wrong?” Overwatch asked curiously as her little charge started to look between the tiny notepad and her in a panic. “Is there something wrong with my mag—”

The guard’s expression froze, and she stared dumbly as Twilight appeared on her muzzle in a flash.

“You don’t have even the slightest bit of unicorn magic in yourself!”

Overwatch stared for a moment longer, before bursting out into laughter. “Wow, that explains why I’m so trash at magic! My C.O. hated how long it took me to learn more than how to point and shoot,” she replied with a chuckle, rubbing her neck under her scarf as Steel Blade raised an eyebrow at her. “Y-you sure you didn’t just miscast it, Twiny?”

“No, it can’t be. No matter how badly I perform this spell, I can always detect what type of magic is in the targeted pony. Whatever magic is in you, it’s something I have never encountered before.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she jumped onto Overwatch’s head and climbed up her horn, dancing on it like an acrobat. “Oooh... this is so exciting! First I get to research Luna’s blessing, next I find out that my friends and I possess more than one type of magic, and now it turns out that you possess magic that I’ve never even known about!”

Twilight jumped down from the horn she had stood on, landing on the floor. She sprinted upstairs, yelling, “I can’t wait to find out what kinds of secrets my friends and Ponyville are hiding from me!”

Once the miniscule scientist finally disappeared, Overwatch’s grin waned, turning into a grimace. She cleared her throat quickly. “W-well, it looks like she’s off again. I should uhh… make sure she doesn’t get herself in trouble,” she said, quickly disentangling herself from the wires and trotting off upstairs. “Just make sure Spike doesn’t get into any trouble while I’m gone. Meet us in town if you decide to go out!”

Steel Blade’s brow furrowed as he watched the charcoal mare disappear through the doorway. It didn’t take a lifetime of guard experience to tell him that his partner was uncomfortable about something, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Overwatch had attempted to deflect his attention off of it.

He let out a sigh. Maybe now, he might get a glimpse of what it was.

Well, after making sure Spike doesn’t do anything silly like set the library on fire.

***

Twilight galloped between the giant wooden houses, while ponies still gave her an occasional odd glance, not yet used to the tiny librarian. The incident with the ticket to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ had only increased the tension between her and the town folks, but Twilight didn’t mind as her attention was focused on the earthquakes she felt under her hooves.

A moment later she could hear Rainbow Dash yelling something far above her, but she couldn’t understand a single word.

The little unicorn started to bounce off the ground as the earthquake became even stronger. She saw ponies start to panic and run around.

“Thhhiiiisssss mmmmaaaakkkeeesss mmmmyyyyy vvvvooooiiicccceeee sssooouuunnndddd sssssiillllyyy,” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced right next to Twilight who, in order to regain control over herself, started to self-levitate above the ground thanks to her magic.

She slowly floated onto the shoulder of Mayor Mare, who was busy trying to calm everypony.

“Whatever shall we do?” Rarity asked while making a dramatic pose.

Rainbow Dash flew right between them and pointed towards the closing cloud of smoke hiding hundreds of cows.

Twilight climbed onto the head of Mayor Mare to take a better look, yet failing to see what was happening due to the distance and small size of her eyes. She exposed her ear, listening to the discussion between her friends while hearing praises for Applejack’s accomplishment.

It seems that Applejack and her dog saved the town. I’m really lucky to learn about the earth pony magic from such a brave and dependable friend. I wish I could reward her somehow.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie fell from above, body slamming into the ground with a loud thump, as Twilight fell off the Mayor’s head from the vibrations.

How did she even get up that high in the first place? Twilight thought as she shook her head and stood up, now staring at Pinkie Pie. Maybe she gained unicorn’s magic and learned how to teleport, I’ll need to look into it. Wait... my research! how could I forget?

Twilight flinched as Mayor Mare stomped next to her and spoke authoritatively, “We must do something for Applejack to thank her for single-hoofedly saving the town.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and suggested in excitement, “How about we organise a party in Applejack’s name?” Everypony cheered in agreement, sharing her enthusiasm.

Being unnoticed by others who either followed Pinkie Pie and Mayor Mare to help them, or just headed back home, Twilight followed Rarity. Pinkie is going to be busy and Dash already flew away. Rarity it is. She grabbed her hind leg in attempt to get her attention.

Stopping, Rarity looked back as she raised her leg, noticing her friend now sitting on her rear hoof. “Oh, hello Twilight. I didn’t see you there.”

The little mare climbed up onto Rarity’s back before reaching her ear as she now hung onto it. She whispered, “Rarity, can you help me with some important research?”

The fashionista held a hoof under her neck as she thought deeply. “I should be helping with the party preparations, but I see no harm in sparing a few minutes.” She smiled, still feeling Twilight’s weight as if she was her ear decoration. “What kind of research do you have in mind, darling?”

***

“T-Twilight, isn’t t-this slightly... overdoing it?” Rarity asked with a tired voice as she stood on her rear hooves, three hundred kilograms of heavy stone tied to her back. A piece of wood was being levitated in front of her.

“Come on, Rarity, you can do it! Just put more spirit into it!” Twilight cheered, jumping around on her hind legs while gesturing with two feathers in her forehooves, role-playing as a cheerleader.

Rarity gulped and grit her teeth. She bucked her hind legs and jumped, kicking the wood as it cracked in half. The heavy stone on her back pulled her to the ground with great force and a loud thump as she could feel sweat falling from her head. Wasting no time, she levitated a piece of soft material to her forehead.

“Good job, Rarity! Only thirteen jump-kicks left and we’re done, isn’t it easy?” Twilight asked enthusiastically as she levitated another piece of wood towards the bigger mare. “Show this piece of wood who’s the boss!”

Rarity sat and sighed while her ears drooped flat against her head. She looked down at Twilight with a raised eyebrow and asked, “Remind me, why I am doing this in the first place?”

Twilight sat and entered her lecturing mode. “This is very simple. Besides your unicorn magic, which isn’t really too strong,” Rarity frowned at this remark, “lately, you’ve also gained a little bit of earth pony magic. I want to test if its amount will increase with intensive exercise.”

Rarity shook her head. “I can understand weightlifting, Twilight, but whatever do I need to kick a piece of wood for? It is so uncouth.”

Twilight chuckled. “Well… when you thought I was a rat and tried to throw me away like garbage,” Twilight said firmly as Rarity blushed in embarrassment. “In my defense, I had sent the broom and the shovel against you, and you fought them off using martial arts.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at the response, the memory of that dreadful event flashing in her mind. She just had to show her hoof to hoof combat abilities, she just had to fight off some random cleaning devices, and now her little friend thought of her as an Equestrian warrior or a martial arts master.

With a deep breath, she once again fought against the heavy weight on her back as she struck the wood with another solid kick. I am so going to need a hooficure after this.

After a very solid exercise and one long hooficure, Rarity and Twilight trotted towards Town Hall where the party preparations were going at full speed. To make up for Rarity’s absence as her assistance in the decoration department was crucial, Twilight assisted wherever she could.

It didn’t take long before her guards and Spike joined and helped with the preparations.

***

Twilight was balancing with a single hoof on Overwatch’s horn to get a better view over the crowd, listening to Rainbow Dash’s praise about Applejack’s ‘sick moves’ while Pinkie Pie added that she got to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time. She was pleasantly surprised to see Fluttershy giving her own speech in front of the entire town.

Finally, Mayor Mare made a speech and pointed out a giant, shining, golden trophy next to her before presenting Applejack, when the curtain revealed an empty space. Twilight almost lost her balance, biting her lip the moment part of her forehoof pressed against the sharp horn.

The crowd gasped while Spike exclaimed how awesome Applejack's entrance was. “Awkward,” he said, noticing his mistake.

Twilight rolled her eyes, only to notice the guest of honour coming towards the crowd. She buckled her leg and used it to jump and turn herself towards Applejack in mid air before landing on her other hoof. Her attention focused on the farm mare who had on her back, to Twilight’s confusion, baskets full of apples. She could see Applejack passing her for only a few seconds, but it was all she needed to notice the bags under her half-closed eyes.

Repeating her previous trick, Twilight landed on her other hoof while turning towards the stage, only to see Applejack body checking the Mayor Mare away from the platform.

The farm mare murmured something to the crowd before walking towards her large reward. She started acting weirder than Pinkie Pie, who apparently couldn’t help herself and joined, mimicking Applejack.

Twilight bent her foreleg again, this time putting far more strength into pushing herself from Overwatch’s horn as she landed on somepony else. The little unicorn quickly started to jump from head to head until she landed on the stage before jumping onto the giant golden cup. Once on top of it, she gave Applejack a suspicious glance as the giant farm pony had just dozed off in front of it.

“Are you alright, Applejack?” Twilight asked gently as she shuffled her hooves in worry. Upon getting no response, she lit her horn and shot Applejack’s head with a weak bolt.

“Huh, wha? Oh, thanks,” Applejack said with a tired sleepy voice before she pulled the trophy with her teeth. Twilight still stood on top of it, sending waves of scanning spell into the mare, only to receive worrying results.

Her earth pony magic and stamina are half-spent, not to mention the obvious lack of sleep. She kind of reminds me of myself whenever I overtax myself during my training, Twilight thought. “Applejack, you need to take a break!” she advised, only to be ignored. “Applejack, I know that you always work hard, but you’re slowly reaching your limits!” She frowned. “Are you even listening to me?”

After minutes of asking and pleading, Twilight jumped off the reward back on Overwatch’s horn as the guard had followed her this entire time. The little mare frowned again as she pointed at Applejack with the foreleg she wasn’t standing on while maintaining balance. “She’s pushing herself too hard, not sleeping long enough and when I ask her to stop and rest, she just ignores me then does whatever she wants. It’s so annoying!” Twilight said with irritation in her voice.

Overwatch, Steel Blade and Spike exchanged a look.

And then promptly burst out laughing.

Author's Note

This chapter takes place before Applebuck-season episode. I hope it was eventful enough to spark some feedback and conversations.

Ch4 - Applebuck Season - Part 1 (revised)

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 4

Applebuck Season
-
part 1

‘SMASH’

Twilight bounced on her pillow once before tumbling and faceplanting onto the floor with the basket she had been in flipping over and landing on top of her. Awakened by the sudden impact, she opened her eyes, though she saw nothing but darkness.

Alarmed and in panic, she lit her horn and pushed blindly at the object on top of her before galloping. The combination of panic and blurry morning vision made her blunder off of some unknown object while shouting at the top of her lungs.

"We're under attack! Everypony get to your stations!"

She had just charged her horn, ready to blast any intruders, when her footing vanished from underhoof. The stairs felt brutal and hard to her head as she bounced off the step, then the second, then the large number of uncounted impacts that followed with little yelps of pain intermixed between them. She was just about to hit the ground at the bottom of the stairs when a magical field arrested her in mid air, levitating her over to the female guard.

Twilight saw stars circling over her for several seconds before shaking her head as her vision slowly sharpened. She gasped at the sight of so many books covering the floor, ignoring the few small bruises now beginning to show on her body. “Who did this? Who dared to ruin the order of books in my library?”

Overwatch shrugged while getting out the familiar first aid kit and walking toward the balcony door. "Yeah, you're fine. Let's find out if anyone besides you need a medical attention.”

The who in this case was a familiar blue pegasus, who had managed to plow through the balcony flower box with such speed that the only recognizable part left was a gardenia sitting on top of her head. Rainbow Dash was still trying to pull her hind legs out of what had once been part of the balcony when Overwatch opened the door, rolled her eyes, and sat Twilight down on the debris-strewn balcony floor.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you hurt? How did you even wind up here?” Twilight asked before placing forelegs on her sides and looking at the pegasus suspiciously. “Let me guess. You tried to get my attention and invite me on an adventure. Am I right?”

Dash massaged her head before shaking it briefly, giving a little wince and brushing away a jagged wooden splinter. “No! At least not this time,” she remarked before staggering to all four hooves. “I asked Applejack to help me with my stunt.”

Twilight sighed. “Let me guess: Exhaustion, heavy eyelids, reduced agility and focus?”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, she was like… a zombie. All she had to do was jump on this big target I had all marked out for her. It was kinda pathetic the way she kept missing it. That is, until she hit it and fired me straight across town and into your library.” She pushed away the first aid kit Overwatch was offering to her and gave the guard a prideful glare. “That’s just a scratch. I’m fine.”

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Mares these days. Pretending injuries don’t exist and running around strapped to rocks just so they can run straight into danger and monsters. I swear, Steelie is the most feminine pony here solely on the fact that he’s completely normal.”

Twilight smirked. “Since your flying practice seems to be over for the day, how about you help me with some research?”

Rainbow Dash’s wings flapped hastily as Twilight could see the excitement in her eyes. “Sure, Twilight. What kind of research is it?” She grabbed the little unicorn between her hooves while her nose made contact with her muzzle. “Are you making some sort of secret weapon?” She threw Twilight into the air as the little mare used a levitation spell on herself to regain balance, Dash already hovering in front of her. “Are you making some sort of magically powered monster for us to fight?”

Whatever Rainbow Dash wanted to say next was cut off as Twilight quickly clamped onto her mouth with all four hooves and held on tight, although the pegasus managed to free her face after just a few moments of wrestling. "Beat you again! Keep practicing and maybe someday you'll come close to beating me," Dash said while giving her friend an encouraging smile.

"Maybe sooner than you expect," said Twilight, floating herself back down to the balcony floor. "Right now, I have some experiments that need running. Do you think you're awesome enough to..."

***

Rainbow Dash’s legs and wings trembled as another piece of lead was being levitated over and placed on her wing, sweat falling from her body as if she was a raincloud. She gritted her teeth and looked down at Twilight who was wearing a white tiny apron, most likely made by Rarity, while levitating a notepad and pen in front of her.

“I get that you wanted to test how my earth pony magic make me stronger, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said with unease in her voice as she stabilised herself, “but why my wings?”

Twilight levitated another piece of lead as the cold metal pressed itself between feathers of her friend’s wing, forcing Dash to put even more effort into keeping them spread. “Earth pony magic is meant to increase strength, endurance and stamina, but you’re the first pegasus to have it,” Twilight lectured as she looked at her stopwatch. “I need to make sure if your new magic type makes your wings stronger as well.”

Rainbow Dash smiled with resolve as her facial expression became serious. “You better prepare yourself for a long wait, because a world class athlete like me isn’t going down anytime soon.”

Twilight chuckled at the image of her mentor being here in Rainbow Dash's place, and she whispered to herself, "I wonder if Princess Celestia's larger wings are proportionately just as strong or stronger than wings of a typical pegasus? Oh, well. I guess I'll never know."

Celestia sneezed as she signed a document levitated by Silver Scroll.

“Bless you,” the secretary spoke as she levitated another document from a stack of papers right next to her.

Silver Scroll was unusually on edge, even considering the circumstances of her recent actions done in spite of Celestia’s command not to involve Twilight Sparkle. It seemed as if she were expecting Celestia to order the young servant clapped in irons and dragged off to some dank dungeon for the rest of her life at any second, a feeling probably emphasized by the alert guards flanking her.

With a small frown, Celestia returned to silently reading and signing documents as she formulated a strategy to encourage Silver Scroll into saying what was obviously on her mind.

The secretary was first to break the silence. “I understand that you’re angry at me, Your Highness—justifiably if I may add—and I am truly sorry.”

Celestia once again broke her routine in order to look back at her secretary, her expression like that of a weary, disappointed mother, brooding after having scolded her foal. “I am more disappointed than angry. I trusted you enough to share personal information with you, and it will take time before I can trust you again.”

Silver Scroll closed her eyes and hung her head low. She didn’t regret sending an innocent, faithful, and hardworking student into mortal danger. Everything worked out in the end, after all. She had even hoped to give Twilight a few words of praise for a job well-done.

Instead, Silver Scroll's heart was nearly crushed by the expression of sorrow which bled from the cracks in the barriers Princess Celestia kept around her own emotions. Most ponies wouldn’t be able to tell, but Silver Scroll had been with Celestia for a long time, even considering the princess to be a close friend, and she could see it in the princess’s eyes. Every time Celestia looked in her direction, the secretary expected those huge violet eyes to be filled with tears.

Tears which were her fault.

Even while Silver Scroll glared at the floor, she could tell Celestia was looking at her, saying, “If not for the fact that Nightmare Moon was not the monster I expected, my student would have died.”

“But she wasn’t, and you regained your sister as well as the Elements of Harmony, Your Highness. Isn't that all you had aimed for?"

Celestia groaned, but quickly put a hoof to her lips as her anger faded in an instant. “I admit I was considering that possibility, which is why I hold no grudge against you. My student’s astonishing success and your many decades of flawless service to the crown are enough reasons to grant you some degree of clemency. Do not think you are getting off easy, though. Cadence will most certainly lecture you severely over the next few years, and Brave Blade doesn’t have much better.

Celestia lowered her head and let out her breath slowly in a deep sigh. "To think I would need to put a retired captain of my own Royal Guard under house arrest for insubordination..."

Silver Scroll tried to smile and nod, but she couldn’t help looking at Princess Celestia's wings instead. Both broad white appendages had been spread wide while ever so slowly rising and falling in a slow facsimile of a flap for nearly an hour now. "Would it be out of place if I asked you a question, Your Highness?”

“Go on,” Celestia said firmly but not looking at her formerly trusted secretary she still considered as friend, her attention once again focused on the documents as she resumed her deep, rhythmic breaths.

Silver Scroll cleared her throat carefully. “Why do you have weights tied to your wings, Your Highness?”

It was difficult to ignore the set-up behind the throne. A pair of one ton lead blocks were attached to ropes that led over the top of the Royal Seat, tied securely into a web wrapped around Celestia’s wings and forcing the princess to fight against the weights. Celestia’s forelegs were anchored against both sides of the throne just so she could maintain a sitting position.

“Shouldn’t you be punishing me with such device rather than yourself? It must be both extremely tiring and distracting.”

Celestia glanced at her now sore wings, a drop of sweat sliding down her muzzle before she looked at Silver Scroll. “Just a little exercise the Wonderbolts instructed me to do everyday to keep them in shape." She flapped her wings and sighed before adding with a tired voice, “Though I must admit that I have somewhat lengthened my exercise schedule.”

“Lengthened?”

“I tripled it,” Celestia admitted.

It would be a lie to say that she did not enjoy watching her normally calm and collected secretary blubber like a stranded fish.

“Another day, more research!” Twilight shouted cheerfully to herself, her well written checklist of her friends and experiments to perform levitated back to her miniscule saddlebag. The first in the line was none other than the party pony, Pinkie Pie.

Much to Twilight’s disappointment, Pinkie Pie and both Cakes were absent. The always so full of life Sugarcube Corner was so empty that the little unicorn could hear the sound of her own steps. Suddenly, one of the regular customers walked in, only to warn her about the cupcake epidemic.

Without wasting any time, Twilight ran towards Ponyville’s hospital, only to bump into a nurse as she bounced off the tackled foreleg. “S-sorry,” she said and looked up, quickly noticing the big white hoof raising from the ground and moving right above her while the bigger pony looked around in confusion. Twilight lit her horn reflexively, immobilizing the giant hoof with her magic. She stood up and jumped out of its way while the released hoof slammed with a loud thump. “Hello!” Twilight called while standing on her rear hooves and waving her forelegs in attempt to get the nurse’s attention, recognizing the pony as one called Nurse Redheart.

The earth pony looked down, only to raise her eyebrow. “It is you,” Redheart said in annoyance as she knelt to Twilight’s level and poked her belly with a hoof. “Any minor injuries that you want us not to heal?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck before shaking her head. “No, I’m just here to check on Pinkie Pie and also offer my help.” She pointed inside the room the nurse had exited just a moment ago. The sight proved rather disturbing as several ponies were vomiting while having sick green expressions on their faces.

“You want to help?” Nurse Redheart asked in confusion. “How?”

Twilight smiled widely and said, “Watch me!” as she ran inside the room and started to jump onto the sick ponies while casting spell after spell.

Nurse Redheart could only watch in admiration and disgust, as the tiny unicorn pushed herself into ponies’ mouth to take a close look down their throats, and with the help of a few scanning spells and levitation, managed to levitate the poisonous food from inside the ponies’ stomachs via their mouths. Occasionally adding thin barriers to minimize the damage.

She followed it by sending a toxin destroying spell into their bodies to eliminate the poison that had already spread through their veins.

After half an hour of hard work, Twilight collapsed, her horn red and her body covered in sweat and saliva as the majority of patients thanked her and left the hospital. The little unicorn struggled to keep her eyes open, as the nurse gently raised and cleaned her with a wet towel before placing her down on a comfortable bed. “Thank you so much. I had no idea you had such a talent for healing.”

Twilight sat as she puffed on her now very hot horn and looked up into the nurse’s eyes. “With my lifestyle, learning healing magic was necessary,” Twilight remarked with curled ears as the nurse looked at her in pity. "Not to mention working for half a year as a personal medic for the Wonderbolts."

The nurse closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. The idea that a pony of similar profession would be so reckless was giving her a headache.

“How did this happen?” She pointed towards the few ponies who were still lying sick in their beds, wishing she could help them if not for her exhausted reserves of magic and headache.

Nurse Redheart spoke in a professional tone, “Apparently, Pinkie Pie and Applejack made some highly poisonous cupcakes. Thankfully, they were not lethal; however,” the nurse pointed towards a patient and then at the cupcake that was lying on the floor, “you can see the results.”

Twilight nodded and jumped onto the floor. She ran towards the cupcake and examined it before tearing a small part from it and ate it, much to the nurse’s shock. “Why did you do that?”

Twilight ran over and jumped back onto the bed before focusing what little magic she had left and scanned herself. She looked into the nurse’s eyes and answered, “Just doing a little research, but don’t worry, I only took a small portion, I should be alright.”

Before the nurse could say a word, Pinkie Pie appeared right between her and Twilight, jumping onto the bed.

The little unicorn bounced before being pressed into her belly with the softer part of her hoof. “I'm alive!” she shouted loudly as she placed a plate with a small piece of cake before releasing her little friend.

As Twilight greedly gasped for air, she could see tiny sized letters, together spelling out ‘Thanks for healing me, Twilight.’

“Oh Twilight, you’re the bestest of best friends. Thanks to you I can run around Ponyville and spread fun and cheer instead of being tied to this no-fun bed, so I thought I should make you a ‘thank you for being such a good friend’ gift and here it is!” Pinkie said cheerfully as she pointed at the small gift for her small friend.

”Thanks, Pinkie!” Twilight levitated the cake over and took a greedy bite out of it. The delicious taste of the cake took away the disgusting sensation she felt after eating a tiny part of the poisonous cupcake. She wiped the leftovers from her face and gulped. “Would you mind if I carried out some research on you?”

“Research?” Redheart asked curiously and exposed her ear as Pinkie nodded energetically.

“Sure thing, Twilight! What are friends for if not for helping each other, cheering one another or being one another’s test subjects!” Pinkie stated as she clopped her hooves cheerfully.

Twilight nodded and lit her horn as she scanned her pink friend, doing her best to ignore the painful headache as if woodpecker was poking her head. After reviewing the data, she cast it again and again with a pout on her face until not a single spark could go out of her horn, her magic completely worn out.

“Sooooo, did I pass, did I pass?”

Twilight blinked at Pinkie and said with a dumbfounded expression on her face while spreading her forelegs. “But that doesn't make any sense!”

“Pinkie Pie never makes any sense; the less you think about it, the more healthy you’ll be. Trust me,” Nurse Redheart advised the tiny mare as Pinkie started to bounce in front of them.

“So, what did you find? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

Twilight jumped onto the energetic pony’s nose and spoke, “Pinkie, you have far more pegasus magic in yourself than earth pony magic!”

Pinkie crossed her eyes to look at her tiny friend. “I do?”

Twilight nodded as she climbed up on her muzzle and sat on it, while gesturing her forelegs all around in panic. “And not just that! There is even more of another type of magic in you that makes no sense.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “I don’t even know what to make of this. It’s just so… chaotic.”

Pinkie looked at Twilight in confusion before a cheerful smile radiated on her face. “Coooool!”

Twilight hung her head low in defeat before she jumped down from Pinkie’s muzzle and walked towards the exit, only for the hooves of a nurse to block her way. Twilight looked up at her while poking her own horn. “I don't have any magic left to heal more ponies. Anything else I can help you with?”

The nurse looked at the tiny mare with worry and concern. “You shouldn’t leave yet, young lady.”

“Why?”

“First, you ate a bit of a dangerous cupcake. We need to make sure that it doesn’t poison you.” Redheart paused before adding, “Secondly, with your magic fully spent, you’re too vulnerable to simply walk around Ponyville.”

“I’ll be fine.” Twilight shrugged as the nurse closed the door behind her.

“I’m not letting you out for your own good, little missy. I’m sorry, but you must remain in this room until I’m sure that you’re healthy and well rested,” Redheart remarked as she stomped her hoof in front of Twilight, almost throwing the little mare off balance. “Furthermore, this time you have no magic to aid in your escape.”

Twilight smirked as she gave the nurse a challenging glare. “So you’re saying that without my magic... I won't be able to escape?”

“Not a chance,” the nurse answered as she moved her giant hoof towards her little patient, only for Twilight to dodge with a swift and elegant backflip, landing on her rear-hooves.

“I don’t need magic to win a game of tag, watch me,” Twilight said as she started to jump from bed to bed while the nurse tried fruitlessly to restrain her overly energetic patient. True to Twilight’s words, even without magic, capturing the little mare proved almost impossible. Meanwhile, Pinkie sat on a hospital bed and ate popcorn while watching the scene with amusement, at least until Twilight opened a window with her tiny hooves and jumped outside. All the poor nurse could do was watch as the tiny purple shape disappeared to her disappointment.

Author's Note

Typical Twiny, she just can't sit in one place and do nothing for long.

Ch4 - Applebuck Season - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 4

Applebuck Season
-
part 2

Twilight trotted along the path while looking to the sides, admiring the view as she searched for her shy friend. On the ground she could see several dens among the grass field, or rather the eyes of many heads emerging from them as several rabbits, moles and various rodents gave her a curious glance. While passing over a small wooden bridge that was rather big from her perspective, she glanced at several trees surrounding the area, noticing that she is being watched by birds, squirrels and even an eagle on top of the roof, who was hopefully not hungry. Approaching the cottage, a white bunny caught her attention as the distance between them disappeared.

Twilight stopped in her tracks at the sight of Angel glaring at her with an angry expression on his face. “Hello Angel. Have you seen Fluttershy anywhere?”

Noticing that the bunny was hitting the ground with his foot at high speed, she smiled awkwardly. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.” After seeing a confirming nod from him, she continued, “I’m trying to find Fluttershy and ask her to assist me in some of my research.” After receiving a suspicious glare, she chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her, I swear… so if you know where Fluttershy is, would you tell me? Please.”

Angel pointed in a direction with his paw as Twilight responded with a half bow and a quick, “Thank you!” before trotting in the indicated direction, only to notice that she was being followed. She quickly looked to see Angel Bunny behind her.

So far I’ve ridden on so many ponies, pegasi, Spike and even on the princesses themselves, perched on either their heads or backs. I wonder how it would feel if someone were ride me for a change, Twilight thought as she lit her horn and, to Angel’s confusion, levitated him onto her back, doing her best to place the twice her size bunny as comfortably as she could. “Hang onto me, Angel, I will get us to Fluttershy in an instant!”

***

Twilight galloped with all of the speed she could muster as she felt Angel's leg kicking her rear, though compared to everything she had endured up to this point, it barely even tickled. The little unicorn jumped over another obstacle as the bunny was cheering on her back.

“Enjoying the ride, Angel?” she asked, looking at her passenger who just nodded and pointed his paw in the direction where Fluttershy should be at this moment. Twilight nodded and jumped over a bush, landing on a path that led from Ponyville into the forest. She immediately stopped the moment she felt the earth tremble, only for a huge stampede of bunnies to capture her attention as they ran like there was no tomorrow.

Twilight didn’t flinch as she gave Angel a determined glance. “Hang on tight.” She started to jump left, right and above her assailants, evading bunnies one by one until the last one passed while hardly feeling the weight of her passenger. Wasting no time, she turned around and chased the terrified bunnies. “What’s got into them? They look terrified.”

Angel shrugged as Twilight sped up, her tiny hooves striking the ground with weak thumps. “We must stop them before they get lost in town or somepony steps on them!” Twilight shouted as she found it ironic since so many ponies were often worried that she may be stepped on if she wasn’t careful.

She lit her horn and caught every single bunny with her magic, now levitating them above her head. Even though there were at least a hundred bunnies, she resisted the pressure of their light weight with ease. “Hey Angel, think you could calm them down somehow?” Twilight asked, her passenger jumped from her back and ran in front of struggling bunnies, and with one strong whistle, every bunny looked down at him.

After noticing Angel’s paw gesture, Twilight nodded and put every bunny on the ground as he started to jump and squeal in front of them. The confusion that formed from watching Angel’s odd dance quickly turned into a thrill as every bunny saluted and formed lines of ten bunnies each, and soon Twilight could see Angel walking in front of them like a general at the head of an army, her mouth and eyes wide open from the sight. “Wow... Angel, that was amazing! I had no idea you had such leadership skills.”

Angel looked proudly at Twilight as he jumped onto her back and pointed with his paw towards the forest. Twilight giggled and played along as she walked towards it with an army of bunnies right behind her and the little officer riding on her back.

***

“Thank you so much, Twilight, you were a great help,” Fluttershy said gently as she looked down at the tiny mare and the army of bunnies standing in right behind her. The timid pegasus pointed at the formation and continued, “They are all safe thanks to you.”

Twilight shook her head. “Fluttershy, I just slowed them down. It was Angel who took control of the situation, all the praise goes to him.” She pointed at her passenger who kept sitting on her back with his paws crossed, a proud look on his face.

“I see. Thank you so much Angel, I’m very proud,” Fluttershy said, much to Angel’s amusement. “It is nice to see that you both have became such good friends.”

Twilight nodded with cheerful smile, but to her surprise, Angel jumped onto the ground and turned his back to her. “What’s wrong?”

The bunny officer didn’t respond as the little mare thought deeply for a moment.

“Well, if you don’t want us be friends... okay, we’re not friends,” Twilight said firmly as Angel turned around and faced her again, this time with a raised eyebrow. “Though I must say we make a good team. If you ever want to ride on me or need my help, just call,” Twilight said cheerfully as she raised her forehoof towards Angel while the white bunny looked at it, only to turn his head away, but before Twilight managed to put her hoof down on the ground, she noticed his paw straightening towards her. A smile quickly grew across her face as she shook it energetically, shaking the bunny as the result, with such speed that put Applejack’s welcoming hoof-shake into shame.

Angel walked away shakily and sat next to Fluttershy, who was counting bunnies. The fact that they all stood in formation made the counting incredibly fast. “Thank you so very much, cute little bunnies, now go back to your mommies,” Fluttershy said gently with one cheerful flap of her wings as she gestured with her hoof for the bunnies to go, but instead they just looked at Angel who, with a swift gesture of his paw, made them go back to their dens.

“Fluttershy, may I ask you a favour?” Twilight asked curiously.

The yellow pegasus knelt and looked at Twilight with a large smile, as gratitude and concern was clearly visible in her big blue eyes, the very sight enough for the little unicorn to feel a pleasant warmth in her heart. “Of course, Twilight. How can I help?”

Twilight climbed up on Fluttershy’s muzzle and started to explain about how she had three types of magic inside herself, adding how her friends had two, while Pinkie Pie was literally a pegasus without wings and had some reality warping power under her control. Once done with the explanation, she asked for permission to scan Fluttershy’s inner magic.

***

“Oh um… I’m not sure…” Fluttershy said hesitantly and stood up while Twilight did her best to keep her balance on her muzzle.

“Please,” Twilight pled with her forelegs held together.

“I’m sorry, but I recall…”

“Please, please, please,” Twilight pled again as she stared at Fluttershy with puppy-like eyes and a pout on her face while still sitting on her nose, her ears quickly drooped while her tail started to shake left and right at rapid speed.

Fluttershy bit her lip as she could do nothing but stare at the psychological assault of her little friend. Her heart started to beat faster and faster, threatening to escape her chest the moment Twilight’s tail moved around her neck as if it was a scarf, only to end up in between unicorn’s teeth as if she was chewing it. “Plisss…” was all that escaped from unicorn’s mouth as Fluttershy sighed, giving up to the weaponized cuteness that put her little critters’ best pleading expressions to shame.

“Alright.”

Twilight’s ears and tail shot upward as she smiled and, luckily for her, already recovered enough magic to scan Fluttershy several times before giving the timid pegasus a questioning look.

“Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Twilight nodded and said firmly, “Fluttershy,” as her expression caused the shy pegasus to flinch. The little unicorn still anchored on pegasus’s muzzle and unfazed by the sudden jump, continued, “I cannot detect even the slightest amount of pegasus magic inside you.”

Fluttershy gulped and asked hesitantly, “W-w-what d-do you m-mean?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I can detect a weak earth pony magic signature in you and a large amount of magic from unknown origin, but no pegasus magic.”

“Oh, look what time it is, I must go and feed my critters,” Fluttershy said as she carefully grabbed Twilight by her soft tail and put her gently on the ground. With the little mare no longer on her muzzle, she walked backwards, but Twilight quickly jumped towards her head and was once again hanging onto her nose.

“Your magic resembles that of my guard, Overwatch. Are you hiding some sort of secret?”

Fluttershy trembled as sweat started to slide from her head, only to bow with a weak thump before hiding her face behind her hooves. The little unicorn rolled on the grass as she was thrown off by the impact. “Oh Twilight, please, don’t tell anypony, please…”

The little mare shook a leaf from her head and gave Fluttershy a confused stare while Angel Bunny took a defensive position in front of the scared pegasus. With half-closed eyes and determination growing across her face, she ran towards Fluttershy, reacting just in time to avoid Angel’s bodyslam as she jumped onto bunny’s head and bounced forward, landing mere centimeters in front of the pegasus’s covered head.

Hearing a weak sob, Twilight’s ears drooped and a sad smile formed on her lips as she straightened her foreleg. With a gentle touch, her tiny hoof stroke Fluttershy’s giant foreleg, only to do the same with her cheek the moment she revealed her face. “It’s alright, Fluttershy, we all have secrets we don’t want others to know.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight with watery eyes, seeing nothing but compassion and guilt, only to see how it turned into a cheerful smile.

“Whatever you’re hiding, I’ll keep it secret. I promise I won’t tell anypony.”

“Y-you w-won’t?”

Twilight shook her head as she wiped Fluttershy’s tears with her tiny hoof. “My guard Overwatch has been my friend for over thirteen years now and I trust her with my life. And you saved me from a manticore back when I foolishly rushed to Nightmare Moon’s aid alone,” she spoke before nuzzling pegasus’s muzzle with her head, pressing herself against its soft surface while her forelegs attempted to embrace it in a hug. “Fluttershy, whatever you and Overwatch are hiding, if this is so important to keep secret, then I will respect your privacy.” She sighed and added in sad tone, “I’m really sorry for making you sad.”

Fluttershy waited for the little unicorn to release her muzzle before she sat and looked down at Twilight in disbelief, who just waved her foreleg and spoke, “If you ever decide to share your secret, I am all ears. Whatever secret it is, I won’t think any less of you.”

The moment Fluttershy’s sad smile was replaced with a warming one, Twilight looked at the farm on the horizon. “Anyway, it seems that Applejack has been causing a lot of trouble around the town and something tells me that those bunnies running towards Ponyville was the result of her helping.” Noticing Fluttershy’s nod, Twilight made a half bow. “Goodbye Fluttershy, Angel, it was fun but I have to go.”

“Wait!”

The little unicorn turned her head towards Fluttershy who smiled at her even more warmly. “Thank you very much, it means a lot to me.”

Twilight didn’t speak but instead just smiled back before galloping towards Sweet Apple Acres. I need to stop Applejack before she ends up in hospital or sends somepony else there… Now that I think about it, I hurt myself quite often. Do I really act like Applejack is now?

Author's Note

Quite a short part, however I hope that what happened here will be enough to spark some discussions.

I wonder what was more unexpected. General Angel or Fluttershy's secret.

Ch4 - Applebuck Season - part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 4

Applebuck Season
-
part 3

Twilight was unsure how long she had been running from one place to another while helping and testing her theories wherever she could. Her first trip was from her treehouse to Sugarcube Corner, only to find out about the poisonous cupcakes that caused an epidemic.

Going out of her way, Twilight galloped towards the hospital where she spent most of the day healing ponies despite draining her magical reserves completely, due to her significant size disadvantage. Afterwards, she ran to Fluttershy’s cottage, which was on the other side of Ponyville.

After giving Angel a ride while chasing some bunnies, the poor mare’s next destination was Sweet Apple Acres, yet another marathon for her to endure.

***

Overwatch wiped the sweat from her forehead.

She was perched precariously on a nearby tree branch, having closely observed the exchange between Fluttershy and Twilight. The contents of said discussion were… interesting, to say the least. It wasn’t quite important enough to confront the shy pegasus over, but certainly enough to warrant keeping a close eye on her.

She slumped forward, letting out a long groan as she watched the two ponies depart. Following Twilight had already been difficult back in Canterlot. Even though her charge took nine steps for every step she took, keeping up with such a dedicated athlete usually ended up with Overwatch collapsing into her bunk every night.

Sniper and stealth training were great for endurance and patience, but staying on watch for so long provided little time to adequately stay in shape. Even Steelie was starting to wane from his post-training prime, though he should have plenty of time on his hooves to start exercising again now that he moved to Ponyville.

The newfound earth pony magic Twilight had acquired was starting to become very problematic, slowly bolstering Twilight’s stamina to the point where keeping up with her was a nightmare.

The guard mare narrowed her eyes at the descending sun through the tree cover. It was only a couple weeks after the Summer Sun Celebration, which meant that the days were still among the longest of the year. Combined with the armor she wore and her dark, charcoal coat, Overwatch felt completely drained from the day’s exercise under the oppressive climate.

At times like this, I’m grateful she doesn’t use teleportation to move around, Overwatch thought as her legs hung down motionlessly, looking towards where Twilight was trotting. Wait a moment, wasn’t she going to Sweet Apple Acres?

She raised her head and levitated the branches to the side to take a better look. “That’s not where Sweet Apple Acres is…” she murmured to herself.

Overwatch’s head slumped down again. Doesn’t look like she knows about the shortcuts between Fluttershy’s cottage and the Acres. Probably just the hills and trees blocking most of her vision, she thought. The barn itself was perfectly visible from her current position if she pushed a couple of the branches out of the way.

It doesn’t look like she’s gotten too far. I could probably catch up. She let out a sigh before tilting to the side, letting go of the branch and falling straight to the ground. The guard mare let out a yelp as her legs nearly crumpled beneath her, though she managed to stay upright, wobbling slightly.

The guard mare scowled. “C’mon, I can do this,” she mumbled. “Surely, she’ll take a break at some point.”

She paused. “Eventually.”

***

Dusk had fallen after nearly an hour of galloping as the little unicorn climbed hills that were like mountains and passed trees that stood proudly like giant towers. Not daring to slow down as her tiny legs would hardly make any significant distance otherwise. Against her best efforts, she was forced to take at least two breaks, realizing that she was lost as her shortcut greatly expanded her traveling time.

Finally, Twilight arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, trembling from physical exertion as she wiped sweat from her face. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she began to trot at a more relaxed pace, admiring the peaceful scenery of the jungle known as Sweet Apple Acres. The sun still peaked out from behind two humongous hills, the red sky proving a wonderful background for the walls of apple trees.

Her mind somewhat refreshed, she began to focus, her horn aglow in a dim lavender light. A smile quickly spread across unicorn’s face; even though she wasn’t at her full potential, her magic reserves had at least slightly recovered despite her aching body.

Soon, Applejack’s home came into view; the red house seemed to be made of bronze under the crisp sunlight. The building was a strange blend of a very tall barn with a smaller wooden house. Several of the building’s windows reflected sunlight into the flower pots stationed on their windowsills.

After looking up into the glare of the sun, Twilight focused on some sort of tower with an apple-themed weathervane on top. She noted that the home had a second floor, presumably filled with bedrooms while the ground floor was likely reserved for chores. As she approached the front door, she passed an archway similar to its larger cousin at the main entrance, though with far fewer decorations.

She took a nervous look to her left at the two massive haystacks, nearly twice the size of a normal pony, before focusing her attention on the door, her determination growing and an end goal set in her mind. She was going to prevent Applejack from damaging Ponyville any further and stop her from ending up in a hospital, and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Twilight bent her legs as she prepared to jump-kick the door, only for a sharp pain in her ankle to remind her that it was not the wisest idea. Breathing a deep sigh as her hopes for a new door-opening record were crushed, she levitated a pitchfork she found lying next to the haystack, feeling too tired to challenge herself physically as she thumped the implement against the barrier.

“Ah’m comin’.”

Satisfied with the strong answer from the other side of the door, Twilight sat back and waited patiently, massaging her sore legs. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal the gigantic hooves of Big Macintosh. She drew her gaze higher, passing his massive legs and chest to his face, which was scanning the yard in search of the pony who knocked.

With a roll of her eyes, Twilight sighed and levitated the pitchfork before him, before placing it on the ground moments after Big Macintosh looked down at her.

"Hello Twiligh’, what brings you here so late?” Big Macintosh asked firmly with a raised eyebrow. Surely she wasn’t studying earth pony magic at such a late hour.

Twilight buckled her legs and jumped onto Big Mac’s foreleg, feeling too tired to jump directly onto the muzzle of the tallest stallion in Ponyville. After several seconds of climbing, she managed to pass his massive neck and was soon hanging onto his nose looking at his eyes. It was an odd place to communicate from, but no amount of pain or exhaustion was going to prevent her from continuing to climb onto other ponies’ muzzles.

“Hey, Big Mac. I’m here to check on Applejack,” she said, and the stallion pointed his hoof behind her towards a tree-covered hill, “Let me guess, she’s working?”

“Eeyup.”

Twilight frowned. “Has she at least taken a break?”

At Big Mac’s solemn shake of his head, Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead. “Figures she would still be working without a break!” The tiny mare could see Big Macintosh’s confusion, so she continued, “Your sister is exhausting herself to her limits and refuses to sleep. Just today she sent Rainbow Dash crashing into my library,” Big Mac sat and listened with growing curiosity, “practically poisoned plenty of ponies and terrorised Ponyville with a bunch of baby bunnies.”

The proud stallion closed his eyes for a moment before opening them as he looked at her with determination, “Ah'll go talk to her.”

Twilight nodded. “That sure would help. Still, why’s she working so hard?”

With a quick jerk of his head, Big Mac threw Twilight, to her great surprise, from his nose, over his head and onto his back. The moment Twilight landed, she noticed the bandage wrapped tightly around his stomach.

“You had an accident, I had no idea...”

Big Mac walked towards the open field, determination on his face hiding any sign of pain he felt, his stomps firm and strong, only for his legs to suddenly refuse to lift, anchored against the ground by some sort of force. With little more effort, he raised one of his forelegs and looked at it, only to see a light purple aura shackling his hoof.

“Why’re ya stoppin’ me?”

“You need medical assistance! We can talk with Applejack, but not by endangering your own health,” Twilight said with a mix of determination and concern as she sent more magic into her horn. She jumped onto the ground, gritting her teeth and levitating the stallion above her head. Her legs flexed from the heavy pressure that now pressed her against the ground, adding least fourteen times her own weight.

The aching in Twilight’s muscles returned in full force the moment she raised her foreleg, taking step after step towards the house, but she didn’t care as the brother of her friend was hurt and she was determined to ease his pain while ignoring her own, preventing any yelps from leaving her sealed lips.

Big Mac just rolled his eyes before closing them as he let Twilight levitate him until the struggling mare finally reached the first bed she could find. After being carefully placed on it, he could see the poor unicorn breathing heavily as her horn cooled down, all the while covered in sweat. If he had learned anything about the little mare, it was that Twilight's stubbornness surpassed even Applejack’s whenever she wanted to help somepony. The best course of action was just to play along.

After a few seconds to regain her balance as her rapidly beating heart slowed down, Twilight looked upward at the red giant. The effort she just pulled, the pressure that weighed on her with every step, it seemed so familiar as she didn’t feel like this ever since she escorted her sleepy mentor after days of dealing with so called ‘Giant Worms Incident.’

A few colonies of giant hungry worms, some even with tentacles shooting from their mouths migrated to Fillydelphia in search for their stolen eggs, causing earthquakes while hunting for fresh meat. The princess had to use a great amount of her power while supporting her army to deal with them. Not to mention a few sleepless night where she assisted in relocating the invaders from the city, pushing herself nearly as hard as her student.

Twilight made a mental note to ask her mentor where she sealed the ones she didn’t trap in the canyon the princess named ‘Ghastly Gorge’ before shaking her head, once again focusing on the wounded stallion.

With a quick jump, she landed on the bed and approached Mac’s wounded belly, only to pull the bandage in attempt to unroll it.

“What are ya doin’? Ah need those bandages.”

Twilight anchored her rear hooves against the undamaged part of Mac’s stomach while pulling the bandage with all of her strength, only to switch to her levitation before she looked at the stallion and spoke, “Don’t worry, I’m very experienced with healing magic and magical surgery, I think I will be able to help.” Her forehoof stroke the bandaged belly gently.

Big Mac nodded. “Ah think Ah can trust ya.”

Once the bandages were finally unrolled, Twilight’s face turned green as she felt sudden urge to puke at the sight of an open wound. Even her job as the Wonderbolt medic hardly prepared her to look at an injury of that size. Whatever struck the proud giant had to be very powerful if it managed to penetrate his muscular, filled with magic body.

Despite the very unpleasant view in front of her, Twilight lit her horn and rushed to work, fixing the damage with surgical precision, guiding her magic to repair Big Mac’s flesh and insides, one little fragment at a time.

To Twilight’s disadvantage, healing a wound of that size without her magic reserves even halfway restored, proved to be a problem. To make matters worse, while the studious unicorn knew pegasus’ anatomy upside down, her knowledge of earth pony’s anatomy was lacking, which in turn made the task of fully healing Big Mac impossible.

An hour of healing later, Twilight’s horn was once again red hot, while all of her reserves were spent, and a headache was assaulting her with even more force than back at the hospital. She quickly put her hooves on both sides of her head and grit her teeth, her mind exhausted and unable to focus as she looked at Big Macintosh’s wound, which was only half-healed despite her best efforts. With sigh of defeat, she puffed on her horn and walked towards the giant, looking him in the eyes apologetically.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight lowered her head in shame while her ears drooped. “Your wounds are too serious. I’ll need at least half a day to recover my magic to finish the healing process, I’m truly sorry for wasting your time.”

Suddenly, Twilight could see Big Mac’s humongous hoof under her neck, raising her head gently. “Ah’m thankful for ya tryin’, Miss Twilight. Ya did yer best to help and Ah appreciate it,” he said as she watched the giant rise from his bed. “Ah may not be healed, but Ah feel much better.”

Twilight stood up and pointed at the unrolled bandages. “Are there any new bandages we can patch you up with, Big Mac? These ones are a bit worn out.”

“Eeyap.” He nodded.

Not wasting a moment, the little unicorn jumped onto Big Mac’s back as he walked towards his room until he reached a table where unused bandages were displayed. Unable to use her magic as her head threatened to explode, Twilight just jumped on Big Mac’s head, only to bounce off towards the table. With a swift move of her hoof, she placed the edge of the bandage between her teeth and turned back to the stallion who looked at her with a raised eyebrow, only to expose his side to her.

Twilight smiled before jumping over Mac’s back, landing on the floor with a weak thump. Wasting no time, she turned around and hopped, anchoring her forelegs against the bandage that was straightened from between the table and Big Mac’s belly, only to climb onto undamaged part of stallion's stomach before jumping onto the floor as she repeated the process over and over. Her years of training and dodging yielded results as she somehow managed to roll it around Mac’s wounded belly while using nothing but her tiny hooves and acrobatic skills, receiving chuckles and an impressed smile from her stoic patient.

“Ah must say, yer doin’ really well without yer magic, Miss Twilight. Ah don’ know how to thank ya for yer help.” Big Mac gave Twilight a thankful glance while she returned it with a smile, hiding a blush behind her foreleg.

“Think nothing of it. I like helping, and the brother of my friend is my friend too as Pinkie would say,” Twilight said and giggled as Big Macintosh walked towards the exit with goal to lecture Applejack, his wounds no longer as severe and painful as they were before. Not wanting to be left behind, Twilight trotted next to the muscular giant, not intimidated by his long and heavy legs in the least, even when one stomped in front of her while blocking her path.

“Ah’ll take ya to Applejack. Please, take a rest.”

“But.”

“Ah insist.”

Twilight nodded as she climbed on Big Mac’s foreleg before she was deposited on his back, and before she knew it, her tired mind and days without sleep got the best of her. Her heavy eyes closing blissfully as her consciousness escaped into the land of dreams.

Overwatch could do little else but stare in disbelief.

“Even when she’s taking a break, she’s on the move,” she groused, heaving out an exasperated sigh before trundling on after Big Mac and Twilight. “When I get back to the library, I’m going to turn this breastplate into a pretzel.”

***

“Ah am not goin’ to take help from any pony!” Applejack shouted in a random direction as she could hardly see where her brother was standing, dizziness overtaking her.

“Yer goin’ to accept help. Ah won’ take no for an answer.”

“Ah’m not!”

“Ya caused a lot of trouble for pony folks; if ya won’ let anypony help, Ah will buck those trees for ya.”

“Yer wounded, Ah’m not lettin ya kick nothin’.”

“Yer friend’s magic helped me lots, Ah feel better.”

“Mah friend?” Applejack asked in confusion as Big Mac lowered his head carefully and pointed his forehoof at the tiny passenger that was sleeping deeply, perched in his orange mane as he decided that it would be a much more comfortable location than his back.

The little mare as always when in deep sleep was curled into a ball with hind legs and tail serving as a pillow for her head. After a closer look one would see a pile of hair between her forelegs, and did it served as eiderdown or some sort of doll for her to hug was hard to tell. Applejack took a close look with half-closed eyes, her vision still blurred as she wondered why her brother dyed the top of his mane in purple.

“Twiligh’ healed me and now she’s havin’ a deserved rest on mah head,” Big Macintosh said with a hint of pride.

“What?” Applejack shook her head and massaged her ears as she couldn't understand a single word.

“Ah said…!” Big Mac said louder, but a sudden movement on his head attracted his attention as he noticed a tiny head lean out from behind his mane.

“Hello Applejack… oh no, you look terrible!” Twilight said in panic as she slid from Big Mac’s muzzle and ran towards her friend who was now kicking a dead tree. “Applejack, stop it.” Her plea was obviously ignored as the farm mare raised her forehoof, forcing Twilight to jump to the side before it could slam her into dirt. With a sigh of relief, she wiped sweat from her head and looked back at her friend, only to flinch at the shaky movements of Applejack, who was walking as if she had drunk a gallon of hard cider. “Applejack!” Twilight yelled as the farm mare looked around, blinking rapidly.

“Who's there?”

“It is me, Twilight. I’m here to help!” she shouted, standing on her rear hooves.

Applejack rubbed her ear before walking towards another tree, her movements even shakier than before as she walked down the little hill, tripping over and rolling on the ground. Her hat fell from her head.

Twilight followed, catching up with the farm mare who was now lying upside down against an apple tree. She asked, “Need a hoof?”

Applejack blinked her bloodshot eyes before rolling to the side, her forelegs shaking as she struggled to stand. Acting as if she didn’t see or hear her little friend.

“Please, let us help,” Big Mac said as he approached with slow steps.

“Help… help… Ah don’t need no help.”

“But ya’re hurtin’ yerself. This is another sleepless night that you’ve spent workin’ on the farm.” The stallion plead, “Please, let us help like yer friends helped weeks ago.“

Twilight’s ears drooped as she felt deja-vu for some reasons.

“Ah have mah pride! Ya said Ah cannot do it on mah own, well, Ah will manage! Ah will prove to ya and everypony that Ah can gather all the apples on mah own,” Applejack responded with a tired but determined voice, though talking to a tree rather than her brother.

"Yer really worryin’ me sis.”

Twilight raised forehoof up to her mouth as a memory flashed in her mind.

“The blessing Nightmare Moon honored me with can only be researched at night.” Spike groaned.

“Besides, the moon keeps me awake and stronger than ever. I can manage!” Twilight said in determination as yet another drop of sweat fell onto her muzzle.

“But this is your tenth sleepless night, Twilight! The more you research it, the more tired you’ll be the next day!” Spike said with a concerned look, but Twilight just ignored him as she poured more magic into her horn. “You’re really worrying me!”

A one-ton load in the appearance of a few bookshelves, levitated in mid air.

Twilight lowered her head in shame and rubbed her foreleg. How could I be so insensitive to Spike’s, Steel Blade’s, and Overwatch’s feelings? she thought, now seeing Applejack being her mirror reflection. After releasing a deep sigh, she raised her looked between both Apples. It seems even her brother can’t convince Applejack to change her mind, not when she’s in such condition.

She rubbed her chin, now glancing at the towering trees. Helping with labor would take too long, not to mention that trees wouldn’t grow apples back for a while if I levitated the apples with my magic, but I must do something to cut down Applejack’s work.

Twilight smiled and stomped as realization struck her. That’s it. Applejack must be on the verge of complete exhaustion. Maybe I can put her into sleep with my magic. It will help her recover and buy us more time. With plan in her mind, she lit her horn with magic and jumped towards her friend’s muzzle, whose hind legs were raised above the ground as Applejack was struggling with her aim.

“Whaaa!” Applejack yelped in surprise and started shaking her muzzle, throwing Twilight over her head.

The little unicorn bounced on her back before speeding towards the tree, only to feel cold hoof strike against her back, inflicting an incredible amount of pain, breaking her bones. Big Mac gasped and ran to her aid, though being too far away to stop his sister from what she was about to do.

A second and third strike quickly followed, pressing against her back as Twilight was literally embedded into the tree, with her own body pinned against the wooden surface. Next two strikes missed the target thanks to Overwatch’s levitation as all the apples fell from the tow alongside several branches from repetitive strikes.

Upon noticing Twilight’s guard running to her aid, Big Mac glared at his sister and narrowed his eyes. His steps now slow but firm as his hooves sank into the ground. While he knew that it was yet another of many accidents, it was one too many.

“Stupid vermins and bugs, infestin’ mah trees and apples. That’ll teach’em,” Applejack said in annoyance as she started to walk towards the next tree. While she didn’t have enough time to kick the annoying bug with full strength, not to mention being weakened after days of hard work, a few quick strikes were enough to make sure it wouldn’t cause more trouble to her farm.

Her walk was interrupted as her muzzle to press against Big Mac’s chest who blocked her way.

“Applejack!”

The farm mare took a step back and shook her head, ignoring the enraged glare of her brother.

“Applejack!” Big Mac stomped with great force, causing a weak quake under his sister’s hooves.

“Ah’em workin’, time’s apples,” she said as she walked shaky, struggling to round her brother who stepped to the side and once again blocked her way.

“Applejack, look behind ya!” he said as his patience started to running out. Upon seeing how not even words can reach his sister anymore, he raised his foreleg and slapped her.

“What in the haystack was tha’ for?” Applejack asked as her tired mind failed to process what was happening around her.

“Look for yerself!” Big Mac shouted into her ear with hostility as he pointed towards the unicorn shaped hole in the tree. Overwatch had already removed the little mare from the surface and placed her face-up on the ground, using her magic to keep Twilight’s head and neck as rigid as possible as she carefully felt for a pulse. "She did all she could to help, yet ya hurt her because of your buckin' stubbornness. Applejack, ya crossed a line ya can't uncross."

Applejack rubbed her sleepy eyes to get a better look as her brain finally sent her a late but clear ‘you just crushed your friend with a solid kick, you buckhead’ message. The moment her vision cleared and brain finally woke up, Applejack felt shivering in her bones as she ran towards the tree.

“Twilight!”

The charcoal guard mare shot Applejack a withering glare through watery eyes as she stood protectively over her charge, who laid on the ground like a lifeless doll. With little ceremony, she charged up a spell on her horn and shot a shining blue flare into the sky, watching it hit its peak before turning her cold gaze back to the farm mare.

Applejack’s heart started to beat faster as she placed her trembling hooves on both sides of her head and screamed, “W-what have Ah done?!”

Ch4 - Applebuck Season - part 4

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 4

Applebuck Season
-
part 4

Twilight yawned as she spread her forelegs and opened her tired eyes while the face of a nurse she slowly recognized appeared in her sharpening vision. She tried to move, to raise her head, only to find herself covered in bandages.

“You can proudly add another hospital visit to your impressive record, Miss Sparkle,” Redheart said sarcastically before rolling her eyes. “I warned you that your lack of magic would leave you very vulnerable, but did you listen? Nooo...”

Twilight took a deep breath before asking while giving the nurse a questioning look, “What happened and how long have I been unconscious?”

“I think it will be best if your friends tell you as they are visiting frequently.” The nurse paused for a moment before looking at Twilight with pity in her eyes. “As for how long you were out, three days.”

Twilight jumped onto her hooves and paced around on the bed despite the bandages all over her body while breathing rapidly.

“Three days!?”

“That’s correct. It appears that your sleepless nights, which your guards kindly informed me about, caused you to sleep far longer than you needed as your body made a full recovery two days ago,” Redheart said, doing her best to hide the amazement in her voice as she was very impressed by this annoying little unicorn’s endurance and recovery rate, though she would never admit it aloud.

“Well... I’m used to getting injured, so I recover fast…” Twilight said while rubbing her back with bandaged hoof, only to pause as her mouth and eyes opened widely. “Wait a moment!”

She examined her body and thought deeply for a moment before rolling the bandages off, bouncing and dancing on the bed to the nurse’s amusement in attempt to free herself. Once free, she dumped the soft material to the side and gave Redheart an annoyed glare. “If I recovered two days ago, then what are all those bandages for? You made me look like a mummy!”

The nurse just chuckled before straightening her foreleg as only now Twilight could see a cap filled with fresh water on her hoof. Not wasting a moment, she grabbed it between her hooves and drank as the pleasant cold liquid refreshed her dry mouth. Redheart waited for the little mare to wipe her face before speaking, “Would you prefer to look like a mummy so I could convince your friends to let you rest, or have Pinkie Pie trying to wake you up with singing and whatever pops into her chaotic mind?”

Twilight, realizing that she just had dodged the bullet, dropped the cap and nodded. “Good point.”

“Your friends should be paying you a visit in around ten minutes as they do it regularly, so please be patient and wait for them,” Redheart said calmly before walking towards the exit.

“Wait!” Twilight called as the nurse gave her a curious glance. “Just out of curiosity, why are you the only nurse I always bump into, and also why haven’t you tried to ensure that I won’t run away or do something reckless?”

Redheart sighed and spoke in defeat, “Would I be able to stop you if you decided to leave or do something reckless?” Twilight shook her head. “I thought so. As for why we always bump to each other… I think it is just our poor luck.”

Once the nurse left the room, Twilight examined her surroundings. She could see that she was lying on a normal size bed on a pillow, in front of her was a big watch telling her that it will be twelve o'clock in ten minutes. To her left she could see several gifts and ‘get better’ memos.

The moment she noticed some sweets from Pinkie and apples from Applejack, she heard her belly growling as she hadn’t eaten anything for three days. Wasting no time, she levitated an apple and some sweets over while saliva dripped from her mouth, only to lick her lips before digging into the food while reading the memos left by her friends and guards. Each bite and each word filled her spirit with joy.

***

“So Twilight finally woke up and is waitin’ for us?” Applejack asked firmly as all of Twilight’s friends and guards were now standing in front of the hospital room where they visited their little unconscious mummy at least five times a day. Noticing Nurse Redheart’s nod, Applejack looked behind her at the rest of the pack and smiled awkwardly. “Maybe Ah should go last. Twilight sure must be as angry as a pack of starving Timberwolves after Ah smacked her like a piece of rotten wood.”

Rarity grabbed the farm mare’s foreleg and spoke firmly, “You are not getting away that easy, Applejack.” She pulled the farm mare towards herself until their muzzles collided as she looked at her with a glare that would shrink anypony from shame. “You stained your hooves shamefully and hurt your friend, now you must wash them and regain your honor with an honest apology.”

“That’s right sis, ya mess up, ya clean up,” Big Mac added.

“That, and you’d only be delaying the inevitable by waiting,” Steel Blade said calmly. “Twilight wouldn’t be one to—”

“You get three strikes, Applejack,” Overwatch butted in, her voice low and her eyes narrowed at the farm mare. “You’ve already used two of them. Twilight may care about you and you may be an Element Bearer, but if you strike out one more time, I will haunt you like a demon out of Tartarus; I will suck out every single positive emotion you will ever feel for the rest of your life.”

The pegasus guard quickly cleared his throat, bumping his partner with his flank. “Ignoring the threats of soul draining, Overwatch is right about one thing,” he said with a quick glare at the charcoal mare before turning back to Applejack. “Twilight probably does care about you—she’s forgiven others for way worse—and even if she doesn’t, she’s the type of pony to find you anyways. You might as well go in now, before she confronts you on her own terms.”

The farm mare gulped as she wasn’t given any choice and turned towards the door, only to be pushed by Spike the moment the door opened so her face was about to make contact with the clean floor.

***

Twilight took another bite of the chocolate cube she held between her forehooves as she tore away another fragment of it, leaving a small bite mark with her tiny teeth. Her savoring was interrupted by a loud thump the moment the door swung open and Applejack slid along the floor. She swallowed the chocolate in her throat and levitated what was left back on the gifts-filled table, focusing her attention on her friend who in a moment stood up from the floor.

“Hello Applejack!” Twilight shouted as her startled friend flinched to the left, before looking at her. She waved her hoof at Applejack who was now looking at her with an awkward smile while rubbing back of her neck.

“H-howdy... partner… s-sugarcube,” Applejack said as if something was stuck in her throat.

Twilight’s attention shifted to her guards, baby dragon and Applejack’s brother who entered the room before closing the door. It didn’t take long before the farm mare was flanked from three sides.

“Hello everypony… and Spike, how nice of you to visit!” She watched as Big Mac pushed Applejack lightly towards her, giving his sister a glare she translated as; ‘ya have a lot of explaining to do’.

“Twilight… Ah have somethin’ to tell ya…” Applejack said, rubbing her forelegs nervously. Having Twilight’s full attention, she looked at her small friend in sorrow. “Ah w-wanted to… wanted to…” Before she could finish, her friend immediately stood on her hooves and ran towards her before jumping from the edge of the bed right onto her nose.

“Yes?”

Applejack was stunned by Twilight’s bravery, wondering how the little mare can so casually jump towards her muzzle considering how painful it was the last time.

“You seems worried. Is something wrong?” Twilight asked.

Applejack’s mouth fell agape as she crossed her eyes. “W-wha’?” escaped her mouth as she started to fear that she caused her friend to have an amnesia.

Twilight glanced at Big Mac and her guards, confused by their hostile glare directed towards the farm mare. “Did you have an argument with your brother?”

“Ah bucked ya!” Applejack shouted as Twilight, who hung onto her nose, was pushed away by the strength of her voice, though Overwatch’s magical aura caught her in mid air before she hit the side of the bed. “When ya tried to help, Ah bucked ya into a tree more than once. Ah sent ya to hospital with cracked bones!” The farm mare pointed at her with trembling foreleg.

Twilight shook her head as she was placed on the bed by Overwatch’s magic. “You did?” she asked in confusion. She lowered her head, now staring down at her hospital bed, the memory of being smashed against the tree like a common bug flashed in her mind. She felt shiver in her spine and massaged the back of her neck. “That explains it.” When she decided to help Applejack before she would end up in the hospital or send somepony there, she wasn’t expecting it would happen to her.

Spike stomped and spoke hastily, “Twilight, she just smashed you against a tree and fractured most of your bones, how can you say that she doesn’t deserve a punch in the face!” He frowned before adding, “Can’t you get angry at somepony for hurting you, at least once?”

Twilight shook her head and pointed at Applejack who still had her mouth open as ‘waaaaaaaa’ came out of it. “Applejack was in a bad state of mind when she did it. lack of sleep and exhaustion made her temporarily insane; I cannot be angry at somepony who wasn’t fully aware of their actions.”

Spike and Steel Blade wanted to respond, but the view of Applejack rushing towards the bed and grabbing the tiny mare cut them off while Twilight could see tears running down Applejack’s cheeks.

“Why do ya have to be such a big pony, Twiligh’, so f-forgivin’, never angry or demandin’ that ponies that smashed ya flat should be punished?” Applejack put the little unicorn back on the bed as she wiped tears from one of her cheeks. “Ah hurt ya when ya tried to help and get some brain into mah petrified skull. Ah repaid yer kindness by buckin’ ya like a tree. Why do you have to be so forgivin’?”

Twilight looked at Applejack in pity as the farm mare couldn’t stop the flow of her tears. “For three reasons:” she said proudly, puffing her chest and catching Applejack’s attention. “First, I’m trying to become a strong and brave pony, and a strong pony can endure when other ponies hurt her and forgive them.”

She paused and took deep breath before continuing, “Second, everypony makes mistakes, I make them a lot.” Twilight gave Spike, Steel Blade and Overwatch an apologetic glance, who just nodded with uncertain expressions. “But friends can forgive those mistakes and it’s important to learn the lesson from them so you don’t repeat them again.” She looked to the side. “I admit, learning from my mistakes is something I’m not good at.”

Twilight sat and smiled warmly. “As for the last reason, I already told you, I cannot be angry for something what wasn’t your fault; I have caused a lot of trouble with my mess ups regarding my training, more often than I would care to admit, and the only reason that the damage I caused was minimal is because I’m small and such.”

“But Ah knew that Ah bit off more than Ah could chew, Ah knew that ponies wanted to help, Ah knew that Ah hurt others more that stampede of cows would, but Ah was so darn stubborn to get everythin’ done by mahself that Ah stuck to it. It was mah fault, mah decision,” Applejack said and put her hooves together in a pleading gesture. “First Ah hurt ya when Ah thought ya to be just a prank, and now this… at least let me repay ya somehow!”

Twilight shook her head and shrugged. “What’s done is done, if you want to repay me for this mistake, how about you let me and our friends help out at Sweet Apple Acres?” She stood on her rear hooves and stretched her legs as a few quiet snapping sounds in her bones followed. Once she regained some of her flexibility lost from her three day nap, she added, “I am fully recovered and ready to go.”

“There’s no need for that,” Applejack said with a proud smile. “Our friends already helped and so have yer guards.”

Twilight thought deeply with a quiet “mmmm…” for a moment before she cast a scanning spell on Applejack, only to cast it again on herself. “There, you repaid me.”

“W-what?” Applejack said with an open mouth while taking a step back.

Twilight giggled. “For the past few days you worked restlessly while I endured an incredibly strong hit. My scanning spell detected a slight increase of earth pony magic inside both of us, even your pegasus magic improved a little.” She beamed from excitement. “How about you let me watch you work at your farm and study earth pony magic? In exchange I will assist you with your chores. Does this sound like a fair deal to you?”

Applejack shook her head. “Ya want to help on mah farm everyday?”

Twilight nodded. “I sure do. When you told me why you wanted a ticket to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’, you complained about how little you earn to improve the farm… At first, I was considering investing in your farm with the bits I earned working for the Wonderbolts,” she said as Applejack reared up on her hind legs in shock before losing her balance as a surprised “whaaa” escaped her mouth, only to land on Spike with a loud thump who ended up right under her flank.

After shaking her head while ignoring Spike’s growl and his sharp scales as the little drake pushed himself from under her. She looked at Twilight and wondered if she hit her so hard that the little mare had finally lost it. ”Twilight! Ah bucked ya twice ever since we’ve meet, and ya not only forgive me but even offer to help on the farm for free?”

“Anything for a friend.”

Applejack’s felt as if something in her head snapped while her pupils shrank and went to the side. After staring at the window for a few seconds, she murmured, “Yer gettin’ everythin’ wron’, Twiligh’.” She massaged her forehead before continuing, “Ah’m supposed to apologize and repay ya to redeem mahself, like servin’ ya, cookin’ for ya, bein’ yer punchin’ bag or let ya test magic on me. Would it takes days, weeks or even a month.”

The farm mare pointed at her little friend. “Yer supposed to be angry, hold a grudge, yell at me, tell the princess how Ah messed up. Yer supposed decide mah punishment or send me on a dangerous quest, somethin’ to let me make up for what Ah did.”

“Why would I ever do that?” Twilight asked before standing on her rear hooves and holding forehoof against her own chest. “Who do you think I am? I would never make a friend do something so silly and overly complicated because of a… slightly painful misunderstanding,” Twilight said as Applejack’s ears drooped. “As you can see, I’m fine and tougher than before, no harm done.” She smiled warmly. “Let’s just forget what happened and focus on being productive, like helping your farm get in shape. There’s no need for you to feel sad or guilty anymore.”

Steel Blade looked between his little boss and the trembling farm mare and spoke up, “Umm… Twilight, I think you’re missing the point. You’re only making her feel more guilty by not allowing her to make it up to you.”

Twilight flinched and fell over at Applejack’s stomp that hit the the floor with full force, cracking it a little. “Ah’m tired of ya forgivin’ and givin’. Ah am goin' to accept yer help if ya insist, but not for free, Ah will pay fairly for yer work!”

“Applejack,” Twilight said in disappointment as she perched herself on the hospital pillow. “There’s no need for you to pay me. The data I get from my research is payment enough. I can be your intern.”

“Ahem,” Spike interrupted. “Interns get paid.”

“Hush Spike.” Twilight added, “Besides, interns don’t always get paid, it depends.”

Steel Blade interrupted, “I believe this is the case where you should accept payment before your friend loses her sanity.”

Overwatch rubbed at her forehead with a hoof. “This is the whole Celestia problem all over again.”

“Ah’ll let ya help, but Ah will pay ya for yer work. No free labor!” Applejack said as she raised her forehoof towards Twilight who thought for a moment.

With a job in Ponyville, I won’t have to depend on the Princess’s scholarships or savings from my previous job. On another side, my friend’s farm is in trouble, and helping while getting paid isn’t really helping. She looked at Applejack’s waiting hoof. Still, it seems that she can be very stubborn and prideful. I doubt I will convince her to let me work for free. Twilight shook her head. “I cannot accept bits when your farm has financial problems,” she said as the farm mare frowned, “but I can work for food.”

Applejack blinked in confusion. “Ya want to work on mah farm while Ah provide catering?” Noticing a nod, she said, “Well, it seems like a fair deal, and it won’t hurt mah profits… wait a darn minute.” Applejack paused as she looked at the tiny mare suspiciously. “With yer size, ya’ll probably eat an apple at best. One apple for entire day of labor?” Noticing an awkward smile, she smirked, “Ah’ll provide catering fer ya, yer guards and that baby dragon of yers in exchange for yer labor. Ah’ll add a few bits as bonus for hard work from time to time if sales go well and if ya need any favour, big or small, just ask. Ya want it or not, Ah owe ya a big debt, it’s a matter of mah honor and pride to repay it. Deal?”

Twilight felt conflicted. She wanted to help her friend without receiving any payment or hurting farm’s profit, a way of rewarding Applejack for always helping everypony and being dependable when Ponyville was in trouble. Getting a free food supply for herself, Spike and her guards wasn’t part of the plan. Still, it was better for the farm than if she was being paid with bits regularly.

“Deal,” Twilight said before turning towards Spike and her guards as she lowered her head in shame, almost bowing. “I’m sorry.”

The guards and Spike looked at her with confusion and asked in unison. “For what?”

“For not listening to you and ignoring your feelings. Three days ago I was really worried when Applejack was hurting herself and refused help or to take a break… do you feel the same way about me everyday?” Twilight asked in a low voice filled with shame as they all nodded, causing her to bow deeply while her ears and tail drooped. “I’m sorry and I swear that there will be no more sleepless nights… can you forgive me, please?”

“Sure.”

“Of course.”

“No biggy.”

Twilight stood up from her bow and looked at her adoptive son and personal guards in disbelief. “Just like that?”

“Twilight,” Spike said firmly as he sat on the bed next to his adoptive mother and placed his hand on her tiny shoulder. “First off, we got used to your recklessness, and second, how can we not forgive you anything if you forgive everything that everypony does to you just as easily?”

“And to be fair, we’ve gotten pretty used to it back in Canterlot,” Steel Blade said, shrugging. “Honestly, I get jaded enough to random inconveniences from dealing with Overwatch.”

The guard mare gasped, scandalized. “Hey, I’ve been acting completely normal these past few days!”

“Trying to make your armor implode into a knot is normal?” Steel Blade said, an expression of mock shock on his face. “Sweet Celestia, I’ve been wrong my entire life.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Twilight started hesitantly but then smiled and jumped onto Spike’s head, only to bounce towards Overwatch and climb up her horn. “I think there’s a lot of research data I should send to the princesses,” she said before smirking. “Also, a letter with the valuable lesson Applejack and I learned today wouldn’t hurt.”

Overwatch smiled as she walked to the exit while Twilight hoof-stood on her horn, and soon a big group of friends was surrounding her. Much to Twilight’s surprise, even Mr. Cake was among her friends in order to thank her for healing Pinkie Pie and many other ponies in town, only to add his gratitude for protecting his business as fear of poisonous cupcakes would ruin it.

“Thou hast called for us, sister?” Luna asked curiously as she walked into her sister’s bedchamber, passing two bowing Royal Guards, who trembled in fear. After a closer look, she noticed several bruises still present on their fur, as they learned to never get between the princesses, especially when one of them is very angry.

Feeling pity for the poor guards, Luna made a mental note to apologise later and go easy on them next time if it comes to it, only to abandon that notion a moment later as she frowned at their pathetic display of skills. Those two Royal Guards were meant to protect her sister, to put their life on the line if necessary, and to think that they would become that soft after a millennium of her absence?

Luna shot them an angry glare, as the guards flinched and returned to their posts in an instant. There was no doubt that she was going to erase this absolute disgrace by getting their sorry flanks back in line, even if she would need to train them into true warriors personally.

“Yes, Luna. I thought you may be interested in a letter from my beloved student alongside the progress she has made in studying your blessing,” Celestia said cheerfully as she levitated the ten kilogram heavy stack of papers towards her along with the scroll. “The letter is directed to both of us.”

Luna rolled her eyes, wondering if Celestia would have withheld this information if the letter had not been addressed to both princesses. Wasting no time, she unrolled the scroll and read.

“Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

I am sending this letter alongside all the research data I gathered over the past few days as it turns out that I posses all three types of magic after the Nightmare Moon event.

Luna’s eyes opened widely as she looked at her sister, only to see her smile at her with indescribable joy. “Yes, sister; it seems that the Elements may one day turn Twilight into an alicorn just like they did with us. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Luna nodded and continued reading.

My friends on the other hoof possess magic of two races, for example: Rainbow Dash and Applejack seem to be earth ponies and pegasi at the same time, though there are no wings on Applejack, I assure you.

Pinkie Pie however is a special case as she seems to have more pegasus magic despite being an earth pony. Can you believe it? I wonder if she had only pegasus magic to begin with before we used the Elements, though there is also a law breaking magic inside of her that I do not recognise as it is too chaotic for any research to be done on it...Yet.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Two types of magic in the other bearers? ‘Tis odd; what dost thou make of this? Will they turn into alicorns as well?”

Celestia shook her head. “I am not sure as this is something that had never occurred before. We must wait to see for ourselves. Even after two millennia, the Elements of Harmony are still a big mystery.”

Maybe if you haven’t not used all the Elements against us, they would not have been but mere rocks for millennia but instead free to be researched? She bit her lip at the thought that surfaced in her mind, deciding against speaking it aloud. “Still, the pink one does worry us.”

Celestia raised her head. “You mean that chaotic magic?”

“Yes, for it sounds exactly like a specific dreadful creature who had scattered the Elements all over the land we now call Equestria, and stole our wings and thy horn.” Luna frowned at the very memory of her biggest foe even after two millennia had passed. “It took us five years to gather them again as Discord took away all of our magic and prevented any pony from helping us. ‘Tis thanks to the Elements that not just our wings returned to us. As alicorns filled with harmony, we were resistant to his chaotic magic during our second encounter.”

“I know, but it is impossible for the Element Bearers to possess chaotic magic. Harmony and chaos cannot mix, sister; the Element of Laughter cannot posses both.”

Luna sighed and decided not to give it any further thought as she continued reading.

I must also apologize as I will not perform any research on Fluttershy’s magic. Oh, that reminds me, if there is anything that I learned from Overwatch and Fluttershy, it is that sometime your friends have secrets that they will keep hidden even from you, but as a good friend one must respect other’s privacy and trust them.

“Secrets?” Luna questioned, only to feel a hoof rest on her shoulder.

“Fluttershy and Overwatch are trustworthy. Whatever Twilight discovered, I will trust her instincts that there is nothing to worry about,” Celestia said calmly as Luna nodded.

In addition to my research, I learned another very a valuable lesson. It seems that Applejack tried to work too hard and did not listen to anypony who tried to help. She kind of reminded me of myself.

I deeply apologise to you Princess Celestia for worrying you so often as well, and I would be grateful if you would tell Cadence that I apologize for stressing her just as often.

From this event I learned that whenever I push myself to my limits, all of my friends are worried about my safety, and even if I can handle the pain and exhaustion, I am still making them worried and sad.

Luna gave Celestia a questioning glance while her sister was now sitting next to her and read the letter as well. “Thy student is really determined to push herself. Did she ever worry thee?”

Celestia sighed and murmured, “You have no idea.” After taking a deep breath, she looked at Luna in sorrow. “That is why I want to protect her. I know that my student is running into dangers and lessons on her own everyday. Instead of a guide who will push her gently into self improvement, she needs a guardian angel who will save her if she pushes herself too hard,” Celestia said with sadness as Luna smiled, now understanding the relationship between her savior and her sister better.

Considering the lesson I have learned and my friends’ feelings, I will need to reduce the amount of research about the blessing that Nightmare Moon gifted me with.

Princess Luna, if you are reading this, I am deeply sorry as my progress will be slowed down. Instead of diligently researching it for the entire night everyday, I will spend just two hours at best. Once again, my deepest apologies.

Your Little Faithful Student and Loyal Subject, Twilight Sparkle.

Luna rolled the letter and placed it on the floor. She raised her eyebrow before facing her sister who was smiling cheerfully at her. One cold glare into her sister’s eyes banished the smile as Celestia looked at her in worry.

“Is something wrong?”

The night princess coughed. “It is indeed, sister!”

Celestia flinched at the loudly spoken ‘sister’ as she felt a shivering in her spine under Luna’s cold and intimidating stare. Then the realization struck her. “Luna, it was you who decided to hide information of your blessing from my student.”

“As we followed thy stupid advice. We trusted thee when thou told us that thy student would have fun. We never expected that she would spend sleepless nights researching it, risking a change in her sleeping habits, a mistake we made over a thousand years ago,” Luna snarled, glaring daggers at her sister.

Celestia sighed. “Do you wish to punish me, Luna?”

She nodded. “We are going to send a letter of apology to thy student and accept the consequences of our actions,” Luna said authoritatively, as if ready to receive any punishment the little unicorn would see fit to put upon her, “and provide her with information about our blessing she so desires to know about. But first, we would like to ask thee a question: art thou willing to accept thy punishment for corrupting us with thy ways?”

Celestia didn’t bothered to answer as one action would tell more than a thousand words. Instead she walked in front of her sister and lit her horn, but one weak poke of Luna’s hoof stopped her.

“Why dost thou try to shrink thyself?” she asked while giving her sister a curious look.

“To receive a proper punishment,” Celestia said firmly as she raised her sister’s foreleg and pointed at the floor under it.

Luna frowned, mildly insulted. “Thinkest thou that we would be so unoriginal as to always give thee the same punishment? Thou hast no faith in our imagination.” Celestia blinked a few times as Luna turned around, turning her back to her as she spoke, “Thou shalt receive a suitable punishment in due time, sister.”

Luna walked towards the exit as Celestia blinked in confusion and asked, “But how will you punish me?”

Luna smirked. “Thou shalt learn soon enough,” she said with a devilish grin.

With this final remark, Luna left the room as Celestia looked at the exit for a minute while her guards entered and looked at her in worry. Celestia knew that she could avoid receiving any punishment with a simple refusal, that it was her choice. Just one word and every single mistake she did and will do in the near future would go unpunished as for past millennium.

But she didn’t want that, what would her sister think of her, how many more centuries she would wait to receive her trust and forgiveness? The always proud alicorn gulped and thought, I wonder if it would not be easier to just be banished to the sun for a thousand years to earn her forgiveness… rather than this.

Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 5

Griffon Brushoff
-
Part 1

“What is this place?” the white alicorn murmured to herself as she fought her way through the jungle, pressing herself against the leaves and bushes while her horn ended up stuck between branches more often than she would like, a small disadvantage of being tall. “How did I get here in the first place?”

An odd rustling sound coming from the bushes caught Celestia’s attention as she lit her horn and turned to the source of noise while taking a fighting stance, her legs steeled and horn aimed. “Whoever you are, show yourself!”

Her eyes opened widely as a normal sized Twilight Sparkle in a safari hat jumped from the bushes and ran pass her.

“Twilight...?” Celestia murmured as more noises attracted her attention. A group of tigers and huge cats jumped over the bush and followed her student. It took only seconds for the princess to comprehend her situation as she shot the advancing predators an intimidating glare while spreading her wings. Her student was in danger and she was not going to stand aside.

Celestia’s horn lit as she focused her magic to restrain those big cats with simple levitation, carefully charging her magic to not kill them in anger. She gasped and took a step back as her magic refused to capture her foes while the angered predators ran straight at her. With a shake of her head, she turned around, her long legs preparing for physical combat as even without spells, she still had strength of earth ponies and years of training at her disposal.

Her leg shot towards her target with her hoof advancing directly against the tiger’s face with enough force to kick him at least a mile away, only to pass through it as if he was made of thin air. Celestia could only stare in shock and confusion as the huge cats passed through her as if she wasn’t even there, not feeling anything but a weak breeze when the tiger made contact with her chest.

With a weak slap against her own face, she recovered from her shock and galloped, following the wild animals as she shot stunning beams at them, her attacks passing through their bodies as if they were ghosts. The princess kept running while screaming Twilight’s name, only to find her student was trapped on the edge of a cliff. “Twilight!”

To Celestia’s surprise, her student grabbed a vine and swung to the other side of the cliff, leaving the big cats behind with no means to follow her. Wasting no time, she spread her wings and followed Twilight into some sort of temple. “This looks familiar…” she murmured as her student started to evade multiple traps like a flaming hole in the ground, or alligators hanging down from the ceiling. “Why is Twilight acting like Daring Do?”

“Daring Do?” a familiar voice asked as Celestia looked around for its source, only for a blue figure to emerge from the darkness. “Who is this Daring Do thou speakest of?”

Celestia shook her head in disbelief. “L-Luna?” She ran towards her sister as barrage of questions followed: “How did we end up here? Why is my student no longer small and why we are in the Temple from Daring Do’s adventures?”

Luna smirked and spoke. “The answer is quite simple, dear sister. We dragged thee into thy student’s dream. Though We must admit, thy student loves adventures so much that she has them even in the land of dreams. As if she doesn’t get enough in the world of the living.”

“You dragged us into her dream, why would you do this?” Celestia asked curiously while Luna responded with an innocent smile.

“We were merely practicing our dream magic. We are too weak to protect our subjects from nightmares just yet, but dragging thee here was a good practice,“ Luna said while trying to read her sister’s facial expression. After noticing Celestia sighing in relief, she smiled slyly and added, “We are also going to punish thee for all the sleepless nights thy idea caused thine student.”

Celestia flinched as her calm heart started to beat faster. “Y-you don’t mean.”

“Thou shalt play part in this adventure about–Daring Do, was it called?–while We watch and enjoy,” Luna said cheerfully while Celestia gave her a sarcastic glance.

“You know you can just read the book, Luna.”

The moon princess shook her head. “Why read when We can watch? Now, entertain us,” Luna said as she lit her horn, and disappeared in a wave of magic, leaving Celestia alone in the temple. “Have fun, sister,” her voice echoed as Celestia glanced forward upon empty halls.

Celestia knew that whatever reason her sister had placed her in a dream just like one of those Daring Do novels, it was meant to be a punishment, so even if it was a dream, the experience would feel very real. Knowing her sister, in order to wake up, she had to proceed. After lighting her horn, Celestia made her way through the first tunnel, careful for any of the known traps the series was famous for.

“I just have to keep on my gu–” Just as she expected, she felt her hoof suddenly sink into the floor followed by a loud click. Out of reflex, she jumped back just in time to avoid spear that shot up mere centimeters in front of her muzzle. Her peace of mind didn’t last long as she felt her hind leg sink into yet another hole in the floor, activating a trap that her millennia old mind didn’t recognize. Celestia’s eyes widened as she yelped, “Oh, pony-feathers.”

Suddenly, arrows from hidden holes in the wall shot out. Celestia reared back, barely avoiding them before gasping in pain as two hit her straight in the back. As she expected, the pain felt somewhat real despite it being a dream, and she would forget most of it the next day. In desperation she tried to form up a shield, only to find out that Luna had blocked her magic. With no other choice, the princess ran for it, doing her best to dodge the arrows, but a few hit their mark on the sides of her flank. When she had reached what seemed to be the end, she sighed in relief.

TWANG!

THUNK!

“Ugh…” Celestia froze as she slowly looked down and saw a spear heading straight towards her chest. Stumbling, the princess fell down to the floor with spear emerging from her back and found it harder to breath, darkness surrounding her. Luckily, it didn’t hurt nowhere as much as if the same happened to her if she was awake, a side effect of her being in a dream.

If she learned anything, it was that Luna took more than just her spells away as her always nearly impenetrable flesh was now swiftly pierced by a simple spear. Is this… death? thought Celestia as it got colder and colder. This isn’t so bad… kind of peaceful even if it is a dream. Knowing that she would wake up as soon as her “death” was complete, she gave up and closed her eye as she let out her final breath of air, allowing herself to be swallowed by the darkness.

***

Celestia slowly opened her eyes as she was no longer feeling the pain from the arrows. The alicorn got up and looked around, expecting to wake up in her safe and comfortable bedchamber, but to her surprise, she was where she started. “What? But I died? Aren’t you suppose to wake up when you die in a dream?” she asked with confusion while looking around, waiting for any response.

“Normally yes, but this is a special kind of dream. Every time you die, thou shalt have to start all over again,” Luna explained before chuckling. “Until thou manages to complete the dream without dying even once, thou shalt have it continuously from dusk to dawn,” she said in a neutral tone. “Also, no magic allowed, sister. Good luck! Try not to fail too many times.”

Celestia growled. She should have known better than to think Luna would let her off that easy. With a choice between facing the temple or refusing to accept her sister’s punishment, Celestia mentally prepared herself, refusing everytime Luna asked her to give up. This time she made sure to avoid any loose stones on the floor with the help of her wings before landing right where she died. The princess huffed as she saw what appeared to be a gravestone with her cutie mark on it. Must be Luna’s twisted reminder of where I fallen last time. On the bright side, it is nice to be teased by her again like in the old days, a good sign of her warming up to me.

“We almost forgot. That Daring Do thou speakest off, could she fly in this story?”

“Not in this one if I remem… I mean yes, she could!” Celestia added hastily but too late as her wings refused to cooperate with her, only for her face to meet the stone floor with a loud thump.

She raised her head from the hole in the floor before shaking the debris from her head, now focused on the big strong wings that refused to heed her call. Annoyed by losing her biggest advantage, she stepped forward, only to feel a loose string break as an axe came loose from above and swing at Celestia’s wide-eyed head. She didn’t speak but instead raised her eyebrow in ‘you have to be kidding me’ gesture before closing her eyes.

SHINK!

***

After dying from countless attempts, Celestia finally reached the last part thanks to memorizing her sister’s newly placed traps. “If I remember correctly, I need to walk on the parts of the floor that have the picture of a mouse on it,” Celestia said to herself, already forming a plan as she glared at the shining reward in the middle of the room. “Once I grab it, the lava will burst from the floor, then I wil–” She didn’t finish her sentence as she heard an odd noise coming from right behind her, and the moment she turned around, she saw a giant boulder rolling towards her.

Caught off guard, she lost her balance to the tremor under her hooves, only for her ears to flatten against her head while her mane lost its multicolored brightness and turned grey. Celestia yelped, as she felt the humongous weight of the boulder crushing her legs before doing the same with her belly and head, leaving her mighty body flattened against the floor.

Not wanting to give up just yet, Celestia rolled and stood while bruises covered her entire body, only for the boulder to shatter the shiny statue into unrecognizable pieces. Suddenly, the earth trembled under her hooves. “Wait, this didn’t happen in the story,” Celesta remarked to herself as she make a run for it and jumped towards the center of the room as lava emerged from all sides.

"It seems thou student added a few," she chuckled, "modifications to make it more unpredictable. This is understandable, as what kind of challenge would it be if one knew how to proceed to win."

Celestia frowned at the remark of her sister as sweat started to fall from her face. She looked around at the red scenery while waiting for pillars to break from the earthquake as it was her only means to escape. Not wasting her opportunity, the princess jumped onto a damaged pillar and next on another, her freedom just one leap away.

She bend her forelegs, her hind legs following in suit, when suddenly the pillar under her hooves crumbled, and she fell into the pit of hot boiling lava. As the magma splashed around her, one loud word escaped her mouth, “LUNAAAAAA!”

“Twilight, wake up!” Spike said as he poked the tiny mare with his finger.

“Another day, another dungeon,” Twilight murmured in her sleep as Spike poked her harder. “Huh, what?” she murmured in confusion as she slowly opened her eyes, her vision of the young drake sharpening. “What is it Spike? I had a really pleasant dream.”

“Rainbow Dash came by and asked to see you,” Spike said firmly as Twilight blinked a few times and looked at Spike in confusion.

“Really? I thought that she and Pinkie Pie would run around the town and play countless pranks here and there… Amateurs. Their pranks were nothing compared to the ones Philomena and I…” she paused and stretched her legs before standing on her pillow, slowly recovering from her sleepiness. Spike on the other hoof trembled upon the memory of the prank spree this duo performed, especially the one where Celestia ate soup spicy enough to send at least thirty ponies begging for water.

As much as I like spending time with Dash, she's far too intrusive. Twilight sighed. It seems the break from her that Pinkie Pie arranged didn’t last long. “What does she want this time?” she asked with a frown as Spike shrugged. After taking a deep breath to relax herself, the little unicorn raised her foreleg and hind leg, only to drop it as her hooves moved up and down on her pillow, pressing against the soft surface as she tried to realign her sleeping spot. With her pillow once again presentable, she jumped off and ran until she arrived on her balcony where Rainbow Dash waited impatiently.

“I thought you were hanging out with Pinkie Pie. Bored of her already?” Twilight asked with annoyance as Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“It’s not that. I mean, Pinkie Pie is okay, I guess. Proved to be more fun than I thought,” Rainbow Dash said hesitantly before taking a few steps towards Twilight, “but that’s not the case. Just yesterday my old school buddy visited me. Isn’t that great?”

Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Great…” she said and gave Rainbow Dash a questioning look. “If your friend is visiting, shouldn't you be spending time with him…”

“Her.”

“With her,” Twilight corrected herself. “Why are you here then?”

Rainbow Dash rubbed back of her neck. “Well, it’s kind of… let’s say that besides me, she doesn’t really like other ponies.”

“Aaaa...nd?”

“And I’m worried that she may not like the idea that I have more friends than just her. She tends to be jealous… but let’s be honest, an awesome pony like me can’t just have one friend. Wouldn’t you agree?” Dash asked in excitement as Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I will ask again, why are you here and how do I fit into all of this?”

Rainbow Dash lowered herself to Twilight’s level, her forelegs bent together in a pleading gesture. “I wanted to introduce you to her, so that you both can be friends.”

Twilight walked closer and jumped onto Rainbow Dash’s foreleg. “Why don’t you introduce Pinkie Pie to her instead?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Because Pinkie and Gilda’s style just don’t mix. I need a cool pony to befriend her, and if you manage to get on her good side, maybe I can convince Gilda to befriend the rest of the team,” Rainbow Dash explained with a growing smile.

Twilight rubbed the lower part of her neck as she thought deeply for a moment while her friend stared at her expectantly as a curious “Soooo?” escaped her mouth.

She raised her head and smiled warmly. “Sure, why not. If she’s your friend, then she can be mine as well.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she jumped into air while Twilight, who was sitting on her hooves, was swiftly thrown upwards above Dash’s head. The little mare yelped as she performed a forced somersault in mid air before landing on the edge of balcony, her widened eyes blinking in shock. Rainbow Dash turned around and glanced at her apologetically. “Sorry.”

Celestia jumped from her bed like a rocket as she now looked around her bedchamber in panic, expecting poison arrows to shoot from the walls at any second. After making sure that no traps or giant boulder would crush her, she walked outside of her bedchamber. She had a few words to exchange with her dream-invading sister.

Step by step, the princess walked through the hallway towards wing with several guest rooms, not paying attention to the bowing guards and maids who stepped back at the mere look on her face, making passage for their angered ruler. Finally, she arrived at VIP guest room that was now her sister’s freshly redecorated bedchamber as she struggled to keep her heavy eyelids open.

Celestia rubbed her eyes and shook her head as she mentally prepared herself. Not bothering with pleasantries, she pushed the door open before entering with a loud stomp. She restrained herself from saying a single word and looked around to admire the added decorations in attempt to calm down. She could see several various star constellations with huge moon decorating the ceiling while the room itself was a little dark. One would think that after being trapped in this cold lonely prison, one would get sick of even looking at it, but not Luna. Celestia could see two unicorns working diligently on preparing the room for the Princess of the Night as they followed her instructions, only to bow the moment they noticed another princess present in the room.

She gestured her hoof for the servants to leave before her attention focused on Luna who was lying comfortably on four eiderdown pillows. In front of the night princess levitated a book that quickly closed as Luna’s head turned to look at her with a wide grin. “Hast thou slept well, sister?”

“Quite,” Celestia said while rolling her bloodshot eyes, now somewhat calm after admiring the view of the room. “Though I still question your methods, Luna. You always manipulated other ponies dreams to prevent nightmares or helped to face them, not other way around. Slight abuse of your power if you ask me.”

Luna frowned as she put her book aside, it joined the rest that lied in a pile. “We merely punished thee accordingly.” She took deep breath before continuing, her voice calm but cold, “Thine idea caused thy student to have ten sleepless night. We merely see fit to punish thee with ten bad dreams.”

Celestia looked down at the floor, her voice slightly sad with hint of guilt. “My dear sister. I know that you are having fun, paying me back for how I treated you a thousand years ago, or even for banishing you, but aren’t you going overboard?”

The smaller alicorn shook her head. “We merely punish thee for thy manipulations. As long as thou wilt not make a mistake, thou will be safe from our watchful eyes.” She took a slow breath and continued in a calm tone, “If thou fear the pain, fear no longer, as we made thou aware in thy dream to explain our punishment. Thy further nightmares, with one exception, will be safe from it.”

Celestia sighed in defeat. “Is there any other way for me to earn your forgiveness?”

“There are many ways to earn it, dear sister,” Luna stated before lowering her head as Celestia noticed a note of disappointment on her face. “Though we didn’t expect thy resolve to extinguish so quickly.”

The taller alicorn rubbed her foreleg as she murmured, “So, nine nightmares left?”

“Correct.”

“And you will have fun while putting them on me?”

“While We are ashamed to admit it, We would lie if We said that We don’t.”

Celestia quickly glanced at the books that were lying next to her sister’s bed, easily noticing titles like ‘Trotting Dead’ and ‘Fallout: Equestria’ before she let out a deep sigh and slowly walked away from Luna's not yet finished Bedchamber. The things I do for my sister.

***

The moment Luna was left alone in her room, she looked to the side at a rolled letter before levitating it over with her magic. She unrolled and read it in her mind.

Dear Princess Luna

I am afraid I cannot accept your offer to decide your punishment. Please, do not feel guilty over what happened to me, Your Highness. It was my fault for spending so many sleepless nights on my research when one or two hours each day would have been enough.

Furthermore, I learned a lot by examining your blessing and found this research project quite thrilling. I am very grateful for all the information you provided me with, and wish you and your sister a good time.

Your Loyal Subject, Twilight Sparkle.

She put away the scroll and once again glanced at the books before murmuring to herself, “Thy student is too forgiving, sister. Now We must find a proper punishment ourselves.”

“So, what can you tell me about your friend, Dash?” Twilight asked curiously while sitting on her friend’s back, however, instead of being perched against her fur with rear hooves anchored on sides of hers neck, she was attached to a saddle as she now rode Rainbow Dash with professional equipment.

“She’s is cool, she has guts, she’s fast and most importantly, totally radical,” Rainbow Dash explained as Twilight smirked.

“So she’s just like your mirror reflection, outside of the fact that she doesn’t like anypony beside you. I guess she must be a pegasus.”

“Not really,” Rainbow Dash responded as Twilight shot her friend a confused glance.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that she isn’t a pony.”

“Not a pony?”

“You’re about to find out,” Rainbow Dash said as she landed on a hill with a loud thump. “She should be here any moment.”

Twilight wasted no time before she unhooked herself from her saddle and jumped down to the ground, walking across tall grass before Dash’s voice caught hers attention, “Here she comes.”

Rainbow Dash pointed into the air as Twilight looked up, only to see a shape of a Griffon slowly descending from behind the clouds.

“Your friend is a Griffon?” she asked curiously as her friend nodded.

“Yeah she is. I hope you don’t find it odd.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not at all. To be honest, I meet a few Griffon delegates more than once during my public appearances,” she said with her muzzle raised proudly as Rainbow Dash gave her a questioning glance. The little unicorn just returned it with a wide grin as a memory flashed in her mind.

“I must say, Princess, your hospitality is quite impressive. You even accommodate us with meat though your subjects are vegetarians,” the griffon ambassador spoke professionally while a few Griffon delegates and even one young dragon representative now sat in front of a very long eating table, Celestia at the head of it.

“Not a problem at all, it is important to respect each other’s racial eating habits,” Celestia said cheerfully, an honest smile on her face. “Speaking of which...” the princess said as she pointed her hoof at the platter with food under a metallic cover, now moving across the table towards them.

The griffons looked at it and blinked in confusion before the ambassador gave Celestia a questioning look. “I thought that whenever something is being levitated, you can see an aura of magic surrounding it, Princess. Would you be so kind to explain why this platter levitates without any sign of magic?”

“I'm not using my magic,” a quiet voice spoke from the platter, capturing them off guard, while Celestia giggled with a hoof on her mouth.

“Did the f-food just speak?” one griffon asked, dumbfounded, while another gave Celestia an odd glance.

“Should I assume that we will need to kill it. As much as I would appreciate eating fresh meat, it seems a bit inappropriate to do so in front of you, Princess.”

“I am not the food, I am just carrying it,” once again the voice spoke, this time slightly louder. The moment the platter was close enough, one of Griffon delegates lifted the metallic cover with his talons, only to see several cooked fish on it.

“H-how, who spoke?”

“It was me,” once again the voice echoed as only now the griffons noticed that it came from underneath the tray, and the moment one of them lifted it, a tiny purple unicorn mare appeared in their line of sight.

Twilight waved her hoof. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s Protégé, nice to meet you.”

All the griffons’ mouths opened agape while Celestia laughed lightly, barely preventing it from bursting out. Twilight smiled and pointed at the tray with food. “I hope you all will enjoy the food. Bon Appetit,” she said cheerfully before running towards her mentor, jumping over obstacles on the dining table before ending up on Celestia’s exposed shoulder and sitting on it.

“Y-your protégé?” the ambassador asked, still dumbfounded as Celestia looked at him and nodded.

“Correct, she is my little faithful student.”

The ambassador raised an eyebrow as he finally recovered from the shock. “I understand that you often call your subjects ‘your little ponies’, but this is new,” the ambassador said in disbelief as he pointed towards the tiny mare still perched on princess’s shoulder who waved back at him.

Celestia gulped and wiped her mouth with napkin before speaking, “Sirs, I’m sure you have many questions, but why not ask Twilight? I’m sure that she’ll be comfortable answering anything you are curious about.”

The little unicorn smiled and nodded. “Yup, go ahead. I will be honored to answer your questions, ask me anything.”

The delegates all looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Finally, one of them, a griffon who had just earned his spot not too long ago, asked with childish curiosity, “Um, how do you use the bathroom?”

A long silence erupted as ponies and griffons stared at the rookie delegate. A large red blush appeared on Twilight’s cheeks as she suddenly wished to teleport herself from here to Vanhoover.

“Um…” said the main ambassador, who was sweating like a dog on a hot summer’s day, “...Um, how about those Wonderbolts?” To everyone's relief, the conversation, thankfully, turned in a different direction.

Author's Note

I hope that Celestia's dying scenes weren't too mean spirited or too dramatic. Rated Ponystar assisted me with writting them, and I hope he didn't overdoo it.

Also, on side note, I feel that the dream scene ended up as subtle reference to "Mario Level Maker" ( the gravestone for Celestia is just like marked point where mario died), and a bit stronger reference to Undertale, (where each time you died, you could restart from your saved spot).

Both references are unintentional as I wrote this chapter more than a year ago. (Though Celestia roleplaying as Frisk is a silly idea in itself).

Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 5

Griffon Brushoff
-
part 2

As Gilda was getting closer to the ground with every flap of her strong wings, she didn’t take her attention away from Rainbow Dash, but the moment she landed, an armored pegasus sitting behind her friend caught her attention. She walked towards her friend while maintaining a strong and proud posture. "Sup, Dash?” she said with a relaxed voice as she glanced at Steel Blade. “So, this is the cool friend of yours you wanted me to meet."

After a moment of examining the guard with her glance, she added, “Hmn… not too shabby…”

Steel Blade raised his eyebrow as he looked at the griffon with a professional expression of a Royal Guard while Rainbow Dash shook her hoof at him. “Oh, him, nah, he’s just my friend’s personal guard who decided to tag along… He is average, I guess,” she stated as Steel Blade’s wings and head hung low at being called ‘average’.

“A personal guard?” Gilda stated. “Is your friend some sort of VIP?”

Rainbow Dash nodded and raised her head upward proudly. “She sure is. She’s very important and knows many powerful ponies.”

Gilda started to look around before giving her friend a questioning glance. “Where is she anyway? I hope she’s not hiding from me like a coward.”

Rainbow Dash pointed at Gilda’s foreclaw, and the moment the griffon looked down, she noticed a small purple shape in front of them, waving at her. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you!”

Gilda didn’t say a word before turning towards Dash with a raised eyebrow. “Is this a joke?”

Before she could say anything, Gilda fell on her back and burst into laughter. “Good one, Dash,” she said in a break between her laughter as she rolled and glanced at Twilight, who looked back at her in confusion. Gilda moved her talons above the tiny mare and waved. “How do you do this, Dash? There’s no strings attached. How do you even make her sound as if she’s speaking?”

“This is not a prank,” Twilight said in annoyance as she stood on her rear hooves and crossed her forelegs, only for a loud “whaaa” to leave her mouth the moment Gilda grabbed her with her talons.

“Come on Dash, tell me how it works,” Gilda said while examining the pony in her talons. She tightened her grip, squeezing Rainbow Dash’s toy a little too find out what sound it would make.

“She’s not a toy, stop hurting her!” Rainbow Dash said with a sudden hostility as she walked towards Gilda, glaring at her with narrowed eyes. Her hooves stomping loudly with every step.

“That’s right,” Steel Blade added before taking a defensive stance, his voice sharp and firm. “Release her or I will use force!”

Gilda glanced at her friend for a moment before looking back at the toy. After a closer look, she could see the plush unicorn gritting its teeth in pain. She blinked in confusion and released it, only to notice how it was breathing heavily. She gave Rainbow Dash a curious stare and asked, “She’s really not a toy?” As both pegasi nodded firmly, she continued, “So... your friend is a tiny unicorn?”

“Yes, she is,” Rainbow Dash said with a proud smile as Gilda raised her eyebrow.

"You asked me to come here just to tell me that you're friends with some sort of freak?" Upon not receiving any response, she shook her head. “Laaa...me.”

“Lame?”

“Yes, Dash! When did you start to hang out with lame freaks?”

”Take it back!” Rainbow Dash frowned as flew over and poked griffon’s chest. “She’s not lame! Twilight is the most awesome pony in all of Equestria… besides me of course,” she stated loudly to Gilda’s surprise. “She’s adventurous, powerful and she’s got guts! If you’ll just give her a chance, you would see it too.”

Gilda sighed and spoke, “Come on, Dash, hanging with some sort of a pony rat is so uncool. I usually eat rats for breakfast, not befriend them.”

“Please, Gilda, just trust me on this,” Rainbow Dash plead as she pointed at Twilight, who was sitting and watching from a distance in silence. “She’s very cool, just give her a chance.”

Gilda gave Rainbow Dash a questioning look as she scratched lower part of her neck. “What do you have in mind?”

“Let her prove how awesome she really is. First, check out her guts,” Dash suggested with a challenging tone as Gilda rolled her eyes.

“Guts, are you kidding me? That little freak will run from me after one gesture of my talons.”

“Try her,” Rainbow Dash challenged again as Gilda nodded.

“Fine... but don't blame me if your lame friend runs away with her tail between her legs.”

Gilda walked towards the tiny mare who looked up at her patiently from her spot in the grass. Steel Blade noticing it, raised his foreleg as if he wanted to follow, but Dash stopped him with a hoof. “This is between them, don’t interfere,” Rainbow Dash said with narrowed eyes, the very look at her was enough to tell that she was going to stop him, even by force.

Gilda sat in front of the tiny unicorn who was curiously observing her every move. Slowly, she inhaled a huge amount of air into her lungs and kept it for a few seconds while her chest and cheeks looked like balloons. Twilight grit her teeth in terror as she realized what was about to happen, but before she could react, Gilda screamed at her with a loud and terrifying battle cry. Twilight was pushed by the strength of griffon’s voice as she rolled uncontrollably through the grass before crashing into a small rock, stars circling above her head.

She opened her eyes and looked at the tiny unicorn who was now lying far away from her. She smirked and glanced at Rainbow Dash. “See, I told you she would–” she failed to finish her sentence as in a flash, the tiny unicorn appeared on her beak and sealed it with her four legs. She tried to say something, but her mouth refused to open under the strong grip of the tiny mare as she could see the unicorn looking at her in anger.

“Why did you do that?” Twilight shouted with annoyance and growled. “Being small, my ears are far more sensitive and fragile. You could have made me deaf!”

Gilda put more strength into her beak as the wrestling match between it and Twilight began, much to Rainbow Dash's amusement.

The little unicorn started to sweat as she shouted “Apologise!” before gritting her teeth and closing her eyes in her struggle. Her ears still ached.

After several more seconds, Gilda overpowered Twilight and pushed her away before giving her a curious glance. “You’re not afraid of me?”

Twilight looked up at the giant half-eagle, half-lion creature and shook her head. “Why should I be?”

The griffin blinked a few times before kneeling to the ground and exposing her talons. “Because I’m a predator who eat rats half your size for breakfast. Why didn’t my battle cry scare you to death?” she asked as Twilight just smiled at her.

“While I’m a little afraid of you, I can easily defeat that fear,” she stated as Gilda frowned at this remark. “Firstly, you’re Rainbow Dash’s friend, so I know that you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I won't hurt you? If you think that being Dash's friend gets you on my good list, think again," Gilda said in a relaxed voice. “You’re just like a breakfast for me, Dash’s buddy or not.”

Twilight gave the Griffon a proud look. “Secondly, even if you were hostile, I can still defend myself.”

Gilda laughed. “You? Defend? That’s a laugh.” Her laughter was quickly interrupted by a sudden push of a powerful force, and the moment she opened her eyes, she could see the tiny unicorn standing on her chest while her horn lit with a powerful aura.

“And finally, I faced far bigger fears. Compared to what I experienced, you’re not scary at all.”

Gilda stood up and glanced at Rainbow Dash while Twilight slid from her fur onto the grass. The griffon asked, “Is she for real?”

Rainbow Dash smirked and placed her foreleg on Gilda’s shoulder. “Told you, she got guts.”

“Guts or not, she’s just a large rat to me,” Gilda stated as Twilight looked up into her eyes with a challenging stare.

“Rat you say?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, a large rat that I can catch, tear apart and eat with ease if it annoys me.”

Twilight glanced at Dash and asked, “Is she as fast and agile as you?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Not a chance. She’s fast, sure, but while griffons are stronger, pegasi will always be masters in speed and agility.” She raised her head proudly and bragged, “She may be faster than the average pegasus, but never faster than me, Rainbow Dash.”

Steel Blade knelt on the ground as he started to poke his hoof at it, tearing the grass off while drawing frowny faces as he was forever stuck to be just an average guard among the special mares.

“Oh yeah, just wait and I will beat you in speed one day,” Gilda said with a frown directed at her friend, only to notice a bright flash on pegasus’s head.

Twilight straightened her tiny hoof at Gilda and gave her a challenging glare. “I challenge you to a game of tag,” she said with determination as Gilda smirked.

“Tag? A rat like you–wants to challenge a natural predator like me–to a game of tag?” Gilda chuckled. “I’m gonna hunt you down in seconds.”

“Prove it.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow and focused her attention on her friend. “You saw it, Dash, she’s asking for it. Don’t blame me if my claws leave a few marks on your friend’s fur.”

The pegasus responded with a relaxed voice, “I’m not worried, because she will beat you.”

Gilda flew into air and let out a roar while Twilight jumped from Rainbow Dash’s head and galloped, much to Gilda’s amusement as she smiled devilishly. “Let’s have some fun.”

***

“Stay still you little freak!” Gilda shouted with growing irritation as Twilight jumped to the left, once again evading her talons. For around fifteen minutes, the tiny mare had been running and teleporting from place to place, out-tricking every single one of her hunting techniques.

With a strong flap of her wings, Gilda flew up again before diving at her target who was standing proudly on a rock, but when she was about to hit her, Twilight jumped back while performing a backflip in the air as Gilda’s claws struck the stone instead.

One strike after another, the fragments of grass flew all over the place as the tiny acrobatic unicorn evaded Gilda’s hits by jumping back or to the side, sometimes casting a barrier to reflect some of the quicker attacks. With growing frustration, the angered griffon dove at Twilight who ran towards a tree and climbed it. Gilda’s eyes opened widely, her wings flapped rapidly as she tried slow her momentum, but she was too late as her claws pierced the wooden surface. For next several seconds she struggled to get her stuck claws free while Twilight bounced off the tree right onto her beak.

“Ready to give up?” Twilight asked in excitement while bouncing in place on the griffon’s beak.

Gilda raised an eyebrow and pointed out, “You’re getting tired. I can see sweat covering your body and hear your tired breathing,” as Twilight wiped sweat from her face.

“I can say the same about you.” Twilight pointed out a few drops of sweat she noticed on the griffon’s head. “I may not have the greater stamina, but I’m doing my best to conserve my energy, where as you aren’t.”

With a solid push, Gilda tore her claws from the tree and moved towards her beak, but before they could capture Twilight in a strong grip, the little unicorn jumped over her head and slid down her neck.

Twilight sat on the griffon’s back, outside of hers foe’s range and spoke, “I see that you don’t give up easily, but neither do I.”

Gilda sighed and looked upon her prey, who just smiled back at her. As much as she hated to admit it, her foe was just too quick for her to catch. Outsmarted and outclassed, she lowered her head in shame and disappointment. “I can't believe that some rat-like unicorn beat me at my own game.”

Gilda could feel tiny hooves massage her back in attempt to lift her spirits as if she was not humiliated enough by her failure.

“Cheer up. When it comes to games of tag, I’m nearly unbeatable. Just four days ago I outran every pony in Ponyville,” Twilight stated proudly as she put more strength into rubbing her future friend’s back.

“Yeah, I’m the only pony to beat her at this game,” Rainbow Dash added as she landed behind the griffon and beamed with pride towards her small friend.

Gilda looked at her old school-buddy with a passive expression for a moment before a smile greeted her face as she spoke, “I must say, Dash, you were right. Your friend isn’t so lame after all.” She gave the little pony a glare of admiration. “Any rat or in your case, tiny unicorn that I can’t catch with my hunting skills must be very special.”

“Thank you!” said Twilight with a blush.

“Yeah, she’s anything but an ordinary unicorn,” Dash added.

Gilda jumped and threw Twilight from her back onto the grass before turning towards her and pointing her talons at the tiny mare. “Still, even though you got guts and survival skills. I can't really think of anything fun or cool we can do together.”

“Well…” Twilight started to think deeply as the griffon looked at her impatiently until she beamed, catching Gilda completely off guard. “I know a game that we can play! I once beat Rainbow Dash at it pretty easily. Wanna give it a try?”

She gave Dash a questioning glance. The moment her friend nodded in confirmation, Gilda smiled and made a few steps forward, now towering over the little mare. “You beat Dash, you say?” After Twilight nodded, she continued, “Interesting. Whatever game you beat her in,” she smirked, “I will win for sure. What game did you have in mind?”

Twilight stood on her rear hooves and spread her forelegs cheerfully. “It is a simple game. You give me a challenge, and if I pass it, you’ll do whatever I ask you to do. Just remember that this must be a challenge, not an impossible task.”

“Yeah, and if she loses, you can just give her another challenge and watch in amusement at how she struggles to complete it,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Sounds entertaining. How did Dash lose to you by the way?” Gilda asked.

“The challenge she gave me was just far too easy. Maybe you can give me a harder one?”

Gilda smirked. “I see. How about you let me eat you? Is this one hard enough for you?” she mocked with sarcasm in her tone as she chuckled at her own joke.

“Let you eat me?” Twilight asked while rubbing her chin, only for a memory from her birthday party to flash in her mind. With a growingly determined smile, she nodded. “Sure, I accept the challenge,” she said as the griffon’s smile drooped in an instant, replaced with a gasp.

“W-what?” Gilda spoke as she looked down upon the tiny mare who jumped onto her neck and started to climb up towards her beak. Gilda failed to add a single word as she felt her beak being forcefully opened by a purple aura, only for the the tiny mare to push herself in, squeezing herself right into her mouth forcefully. With help of her magic, she pushed herself deeper.

“Twilight, no!” Steel Blade shouted as he flew towards his friend, but strong resistance from Rainbow Dash stopped him from proceeding.

Gilda’s confusion grew and eyes watered as she felt an uncomfortable feeling in her throat while Twilight did her best to squeeze into it, tiny hooves and magic pressing the unicorn deeper with every step while anchored on her tongue. Suddenly, Gilda felt a tickling and irritating movement in the middle of her throat while her neck looked like a small balloon. Unable to resist the urge to gulp the little mare that was stuck there, she did just that, and with a plump, Twilight ended up in her stomach.

Gilda coughed for a moment before touching her belly where her friend’s friend was now being digested, feeling light movements of the suffering mare inside of it. Gilda quickly raised her head and looked at Rainbow Dash who was busy with restraining the pegasus guard, giving them both a shocked stare. “Did she… just do what I think she did?”

“Yes, she did, though I’m not really surprised, I knew she would beat you from the get go,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Dash, that challenge I came up with was meant to be a joke!” Gilda shouted while breathing rapidly, “I take back what I said. Your friend is too cool to be eaten like a common snack.” She looked around with guilt visible on her features while Dash just put a hoof on her shoulder and gave a relaxed glare.

The griffon blinked in disbelief at her friend’s careless behavior. How could she be so calm as her friend was dying in agony? Suddenly, she felt something explode in her stomach, only for Twilight to appear on the ground in front of her, much to the guard’s relief and Gilda’s astonishment.

“You really think I am cool?” Twilight asked cheerfully while shaking herself to get rid of the saliva and stomach acids she was covered in before rubbing herself against the grass to finish the job. “Thank you!”

“H-how?”

Rainbow Dash hardly contained her laughter while Twilight stood on her rear hooves and gestured with her foreleg as she explained, “I’ve already been eaten; once on accident by a pony I care great deal about… and also by a Manticore. As long as I’m not being torn apart by teeth or claws, being eaten is not that bad.”

Gilda’s beak opened widely to its very limits while Rainbow Dash dropped on the ground and smashed her hoof against it while laughing uncontrollably. After the laughter died, she pointed her hoof towards her friend and said in a mocking tone, “You should have seen the look on your face.”

Gilda blushed before regaining her composure as she gave Twilight an annoyed glare. “Fine, you beat me. So what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing much,” Twilight stated as she walked proudly towards her step by step with her nose raised high, before sitting in front of her legs and raising her forehoof. “Give me a chance to become your friend.”

Gilda rolled her eyes before raising her talons and carefully shaking the tiny mare’s hoof as not to wound it with her sharp edges. “You went way out of your head to impress me, I like your attitude.” She sighed and added, “Still, there’s one problem.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked as her ears fallen.

Gilda pointed towards the sky as her small friend looked at it curiously. “Dash and I spend all day doing cool stuff and awesome stunts in the air, playing on the ground is just not my style.”

“That’s not a problem,” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she walked towards her friends, attracting both Gilda’s and Twilight’s attention. “Twilight rides on pegasi. She can ride on me or even on you and admire our stunts.”

Gilda blinked and looked down at Twilight, only for the little mare to levitate towards her face, almost causing the griffon to lose her balance in surprise. “I can also use self-levitation to fly with you both… or in case I fall off.”

“R-really?” Gilda asked, dumbfounded as both the tiny mare and Dash nodded.

“So... Twilight, hop on.” Dash gestured at her back as her wings spread, one drooping to the ground while forming a stair. “Just get your saddle on me, and we’re ready to go. Right, Gilda?”

“S-sure.” She nodded, still proceeding what in the name of the emperor was happening.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“W-what?” Rainbow Dash and Steel Blade cried out as Twilight lit her horn, and soon a big ball of magic surrounded her.

Both pegasi lowered themselves to ground level to admire the light show, until the magic around Twilight disappeared, only to reveal a winged unicorn. Both the Griffon and the blue pegasus wiped their eyes, not believing what they just witnessed.

“How do I look?” Twilight asked as she spread her small wings and displayed them. With a few flaps she started to hover in front of her friends.

“You...look…awesome!” Dash flew above the ground and placed both of her forehooves on her cheeks. “I had no idea you could do that! How?”

Twilight giggled and flew in a circle around her friend before landing on her head. “Just a spell that I have worked on. After all, I’m not studying magic for nothing.” Her cheerful tone saddened. “Though I don’t get many chances to actually practice my flying abilities, and as long as I’m under this spell, I can only use a small fraction my magic, being half-pegasus and all.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well, you’re in right place, just tag along us and we will make you a flight champion in no time. Am I right, Gilda?”

The griffon closed her beak and shook her head, recovering from the wave of emotions she just experienced before smirking and looking at Twilight proudly. “Yeah, us cool guys should stick together… Now I can see why Dash became your friend, you’re fine… for a pony.”

Twilight smiled. "And you're alright, for a griffon."

Author's Note

I just realized that Twilight jumping into Gilda's throat and next teleporting outside is similar to trick Trixie performed in season 6 episode 6. (Instead of normal sized unicorn shoting herself into manticore's mouth and teleporting out, it was tiny sized unicorn jumping into griffon's stomach).

I can't believe I just now noticed it.

Ch5 - Griffon Brushoff - Part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 5

Griffon Brushoff
-
part 3

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike called as his attention was focused on a few levitating plates advancing towards the table. The moment the plates landed in their rightful positions, Twilight turned around and looked at him.

“What is it, Spike?”

“Whose party is it?” he asked while pointing at the various decorations: From balloons and food to a pony-shaped poster without a tail.

“For Dash’s friend, of course,” Twilight said with a smile and shake of her hoof. “For some reason, Pinkie Pie complained that Gilda is mean to other ponies, but I know that she’s not that bad, she just needs to warm up to others, so I volunteered to assist in her welcome party.”

Spike nodded before offering to help, while Steel Blade and Overwatch stood at the entrance into the Sugarcube Corner and observed the party preparations, their attention was focused on Twilight, knowing full well that something would go wrong for her.

It didn’t take long for Gilda make her entrance and end up in several arguments with Pinkie Pie as the party started. Twilight did her best to extinguish the flames of anger between the party mare and griffon, only to notice some device on Pinkie’s hoof. Without hesitation, she jumped onto Gilda's shoulder and ran towards her talons while charging magic for a spell. But, she was too late as her griffon friend had been electrified, and to Twilight’s displeasure, she felt a bit of electricity going through her. With her smoky mane and tail straightened upwards and exposed teeth on her shocked face, the little unicorn fall to the side, crashing against the floor.

After recovering from the shock, Twilight looked around, afraid that Pinkie may set up more pranks while being unaware that Gilda wouldn’t take them lightly. She was not disappointed as something suspicious caught her attention.

Not wasting time to fix her mane, she jumped onto the plate filled with many snacks that Pinkie was holding and offered to taste one before Gilda had the chance. Twilight’s eyes watered with every bite as her mouth turned into a forge, and despite her high resistance to heat, whatever she ate forced her to levitate a glass of punch above herself. The moment she tried to drink from it, she noticed small hole in the surface so she drank from the hole instead.

Twilight wiped her wet face with her foreleg and glanced at the griffon, who was examining a gift. Now more than sure that Gilda was being targeted, she levitated it over before the griffon could open it.

“Hey!” Gilda said in annoyance as she followed Twilight who levitated the present above her head, but before she could retake it, the little unicorn opened it with her magic as fake snakes shoot out of it.

Twilight turned towards her griffon friend and looked her in the eyes with a serious stare. “You need to be careful, Pinkie Pie is trying to prank you.”

Gilda tightened her talons as she gave the party pony a hostile glare. ”Pinkie.”

“Stay on your guard. Something tells me it's just the beginning,” Twilight warned while Gilda nodded and walked towards the party pony who was pushing a candle-filled cake.

***

Overwatch chuckled. “That’s three of four.”

Steel Blade raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

She gestured at Twilight, who was busy wiping her wet face with a large tissue and fixing her mane. “Out of the four pranks meant for Gilda, Twilight has managed to prevent three of them.”

“Yeah, by taking them to the face,” Steel Blade scoffed. “Shouldn’t we do something, though?”

“Absolutely. I’m starving for some sweets right now,” she remarked with a wide grin. Steel Blade frowned at her, and she added, “Those pranks are mostly harmless. Don’t worry so much.”

“Harmless? I’m pretty sure there was electricity involved in there!”

Overwatch shrugged. “She’s been shocked by much bigger things when she was doing her weird combat training thing back at the palace. This can’t be much worse.”

“You mean the times she’s managed to shock herself when she was trying to zap a training dummy?”

She snickered. “Ahh, good times.”

Steel Blade rolled his eyes. “Still, what if one of these pranks surpasses ‘mere annoyance’ and actually hurts her? I know we should interfere only when necessary, but I don’t want her to end up in the hospital because we weren’t fast enough.”

Overwatch took in a sharp breath, releasing it slowly. She should have been faster. She should’ve been able to stop more than two of Applejack’s kicks.

Turning from Steel Blade to Twilight, Overwatch growled out a simple, “Point taken,” before falling into silence.

***

The party went on as Gilda prevented some of the pranks from embarrassing her, while Twilight as her guardian angel assisted in any way possible, sometimes ending up as the victim of the prank instead. During a game in ‘pin tail on a pony’ she was about to succeed, but the lack of trust in Pinkie Pie’s words made her slip on a fragment of cake and slide towards the wall.

Twilight heroically jumped in the way, ready to use her levitation spell to slow her down, only for her griffon friend to bump into her. While Gilda ended up with a fake mustache, Twilight would have ended up pinned to a wooden wall between feathers and a hard place if not for Overwatch to levitate her out of the way before the unfortunate crash.

Steel Blade gave his partner a proud smile while offering her a plate of cake held on his wing.

Annoyed by being under a constant assault of pranks, Gilda let her frustration burst out. Steel Blade and Overwatch were quick to escort the angered guest out before the situation would escalate, and before anypony noticed it, the little volunteer was gone as well.

Rainbow Dash, the nerve of her. She and her lame friend can go and buck off, Gilda thought as she flew restlessly while feeling both humiliated and betrayed. “I prefer to hang out with my uncool friends over you, Gilda,” she murmured to herself, feeling growing irritation. “I will embarrass you in front of everyone, I hope you won’t mind Gilda. I have pony friends now so go away or I will kick you out, Gilda.”

“I hope you won’t mind that I act like a jerk and am mean to your friends, Rainbow Dash, it’s not like you will care or anything,” somepony spoke, much to the griffon’s confusion.

Gilda stopped and started hovering mid air as she looked around, alarmed. “Who's there?” she said while exposing her sharp talons. “How about you say it to my face!” she challenged, and to her surprise, she could feel something climbing up on her head before noticing two purple forelegs land on her beak while Twilight stared her in the eyes firmly.

“I hope you won’t mind that I will act like a jerk, that I will be mean to your friends,” Twilight spoke firmly. “Ha, in your face!” she shouted as Gilda raised her eyebrow.

“Your guts won’t save you from what I’m about to do with you,” Gilda said threateningly, looking at Twilight with anger in her now narrowed eyes. The eyes of a hungry predator.

“I’m only telling the truth. When Rainbow Dash asked me to befriend you, she mentioned that beyond her, you don’t like any pony,” Twilight stated as Gilda looked at her as if she had stated the obvious. “She was worried that you may not get along with her friends. Now I see why.”

“Oh yeah! If she knew, why she even bothered to get me into that lame party. I bet all those pranks were just to provoke me so she can kick me out of her life!”

Twilight shook her head, doing her best to maintain her balance despite the wind. “Well… I must admit. Dash most likely lied that those pranks were meant to be for everypony, though she didn’t want to admit her mistake…” Gilda nodded, almost throwing the little mare off. Twilight regained her balance and took her hind legs from Gilda’s head as her rear hooves were now anchored on sides of Gilda’s beak. “But even if she did choose a very poor time to prank you, she never intended to kick you out from her life, trust me.”

Gilda frowned. “Pfft… like I care.”

Twilight growled in response. “You have a serious attitude problem. You know that?”

“Oh yea? And...and...you're a puny freak,” Gilda responded as she started to fly forward. Twilight could feel the wind pressing against her back as she tightened her hold on Gilda’s beak, adding her forelegs for support.

“I had an attitude problem too when I first came to Ponyville. I was so focused on proving to everypony that I can do big things despite my small size. Not to mention my desire to do everything by myself, no matter how risky or hard it was.” Twilight looked at the griffon with a sad smile while her ears would drop if not for the wind that already pressed them against her face. “By trying to prove how good I was, I saw everypony as unable to do anything. I insulted them by thinking that what I can do they cannot, despite being far bigger than me.”

“And what's wrong with showing some lamers how cool and independent you are?” Gilda asked curiously as the distance from Sugar Cube Corner increased.

Twilight sighed. “In the end, I was almost eaten by a manticore if it was not for them. They saved my life. Only when I stopped trying to prove myself, I understood what my new friends were capable off.”

Gilda blinked a few times in confusion before she narrowed her eyes. “Those lame-o’s, capable of doing anything? Don’t make me laugh. You and Rainbow Dash are the only ponies who can face a manticore.”

“But they did. It’s something that you can see only by looking past their appearances or your pride,” Twilight started firmly as her resolve increased. “You’re so focused on making yourself look cool and so self-centered that you don’t notice the good inside other ponies, not even giving them a chance.”

“I gave them a chance! I came to that stupid party of that stupid pink pony, and you saw how it ended. You even tried to warn me about those pranks and got some on yourself. Aren’t you even a little angry?” Gilda asked with a sharp and strong voice.

Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Not at all, and besides, what happened to me at that party is nothing compared to what I had to experience during the past weeks I spent here. You cannot even take a few pranks while I endured tons of craziness,” she said with her head raised proudly as Gilda stopped in mid air and landed on a cloud, her inner magic letting her copy the cloud walking ability of a pegasus.

Gilda shook her head until Twilight slid from her beak onto her talons. “Oh yeah, and what would a small fry like you possibly have had to deal with?”

“You have no idea.”

“Try me.”

Twilight started to tell Gilda the series of events she experienced when she met her new friends: How Applejack mistook her for a prank tool, how Rainbow Dash body-slammed her into mud, how Rarity mistook her for a rat and tried to throw her away like piece of garbage, how Fluttershy was annoyingly overprotective, and finally, how Pinkie’s party almost made her deaf.

Twilight intentionally left out the whole Nightmare Moon’s incident and told about the mess she got herself into the moment her friends found about tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, which resulted in a tag against the entire town. How much trouble Applejack caused her because of overworking herself, sending her to the hospital in the end by bucking her into a tree.

***

“Are you serious?” Gilda asked as she gave her tiny friend a disbelieving stare with wide eyes. The moment Twilight nodded, she added, “You had to endure all this crap and you’re still calling those ponies your friends?”

“Well... It was not easy, but in the end their friendship is worth fighting for. If it wasn’t for my friends, I would’ve been eaten by a manticore in the Everfree Forest, and the good times we had overweigh the bad ones.” Twilight smirked proudly and added, “Besides, I’m trying to become a strong pony, and a strong pony can forgive others for hurting her, a strong pony will gladly face challenges to become even stronger.” She pointed her hoof at Gilda accusingly. ”Actually, now that I think about it, I didn’t cry over a few annoying pranks like you did.”

The griffon opened her beak in attempt to respond, but couldn’t find any words. Twilight quickly used her hesitation and spoke, “Is the big strong griffon unable to take a few pranks without making herself a crybaby? I could take ten times the pranks with a smile, and I’m much smaller than you.”

Gilda’s face turned red for a moment and was about to burst into rage, but then she just let out a deep sigh instead and looked at Twilight in admiration. “You’ve got a point. I must look like a loser if I cannot take a few pranks like a griffon, and compared to the crap you had to face, wow, I have no right to be complaining at all.”

“That's the spirit!” Twilight smiled as she pointed down at Ponyville, which was away on the horizon. “Let’s go back. You shouldn’t give up on Rainbow Dash because of a few pranks. Also, if you’ll give my friends a chance, you might get to like them.”

Gilda place Twilight onto her back. “Hang on tight, I’m going to get you back to that party,” the griffon said as she dived towards Ponyville. Twilight followed the advice as she held Gilda’s neck as tight as she could, fighting against the wind that tried to push her away. “I think I will give Dash some time to calm down before I talk to her and apologise, a week or two should do,” she remarked.

Twilight shook her head to get her mane away from her eyes before asking, “What about her other friends?”

“I think I will stay out of their way for now, but I may give them a chance one day. Though there’s one of Dash’s friends who I want to hang out with.”

“Really, is it Pinkie Pie, or Applejack maybe?” Twilight asked cluelessly.

“You, stupid! You’re the coolest of all of Dash’s friends!”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are. How can you be so cluele…” Gilda was cut off by Twilight’s strong laughter.

“Got you.”

Gilda chuckled. “Not bad. Where do you live by the way?” she asked while reaching Ponyville, flying in the sky right above it.

Twilight looked around before a big tree caught her attention. “Can you see that giant tree over there?”

Gilda looked around to find the object that Twilight pointed at before smirking. “So... A tiny mare like you lives in one of the biggest trees in Equestria. Somepony’s got a size complex.”

Twilight blushed. “Well… There’s a big library and small laboratory inside, so I can read and do my research. Also, I need to accommodate Spike, Steel Blade and Overwatch, so it’s not like I live in that big tree all by myself,” she explained before adding proudly, “also, I like big things, and climbing up my home is a good morning exercise.”

Gilda chuckled. “So where to deliver you, to the party or to your tree?”

“Party. After all, Rainbow Dash got a few pranks on us, we cannot leave without returning the favour?” Twilight said devilishly while wiping her fore-hooves against one another.

“Pranks, and what do you know about pranking?” Gilda asked curiously as she flew above Sugar Cube Corner while Twilight levitated herself in front of her beak and was now looking her in the eyes.

“Oh, not much. I’m just a tiny unicorn who can sneak everywhere unnoticed, who knows hundreds of spells, and has enough magic to cast them, while one of my friends is a mischievous phoenix. What can I possibly know about pranking others?” Twilight asked sarcastically with her forelegs crossed.

Gilda smirked as she raised her tightened talons while Twilight did the same with her hoof. With a swift move, Gilda’s talons bumped into Twilight’s forehoof before they said, united. “Let's do this!”

Author's Note

Now, I know that the first half of this part is telling rather than showing, but I am sure everyone remembers the episode with Gilda where she attended to Pinkie's party, so I tried my best to keep this part as short as possible, expanding only on new stuff. I hope it didn't affect the quality all that much in a negative way.

This is the end of chapter 5 and the next one will focus on the Great and Powerful Trixie. Also, Gilda isn't going anywhere thanks to Twiny's encouragment, I bet not many saw this comming.

Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6

Boast Busters
-
Part 1

Two armoured guards watched over their ruler worryingly as she wriggled in her bed the entire night, and the time to raise the sun was rapidly approaching. To both guards’ surprise, Celestia jumped from her bed so far that her head struck against a wall while both guards flinched to the side reflexively.

“P-princess, are you alright?” one worried guard asked as Celestia slowly turned her head and opened her sleepy eyes. Her vision blurry. “Should I call a doctor?”

Before the guards could react, their spears were levitated in a golden aura and aimed at their necks as Celestia stood to her rear hooves. She towered over them, looking at their terrified expressions with narrowed eyes and growled. “Zombies, Soldiers or Survivors?”

Both guards started to sweat and panic as they shouted together, ”Soldiers! Soldiers!”

“This is amazing, Twilight!” Spike said in excitement as his adoptive mother just a moment ago levitated 1.4 ton weight. The little mare lay flat on the floor of her library as she recovered from the pressure fifty-six times her own weight, which was pinning her against it. Slowly but steadily, Twilight stood and held her head high with pride as she puffed her chest.

“Not bad,” Overwatch added as she looked down at the little unicorn. “I thought you reached your limits some time ago, and yet, you’re still breaking your own records. Guess it’s only a matter of time before you reach one and a half tons.”

Twilight looked up at her with a smile. “Thanks… though I think that after I used the Elements of Harmony, they enhanced my inner potential. It did give me the ability to train both pegasus and earth pony magic in myself after all.”

Overwatch shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. What matters is that you’re probably the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, and it doesn’t look like you will be reaching your limits any time soon.”

“Yeah, and it’s not just unicorn magic. Your earth pony and pegasus magic have grown as well. You’re lifting far more than a mare your size should ever lift, and I’m starting to agree with Overwatch that you’re essentially invincible,” Steel Blade said, looking pointedly away from his smirking partner. “Maybe someday, you can find a reliable way to make plants grow faster." He tried not to look at the most recent experiment in that regard, as well as the scattered powder of fire extinguisher residue still dusted over the charred remains of the poor daisy.

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and looked to the side. “About that… I think I’ll give up on trying to hasten the growth of plants by casting spells. Each experiment had shown that plants are adapted to store and use earth pony magic as if it was a supreme fertilizer, which makes sense since said magic affect them slowly and gently. Unicorn magic is just too hasty and unstable for plants and trees to handle.”

She raised her head and added, “If my calculations are correct, I would need to guide my magic in tiny proportions for hours on one plant to acquire similar effect.” She placed forehooves on her sides and smiled warmly. “I’ll just keep working for Applejack and let my magic develop to affect plants on its own, the earth pony way.”

Spike rubbed his chin thoughtfully, analyzing what Twilight’s research taught him thus far. “Let’s summarize: Unicorn magic requires most knowledge and control while having instant effects.” Twilight glanced at Spike and nodded, listening with full attention. “Earth pony magic work on its own, affects everything slowly and can’t be controlled, while pegasus magic is in between, either improves their flight and agility on its own, or can affect weather instantly with enough knowledge and practice.”

“You sure learn fast, you’re making me proud, Spike.”

The young drake waved dismissively and blushed. “Geee, thanks.” He looked down at his caretaker and knelt before suggesting, “Maybe one day you can research dragon magic. You really have gotten me curious about it."

“Sure thing, I will add it to my long list of important research projects. I prefer to do it one step at a time,” Twilight said before glancing at her guards, only to notice Steel’s uncontrollable shaking and bitten lip. “Is something wrong, Steel Blade?”

The pegasus jumped between Twilight and Spike, his wings flapping in excitement. “Even without pegasus or earth pony magic, you have always been fast and strong, and now your limits are being pushed back. With your earth pony’s stamina, you can train physically far longer than before.” Steel Blade beamed as he grabbed and threw the tiny mare into the air before adding, “And when you give yourself wings with that spell of yours, the additional pegasus magic you now possess will let you rival actual pegasi. You can even fly as fast as me!” Steel Blade’s cheerful mood vanished as fast as it came, his ears drooped and a pout appeared on his face. Once again, he felt weak compared to the tiny pony he was supposed to protect, who now could beat him at his own game.

Twilight landed on the floor, not bothering to slow her fall as if feeling a little bit lighter. “Why thank you. I hoped that my hard work would pay off one day, and now I'm finding all kinds of exciting new discoveries because of it. I can hardly wait to see what will happen if I train even harder."

“Train even harder... Is this even possible?” Spike asked in confusion before smiling proudly. “Still, you’re amazing. You’re not only the most powerful unicorn in Equestria but also the most athletic one. Even your brother would be no match for you if you were normal sized.”

"Are you two chatterboxes done yet?" All eyes in the room focused on the top of a bookshelf where the griffon had made a makeshift nest out of pillows and ropes, which replaced the nest of books after Twilight’s angered outburst and her semi-long lecture. Gilda stretched out in one long motion from sharp talons to leonine hindquarters with a broad expanse of wings above, making the rest of the library occupants shift uncomfortably at the way she had silently remained concealed for this long. She looked down at the group and tapped one talon gently on a nearby book. "I'm waiting."

Twilight blushed before running and jumping towards her guest, reaching the top with two leaps. “Sorry, Gilda. I often get distracted during my monthly check up, and breaking all of my previous records got us very excited.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the best, but can we go already?” Gilda pleaded in annoyance while Spike gave her a curious stare, still finding it odd that Twilight would hang out with such a big jerk, particularly after the outburst she displayed at the party.

“What’s got you so excited? What are you and Twilight going to do today anyway?” Spike asked suspiciously.

Gilda raised her talons and spoke with a relaxed voice. “Well, duh, there’s going to be a magic show where some loooooser named Twixee or whatever her name was will be performing. I just want to see how pathetically weak her magic is compared to my cool little buddy.” Gilda pointed at Twilight. “We can have some laughs while watching.”

“First of, her name is Trixie, not Twixee, and second, not every a unicorn needs to be powerful or know hundreds of spells,” Twilight responded. “Trixie is most likely a show-mare and her special talent is to entertain others. She may be powerful or weak, but I’m sure she knows many entertaining spells. It will be a lot of fun.”

Twilight trotted through Ponyville while passing huge wooden houses and ponies, next to her walked Spike while behind her were her two trusty guards, Steel Blade and Overwatch. Leading the way was none other than Gilda. Twilight looked around, noticing that many ponies were looking at them with even more confusion and curiosity than when she first arrived in Ponyville. A group containing a unicorn and pegasus Royal Guard, a baby dragon, a tiny unicorn battle mage and a griffon who acted like a jerk at yesterday’s party was not the most common sight.

Finally, the group arrived in front of a set-up stage since the ponies standing before it stepped aside at the very sight of Gilda’s sharp talons that she exposed threateningly. Twilight galloped closer and looked up at her friend’s proud eagle-like face. “You really shouldn’t be doing that, it’s very mean to scare other ponies.”

“Pfft, not my fault they are a bunch of chickens,” Gilda commented with a relaxed voice as she sat in front of the stage. Twilight wanted to complain about her mean behaviour again, but a familiar voice caught her attention.

“You got some nerve showing up here after yesterday’s party,” Rainbow Dash snapped as she walked towards Gilda. “Are you here to be a jerk to everypony again?”

“No, I’m here to enjoy the magic show with my little friend, say hello to her,” Gilda remarked calmly as she gave her former friend a devilish smile and pointed her at the ground. Dash’s eyes opened widely at who she saw.

“T-Twilight… what are you doing with Gilda?”

Twilight didn’t answer right away as she quickly climbed up on the griffon and sat on her head, now looking down at Dash, a cheerful smile on her face. “Spending time with her. After all, she is my friend, just like you and the rest of the team.”

“B-but… she was being jerk to everypony…”

“Because you set up tons of pranks for her and made her angry!” Twilight shouted back.

“No, I didn’t, they were for ev…”

“Save it, Dash. You always sent Gilda into a prank. I didn’t see you do it to any other pony.” Twilight frowned and crossed her forelegs. “I know, since I ended up as a victim of some of those pranks when I tried to ensure that my new friend wouldn’t get overwhelmed by them, but it seems that I failed in the end.”

“Yeah, she saw how unfairly you treated me. But no sweat, she helped me to prank you back, so let bygones be bygones,” Gilda said in a relaxed voice as she raised her talons as if asking for Dash to be her friend again. The pegasus turned it down and gave Twilight a betrayed glare for several seconds before turning around and frowning.

“F-f-fine!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she walked away, and Twilight could see her sitting together with the rest of her friends.

Twilight hung her head low; by sticking with one friend, she would end up hurting another. Her sad mood was interrupted by Gilda. “Thanks for sticking with me.”

Twilight sighed. “You’re welcome,” she said hesitantly, sadness still apparent in her voice.

“What's wrong?” Spike asked as he was now sitting on Gilda’s back before quickly looking at Rainbow Dash and the rest of Twilight’s friends, noticing various expressions on their faces as they murmured something to each other. Spike turned his head and glanced back at Twilight. “I see.”

“Come on, Twilight. It’ll be fine,” Overwatch said as the tiny unicorn looked at her while lying in defeat on her griffon friend’s head. “They may feel a bit betrayed, but they’re still your friends. C’mon, I’m sure the show will cheer you up.”

Twilight turned her head and looked at stage where several fireworks shot in the air while from the smoke, a blue unicorn in a mage’s hat and a cape emerged. “Watch in awe, as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!”

***

Twilight’s mood improved as she watched the show with growing enthusiasm, easily recognising illusion magic in action and even admiring the original use between illumination and illusion magic to draw in the air while Trixie told every pony about how she did vanquish an Ursa Major. It seems that everypony is really into it, Twilight thought as she saw two colts saying that Trixie was the greatest as if believing that the show mare was actually speaking the truth.

“Anything you can do, I can do better,” Trixie challenged in reply while Twilight could see her friends go onto the stage one by one. Gilda’s bored expression was replaced by laughter as Rainbow Dash and Applejack were defeated in their own games in the most humiliating way possible. In response, Rainbow Dash glared daggers back at Gilda, only for her facial expression to sadden when she saw Twilight sitting on her head.

Creating an illusion of a rainbow circling around Dash to hide the levitation aura that rolled her around, interesting, Twilight thought as she examined Trixie’s every move.

“What we need is another unicorn to challenge her,” Spike said as he glanced at Overwatch, who simply raised an eyebrow at him, and next at Twilight. “It’s your chance, Twilight, I know how you love a challenge.”

Twilight looked back at him and shook her head. “I pass, and besides, my friends seem to be far too quick judges of character. First Rainbow Dash doesn’t want to be Gilda’s friend any more, and now they bash on a professional performer for boasting when it is clearly her job to act like that,” she lectured and shook her head again. “I think they deserve whatever Trixie will put on them, and besides,” she pointed towards the cheering crowd, “everypony is having a lot of fun, I don’t want to ruin it.” She could feel the griffon nodding in agreement, hardly maintaining balance on her moving head.

“I agree, this Twixee pony is indeed professional and entertaining,” Gilda said as she smirked at Rainbow Dash, who got struck by a small lightning bolt in the flank. “I had a lot of fun.”

Twilight’s attention focused on Rarity who, despite Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s encouraging, refused to take a challenge. What surprised Twilight the most was that even Trixie failed to provoke her as Rarity just sat and resisted the urge to say a single word, though even from distance, she could see sweat falling from her face.

“Once again, The Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria.” She turned around and returned to continue her magic show while adding, “Was there ever any doubt?”

Twilight’s clear vision over the performance was covered when Rainbow Dash flew towards her, looking at her with her forelegs held together, a pleading expression on her face. “Twilight, please. Show Trixie who is the boss, I beg you.”

The little mare blinked a few times in surprise before yelping and falling from Gilda’s head the moment she looked up at Dash.

Gilda spoke sarcastically, “What’s the matter, Dash? Afraid that your position of a number one show-off is endangered?” The pegasus frowned at her and once again looked at Twilight who climbed back on Gilda’s head.

“Please Twilight, despite your size, you have more power and talent than her,” Dash spoke with growing desperation.

Twilight looked back at her suspiciously. “By always boasting about your skills, you’re doing the same thing that Trixie is doing? So why all of the sudden she’s in the wrong and you’re in the right?”

Rainbow Dash wanted to answer but found it impossible. Noticing it, the little unicorn jumped from Gilda’s head and walked towards the stage. Not looking at her flying friend, she spoke, “Now please excuse me, but Trixie just asked for a volunteer, and I’m going to have some fun.”

***

“For next spell, Trixie needs a brave pony who’s not afraid of Trixie’s powerful magic as Trixie will make the pony disappear in this magical box. Any pony brave enough to…” Trixie failed to finish as Twilight jumped onto the stage and shouted, cutting her off.

“I am!”

Trixie looked around, failing to notice any pony as she frowned. “Trixie doesn’t have all day to waste waiting for a volunteer, get yourself on the stage this instant,” she said arrogantly.

“I’m on the stage!”

Trixie looked around, once again failing to notice any pony, but before she spoke, she could feel her face being forced to look down, only to notice a tiny unicorn staring up at her.

“Can I be your assistant, please?” Twilight pled as she gave her a puppy-eyed stare.

Trixie looked at the toy-sized unicorn dumbfounded before charging a spell, her horn surrounded in blue aura. “So another pony thinks she’s more powerful than The Great and Powerful Trixie? Trixie can recognize a levitated puppet or illusion spell when Trixie sees one,” she said before sending a wave of her magic into Twilight. Trixie’s eyes opened widely as the magic passed through her. “But that's impossible! You’re alive?!”

“Of course I am alive. I’m just under the effect of a shrinking spell,” Twilight stated as the magician quickly nodded.

“Of course, Trixie knew that from the start. Trixie was just playing along,” she said before looking upon the crowd. “Now be amazed as Trixie will make this tiny pony disappear into another dimension.” She levitated Twilight into a magical box and closed it, too focused on keeping up appearances to show even the slightest hint of confusion.

***

As Twilight sat inside of the large box, she couldn’t see anything since Luna’s blessing only activated when the moon was up. Before she cast an illumination spell, she came to a realization that she couldn’t hear Trixie’s voice anymore, indicating that the box she was in was soundproof.

Thanks to her trained reflex, she jumped forward the moment she felt trembling under her hooves and started to hold onto the wall. Underneath her she could see a stage trap opening. That’s it? A stage trap? Boooring. She smirked and lit her horn. “I hope Trixie won’t mind if I make her performance a little bit more interesting.”

***

Noticing that the box was empty, Trixie closed it again and turned towards the crowd. “Now watch, as The Great and Powerful Trixie will summon our little volunteer back from the magical dimension of Trixie’s creation!”

With a burst from her horn, more fireworks shot into the air as she was about to open the magical box, only to feel something on her head as a small light flashed under her hat.

“Hello everypony,” Twilight said cheerfully as she lifted Trixie’s hat and waved to the crowd who cheered in return.

Trixie was about to grab the little volunteer who hid under her hat, but the moment she tried to catch her, she was no longer there.

“Over here,” Twilight said as she slid from under the cape.

“What are you doing?” Trixie whispered as the little volunteer sat on her shoulder.

“I’m helping you entertain the crowd, trust me on this,” Twilight responded as she slid back under the cape. The moment Trixie levitated it, the little mare was gone, only for the magical box to open as Twilight jumped out of it.

“Ta daaa!” She stood on her rear hooves, her forelegs spread in the air as the crowd cheered again. Twilight lit her horn and enhanced her voice. “Now everypony, prepare for even more entertainment, because I, The Little and Powerful Assistant Twilight, will show you fantastic arcanic arts that have never been seen by anypony!"

All of Twilight’s friends watched her in confusion as they didn’t know what to make of it, while Gilda, Spike and Twilight’s guards cheered for her. Meanwhile, Trixie walked towards the tiny unicorn and tried to catch her with a quick swing of her legs, but her target just made a backflip and was now standing on Trixie’s foreleg.

“Now The Little and Powerful Assistant Twilight will show you her amazing evasion skills.” She started to jump between Trixie’s forelegs, evading every attempt to catch her.

Trixie lit her horn and levitated Twilight with her magic, only for her to disappear and reappear on her head.

Wasting no time, Twilight jumped from Trixie’s head, avoiding being stomped on while teleporting whenever she was in the grasp of a levitation spell.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has many ways she can stop you with,” Trixie stated arrogantly as she levitated the rope that was used against Applejack, and before Twilight could teleport herself from her magical grasp, she was tied tightly by the rope, feeling it pressing against her tiny body. Taking advantage of the distraction, Trixie levitated the little unicorn towards herself and poked her horn, stopping Twilight from casting a teleportation spell.

Twilight resisted the uncomfortable feeling caused by tightened rope as she gave the performer an encouraging smile. “The escaping from the ropes trick. Great idea, Trixie!”

Trixie frowned and tightened the rope around Twilight even harder.

“It is The Great, Big and Powerful Trixie to you,” she said arrogantly, though too distracted to notice that Twilight lit her horn. In a mere moment, Trixie’s rear hooves were tied up by the end of the rope she used against Twilight, and soon both mares were lying on the floor, tied up by the same rope.

While Trixie struggled to free herself, causing the crowd to laugh, Twilight enhanced her voice again and spoke, “Now watch in awe as The Great and Powerful Trixie and I, her Little and Powerful Assistant Twilight will free ourselves from these ropes and chains.”

“Chains? You don’t mean Trixie’s chains?” she asked from her uncomfortable position.

Twilight teleported herself free before levitating Trixie above the stage, hanging her upside down with the rope.

Much to Trixie’s confusion, the little unicorn jumped towards her foreleg before levitating over metal chains from Trixie’s equipment box, tying herself to her leg with them. All of Trixie’s legs were tied by chains a moment later, and to her horror, a few sharp objects had been levitated in a purple aura, placed directly under them.

Every pony in the crowd held a deep breath as Twilight damaged the rope that she and Trixie were hanging from. Teleporting being ruled out thanks to a small anti-teleportation rune she hastily placed on the chain.

Trixie gulped as the sharp objects were waiting on the stage while steel chains were making her escape impossible. Clearly the third worst day of her life.

Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6

Boast Busters
-
Part 2

“You’ve gotta be kidding Trixie! You’re going to send us both to the hospital,” Trixie said while sweating in fear. Her captor smiled at her.

“A bit of risk always keeps the crowd invested,” Twilight said as she lit her horn and grit her teeth, her magic now fighting against the chains with pure force.

Trixie frowned. “You might as well have put a container full of water and sharks under us, release Trixie this instant!”

Twilight ignored the magician as she was focusing on destroying the chains, and as her horn flared lavender light, the chains started to crack up more and more, until finally they shattered to pieces. Not wasting a moment, she used her magic and strength to loosen the rope before she slid from it. She jumped back onto the stage, almost landing on a saw as its blade cut the air a few inches away from her, being supported between two throwing knives like a house of cards.

The rope broke off. Trixie started to fall, her eyes closed and mouth screaming in fear.

After a few seconds of not feeling the impact, Trixie slightly opened her left eye, gulping as a few nails and knives were but a mere inches under her face. To her relief, she was being levitated by Twilight who carefully placed her on the stage.

Trixie was about yell at the tiny mare for her crazy life-risking behaviour, but after a closer inspection she understood that their well-being was never in jeopardy. As an illusionist, she recognized that what appeared to be sharp objects, in reality were small pebbles covered in illusion magic.

***

The show continued as Twilight performed a few more tricks, like juggling knives with her eyes closed, levitating herself above the stage, casting a mustache on Trixie and herself. In her final act, Twilight tried to copy the spell that Trixie used, shooting her own tiny magical fireworks into the air, and soon both Trixie and Twilight made a half-bow, saying farewells to the cheering and excited crowd.

Under the sound of clapping and clopping hooves, Trixie walked behind the stage, while Twilight trotted right behind her. After taking a slow calming breath, the magician slowly turned around while Twilight bumped into her foreleg and could see anger in her eyes. “What were you trying to do, ruin Trixie’s show? Or maybe steal her spotlight.”

Twilight shook her head. “I was just trying to help and make your show even more interesting… I mean, a stage trap? How original and creative,” she said with sarcasm and roll of her eyes.

Trixie frowned as she was about to defend her wounded pride, but a quick glance at the satisfied crowd behind the curtain calmed her down.

“Trixie has to admit, your weak magical tricks made Trixie’s already great show a little greater.”

“You can cut the act, we’re behind the stage now,” Twilight stated as Trixie looked down at her in confusion.

“Act? What do you mean?”

Twilight giggled. “Isn’t it that obvious?” She jumped onto Trixie’s muzzle and clung to it with her two forelegs while giving her a lecturing glare. “You’re a performer so you act to entertain everypony, that’s why you brag so much and call yourself powerful… also, speaking in the third person is quite original as I never saw any stage-pony do that before.”

“You… you think Trixie was acting?” she asked hesitantly. She was about to point out that it was her personal speaking style, but after a second thought, she couldn’t tell if it was act or not.

“Of course,” Twilight answered. “By the way, can you teach me your tricks, like how to summon magical smoke, or how to draw in the air? Also, a bit of help with your firework spell would be appreciated as I cast it rather poorly for my first try.”

Trixie blinked a few times and frowned. “A great magician never reveals the secrets behind his or her magic,” she remarked as Twilight nodded.

“I understand, then how about an exchange? You teach me some of your tricks and I will teach you some of mine.”

“Whatever you have to offer, The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need any tricks that a tiny unicorn mare like you may know, she is great without them.” She narrowed her eyes. "Now, would you kindly release Trixie's muzzle and leave already? Talking to a tiny pony is weird and Trixie had enough craziness for today."

Twilight giggled, finding her act amusing. “Awww… and here I wanted to teach you how to teleport, or how to summon an illusion clone, or how to transform objects temporarily, or how to make an illusion disguise, but I understand. Since a true magician doesn’t reveal her tricks, I will keep mine to myself,” Twilight remarked as she pushed herself off Trixie’s nose and trotted away.

Trixie could see the tiny mare walking towards the scattering crowd, and the moment no pony was watching, she hung her head low in defeat and let out a long sigh. “Trixie always wanted to learn a teleportation spell,” she said in disappointment before walking towards her mobile home.

She murmured to herself, “No pony had ever taught Trixie without payment or labor in return, much less found interest in seeking knowledge from Trixie or exchange spells with her... Maybe Trixie shouldn’t have pushed away this tiny mare’s offer…” She stomped. “No, Trixie is no longer Weak and Pathetic, but Great and Powerful, she no longer needs help, and she won’t accept help from some inferior tiny unicorn.”

Her firm steps slowed down, her resolve slowly faltered and ears drooped. “On the other hoof, Trixie had never performed with assistant. As intrusive as she was, performing together was somewhat amusing…” She shook her head as she stepped into her home and slammed the door behind her. Dust and a few nails fell onto the floor behind her. “Nay, Trixie prefers performing by her lonesome. She needs fans and their adoration, but no company and spotlight thieves.”

She sat on the sofa and massaged her forehead, ignoring the spring which emerged from the damaged part. “Trixie’s going crazy. Stupid tiny unicorn. Alright, first step, take a glass of water.” She drank half-filled glass and released a satisfied breath before wiping her mouth. “Next step, stop talking to yourself.”

Twilight was trotting cheerfully towards her group, when suddenly her friends got in the way. She looked up at the five towering ponies’ worried faces and asked, “Hello girls, did you enjoy the show?”

Before anypony could speak, Pinkie bounced ahead and lowered herself to Twilight’s face. “A lot!” the party mare said as she started to gesture her hooves all over the place. “It was like flash, and then it was like boom! And then–” Pinkie’s mouth was sealed by Applejack’s hoof as the farmer looked down at Twilight.

“Ah’m unsure what to think 'bout it all, sugarcube,” Applejack said firmly before sighing. “First ya hang out with a griffon who was bein’ a big jerk to everypony, and now yer acting like Trixie, boasting 'bout yer magic and even talking weird like her.”

Rainbow Dash walked closer. “Yeah, didn’t you see how she humiliated us? What’s happened to you, Twilight? You used to be awesome.”

Twilight closed her eyes and went silent as her mind started to wage an inner war while her friends continued to speak.

“I must agree with them, darling. It is not like you to act this way, not to mention hanging out with Gilda after she scared Fluttershy,” Rarity said.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Fluttershy curiously. “She did?” Noticing a hesitant nod, she looked at her apologetically. “I'm so sorry, Fluttershy, I'll ask her to apologise.”

“Ah must ask, why’re ya doing this? Why are ya hangin’ out with Gilda and even helpin’ Trixie with her performance? Though Ah must say, the scene with Trixie tied up with rope while hanging above sharp objects was darn funny,” Applejack said before laughing a little, Rainbow Dash joined in.

Twilight looked up at her friends and gave them a questioning look. “So you had fun?” Noticing she had everypony’s attention, she coughed, standing up to her hind legs as she lectured, “A performer’s job is to entertain every pony, and from what I saw, everypony had a lot of fun. I just tried to help and improve the show.”

“But she is so boastful, acting as if she is better then everypony else, I thought you hated it when ponies did that,” Rarity said in confusion.

Not wasting a moment, Twilight jumped onto Rarity’s muzzle and spoke, “It was just an act.”

Noticing Rarity and her other friends’ confusion, Twilight face-hoofed, while still hanging onto her muzzle with just one foreleg. “You really thought it was all real?”

Noticing a nod from everypony, Twilight frowned. “Trixie is a professional performer, it's her job to brag and boast, her stories are meant to be entertaining, not truthful and…”

“But she humiliated us!” Rainbow Dash interrupted hastily as Twilight frowned at her.

“Because you asked for it. Wouldn’t you want to show up a pony who was trying to ruin your performance in front of a crowd?” Twilight asked as Rainbow Dash and Applejack hung their heads low in shame. “I must say, I’m disappointed in most of you. I’m trying to do my best to help Gilda get used to other ponies, and I tried to make the show better, while you all are judging everyone too fast and not giving them a second chance.”

Twilight’s group approached with Overwatch ahead who spoke, “Umm… Twilight, not that I disagree with what you said, but by trying to improve Trixie’s show, you ended up stealing the spotlight. How was that better than what Applejack and Dash did?”

“Awww,” Twilight said in disappointment and drooped ears. “I was just trying to help so everypony would have fun, stealing fame wasn't what I was trying to do.” She rubbed back of her neck while still maintaining her position with just one hoof. “Maybe I went a little overboard, my bad… I'll make it up to her when I'll get the chance.” Noticing the rest of friendly faces, she climbed up on Rarity’s head and next slid down her back before walking towards her team. “Hey, Gilda!”

Everypony turned around, only to see the griffon right behind them whose attention was on their tiny friend.

“Great show, Twilight, you really make me laugh.”

Twilight smiled. “Glad to hear that. By the way, can I ask you a favour?”

“Shoot.”

Twilight jumped onto Gilda’s beak and pointed her foreleg towards Fluttershy, who was now hiding behind her friends. Rainbow Dash took a defensive position. “Would you apologise to Fluttershy? I heard that you scared her badly.”

Gilda raised her eyebrow and glared upon the timid pegasus. “Oh, her? So she’s your friend?”

“Not just mine, but Dash’s too. Apologising would really be a good thing to do,” Twilight advised, only now noticing that she rhymed accidently. Gilda sighed.

“Only for you, Twilight. I usually don’t apologise to cowards,” Gilda remarked as she walked towards the still hiding Fluttershy while her little friend climbed onto her head. Ignoring Rainbow Dash who was ready to stop her, she spoke softly, “Hey, yellow one, Flutters, was it?”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight corrected from her soft nest.

“Yeah, Fluttershy, I want, um… I want to... apologise,” Gilda said hesitantly as she scratched her back.

“Apologise?” Fluttershy said as she emerged from behind Rainbow Dash’s defense line and walked towards the griffon. Her being half-lion and half-eagle meant she was an animal from Fluttershy’s perspective, making her less intimidating.

“Yeah, sorry, I had no idea you were Dash’s friend. I shouldn’t have screamed at you like that.”

Fluttershy gave Gilda an angry glare. “You shouldn’t scream like that at any pony, Rainbow Dash’s friend or not, it’s just mean.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Gilda said before feeling Twilight stomp on her head and receiving an angry glare from Rainbow Dash. She sighed. “Listen, I am new at this ‘being a nice neighbour’ thingy, give me some slack.”

“But, you’re trying to be kinder… more friendly?” Fluttershy asked calmly.

“Are you really?” Dash asked suspiciously.

“She is,” Twilight stated as she gave Rainbow Dash an encouraging smile. “I’m trying to help her with her attitude problem.”

“Yeah, she is,” Gilda added as she raised her talons towards Dash. “So, would you give me a second chance? I would hate to lose a cool friend just because of one of my mess ups.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and shook it. “Sure, and I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have given up on you so fast.”

For the next few minutes they talked with each other, and though Gilda still showed a bit of an attitude problem, especially whenever a certain pink pony started to annoy her, she was trying to stay calm as Twilight and Dash did their best to encourage her efforts. And even if there was still a long way to go, Gilda made a good first step.

After lowering the sun and raising the moon alongside her sister, Celestia walked towards her bed, shaking a bit. She knew that a rough night was awaiting her. As every night, Luna wished her best of luck. Despite being the one who will put this punishment on her, Celestia could see that her sister actually cheered for her in fighting against the nightmares. Even if she would barely remember any of it the next day.

The sun princess sighed as she lay on her pillow and hugged it tightly, as if searching for comfort before closing her eyes. If she wanted to, she could’ve easily blocked Luna’s influence with a few mental barriers, or she could ask her to end this punishment anytime. But with every struggle she endured, her dear sister was closer to forgiving her. After every nightmare, Luna was more open and her voice was warmer. I swore to do everything in my power to earn her forgiveness, and if it means facing her punishments and trials, so be it, Celestia thought as she slowly drifted into the world of Dreams.

***

“Where am I?” Celestia asked while looking around in confusion. She had expected ending up in a horror-filled dream or facing a powerful beast, but not this. Step by step, she walked by a group of fillies and colts who seemed to ignore her as if she wasn’t even there. Her surroundings seemed to be some kind of playground, but more dirty and old than the public ones. She could see this area being surrounded by many large buildings, but it seemed more of a background typical for a dream rather than a part of scenery. “Luna, can you hear me?”

“We do, sister.”

Celestia turned to the source of voice, quickly noticing an alicorn sitting next to a swing. With slow steps, the sun princess approached and asked, “What is this dream? Surely you are not going to turn those fillies and colts into monsters?”

“No, sister. We decided that today’s punishment will be different. Think of it as a short break after your last nightmare,” Luna responded with a weak smile.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked, easy noticing the distress in her sister’s voice.

The night princess shook her head. “We are… just thinking about something. Tis nothing for thou to be concerned about.” She pointed towards a specific blue unicorn filly who seemed more colorful and lacked a cutie mark. “As Princess of the Night and Guardian of Dreams, tis our sworn duty to protect and help ponies to overcome their fears and nightmares. We merely thought thou wouldst understand us better if…”

Celestia didn’t need to wait for her sister to finish. She nodded as she spoke warmly, “Say no more, I understand.” She looked towards the previously pointed at unicorn who seemed to be talking with some colts and asked, “It must be her nightmare. What is this filly’s name?”

Luna scowled. “Forgive us if after recently returning from a thousand-year long banishment, we know not the name of every one of our subjects,” she said.

Celestia didn’t respond and instead walked towards the filly with straightened ears as she listened to the conversation.

“Give me back my candy!” the unicorn said as she stood on her rear hooves, forelegs reaching for the bag of sweets held above colt’s head. The earth pony placed his hoof on unicorn’s horn and pushed it slightly, tipping her over.

“How about you make me?” he asked with a mocking tone.

The unicorn lit her horn as blue aura enveloped the candy bag, she struggled to pull it away, but the earth pony proved to be stronger. The moment the filly started to breath from exhaustion, he spoke, “That’s it, is this the best you can do? Poor weak little Trixie.”

He pointed at his cutie mark, which resembled a hoof and broken plank. “See this cutie mark, it shows that I’m stronger,” then he pointed at Trixie, “and a blank flank with weak magic like you has to do what I say. I can take your sweets, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Trixie grit her teeth as she heard laughter from behind. “I’m not weak!” she shouted and tackled the colt, but was quickly overwhelmed and pressed against the ground, two hooves on her back.

“Weakling.”

“Failure.”

The bullies kept saying hurtful words as Trixie looked at other fillies in search for help. “Help… please!” She struggled to free herself, but she was no match for the colt’s strength. “Somepony, please!”

“Yes, help a little failure,” the colt challenged as he looked at the crowd that slowly started to scatter, one pony at a time.

Trixie looked at the last remaining pony, a grey unicorn colt with question mark and scroll as a cutie mark who looked to the side. “Mystery… help me… Mystery?”

“Yes, help your friend. Shouldn’t friends stick up for each other?” the bully asked as he raised his foreleg with an inviting gesture. After a few seconds, he added, “Thought so. How about this then. If you kick Trixie, I won’t bother you for a month.”

Celestia’s wings and ears drooped at the sight of violence, especially when a friend turned against a friend out of fear. She looked around once more and added the facts. “I assume this dream takes place in an orphanage, and a poor one at that, considering the dust and poor shape of the building. I will need to look into the status of orphans in big cities… most likely the ones in Manehattan.”

“A wise decision indeed,” Luna interjected as she approached her sister.

”Is there anything I can do to ease this nightmare about her past?”

Luna shook her head. “Not yet. Thou shouldst first learn more about the filly by watching her dream before deciding the best course of action.”

Trixie sniffed as she massaged her belly after being hit in the stomach by her own friend. The colt smirked at her, “So much for friendship. In the end, you can count only on yourself. I hope you understand your place now, Trixie.”

As the bully walked away, the filly unicorn wiped her watered eyes and shouted, “I am not a weakling, Trixie is not a weakling!”

Celestia looked at her sister in confusion. “Is this really what happened?”

“Tis how she remembers it, and that makes it real enough for her."

In a blink of an eye, the location changed as both princesses were now in some sort of house. All details were blurry; even the unicorn’s face and cutie mark were unrecognizable.

“Have you finished your chores?” a stallion asked the young unicorn mare in an apron and with rubber and bucket of water in her levitation. After a closer look, Trixie had a half-moon and wand as cutie mark.

“Trixie did. Under Trixie’s watchful eye, your house is so clean, that Trixie can see her own reflection in the floor.”

The stallion nodded. “It seems like it, and you also got rid of all the trash and cleaned the dishes?” Noticing a firm nod, the stallion levitated over a small bag of bits as it opened, but the mare interrupted.

“Trixie doesn’t want any bits, Trixie wants to know how to cast that illusion spell. Trixie tried to learn how to do it from books in a library, but it seems she needs guidance.”

The stallion rubbed his chin. “Learning this spell may be too difficult...” he started and looked at Trixie’s cutie mark. “On the other hoof, you may have talent to learn it; but it won’t be easy.”

“Trixie will do whatever she can to learn how to cast this spell.”

The stallion smirked. “Advanced education is not cheap, young lady, and teaching you will cost much of my time. How about you will keep my house clean everyday in exchange for a one hour teaching session after my work?”

“Deal.”

Celestia observed the events unfold as more very short events were shown to her, one at a time, at least until Luna asked, “What hast thou learned about this pony so far?”

The sun princess turned towards her sister and responded steadily, with a firm but also sad tone, “Trixie grew up in an orphanage where she learned that she could count only on herself. She never attended public education and had no pony to teach or care for her,” she pointed at Trixie who performed some sort of show and received hundreds of applauses before being showered in bits, “so instead, she was trying to learn magic and earn bits for survival.”

Luna blinked in confusion. “Is this… who we think it is?” she asked while pointing at a tiny purple rat with a horn.

Celestia stepped forward and took a closer look. “It is my student, I have no doubt about it.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is superior to you in every way. Why would Trixie want to learn any spells from you when she can create even more spectacular spells?” Trixie responded before teleporting from place to place in a blink of an eye. Her beams turned random objects into statues of herself and several more Trixies appeared from thin air. All of the copies said in union, “Teleportation, transformation, illusions. Whatever you can do, Trixie can do better.” With a stomp of her hoof, she scared the lavender rat who scampered into a mouse hole, leaving Trixie with a smug smirk on her face.

Celestia raised her eyebrow. “And it seems she has quite the superiority complex.” She rubbed her chin again before giving her sister a questioning glance. “Since I learned more about Trixie, should I cheer her up, educate her about the importance of friendship and trust, or warn her about the downfall of arrogance?”

The night princess nodded. “Tis a good start.” Suddenly, a knocking sound echoed through the dream as the earth trembled under their hooves. Before either of the princesses could even speak, everything became black, and both alicorns reappeared in the middle of endless stars-filled space. One particular door turned into a star the size of a hoof which now floated next to them.

Noticing the confusion on her sister’s face, Luna raised her foreleg and explained, “It seems that something has awakened Trixie. We shall help her another time.”

Celestia rubbed her foreleg as she looked around. How long it has been since she was in the Ethereal Plane. “I know this place. I once visited it after your… banishment... with the hope of finding you during your sleep, as fruitless as it was. My powers in this realm are nothing when compared to yours.” She looked to the side, her voice suddenly uncertain. “What now, Luna? Will you make me face a nightmare of your creation as before?”

“We shall postpone thine punishment,” Luna responded before a weak smile appeared on her face. “What wouldst thou say to a small stroll with us through the Ethereal Plane?”

The sun princess was speechless for a few seconds before a warm smile grew across her face. “I would love to.”

Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6

Boast Busters
-
Part 3

“Ursa Major, Ursa Major…” Twilight murmured to herself as she searched for information about the monster that, to her astonishment, ponies in town believed Trixie had really vanquished. She stood on the table in front of an open book, which was supported against the horse-head statue. The two towers of books on either side of her casted shadows over her little posture.

“I can understand Snips and Snails believing that a performer could vanquish that monster, but the fact that the majority of ponies in Ponyville also believe it is so irritating.”

Gilda, who sat at the table behind Twilight, noticed a picture of a bear coated in stars on the page and remarked, “That’s an Ursa Major? Kind of reminds me of the giant star scorpion I heard about once. It was supposedly twice the size of a house and nearly razed a griffon village.” Curious glances were directed her way, and she shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s just one of gramp’s stories. I assumed he was making it up to scare me, but now I’m not so sure.”

She pointed at the picture and added, “From what gramps said, he and a bunch of other griffons were hired to hunt it down. It took over an hour and cost the lives of a few of our best mercenaries.”

“Waaiit, I remember something about that,” Steel Blade said. “It came up in a conversation with dad once. That was your grandpa? I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Sorry? What for? He got paid lots of bits once the job was done. It was practically a dream come true for a mercenary.” She looked back at the picture and frowned. “Is this stupid pony really saying that she beat up a bear the same size with ease? How arrogant can she get?”

Twilight glanced at Gilda with concern and shook her head. “It isn’t an Ursa Major, it says that it is an Ursa Minor, a baby. The scorpion-like creature must be a magical beast as well, and most likely a young one.”

“That’s just a baby?” Gilda remarked in disbelief. “And that Twexee said she banished a grown up one!?”

Twilight chuckled. “As a performer you need to come up with many unbelievable ideas to keep the audience entertained, the key is not to naively believe in everything a showpony tells you, or else somepony might get hurt,” Twilight lectured as she started to read restlessly, searching for potential weak points in case the beast were to attack Ponyville by remote chance.

“If those ponies are so stupid to believe in such a poor lie and hurt themselves as a result, let them. Not our problem,” Gilda stated as Twilight gave her an angry glare. “Fine, fine, sorry. We should tell those ponies not to do anything stupid,” she added as Twilight smiled at her. The griffon smiled back. “By the way, thanks for letting me stay here for the night.”

“You’re welcome,” Twilight said before glancing upon Steel Blade who was searching for any books with information about magical beasts made of stars, following her request. “Steel Blade, where’s Spike?”

The guard turned towards her, a few books balanced on his wings. “He said he was hanging out with Snips and Snails. He went out around an hour ago.”

Twilight nodded. “I hope he’ll come back soon, the moon was raised half an hour ago and he needs his sle…” she failed to finish before hearing a slam of the door and noticing a panicked Spike running towards her. “Hello Spike, we were talking abou..”

“There’s no time, Twilight, an Ursa Major is attacking Ponyville!” he shouted as everyone ran towards him. “Snips and Snails lured it into the town so Trixie could vanquish it, and now it’s rampaging through town! You have to do something!”

“Don’t you dare drop me,” Overwatch warned as Gilda held her in her talons, flying towards the danger zone. Meanwhile, Steel Blade gave Spike and Twilight a ride on his back and scouted for Trixie and the two colts.

“Be happy that I’m even giving you a lift. You better be useful once we get there,” Gilda remarked.

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “We’ll see. By the way, why are you helping us? Plenty of others would run away, and you could always say this is Ponyville’s problem.” Down below, a crowd of panicking ponies ran amok as a giant star bear was chasing two colts and a blue performer. Its giant paw slamming against nearby homes in its rage.

“I couldn’t care less about this stupid town, but it is a place where my friend Dash, and now my new friend Twilight lives. If they don’t run away, I won’t run from a fight either,” Gilda said proudly before a piece of debris flew straight at them. She dodged to the side, dropping one of Overwatch’s hooves before she managed to correct herself.

Overwatch tried to curl up, looking warily at the ground. “C-careful there. I’d rather stay up, if you don’t mind.”

Gilda smirked. “Have you ever jumped from such a high height with a parachute before?”

Overwatch raised an eyebrow and returned the smirk. “A parachute? I don’t need a parachute. I have wings!” she said, before looking back down and adding with a hesitant giggle, “though usually, they’re attached to Steelie.”

“Sounds like you’re good then,” Gilda said with a relaxed voice.

“Wait, don’t you dare—” Overwatch spoke, only to be released, falling to the ground near the panicking mob.

No longer weighted down, Gilda flew directly towards the Ursa Minor. “Scoring some points in front of Rainbow Dash and her friends by luring that monster back into the forest is totally my style.”

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she noticed her griffon friend flying towards the rampaging beast as her claws struck its surface, catching the bear’s attention who started to follow her. Dash flew into action as well until she was flying next to Gilda who kept provoking the bear into following her. “What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

The griffon frowned. “I am saving your town, Dash. Now help me lure this beast back into the forest or watch how I do it and don’t get in the way.” She evaded another strike from the bear’s paw and even slashed it with her claws again, only to fly above the ground out of its range. “Come on, you overgrown baby! Is that all you got?”

Noticing that the Ursa Minor started to ignore her, Gilda flew towards it and attacked its back, but the beast was once again focused on chasing the performer and colts who accompanied her. “You’re not going to ignore me, star-butt,” Gilda challenged as she tried to claw the Ursa Minor’s face, but to her surprise, the beast predicted it and had its giant paw ready to strike, pushing Gilda onto the ground and opening wounds on her wings.

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew towards the wounded griffon and grabbed her before Ursa Major could give a deciding blow, and once out of the beast’s range, she placed her friend on the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?!? That was too reckless, even for you.”

Gilda didn’t manage to reply as Steel Blade landed next to her and a worried Twilight jumped from his back, quickly examining wounds on her big friend.

“You're injured!” Twilight asked.

The griffon looked down at Twilight and smiled. “No biggy, it takes more than claws of an overgrown bear to take me down.”

Twilight sighed in relief and glanced at Rainbow Dash. “Where are the rest of our friends, are they safe?”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, they are helping Mayor Mare calm everypony and gather them together so we won't get attacked separately. Though I would worry more about Trixie, Snips and Snails. That Ursa Major is chasing them relentlessly, crushing everything in his path,” she reported while pointing at the ruined scenery.

Twilight once again looked at her friend's wounds, feeling as if it was a battle for Fillydelphia all over again. She raised her head and looked over the giant town she now lived in. Her mouth opened agape as she examined the full magnitude of the destruction. Claw marks were visible on many homes while a few even had a hole shaped like a bear paw decorating them. A few roofs were ripped of and one two-story house was torn in half. It was obvious that hiding from the beast was out of question.

Such damage… so many homeless ponies… Everything they had smashed or torn apart, she thought as she drew her gaze across a tree that was stuck in a broken window. A loud noise reached Twilight’s ears as she levitated herself upwards for a better view, and she turned to see another roof ripped off. The bear climbed inside the house, only to emerge from it through the wall. The ponies it chased barely escaping by the backdoor as she noticed them running from behind the house.

Ursa Minor was anything but gentle as it charged between two buildings, tearing off the side walls while ignoring broken glass bouncing off its transparent skin. How to stop such force? Even the giant worms from Fillydelphia don’t compare to this. She trembled and gulped. After steeling her nerves, she galloped, following the monster as fast as her tiny hooves could carry her. She ignored calls of her name, still deep in thought. My mentor is no doubt asleep at this hour and the guards are always staying on the other side of the door. Even if I send the letter, there’s no way she will read it in time.

Trixie tried to tie the bear with a rope, but two of his fingers broke it effortlessly. A lightning bolt hitting his lightly wounded flank only angered him further. To Twilight’s relief, a powerful beam from Overwatch, who was planted firmly on the roof of a house, impacted near the beast’s eyes, blinding him temporarily and giving Snips and Snails a chance to escape, Trixie right behind them.

Maybe if I increase my mass five times… she closed her eyes upon hearing another loud thump as the beast stomped with both of his paws, causing quake that the tiny mare felt under her hooves. ... ten times, I can… The Ursa Minor ran once again, barely slowed down by Overwatch’s beams of magic that struck against its face. After the beast roared, one of Overwatch’s shots struck against a tree, leaving a large burned mark on it. Twenty times?

Twilight lowered her head and thought, Who am I kidding, there’s only one way to stop this madness. She glanced at her griffon friend right behind her who walked with open wounds as Dash supported her. My friends are risking their lives in a lost battle. I can end it… but what if I will cause more damage than good?

“Overwatch’s offensive magic is too weak, Twilight. If you have a plan, we kinda need it now,” Steel Blade stated as Spike unrolled a scroll and was ready to write in it.

Twilight, noticing Spike’s gesture, shook her head. “Princess Celestia and Luna are sleeping. Even if we send the message, it will just land on the floor, unnoticed by the guards outside,” she stated with disappointment. Note to myself: ask Princess Celestia to upgrade the spell she cast on Spike. Maybe have him send letters with alarm noises... she thought before gritting her teeth. She looked at the beast in anger. I once swore to use my full might when my powers will be needed, but I have been delaying it with excuses or grew only a bit. She stomped firmly. But no longer. The running ends now.

“Come on Twilight, there’s still chance that she’s awake, let’s at least try,” Spike offered as Twilight sat motionless, looking at the destruction the Ursa Minor left in its place. “Twilight?“

“Even if Celestia or Luna were alerted, even with a medium range teleportation spell it would still take them too long to get here and locate the monster. Besides, their assistance won’t be necessary,” Twilight said with confidence in her voice, not even bothering to look back at her giant assistant.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked as he ran closer to his little caretaker. “Do you have a plan?”

Twilight smirked and said arrogantly, “Oh, I have a plan, a big plan for a big beast.”

Steel Blade nodded. “B-big plan? Are you going to…?”

Twilight said firmly as her tiny horn lit with a powerful magic. “Ooh yes, the time has finally come to get BIG!

Spike and Steel Blade were completely shocked as they took a few steps back and, to their astonishment, Twilight became surrounded in a powerful storm of magic as her tiny body grew slowly before their very eyes.

“Poor Ursa,” Spike said with pity in his voice.

“Hmn, this will be interesting,” Gilda remarked with pain in her voice as she felt her wounds still apparent on her body, though finding it odd why everyone freaked out so much about Twilight regaining her normal size.

“Twilight will finally show her true power? Awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted, throwing Gilda to the side with an excited jump. “S-sorry,” she said, quickly correcting her mistake as her griffon friend groaned in reply.

The moment the flash of magic disappeared, a normally sized purple pony with a big star surrounded by several smaller stars as a cutie mark emerged, her mane waving proudly under the wind and her horn no longer shorter than a needle.

Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes and looked around herself. It shocked her how tiny everything had become; homes being just a few times bigger than her, doors no longer huge, trees no longer like towers ready to be climbed on, and her friends no longer giants but her equals. Spike wasn’t even reaching her head.

Twilight sighed before turning her head towards the only creature big enough for her taste. With one flex of her legs, she galloped, leaving a cloud of dust behind her as she passed the buildings at alarming speed, her tiny hooves no longer limiting her movements as the refreshing light of the moon made her even stronger and faster.

***

Overwatch stood protectively over Trixie and the two colts, who trembled right behind her, hiding from the Ursa Minor’s wrath while the giant bear advanced towards them. Despite her tactic to blind the beast again, the Ursa Minor proved to be a fast learner. Not only did it manage to hit Gilda with a surprise attack, but it now walked on three paws, the fourth held high like a shield, protecting his own face from further magic bolts.

The Ursa Minor raised his mighty paw and was ready to strike when a purple barrier surrounded his target, and to his surprise, the claws of his paw didn’t even scratch the surface. In a surge of anger, the beast started to hit the barrier continuously, only to fail every time.

“Leave them alone!” a very loud voice attracted the beast’s attention. It turned around, seeing a purple unicorn approaching him with determined steps.

Twilight drew in another breath, her eyes narrowed. ”Leave Ponyville alone or I will force you to leave!”

Author's Note

Author notes:
And Twilight has finally grew back to her normal size, just in time for a climactic battle. Sorry for the cliffhanger.

Also, for all Overwatch and Steel Blade fans, my top editor uploaded his own story with Overwatch’s origin (those are his characters, so it is only fair he would write it, and he deserves some support in writing his own story.)

EDITOR HIJACKING:

Aaaand here it is!

Heyyooo, so I figured that I’d actually write that Overwatch story. It’ll be set before the events of Celestia’s Tiny Student and is pretty much stand alone. Events to be taken as mostly canon unless I decide to make a right turn with my story. Key word is “mostly.”

Your daily reminder that Overwatch is absolutely not a changeling. I’m not even lying when I say that. :P

Ch6 - Boast Busters - Part 4

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6

Boast Busters
-
Part 4

With the spellcasting out of question as Twilight was now focused on keeping Trixie and colts safe from Ursa’s wrath, she now faced the beast without one of her biggest advantages. I need to lure him away before I can drop my barrier and use my magic. She made a few steps back, but not out of fear, while the giant bear advanced towards her.

Twilight smirked. I might as well test my newfound strength. She took a fighting stance, her horn still busy with keeping the barrier up. “Come on you overgrown bear, I faced giants while you still slept in your cave!” Twilight mocked as the Ursa Minor, once in attack range, raised his humongous paw. Twilight steeled her hooves and decided not to dodge the attack, standing up on her hind hooves.

“Is she going to fight an Ursa Minor with just her bare hooves?” Gilda asked curiously, observing the battle from above while supported by Rainbow Dash and Steel Blade with Spike holding her neck.

“She’s busy keeping that barrier up so she cannot use any spells, so the answer is yes!” Spike smirked. “But there’s nothing to worry about, she can handle herself even without her magic.”

Twilight didn’t blink when the giant paw advanced towards her with huge force. The moment it hit her, she grabbed the paw and held on as tightly as she could, now hanging on to the Ursa Minor’s paw and not letting it go. “Is this the hardest you can hit me? Compared to Applejack’s kicks, I hardly felt anything,” she mocked before climbing up on the Ursa’s paw and standing on it, her horn still lit with magic. “You’re going to have to try harder than that!”

Angered, the Ursa Minor raised his other paw and swung it at Twilight, who just jumped over it. Before the Ursa could react, she ran onto his shoulder and flexed her legs, only to give the giant bear a solid kick in the cheek as she mimicked Applejack’s technique.

The Ursa Minor roared in anger, too distracted to notice the barrier behind him disappear.

Twilight could see Overwatch escort Trixie and the two colts into a crowd of ponies who now watched the Ursa Minor fighting against her. She smiled at the audience as she performed a backflip onto the ground, avoiding another attack as Ursa’s paw hit his own head instead of her.

“Now time for some magic,” Twilight said as she shot a beam into the Ursa’s stomach, pushing him several metres away. She could see the trail left by bear’s legs and feel the earth tremble at the impact between the bear and the ground. “Strength, agility and raw power tested, now it’s time to test my memory.” She charged her horn, following instructions she memorized from the book as she created music with magic, which was slowly putting the Ursa Minor to sleep.

Twilight could see how the beast was yawning, slowly losing his balance, while she kept a steady flow of magic into her spell. To her surprise, the Ursa grabbed a loaded cart and tossed at her. Not wanting to stop her spell from putting her foe into sleep, too focused to evade and also wanting to save the cargo from being destroyed, she stood on her hind legs and spread her forelegs.

The no longer tiny mare used her own body to stop the cart from crashing into the ground, grabbing it firmly between her forelegs. Without breaking her concentration over her magic, Twilight was now lying, pushed a few metres away from the place she stood on just moments ago, the cart with an apparently huge amount of muffins and a bubble symbol on it safe in her hooves.

With little effort, she lifted the cart and placed it safe on the ground before looking at the Ursa Minor, who was sleeping peacefully ahead of her. Twilight sighed as she approached the beast, examining his features to ensure he wasn’t going to wake up any time soon.

“That was amazing, Twilight, you…” Rainbow Dash cheered, only for her mouth to be sealed in a purple aura while her head was slammed against the ground. Twilight half-closed her eyes and bit her lip upon noticing the impact she unintentionally caused. With no time to apology, she shook her head and looked down at her friend with narrowed eyes.

“It is not over yet, Rainbow Dash! I need to know from which cave Snips and Snails lured him out of, and I also need you to lead the way so I can levitate him back where he came from,” Twilight said firmly, finding her no longer flying friend incredibly small.

“You… you want to levitate this humongous beast back in there, h-how?” Dash asked before massaging her chin, but the moment she saw Twilight rolling her eyes, she saluted. “Consider it done, ma’am.”

Seeing that Rainbow Dash was interrogating Snips and Snails, Twilight focused her attention on the farm as she lit her horn and emptied the water tower before filling it with milk and putting into the Ursa Minor’s mouth. Once Rainbow Dash pointed her in a direction, she lit her horn again and levitated the Ursa Minor with the milk-filled water tower away together.

Twilight could feel the pressure on her body as she was levitating at least 50 tons, which meant that the pressure she felt was reaching at least two tons. She didn’t mind though, as even without the effect of the protection spell which doubled her magic, strength and endurance when she was tiny, her lifting strength as well as levitation power was far above what she was pulling now.

After several minutes of non-stop levitating and fighting against the pressing weight, Twilight finally put the Ursa Minor inside of the cave and stopped the flow of her magic. With one quick swing of her no longer tiny hoof, she wiped the sweat off her face.

Not bad, I felt right at home.

Suddenly, her ears picked up the sound of galloping ponies, and she was soon surrounded by an excited crowd, all stomping and cheering. Yet, instead of feeling like a mouse among giants, instead of hearing loud overwhelming noise and losing balance under the tremor caused by their giant hooves, what she saw and heard was… underwhelming.

She looked away from the praising crowd, looking around in panic for anything to distract herself from the reality she ended up in. How am I going to find anything as challenging as fighting an Ursa Minor? Her ears perked upward as her attention focused on a few planks falling from the ceiling, landing on the ground in front of a large hole in somepony’s house.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. While the destruction was nowhere near as impressive and terrifying as it was when every home was the size of a castle from her perspective, it was still enough to keep her big-self occupied. The hard work she would have to put and saving precious belongings to all poor ponies in Ponyville was more than inviting.

***

“Twilight, I knew you would kick the flanks of monsters once you returned to your normal size,” Rainbow Dash stated, “but you just beat and levitated an Ursa Major, a bear twice as big as an entire house.”

“Now I see why you prefer to stay small. You beat that overgrown bear almost without dropping a sweat,” Gilda stated and gave her a proud glance.

“This calls for a party!” Pinkie Pie beamed from behind Twilight, who didn’t even flinch. "I'm gonna need to bake a cake as big as that bear for this celebration!"

"Oh, darling, that was wonderful! Just magnifique!" Rarity stated gracefully.

“Ya showed that overgrown bear we pony folk down here ain't something to stomp on,” Applejack stated proudly while giving Twilight a big smile.

“Wow, I wish my long range attacks were even half as powerful.” Overwatch added, “I’d get your brother’s spot as the Captain of the Royal Guard in no time.” She chuckled, before elbowing Steelie. “Hey Steelie, that reminds me. You still think the Lunar Guard’s accepting applications? We can go big time!”

“Well, I was hoping that Twilight would still like to keep us as her guards, even if she doesn’t need our assistance any longer.” Steel Blade added worriedly as he turned to Twilight. “We can…ummm... do crowd control during a crisis, perform small tasks, or deal with troublemakers.”

Overwatch let out a giggle as she rolled her eyes. “Figures you’d want to keep this post.”

Spike approached, stopping between both guards. “Great, now I need to grow myself up into a big dragon so I can once again outgrow you.” He crossed his arms. “My mom is growing up too fast.”

"Oh, Twilight, you’re big again! Are you adjusting alright? Feel any dizziness?" Fluttershy asked with curiosity and compassion.

Twilight slowly turned towards the crowd that cheered in her name as she looked at them with a dumbfounded expression. After taking a deep breath, she pointed at them accusingly and spoke, “You’re all… so tiny!” Every pony blinked in confusion as Twilight grabbed Pinkie’s forehoof and pointed at it. “So small, so light, no longer able to stomp on me.”

“Not so loud! We hear you clearly, darling,” Rarity said as Twilight blushed and decided to whisper instead.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash stepped to the side the moment Twilight galloped towards the farm mare.

“Can you kick me, Applejack?”

“W-what?” Applejack asked, taking a step back before raising her forehoof up to Twilight's forehead, poking it. “Did that Ursa hit ya too hard in yer head or somethin’?”

Twilight held her forehooves together in a pleading gesture. “Kick me as you usually buck apple trees, please.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “That’s the weirdest request Ah’ve ever got, especially after Ah send ya to hospital doin’ just that. Land sakes, girl.”

“Which is exactly why I asked you! She paused and blushed as her sudden shouting caused Applejack’s eyes to close and ears to drop. She continued with a whisper, “I experienced part of your strength when I was small, now I need you to hit me when I’m big to compare my endurance.”

Applejack sighed. “If yer really sure, fine… but Ah feel it’s only fair if ya test yer strength on me in return.” Upon seeing a hesitant nod, she turned around and bent her forelegs. She raised her rear hooves and aimed at Twilight, who braced herself for the impact.

Twilight blocked the attack with her forehooves, her rear hooves leaving a short trail on the ground as the result. In response, Twilight ran towards Applejack and with one strong swing of her forehooves, she pushed the farm mare a few metres away, knocking her off balance.

Applejack shook her head and stood to look at Twilight who had just effortlessly overpowered her. “What ‘n tarnation?”

Fluttershy approached hesitantly. “Um, Twilight, is something wrong? Problems with adjusting to the new environment?”

Twilight looked at her and nodded. “It’s just as I feared,” she whispered as her voice forged in years of yelling proved far too loud for her friends to handle. “Everything is so small, so weird. I hardly felt anything when Applejack kicked me.” She grabbed Fluttershy in a hug. “I don’t want to be big, I don’t want everything to be so easy for me, I want to be small.”

“I u-understand T-T-Twilight, b-but w-would you p-please let me g-go… you’re c-crushing me,” Fluttershy pleaded as Twilight freed the pegasus from her embrace.

“Sorry,” Twilight blushed before stomping in frustration, only to accidentally hit a small rock and shatter it into pieces while leaving a small hole in the ground right under its remains. “See, I can’t even control my own strength now. So far I just had to lift or grab everything with all of my strength put into it, I never had to be gentle.”

Fluttershy shook her head and massaged her shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about it. You’ve been crushed many times by ponies larger than you, we’re not the ones to complain if you crush us a little in return.”

Twilight sighed as her friends tried to cheer her up, but a familiar voice caught her attention. “You may have vanquished an Ursa Major, but you will never have the amazing show skills of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie said as she vanished in a puff of smoke, but to her confusion, the moment the smoke dispersed, she was being hastily levitated back towards the purple mare.

“You’re not going anywhere before we have the chance to talk, Trixie. First off, this was not an Ursa Major, it was an Ursa Minor, a baby,” Twilight whispered.

“It was a baby?!” Trixie gasped, not even bothering to struggle to free herself from the lavender magical aura.

Twilight nodded before noticing many angered glares directed at Trixie, only for demands of compensation for the damage to follow. She glanced between yelling crowd and nervously sweating Trixie, whose ears were drooped and an awkward smile was present on her face. Feeling anger building in her, she yelled, ”Quiet!.

Everypony went silent as Twilight glared at them in anger before levitating Snips and Snails over, placing in the middle of the crowd. Despite her efforts to use just a fraction of her magic, she pulled them violently as they both yelped and massaged their heads. “It wasn’t Trixie but those two who lured the Ursa into the town. If anypony has to, they should take the blame.”

“B-but we did it just because Trixie told us that she could vanquish it… and because Spike said that unless he saw it, he wouldn’t believe it,” Snips said defensively.

“Hey!” Spike shouted from behind Gilda’s neck.

“Weee wooould never do that otherwiiissse,” Snails added.

”No excuses!” Twilight spoke, though she shrank back sheepishly at her volume. She gave Spike a disappointed glare, making the baby dragon look at the ground in shame. After taking a calming breath, she whispered to the crowd, “Trixie is a professional performer, it’s her job to entertain and brag about her power and accomplishments. It’s just an act to make her show look more interesting.”

“Act?” Trixie said hesitantly before looking upon the angry crowd. "Y-yes, Trixie was acting. She wouldn't dare act like this in real life. It's like roleplaying, you know?"

“And it seems that some ponies just cannot separate reality from fiction,” Twilight whispered firmly as many ponies in the crowd blushed and covered their faces. She released Trixie from her magic and looked back at the colts. “Not only have you’d put many ponies in danger, not to mention how dangerous it was for you to go to the forest in the first place, but you also caused Trixie to lose everything she had.” Twilight pointed towards the crushed wagon as she levitated it over… unintentionally damaging a few parts even further.

“My wagon!” Trixie shouted as she ran towards what was left of her home as if only now realising that it was destroyed, pushing the rubble away in search of what was left in one piece. Everypony watched as tears began to drip from her eyes while holding the tattered remains of her cape.

“My equipment, my food, my bits, everything… I lost everything.” Trixie said, holding her cape close to her chest. In one split second the home she had worked hard for had been turned into a pile of rubble. “All that hard work, everything I’ve struggled to earn, gone, just like that.”

Twilight looked at the broken magician in pity as even some ponies’ expression shifted from anger to sympathy. Many angry glares now focused on the two colts instead who wished for nothing more but for the ground to open up below them.

Twilight felt urge to climb up on Trixie’s shoulder and stroke her mane or just pat her nose gently and look into her giant eyes and cheer her up. Unable to do that at her current size, she instead walked closer to the show mare, and as lightly as she could, she placed her forehoof on Trixie’s shoulder, doing her best not to press too hard against it. “Don’t worry, Trixie, I’ll assist you.”

Trixie looked up at Twilight. “You… and why do you even care about Trixie? Nopony cares about Trixie! Never! She’s always been alone, always had to care for herself! No pony’s ever given Trixie a second glance until she became what she is today! You don’t even know the first thing about Trixie or the life she’s had to live with!” the illusionist shouted as tears kept flowing down her cheeks as she pointed her hoof towards the crowd.

“Trixie cannot even repay the damage that everypony blames Trixie for! Trixie will be banished from this town or locked in a dungeon, so don’t tell Trixie that you want to help, Twilight Sparkle! Just leave me alone!” Trixie said with anger and venom in her voice, but Twilight kept looking at her in compassion as her horn glowed in a powerful light. Trixie was being levitated away from the rubble she was brooding over as it was removed away from damaged equipment, food and bits.

“Did you know that magic can be used for more than repairing damage in a living body?”

The showmare frowned. “Trixie knows, but Trixie doesn’t have the knowledge or magic to…” she failed to finish as she was placed on the ground, seeing as Twilight cast a spell on the damaged equipment. In an amazing display of power, the shattered bits started to rebuild themselves, most of the magical equipment returned to its former glory. Even the food was no longer a flat pancake on the ground.

Once Twilight finished casting her spell, she turned towards Trixie and smiled. “I managed to salvage around half of what you had in your possession, Trixie, as some of it was beyond even my strongest repair spell. Furthermore, there are parts in your equipment that my magic would fail to repair, so it is worth to check up on it just in case. Think of it as a good start,” Twilight said, deciding not to admit that her increased size was being a major factor stopping her from fully repairing the damage. Afraid of using too much magic as instead of fixing the leftovers, she would turn them into dust.

She carefully levitated the rubble made mostly from the broken wood of the smashed wagon. “I will need to get some fresh wood to mix with this rubble so that my repair spell can fix your wagon, be right back.” Twilight disappeared in a flash along with the rubble she was levitating, much to the crowd’s confusion.

It didn’t take long for Twilight to organise the entire town to work on repairing the damage made by the Ursa Minor, though to everypony's astonishment, it was her who did most of the work: She restlessly levitated building materials all over the place while teleporting from spot to spot and casting repairing spells wherever she could. From time to time causing damage by overusing her magic before doubling her efforts to fix her own mess.

The chief of the main building company in Ponyville who was called to assist in repairs offered Twilight a high paying job with several bonuses, but to his disappointment, Twilight just shoved him off, telling him that she might consider it once she finished her studies.

“Ah’m really worried about Twilight,” Applejack said to Rainbow Dash as they looked at the restless mare, who fixed in minutes what an entire building company would take an hour to fix. “Ah knew that Twilight’s always pushin’ herself, but this is over the edge.”

“I think I understand how she feels.”

Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash with curiosity in her voice. “Ya do?”’

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yes, it’s like when I hurt my wings and couldn’t use them for days, I was climbing walls,” she stated while looking at Twilight in pity as the no longer tiny mare was now levitating an entire tree and started to cut it with beams of her magic, accidently damaging the house behind it before fixing the damage.

“Twilight is feeling uneasy, knowing that she’ll not be able to push herself to her limit at this size, not to mention that she’s no longer in her comfort zone as I’m whenever I’m flying. She’s desperately trying to distract herself by repairing this town as it’s the best opportunity for her to challenge her magic...” Rainbow Dash paused as Twilight started to push a repaired wall onto a house with nothing but her hooves, a feat on Applejack’s level, “and strength to her limits, so she’s trying to get the best of it.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah hope we can finda way ta’ cheer her up once the repairs are done. Ah don’t want mah friend to be upset.”

“Hey, slackers, move your sorry flanks to work! This town won’t repair itself,” Gilda said to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who stared back in surprise. None of them expecting for the hot-tempered selfish griffon to aid them in repairs despite her battle-wounds.

***

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, Trixie?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice, forcing a smile. Seeing a pony that wasn’t larger than her was starting to irritate her. “I’m sure I can find a place to accommodate you in the library, after all, it’s late at night and you should rest after such a traumatic event before going on your way.”

“Trixie doesn’t want your pity, Twilight Sparkle,” she responded arrogantly while raising her muzzle upward. “The Great and Powerful Trixie can take care of herself, and as much as Trixie is thankful for clearing Trixie’s good name and for saving most of equipment… which those two small foals destroyed with their stupidity. Trixie doesn’t want to stay here any longer.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand, you want to leave after everything that’s happened here.”

“Still, out of curiousity, what are you going to do now since you repaired Trixie’s wagon and part of the town?” Trixie donned her hat and cape, which Rarity had fixed with her skills on Twilight’s behalf. “After what you did tonight, ponies surely will cherish your very name, a great opportunity for magicians like us to gain fame, fortune and respect we utterly deserve.”

Twilight looked at the ground in sadness and sighed, her ears drooped. “I’ll try to repair as much damage as I can, and once rebuilding is complete, I will try to shrink myself."

Trixie frowned. “And why would you want to shrink yourself? Why you even bother to do so much for those fools?” Noticing that Twilight was giving her an angry glare, Trixie corrected herself. “I mean, fellow citizens...” She raised her head arrogantly. “Next to Trixie, you’re the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville, and actually the only pony brave enough to stick up for Trixie when her good name was being tarnished. Why would you not want to stay the size of a normal pony and take charge of this town? Why do you want to crawl under their hooves like a rat, if you could look down upon them as their superior?”

“First off, I’m not interested in ruling or being superior to any pony, I just want to study, research and improve myself, and I cannot do that if everything becomes easy for me.”

Trixie sighed. “Trixie doesn’t understand you, Twilight Sparkle, but if you want to waste your power and talent on working the entire night to fix this town and get nothing in return, be my guest.” She turned her back on Twilight. “Trixie must be on her way, it was nice meeting a fellow powerful unicorn.”

Twilight waved her hoof. “Farewell, I hope you will find more luck in the next town. Also, if you ever come back, I hope I can once again play the role of your little assistant, it was fun,” Twilight said before yawning as she rubbed her eyes..

“Trixie will be sure to remember that.”

Author's Note

For those who are wondering why it took Twilight longer to put Ursa into sleep than Twilight form the show, it was the result of her not being as smart, a side effect from focusing more on adventures than books. Her endurance made up for it though.

As for why she struggled by levitating Ursa which show's Twilight managed to do, the answer is this:
1) Show's Twilight levitated Ursa Minor into his cave quite quickly, without even knowing where the said cave was or how far it was. In my story i decided to fix this mistake with Dash pointing the way and making the travel-distance way longer, so in other words, it took this Twilight way longer to get Ursa into the cave. Maybe she was even forced to walk into the forest while levitating Ursa? I will leave it to your imagination.
2) Twilight still had plenty of magic to spare as she assisted with town's repairs.

Also, I assumed that at her new size, Twilight would find it so odd that she would go a little crazy, which is why she's acting so strange when talking with her friends (especialy with AJ).

Considering the high expectation, I hope I didn't fail with this part, and if I did, feel free to leave criticism so I may try to improve this chapter.

Ch6.5 - Major Nightmare - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6.5

Major Nightmare
-
Part 1

Celestia felt a chill run through her every bone as she walked through the unrecognizable forest, her gaze falling upon an endless sea trees, at least half of them dead. The moon shone brightly from above, the only source of light in the darkness. The golden regalia were no longer present on her body.

I had hoped our friendly stroll through the ponies dream and helping them deal with nightmares would last longer than that. Hopefully my sister will consider making me do helpful tasks instead of punishing me in the near future. She looked around and tapped her chin. I wonder. Did Luna place me in a zombie horror, or maybe she will make me run away from a slendermare? She shivered at the very thought of that book she saw among a pile of Luna’s literature.

She suddenly noticed a trembling beneath her hooves. It was weak at first, but it grew steadily stronger, like the steps of a gargantuan creature. What can it possibly be? What have you set me up to face this time? She climbed up a nearby tree, and once she passed the branch that struck her right wing, her head emerged from the rotten leaves at the top. Her eyes opened widely, pupils shrank, while her mouth opened agape more than ever before.

The alicorn rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming inside a dream. After the object of her fear remained exactly where it was, much to her disappointment, Celestia felt another trembling as the beast’s forepaw crushed at least five trees under its wide grasp. The tree that the Sun Princess was hanging onto shook violently, and she caught herself on the nearby branches, taking a moment to regain her balance. She stared in awe as the monster three times the size her own tower was now slowly approached her, its transparent body violet and glittering with thousands of stars.

“An URSA MAJOR, are you kidding me!?”

“Kidding? We are certainly not, dear sister,” Luna’s voice echoed as Celestia frowned in response.

“Listen, Luna. I would expect you to send a manticore against me, let it be hydra or even a slendermare,” Celestia said with a hint of anger in her voice, “but an Ursa Major? One of the biggest and mightiest beasts in the world?”

“This monster is not of our creation, though We must admit that such beast would make a worthy challenge for an alicorn's might,” Luna responded pridefully. “This beast is thy student’s creation, as we are currently in her dream.”

“We are in Twilight’s dream? But why would my student… books.”

Luna frowned. “Books?”

Celestia rubbed her chin thoughtfully while maintaining balance on top of the tree, her mind distracted from the humongous beast. “I think my student read a book about an Ursa Major, and now she is having a nightmare.”

“Then surely thou wouldst face such a beast for the sake of thy student’s peaceful rest?” Luna suggested playfully before adding with a more serious tone, “Furthermore, it is thy punishment for today to help thy student face her nightmare.”

The Sun Princess shivered as she once again looked at the gigantic monster, a drop of sweat slid down her cheek. “Do not you think that facing Ursa Major is overdoing it? There must be another way to help my student with such a nightmare.”

“Thou hast cold hooves already? Thy life is not even in danger. Furthermore, facing an Ursa Major in a dream is nothing compared to the danger faced by thy tiniest student when she faced a manticore. Pity she did not grow before entering yonder monster-filled forest.”

Celestia growled at Luna’s remark. “Fine, sister, I will play by your rules one more time!” she shouted, her horn lighting up. “I am no longer the weak and cowardly blind sister I was a thousand years ago, and I will face the beast in an open battle,” she declared proudly as she shot a beam of her golden magic towards the Ursa Major’s face. To Celestia’s horror, instead of a powerful beam of solar plasma, it was barely strong enough to leave a bruise on the beast’s transparent fur. The bear-faced colossus looked down at her before roaring in rage. It increased its speed, now making each step in only ten seconds.

Celestia’s pupils shrank in panic as she jumped from the tree like a rocket. She tried to fly, but her wings refused her call. The moment her hooves hit the ground, she began to gallop faster than she’d ever galloped over her millennium long life. The earth shuddered under her hooves, as if announcing her demise. “Why is my magic weak, Luna!?” Celestia shouted in fear as her legs worked faster than she even thought they could.

“Thou darest to call thy magic weak? It is insulting towards thy student’s achievements,” Luna responded, causing Celestia to jump to the side before reassuming her gallop, surprised to see her sister running besides her. “Tis thy student’s dream, and we abide by her rules. Her limits are now our limits as we face and defeat the mighty beast.” The moon princess frowned reproachfully. “And thou hast foolishly brought the wrath of the monster upon us without learning about thy limits.”

Celestia put the information together in her mind before drawing a conclusion. “So what you are saying is, since we are... in my student’s nightmare, in terms of raw power, we are as strong... as Twilight think she is... if she grew to her normal size,” she said between quick, tired breaths. ”Furthermore, since my student cannot fly, nor can we.”

Luna nodded just as both alicorns bounced from another powerful shudder, and Celestia raised an eyebrow at her sister. “What did you mean by saying ‘as we face and defeat the mighty beast?’ Since it is my punishment, should not I struggle against this monster alone?”

Luna shook her head. “Not tonight. We asked thy student to decide our share of punishment for following thy asinine idea in the first place.” Her breathing became heavier. “As she refused... to punish us, We decided to take this matter... into our own hooves.”

Celestia’s gasped as she didn’t believe what she’d just heard. She looked behind her at the humongous paw that smashed several trees with just one impact. She glanced back at her sister while her heart tried to escape her chest. “Luna, you cannot be serious! Dream or not, I cannot let you fight an Ursa Major just because you agreed to follow my suggestion.”

“Pray tell, why not?”

The taller alicorn shouted, “You have suffered for a thousand years in a cold, lonely prison! Did you not endure enough?”

“Art thou saying thou canst receive punishments for thy mistakes, but We are exempt?” Luna asked impatiently.

Celetia bit her lower lip before taking a deep breath. “I can endure a thousand nightmares and it will still not be enough to pay for the pain I caused to you, but you deserve nothing of it.”

Luna smiled warmly at her sister’s words. Both sisters kept galloping as their breaths became more frequent. With a smirk, Luna raised her head proudly and stated, “We cannot deny some truth of thy words, but We have already made our decision. We cannot punish thee for thy mistakes if We do not set a good example.”

A loud noise reached both alicorn’s ears as the Sun Princess gave her sister a pleading look. “All the nightmares you put on me seems nothing compared to facing an Ursa Major. Are you sure you want to share this one with me?”

“While even an Ursa Major cannot withstand the power of two millennia-old alicorns, facing such a beast without access to thy full potential will be too difficult. Thou needst our help.”

Celestia sighed as she lit her horn and started to levitate herself above the ground. “We can still levitate ourselves just like my student could.”

Luna didn’t share her sister’s enthusiasm, but followed her example. When the Sun Princess thought she found a hole in her student’s nightmare, an army of parasprites and flying chicken-headed monsters patrolling the sky proved her wrong.

“Cockatrices!”

Both alicorns quickly dropped to the ground and started to run again, and as they expected, the army of petrifying monsters hadn’t decided to follow.

“Let us guess. Books?” Luna asked. Upon seeing a nod, she added, “Thou shouldst pay more attention to thy student’s literature, unless thou secretly wishest to train thy student to become a monster hunter or beast tamer. In all honesty, she is only two enchanted swords away from being one already.”

Celestia chuckled. For a short moment, she forgot the horror she was now part of.

Despite running with all the speed they could muster without a break, the Ursa Major caught up with them. A giant foot covered the light of the moon from their vision and was now directly above them. Understanding that she’d lost, Celestia lit her horn and focused on her sister, ready to push Luna out of harm’s way while accepting the incoming blow. Much to her surprise, Luna had the same idea, and both alicorns pushed each other with levitations, sending each other flying to the sides as the beast’s paws slammed down meters in front of them.

Both alicorns closed their eyes as their bodies slammed against the trees with great force, uprooting at least four each. Weakened as they were, both alicorns felt first hoof how strong Twilight’s levitation was if she grew to full size.

After massaging her neck, the Sun Princess levitated a fallen tree to the side and stood on her trembling legs. Her breath rapid and sweat covered her face. She examined the area, quickly noticing that the humongous beast was moving away. Not wasting a moment, she ran to her sister’s aid, but Luna was already galloping to her. As both alicorns looked at each other in silence, Celestia chuckled and spoke first, “Well…. That was… surely something.”

Luna wiped the dirt from her fur and responded calmly, “It was indeed.”

The Sun Princess rubbed her forehoof. “So what now? Just a moment ago, it nearly crushed us both, and we do not possess enough power to fight it, how will we deal with this nightmare?”

With a swift move of her hoof, Luna pointed at the walking beast, who seemed to calm down, once again making one step each thirty seconds rather than ten. “We follow it and improvise.”

Celestia massaged her forehead. “Can you not… use your powers over dreams and go around the rules set up by my student? If we can have access to our full power—” she was cut off with a hoof.

“Art thou suggesting we cheat our way out? Who dost thou think We are, sister? We shall accept thy student’s limitations and face the beast without access to our full might.”

Celestia lowered her head and sighed. “Whatever you say.” Her ears and wings drooped.

Both alicorns kept trotting at a steady pace, trying to keep up with the beast while conserving their stamina. Minutes passed while none of the royal sisters created a plan of how to defeat the mighty beast. Their peace was suddenly interrupted by a loud roar, causing both alicorns to cover their ears in pain. As the beast started to move faster, both alicorns galloped behind it.

“I do not envy my student whenever somepony is yelling at her. Now I can see why she was so eager to learn the soundproof barrier,” Celestia remarked.

“Speaking of soundproof,” Luna said as she shook her head, “We art sure that We heard something.”

Celestia chuckled. “Something besides loud steps and roar of Ursa Major?” Noticing a nod of Luna’s head, she exposed her ears and listened carefully. Her eyes opened wide as she shouted, “Twilight!” Dream or not, her student was calling for help, and she was going to answer it.

“Wait for us!” Luna shouted as she sped up, trying to keep up with her sister. After at least six steps of the humongous beast as the alicorns didn’t seem to reach it even at their full speed, Luna said, “Now that We think about it, even if We do not have access to our full might, surely with power of thy student, We can afford to use teleportation.”

Celestia stopped in her tracks as it caught Luna by surprise who crashed into her. With her sister now lying on her back, Celestia facehooved. The moment Luna got up, the Sun Princess charged her horn and disappeared in a flash of light.

After a few quick teleportations, Celestia was but meters behind the humongous beast as her attention focused on the escaping lavender unicorn.

***

Blast after blast, Twilight tried to defend herself as she galloped, spreading dust in her wake. Sweat was covering her entire body and her legs started to tremble from exhaustion. With her eyes on the beast, she failed to notice a fallen tree, tripping over it and rolling across the ground. She shook her head and looked at the shadow above her with wide eyes. In act of desperation, she send all her raw power into levitation spell, trying to slow down the descending foot, fruitlessly, when suddenly a flash of light caught her attention.

“P-princess?”

***

Celestia pushed Twilight to the side with her magic and next closed her eyes. It didn’t take long before the humongous paw dropped, slamming against her. At least four trees had been crushed into splinters while Celestia felt her body being squeezed, pinned between the large paw of the beast and the dirty ground.

After ten seconds of merciless torture, the humongous paw raised. The alicorn groaned as pain lanced across her entire body. So this is what Twilight felt when I stepped on her for the first time during our game of tag. She's very forgiving and brave not to fear me afterwards. She put all strength she had into raising her head, quickly noticing that she was now lying in a two meters deep crater, while her own body was stuck centimeters in the ground.

After she massaged her forehead, two familiar faces came into her sight of view. In an instant, she was being levitated out of the hole right into the embrace of her student who… tightened her powerful vice grip against her broken body. Celestia grit her teeth but didn’t complain. First I was stepped on and now this? If this dream was meant to let me experience my student’s life first-hoof, all there is missing is for me to be eat… Celestia shivered at her next thought and gulped.

“Princess? Are you alright? Where does it hurt?” Twilight asked before releasing her mentor as the princess spread her no longer squeezed wings as if she was made of a bubble gum. In an instant, Twilight send waves of healing magic into her mentor’s body, washing away some of the smaller bruises, though the bigger ones remained. “What are you both doing here? This place is dangerous!”

Celestia was about to answer, but her sister beat her to it. “Fear not, Twilight Sparkle; for t’is but a nightmare, and We are here to help thee face it.”

“Nightmare?” Twilight said to herself before rubbing her chin as she entered a contemplating mode.

Ignoring the noise of Ursa Major’s steps and trembling ground as the beast was walking away, she murmured to herself, “So I’m dreaming and my mind created a terrifying vision of Ursa Major trying to crush me, alongside my mentor and Princess Luna saving me. It also means that I’m thinking inside my dream… but a dream is technically a creation of my own thoughts and imagination, so by thinking inside a dream, I am thinking that I’m thinking and any dialogue I would exchange with the princesses will be like talking with myself because they’re both projections of my mind…”

Luna blinked in confusion before glancing at her sister who shrugged.

“She will be like this for a while, give her a moment,” Celestia advised.

Luna nodded before smirking as she poked her sister in a shoulder, who grit her teeth and winced in pain. “May We ask thee a question?” Noticing a nod of agreement, Luna asked, “Why didst thou teleport towards thy student and push her to the side?”

“To… save her from the unpleasant experience of being crushed in her own dream,” Celestia answered hesitantly, somewhat worried about the smirk present on her sister’s face.

“We art impressed. If We had teleported to thy student’s aid first, We would have levitated her out of the way from a safe distance, or teleport both of us, but thou ignored this simple solution for the sake of… a more painful one, so to speak.” Noticing her sister’s pupils shrink, Luna levitated over a small, damaged tree fragment and presented it to her sister, who without hesitation slammed her head into it.

The princess of the night chuckled and added, “We find it ironic that thou, who canst wage plans with years or even hundreds of years in advance and put many politician and manipulators to shame, would have such trouble when a problem presents itself in front of thy nose.” With a smug grin and a regally raised foreleg, she continued, “We would not be surprised if thou waited for thy enemies to finish their monologue rather than attack them by surprise.”

“So would you, Luna,” Celestia responded as she received a nod of confirmation.

“Correct; but We would do it because We find ambushing our foe unhonorable and prefer to challenge and win in a fair combat.” Luna looked to the side as her ears and wings drooped. “Though if our subjects would be in grave danger, We would not hesitate to stain our honor and use an assassin’s tactic. Pray tell, what is thy excuse?”

“Excuse me,” Twilight interrupted, attracting both princesses’ attention. “After deeper thinking, I came to the conclusion that you both aren’t the creations of my imagination, so may I ask, how and why are you both here, Your Highnesses’?” she asked with a respectful bow.

Luna placed forehoof on her own chest and spoke proudly, “It is within our power to enter ponies’ dreams and help them face their nightmares and insecurities. We are here to help thee.”

Twilight stood to her rear hooves and shook her head. “B-but… there’s no point for you both to bother just to help me with one little nightmare.” Both princesses rolled their eyes at the word ‘little.’

“Oh yes, because surely the wellbeing of our saviour is not important to us,” Luna said with a shake of her forehoof, “and besides, it is also a puni—” She paused upon noticing her sister’s hoof gesture and panicked face. “Puni... puni... t’is nothing.”

After a sigh of relief, Celestia approached her student and placed forehoof on her shoulder. “Forgive my curiosity.” She pointed at the humongous beast who was looking around in search for its prey. “What had caused you such a nightmare? I doubt reading about Ursa Majors would trigger something like… this.”

Twilight laughed awkwardly as she took a few steps back. “Well… it is a funny story.”

Luna’s ears and wings perked upward. “Thou hast caught our attention; please, do share.” Her sister nodded in agreement.

“Well... ” Twilight rubbed back of her neck. “An Ursa Minor kind of... attacked Ponyville.”

Both alicorns took a step back, their curious smiles replaced with one of worry.

Twilight continued, “And I had returned to my original size to stop it.”

“We assume that thou hast succeeded. It bring us joy that thou didst not hesitant to grow to help thy fellow ponies; wouldst thou agree, dear sister?”

Celestia was speechless and just nodded as she considered the danger the small town faced and her student’s decision to save it. Caught off guard, she pointed at the giant beast and asked, “I believe that there will be time for congratulations, but for now, how are we going to deal with this nightmare?”

Twilight teleported onto the tree and examined the beast as both alicorns followed her example. After a moment of thinking, she spoke, “Considering the size of Ursa Major, I’m sure that it can barely support its own weight. If we can trip it, that should knock it out.”

“Or enrage it,” Celestia added.

“Just like thou did by attacking it?” Luna asked before receiving an angry glare from her sister.

“Well… I’m open for suggestions,” Twilight said as she looked between both princesses.

Ch6.5 - Major Nightmare - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 6.5

Major Nightmare
-
Part 2

Two alicorns and a full sized Twilight galloped behind the Ursa Major, charging magic in their horns. Their teeth gritted as they focused their attention on the Ursa’s leg. The moment it tried to take a step forward, a powerful force swept its paw out from under it, causing it to lurch forward. It tried to scramble its leg against the ground for support, but it was already too late, and the giant fell.

The royal sisters and Twilight raised their hooves defensively, their manes blown up by the sudden blast of air from the Ursa’s fall. Trees were crushed under its massive body, their roots flinging up dirt as they were uprooted. Understory and foliage joined them, and the three ponies were pelted by all manner of forest debris.

“It worked, it worked!” Twilight exclaimed as she vanished her barrier and jumped a few meters upward.

Celestia approached her sister and whispered into her ear, “May I ask you a question?”

“Of course. What troubles thee?”

“I know it may sound odd, but Twilight has impressive control over her power, strength and her voice for being normally sized. When I shrunk myself to my student’s size to adventure with her, Twilight often apologized for sending me crashing into a wall or levitating to the other side of the building because she’d failed to restrain herself.”

Luna raised her eyebrow. “And thou didst not raise any concern or asked thy student to work on self-control because…?”

Celestia blushed in embarrassment, hiding it behind her large wing. “My student’s progress comes from her passion. I am still waiting for her to realize this on her own.”

Luna gave her sister a disapproving glare, but it softened quickly. “T’is Twilight’s dream. Her normal limitations can be overcome here if she so wishes.”

“Run for your life!”

Both alicorns looked at Twilight before following her hoof up to the rising Ursa Major, who looked very, very annoyed at them. Their eyes widened, and in an instant, everypony ran away from the beast in different directions.

***

Celestia’s long escape from the giant was interrupted by a large cliff, her magic almost fully drained from the countless teleports. At the bottom, she could see a large ravine with pointy and sharp rocks. The trembling ground kept informing her about the approaching Ursa.

With enough magic for just one teleportation, she reappeared on the other side, glancing at the monster who now stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at her with rage and hunger. “I did it, I managed to run away from Ursa Major without having access to my full power!” the princess shouted in rush of adrenaline before wiping sweat form her face.

Celestia’s cheerful mood didn’t last long when the Ursa flexed its giant legs. To the princess’s horror, the colossal beast jumped from the cliff, smashing the sharp stones with its giant paws as the earth trembled uncontrollably. The princess started to lose her balance from her spot on the edge of the cliff, only for the solid stone under her hooves to break apart entirely, dropping her downward.

In panic, Celestia levitated herself just before crashing into the sharp rock, which would give even her alicorn flesh a solid test of endurance, but her relief didn’t last long when she noticed the giant paw of the Ursa start to straighten towards her. Before she could make any evasive maneuver, the paw grabbed her.

Celestia felt as if the paw of Ursa Major was squashing her. She gritted her teeth against the pain and lit her horn, casting a levitation spell upon the paw crushing her bones. With help from her hooves, she managed to slowly open the tightened paw of the monster, which was at least three times larger than her entire body.

If Luna was accurate about me only having access to magic on Twilight’s level, then I must say she’s made incredible progress if she could free herself from an Ursa Major’s grasp at her normal size, Celestia thought with pride in her heart, only to gasp when she saw the opened mouth of the bear.

Before Celestia could take advantage of the opportunity to escape, she was pushed into the giant mouth. The princess tried to jump out, but she found herself slamming into the large teeth as her only way of escape closed in front of her face.

The alicorn lit her horn and put her four hooves upon two of the giant’s teeth in an effort to lift the mouth open, but to no avail. She was about to use her magic to open it, only to feel the beast’s tongue to push her between two giant sets of teeth from under and above as they pressed against her, slowly breaking shields and levitation spell that the princess used to defend herself with.

After several seconds of slow chewing, Ursa Major gulped the princess. Celestia sighed with what little strength she had left. And here I was eaten. Now I experienced everything Twilight had to go through, lucky me. I hope that when I ate her by accident, the experience was not nearly as unpleasant. She closed her eyes.

***

“Princess, are you alright?” Celesta heard voice of her worried student while feeling something poking her. She opened her eyes as Twilight helped her stand. A lavender aura illuminated the area.

“Twilight… Luna… not you two?” She examined her student and sister in search for injuries. While Twilight had but scratches, Luna’s wounds and disheveled feathers suggested that she’d endured a similar chewing process. After looking around, she noticed that they were on top of a tree floating over the acids. Considering my smell and the fact that I am wet, they most likely levitated me from my unwanted bath. She looked once again at the ponies she cared deeply about and asked, “How?”

The night princess hid a blush behind her foreleg. “T’is… embarrassing.”

The Ursa Major stood on three mighty legs as he looked down at the motionless alicorn it had smashed moments ago. His giant claw poked her before it lowered its head to sniff the alicorn.

Luna felt an incredibly strong urge to sneeze as the wind coming from the Ursa’s nose tickled her, but she fought against the urge. After nearly five minutes had passed, the wind stopped and Luna felt as the ground trembled beneath her body.

The trembling sound became weaker and weaker until it was all but gone after another five minutes, but the night princess didn’t dare open her eyes just yet. All of the sudden, the urge to sneeze returned.

Luna sneezed, opened her eyes and sat up, looking ahead first before scanning to her left and right. She sighed in relief when she saw no giant beast, but her relief didn’t last long as she once again felt a familiar wind, this time on her back.

Slowly, she glanced behind, only to see the Ursa Major’s face lowered to her level, his one eye far bigger than her entire body, watching her every move. The alicorn smiled awkwardly as did the Ursa, and she could see its teeth.

The beast roared and grabbed the alicorn with its mighty paw, crushing her barrier as if it was made of glass.

“Princess Luna offered to distract the beast so I could escape, but I couldn’t leave her behind. When I returned, I saw how she was trying to play dead… something I tried when I faced a manticore. The moment the Ursa Major tried to eat her, I teleported into its mouth in an attempt to help, but she pushed me into the beast’s throat before we could both end up chewed, and here we are.”

The trio looked at each other in silence. As exciting and terrifying as the adventure proved to be, they had still ended up inside the beast’s stomach. Most of their bones would’ve been turned to pulp if it wasn’t just a dream.

After receiving a pleading look from her sister, Luna looked around to examine the area. Suddenly, she smirked. “Worry not, as We can defeat this nightmare without lifting the limitations upon our might.”

“Limitations?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“She meant the rules of your dream that prevent me and Luna from using our alicorn magic. In terms of raw power, we are on the same level as you,” Celestia stated, only to see an apologetic look on her student’s face. “Do not apologize, please.”

Luna smiled proudly as she pointed at the unicorn. “T’is thy dream, Twilight Sparkle. Thou fears and imagination summoned this mighty beast to crush thee, yet thou art still in control.” She approached shakily and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “If thou so wishest, thou can devise various ways to fight the beast with thy rich imagination.”

“Devise?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

She draped her foreleg around and continued, “Imagine an Ursa Major attacking Equestria, and thou possesses the power to stop it, limited only by thine imagination.” She stomped, wincing in pain at the impact between her wounded forehoof and the wooden surface. “All thou needst is passion and determination. Thou needst to wish strongly for thine idea to come to life.”

“I can… defeat the Ursa Major any way I wish?” Twilight asked before a large grin grew upon her lips.

“Precisely,” Luna said as she released the unicorn. “Now show us thine imagination…” she cleared her throat, “my little battlemage.” She gestured over the sea of acid as their safe island slowly sank. “Unless thou wishest, we can fight the Ursa Major from the inside, something we may find problematic in our weakened and exhausted state.”

Celestia shook acid from her rear hoof and approached Luna, keeping her distance from the green substance. “Luna,” she whispered into her sister’s ear, “I thought you were against cheating?”

Luna whispered back, “We were against using our magic for an easy solution. Encouraging our savior to beat the nightmare with her own mind is another story. Tis her nightmare after all.”

“I see,” the tallest alicorn said as she looked at Twilight, who was literally beaming with excitement, her energetic jumping causing the acid around her hooves to splash.

“I got it! The perfect solution!” Twilight shouted, ignoring the acids burning her up to her knees. “Something I would love to do and witness, something worthy of both of you princesses.”

“Thou hast gotten our curiosity,” Luna said. “What about thou, sister? Interested in the perfect solution of thy faithful student?”

Celestia chuckled as she approached Twilight, her shaking legs sinking in the acids as drops of sweat slid down her face. She attempted to open her wounded wing to embrace her student, but a sharp twinge of pain stopped that quickly, so she settled with using a foreleg to embrace her student in a hug, pulling Twilight away from the acids and against her neck. “We may be separated by distance between Canterlot and Ponyville, but in the end, I am still your teacher. I always look forward to seeing what my brilliant little student can come up with.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I won’t disappoint you,” Twilight said as she closed her eyes and focused.

A few seconds later, the group vanished in a flash of light.

***

Celestia’s eyes were closed as she massaged her forehead, feeling the start of a headache. Once the pain was gone, she lowered her forehoof, but she was still bothered by an odd, alien feeling. Something feels… different. She took a slow breath, which lasted for at least twelve seconds. Why does taking a breath take so long? With some effort, she opened her eyes, her vision becoming less blurry with each passing second.

What she saw surpassed her wildest expectations.

The tall alicorn gasped and took a step back, her right foreleg and left hind leg slowly raising themselves before knocking over a few trees as they once again slammed into the ground. Closing her mouth alone took a whole five seconds.

Before her was a sea of miniature trees, yet to say they were toy sized would be an understatement. Full grown trees she had climbed not long ago were now smaller than toothpicks, while flying armies of Cockatrices looked more like swarms of miniature bees… no, not bees, more like ants with wings.

A weak roar reached her large ears as Celestia raised her head, now staring at Ursa Major face to face like equals with only a few kilometers distance between them.

Celestia raised her foreleg defensively, taking at least fifteen seconds before her forehoof was level with her chest. Even blinking took surprisingly long. “What… how?” she asked, her very words loud and strong enough to make the chicken-headed creatures scatter in fear.

“Outstanding, sister. Just look upon our size and might!”

Celestia turned her massive head to the side to gaze upon her gigantic sister. While Luna still only reached her muzzle in terms of height, she was certainly more than twice as tall as the tallest tower in Canterlot, closer to very small walking mountain than a princess. “I see… yet I still cannot believe my eyes.”

Luna took a few moments to raise her head and foreleg proudly. “We suspected thy student viewed us as big and mighty. We find it most fitting for her to enlarge us to deal with a gigantic foe.

Celestia spread her wings, no longer feeling any pain in them, nor in her previously crushed bones or formerly acid-burned legs. Each tree-sized feather appeared as if they had just been preened by her diligent student. Celestia’s pupils shrank as she started looking around, not yet used to the very slow movements of her gigantic head. “Twilight, where are you? Her ear twitched as she experienced a ticklish sensation on it. She moved her foreleg towards her ear in attempt to rub it, yet stopped upon hearing a familiar voice.

“Careful, Princess! I’m here!”

“Twilight?” Celestia asked, not daring to move her foreleg an inch.

“How do you like it, Princess? I know you and Luna offered your help in facing my nightmare, so I thought the best solution would be to even the odds!” Twilight shouted, her voice enhanced.

“I must admit. It is quite an interesting solution.”

“Art thou talking to thy student?” Luna started turning towards her sister, ignoring the large bear who maintained a ready stance, watching them warily. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the itty bitty lavender shape atop her sister’s left ear. “Let us get this straight,” she started and smiled. “Shouldst an Ursa Major or other humongous beast invade Equestria, thy deepest desire would be witnessing thy princesses face it as mighty giants?”

“M-m-maybe,” Twilight mumbled, her voice too quiet for Luna or even Celestia to hear. She blushed, though none of the gigantic alicorns could notice it.

With each half a minute long step, Luna started approaching her sister, leaving house-sized hoof marks and crushed trees in her way.

Celestia kept still as she asked, “But why only enlarge us and not yourself, my dearest student? Wouldn't it make more sense to become a giant yourself?”

“Giant? Me? No way!” Twilight shouted as she leapt from the house-sized ear, her legs bending on impact with her mentor's soft and furry muzzle. She turned around and stood on her rear hooves to peek out from her mentor’s fur, which was now reaching her chest. Much to her pleasure, she was greeted with two gigantic, love-filled eyes, which were too big for Twilight to look at both at the same time. “No matter the size, I’ll always be your littlest student. It is only fair for you to be much bigger than me, and since I regained my normal size in this dream, it’s most fitting for you to become a giant!”

The gigantic Alicorn of the Sun rolled her eyes. I should have known. She narrowed them to get a better look at her microscopic student, who looked more like a little lavender ant from her perspective.

“Thou honor us. If thou wishest to witness a fight between titans, we art more than willing to fulfil thy wish,” Luna whispered, trying her best not to overwhelm her tiny savior with the strength of her voice.

Celestia focused magic into her horn, yet only a barely noticeable aura was visible on the top of it.

Noticing it, Luna whispered, “It appears our magic has not changed at all. Our bodies are big, yet too little magic flown in it to be of any use.” She turned around, now facing the Ursa. “The odds are even indeed.” She grinned. “And we certainly prefer it this way.”

Twilight ran through the fur on Celestia’s muzzle before sitting on the edge of her nose, now looking at Luna who bent her legs.

After taking at least a minute to lower herself in preparation for a jump, Luna shouted, “Brace thyself, foul beast, for the full might of the moon!” She jumped and spread her wings, flapping them twice with great force. The powerful wind shook the forest beneath and thousands of leaves filled the air. She passed a few kilometers before dropping her entire weight upon the celestial creature.

Ursa Major gulped as its pupils shrank and ears drooped. A quiet whimpering left its mouth before a loud tremor overtook the forest.

Celestia bit her lip while Twilight covered her eyes from the terrifying image. A huge rain of dirt and grass filled the air as hundreds of trees were uprooted and scattered across the place. At least ten of the flying trees bounced against Celestia’s massive legs.

Twilight slowly lowered her forelegs and grinned. “That… was… amazing!” She jumped cheerfully before summoning a large silvery shining sword, which was a few times longer than her own body. “I can’t let Luna have all the action!” She made a practice swing, the sword now surrounded in her lavender aura.

The tip of Celestia’s horn lit as she caught her student with her levitation, lifting closer to her eye before whispering, “Dream or not, you cannot assist Luna at your size.”

“Why not?!” she asked. “I’m very agile and too small to be noticed by the Ursa, and my magic is strong enough to distract it, especially with a six meter long sword by my side!”

Celestia glanced at her sister, who tried to wrestle the Ursa into a headlock. The beast pushed back, striking the alicorn’s muzzle with the back of its head. The very forest trembled, and their rolling bodies flattened hundreds of trees more. “Luna’s magic has already influenced this dream enough to make our experience feel very real. I forbid you from interfering at your current size, lest you end up like one of those poor trees, squashed like an ant under their massive weight.”

The unicorn nodded. “I suppose you have a point, Princess. I wouldn’t want Luna to feel bad for accidentally crushing me!” The giant sword vanished, replaced by a bag of popcorn. In a flash, she reappeared on Celestia’s muzzle, her back perched comfortably against a spot between the two large eyes. “Go Luna! Show this overgrown bear who’s the real giant here! Suplex it into submission!”

“Twilight, wake up,” Spike said worriedly, shaking his adoptive mother. It proved harder than usual since Twilight was no longer tiny.

The unicorn straightened her legs, rubbing her eyes before opening them slowly. Once her vision cleared up, she lowered her head and her ears drooped. “Awww… It’s over already? No more fight between Ursa Major and gigantic princesses, no more sitting on my mentor’s shoulder and cheering up for her? Why did it have to end when it was getting so good?!”

She raised her head and looked at Spike. “Is it morning already? No, it can’t be, the sun’s not up yet… What are you doing outside anyway, Spike?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Spike said as he gestured over Ponyville. “Did you work so hard to fix all the damage at night that you fell asleep?”

“Yes, I did!” she exclaimed, pushing Spike away with the force of her voice. She put foreleg on her lips and whispered, “S-sorry…”

“Now I know how you feel whenever someone yelled into your little ears,” Spike stated as he rubbed his ear. He placed his hands on his sides and shook his head. “First, it was using Luna’s blessing to work nonstop. Now, you’re starting to sleep outside in the dirt instead of your bed. You could catch a cold.”

Twilight shook her head and stood up. She levitated a rolled-up scroll she was using as a pillow into Spike’s hands.

“What is it, Twilight?”

“A letter to the princesses I wrote. I wanted to wait until morning before sending it. Would you be so kind, please?” Twilight whispered.

Spike sighed and sent the letter with his magical flames. “Done. What was in the letter by the way?”

“Just the report about what happened tonight, alongside information that I’m going to Canterlot with a request to be shrunk again, though I think they’re already expecting my arrival.”

Spike blinked a few times. “But Twilight, you could just ask Princess Celestia to visit you and shrink you here and now. She can get here in ten to twenty minutes, so why?”

“I’m also going to stay in Canterlot for two weeks.”

“What?!”

Celestia yawned and crawled from her bed, stretching her legs and spreading her wings to perform a few quick flaps. She smiled, satisfied once again at moving her wings and legs at more reasonable speed. I must say, being a giant of such size was quite a unique experience. Each body movement felt so slow, something very difficult to get used to.

“Morning, sister,” Luna said unexpectedly.

Celestia flinched, almost tripping over her own bed. “Luna, what are you doing in my bedchambers?” She recovered her composure, still remembering the adventure she had in her student’s dream.

“We were merely seeing how thou felt after our little adventure?” Luna answered with a neutral voice.

Celestia chuckled. “We ended up eaten like an unhealthy snack and you defeated the celestial beast in a wrestle between giants. I certainly would not call it a small adventure.”

Luna smiled and looked at Celestia with pride. “We both defeated the beast. Thou impressed us. Thou fought for such a long time, though I mean no disrespect to thy student’s great power since we were almost powerless against it. Thou even took a powerful hit for Twilight. Indeed, thou art learning fast.”

“T-thank you…” Celestia said hesitantly. I do not understand, is she trying to punish me for my mistakes, or is she actually cheering for me? Maybe both. She noticed a rolled scroll in Luna’s hooves and leveled an even stare at her sister. “You read a letter from my student again, haven't you?”

Luna nodded. “We had not intended to do it, but it was addressed to the both of us,” she stated. The moment she saw her sister’s confusion, she pointed at the title. ‘Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.’

“It seems that quite a lot happened in Ponyville yesterday,” Luna said cheerfully as she levitated the letter over to Celestia, not that there was anything in it that they hadn’t remembered from the dream as the night princess ensured they would remember it with the help of her magic. After a closer look, there was one small information that filled both alicorns with joy.

***

“I still find it hard to believe, even after hearing it from my student in her dream and reading it in the letter,” Celestia said cheerfully as Luna nodded.

“We would not call it unbelievable, but rather ironic. The same night thy student faced an Ursa Minor while defending Ponyville, we faced an Ursa Major in thy student’s dreams.” Luna added, wishing she had been in Ponyville to witness it herself.

Celestia shook her head. “That is not what I meant,” she said, getting her sister’s attention. “I did not want to say it aloud in my student’s dream, but I was unsure when she would return to her original size. She hesitated to do it even when she went to help you…”

“Thy student knows that thou can changest her mighty presence, turning a powerful unicorn who can use her power to protect her friends and the citizens of Ponyville back into a tiny one where she can improve herself and prepare for the challenges ahead,” Luna lectured, taking a quick breath. “Thou shalt shrink her back, right, sister?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course I will, I will do everything to make her happy, she deserves as much,” she answered, feeling pride that her student faced one of her biggest fears for the good of everypony. The feat of dealing with the Ursa Minor was not a small one indeed.

“Still, I am surprised at her decision,” Celestia said, pointing at a specific spot on the scroll. “She wishes to spend two weeks in Canterlot with you. I think she is trying to have time for all of her friends.”

Luna raised her head proudly. “If thy student wishes to befriend us, We will gladly fulfill her desire. Besides, outside of facing thy student as Nightmare Moon and the belly rub we honored her with, We did not have time to get to know her better. We art going to enjoy spending time in her presence.”

Celestia smiled innocently as she asked, “Since you will be spending time with my student, you will give up on punishing yourself during my nightmares, right?”

Luna closed her eyes. “Thou hast a few nightmares left to endure, sister, and We have our share of fault to pay for. T’is for our own good.”

Celestia sighed and lowered her head. “Whatever you say.” She spread her wing, wrapping it around her sister. “Once our nightmares are over, I hope you can consider using other avenues like community service rather than these unproductive punishments to make up for our mistakes. You should not be so attached to the old ways.”

Luna looked to the side and said hesitantly, “We... shall consider it.”

Author's Note

It seems that Twiny defeated her nightmare by simply making it enjoyable and exciting for herself, with a little assistance from her favourite princesses, of course. I'm sure that Celestia and Luna had their share of fun and bonding as well.

I know that so far this story was taking place in the episodes from the show, so you can think of the incoming chapters as a filler between those episodes. A chance for Luna to spend time with Twilight and to be introduced to her other friends. After all, main 6 aren't the only ponies Twiny befriended.

I hope you all have been enjoying this chapter and I am eagerly looking towards to your feedback. I know that Celestia's nightmares were difficult to read thus far, so hopefully this little adventure turned it around.

Ch7 - Race to Canterlot - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 7

Race to Canterlot
-
part 1

“Shreee...” Twilight yawned loudly as she straightened her legs.

It had been a long nap, which Spike convinced her to take before going to Canterlot so all of her friends could have time to organize a small farewell not-a-party, much to Pinkie Pie’s disappointment. Twilight looked around slowly from her spot on the floor in a room much smaller than what she was used to, surrounded by tiny bookshelves containing books she could hold in her hooves.

She sighed deeply and looked at the watch hanging on the nearby wall. I better not keep the princesses waiting. She stood up and walked towards the door when a familiar voice caught her attention.

“Leaving already?” Steel Blade asked as he walked downstairs.

Twilight turned to her no longer giant guard, looking very presentable in his polished armor, which upon closer inspection was actually more polished than usual.

“Your friends were shocked when Spike told them you were leaving for two whole weeks, especially after you singlehoofedly saved the town.”

“Yeah,” Overwatch added as she came out of the kitchen and levitated a hay sandwich towards Twilight. “At least eat something before we go.”

Twilight looked at a sandwich before gulping it down in one go as if she were Pinkie Pie. Having taken care of the breakfast, she gave her guards a questioning glance. “Where are my friends by the way? Is Pinkie organising a farewell party for me?”

Overwatch shrugged. “Kinda. We tried convincing her not to. You're only going to be gone for two weeks, but the Mayor insisted that they organize a ‘public farewell celebration’ for you at the train station as a thank you gift for saving and repairing Ponyville. Pinkie Pie volunteered to assist with the preparations, so it’s basically a farewell party.”

Twilight sighed. “Great, now I need to visit the train station on my way to Canterlot,” she said in disappointment.

Steel Blade blinked. “Well, you need to go to the station to take the train anyways, Twilight, so it’s already on your way there.”

Twilight shook her head. “Who said anything about taking a train?” She turned back to her two confused guards as she pushed at the door. Unfortunately, she had forgotten about her present size, and her strength blew the door from its hinges, explosively throwing it through the air to land a few meters away in a heap of splintered wood and bent metal.

"Oops." Twilight blushed as she cautiously walked outside and picked the remains of the door up with her magic. It only took a moment to cast the familiar repair spell, but as she was fitting the door back into its frame, Steel Blade called out to her.

"Twilight, wait up!" The guard flew out of the window, staring warily at the glowing door as he landed next to her. "You forgot these."

She took a close look at what her guard was holding in the flat of one hoof. It was her miniature saddlebags with her tiny equipment inside. She shed a tear of nostalgia and placed the little saddlebags into her new normally sized ones. “And to think that something so small had served me for so many years,” Twilight said nostalgically before smiling at Steel Blade. “Thanks.”

“What about all those items in the chest in your room?” Overwatch asked as she checked the repairs on the door.

"Leave them—" Twilight put a hoof on her mouth and sighed before continuing in a much quieter voice. "Sorry. Leave them be. After all, I'll be back here in two weeks. Right now, we need to be going.”

With a swirl of dust, Twilight sprinted in the direction of the train station, her guards straining to stay at her heels.

Mayor Mare and most of the ponies in Ponyville gathered at the train station to say farewell to Twilight with a Goodbye-Not-A-Party worthy of a hero. The mayor took a quick glance at all the banners and ponies standing around before she noticed a baby dragon approaching her.

“Thanks for organizing this," said Spike. "I know we aren't leaving for long, but I will miss this crazy town.”

Mayor Mare coughed at the words ‘crazy town’ before speaking. “We would not dare let your owner leave without showing our gratitude for her heroic behaviour.”

Spike frowned. “First off, she’s not my owner. She is my adoptive mother.”

"Oh yes, right, my deepest apologies,” Mayor Mare said in panic as Spike looked at her suspiciously."Oh? Oh! Of course! My deepest apologies," Mayor Mare said, recovering from her initial panic as Spike eyed her suspiciously and continued.

“Still, why are you in charge of the preparations? Why not have a normal farewell party like Pinkie Pie wanted to throw? Are you trying to get on Twilight’s good side?”

The older mare refused to meet Spike’s gaze. “No…umm...”

“Aha, I knew it! So what can it be? Do you want to get on the good side of the Princess’s pupil, or are you afraid of her now that you saw what she’s capable of at her real size?” Spike poked a claw at the mayor and raised one eyebrow ridge as he waited for a response.

“It is always a good thing for the town to stay on the good side of a powerful and influential mare like Twilight, no matter what size she is. We are very grateful for what she did to both stop the Ursa and restore the town afterwards." The mayor blushed slightly and looked off to one side, adding, "And it saved us a lot of taxpayer bits."

If you don’t know what it’s about, it’s about money, Spike thought and rolled his eyes. He murmured to himself, “Hmn… politicians,” before noticing a cloud of dust on the horizon. He beamed, “Twilight is coming!”

Every pony started to cheer as Twilight stopped in front of them, the dust slowly vanishing to reveal a unicorn dripping with sweat after many minutes of nonstop galloping.

She smiled and waved at them. “Hello, my little ponies,” she said, receiving many confused glances in response.

Mayor Mare approached and smiled. “Allow me to be the first one to thank you for saving our town from that monstrous beast, as well as all the hard work you have done for us during the repairs.” She extended a hoof for Twilight to shake.

Noticing the gesture, Twilight reached out and shook hooves, only to stop after a single shake when Mayor Mare collapsed to one knee. Twilight released her vice-like grip and took a quick step backwards, trying not to break anything or anypony else.

Fortunately, the Mayor only appeared slightly ruffled instead of broken as she rubbed her hoof and let out a tense chuckle. "Oh my! Are you sure you're not a relative of the Apple family?"

"S-sorry," Twilight stammered as the Mayor struggled to her hooves, or at least the uninjured ones.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Sparkle. You're just getting accustomed to your size again." The Mayor chuckled again. "Maybe you should take some lessons from Big Mac."

It didn’t take long before a group of Twilight’s friends emerged from the gathered crowd, ready to say their farewells.

"Before any of you say something, allow me to say that I’ll miss all of you,” Twilight whispered, “and I swear I’ll return in time. Two weeks should be enough to introduce the princess to my Canterlot friends and make her feel welcomed."

Steel Blade finally caught up, allowing Overwatch to release her hold on his neck and drop to the ground before landing next to her and closing his wings.

“Ah'm gonna miss ya, Twilight. Once yer back, Ah’ll gladly assist ya with yer research on earth pony magic and traditions." Applejack shook hooves with Twilight and, to her surprise, was easily overpowered by the unicorn.

“And I’ll work hard on your farm as I promised,” Twilight responded quietly, keeping her eyes away from Applejack’s.

"Ah'll miss ya." Big Mac shook hooves with his not-so-little-any-more friend, cautiously testing his grip against hers and finding the two of them fairly evenly matched.

“I will miss you too,” Twilight whispered as she returned Big Mac’s gaze, finding a touch of familiarity in having to look up at a bigger pony.

“Yeah, good luck in Canterlot with Luna. I hope you can show the princess how to have a good time." Rainbow Dash flew to Twilight, lowering a hoof down to her. “Hoof bump?”

Twilight nodded and hit Dash’s hoof with her own, inadvertently sending the pegasus cartwheeling towards a nearby tree as the result. Rainbow Dash, now sprawled across the wooden surface, shook the stars from her head and looked at Twilight. “Now that’s a hoof bump.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief when Rainbow Dash got back up and shook herself off. The very idea of the damage she could do if she tried to use too much magic or too much strength for small tasks sent chills down her spine.

Before she could react, Pinkie Pie grabbed her in a strong hug, and although it was not nearly as crushing as being stepped on by Princess Celestia, it still had a lot of 'squish' in it. Her squeeze in return made Pinkie Pie act as if she were made of elastic gum. “I know, Pinkie, I’ll miss your craziness too.”

Upon noticing that Pinkie started to cry, she released her. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to hug you so hard.”

“That’s not it.” Pinkie rested her cheek on Twilight’s cheek as she continued sobbing. “You’re leaving usss…”

“You know I’m going away only for two weeks, right?”

“Just two weeks?! Two weeks without a good friend are three weeks too long!” Pinkie said as she continued to cry.

Twilight just sighed and tried not to facehoof. With her luck today, she would wind up giving herself a concussion. Pinkie would get over her drama after a couple of cupcakes, and Missus Cake was headed their way with a whole tray of them, so it shouldn’t take long.

“A farewell gift from Pinkie and me,” Mr. Cake said as Twilight nodded.

After saying farewell to Rarity, Gilda, Fluttershy, and even Angel who tagged along and gave her a few random glares she couldn’t translate, Twilight turned around and walked towards Canterlot under cheers of the crowd, only to see a pony flying directly at her.

Reflexively, she reared up, opening her forelegs and bracing for impact. The grey pegasus crashed into Twilight’s open legs, causing her to skid a few meters backwards. After stopping, Twilight placed the pegasus securely on the ground and looked into her eyes, or at least one eye at a time, as neither of the grey mare's eyes pointed in the same direction at the same time, much as the bubbles on her flank seemed to be also oddly unbalanced.

“Thank you, ummm…” the grey pegasus said cheerfully as she paused and thought for a moment.

“Twilight.”

“Thank you, Twilight, for saving all my muffins. They didn't go to waste thanks to you!" she said cheerfully, a smile beaming on her face.

“You’re welcome, I guess,” Twilight said hesitantly, “and your name is…?”

“Ditzy Hooves, but everypony calls me Derpy! Nice to meet you.” She stuck out a hoof to Twilight, who smiled and shook it very carefully. To her surprise, Derpy's hoof seemed just as strong as her own, as if Twilight were shaking a magically enhanced anvil.

“Nice to meet you too, but we need to get going. The princesses are waiting for us, after all,” Twilight said in panic, only to notice Derpy lifting a gift basket towards her with her wing.

“I brought you some muffins as a thank-you gift. You've got blueberry, cherry, apple-walnut, blueberry, and of course, strawberry!"

"You said blueberry twice," said Twilight.

"Everypony loves blueberries," said Derpy. "Bon App-ette!"

Deciding to keep what little sanity she had left, Twilight nodded and put the gift into her saddlebag. Derpy fluttered into the air and dropped with a thud into the crowd next to a young unicorn filly, who was frantically waving while bouncing up and down.

If I can't be the size I was, I wish I could at least shrink down to that little filly's size to keep the disasters down. Oh, well. The faster we get to Canterlot, the faster I can return to... normal.

With one final wave, Twilight walked away from the train station, only this time seeing Mayor Mare and the rest of Twilight's friends galloping in her direction, with Rainbow Dash in the lead. She sighed in disappointment, already missing the evasion maneuver she had to pull whenever her giant friend dropped on her like a bomb. “What’s wrong, Dash?”

“What’s wrong?!? That’s what I want to know. The train is waiting on you,” Rainbow Dash said in confusion.

Once all of Twilight's new friends had gathered around, she realized why they all looked a little confused and had held the train for her. She put on her best and softest polite tone of voice and said, "Girls... I really appreciate your effort, but I'm not going back to Canterlot on the train."

"Yippie!" declared Pinkie Pie with a backwards somersault. "You're staying!"

"No!" said Twilight a little too firmly, if the way Fluttershy flattened her ears was any indication. "I'm running back to Canterlot along the mountain road. I'm looking forward to the exercise. It won't take nearly as long as it would have when I was shrunk."

"But, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and frowned. "It's a two hours trip by train! The road is a lot shorter without all of those train switchbacks, sure, but it's also way more difficult and will still take more time."

"Rainbow, I spent many years shrunk down to bite-size. Despite my best efforts to act as if nothing is wrong, I'm going a little crazy with everypony being my size or smaller now,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “I wouldn't last long in a moving enclosed space with so many ponies my own size. I might even hurt somepony by accident. I'd rather run the whole way.”

Dash polished a hoof on her chest. "Or you can hold my neck while I can get you there in ten minutes flat."

Twilight chuckled. “You should know by now that I’m not a fan of easy solutions. Some time alone to get used to my new size and adjust my magic and strength to match it will do me good." She glanced at the towering mountain. "Besides, it will be fun!" She smirked. “Actually, it may be interesting to see who will reach Canterlot first. Me, or the train? It looks like I can actually come up with a challenge after all.”

Applejack snorted. "Ya sound like some of them big lugs who like to pull the entire train around Appleloosa. They gotta take a break every so often, and it makes the trip take longer than the normal way." She looked up the mountain at the city perched on the edge, then back at Twilight. "Are ya sure you got the stamina to run all that way up the mountain?"

“Applejack has a good point,” Spike spoke up. “Twilight, I know you’re very athletic and strong, but you're a sprinter, not a marathon athlete. Are you sure you can pull it off?”

Twilight smiled and raised her head proudly. “I’ve some earth pony magic inside me now, so I’m about to find out.” She strolled over to where the mountain road to Canterlot parallel the train station and gave the train driver a short nod. "Good luck!" she called out. "Do your best, but don't expect me to go easy on you!"

The train driver looked a little puzzled, as he most probably had never been challenged to a race up the mountain before. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled back a little awkwardly.

As Mayor Mare walked closer to give the signal, Twilight whispered, “I came up with some rules to keep it fair. I’ll not use magic, but also won’t run the same way the train does. I will go straight towards Canterlot.” She pointed at the hills. Her shortcut was going to involve a lot of climbing and jumping over obstacles.

“Those rules are acceptable.” Mayor Mare nodded before giving the signal, and the moment she dropped her hoof, the race started with no reward but just pride and fun on the line.

***

Twilight was sweating as she climbed up yet another hill, moving for the past half-an-hour with occasional breaks while taking breaths of fresh air. She was already halfway, leaving the train a long way behind. Not wasting a moment, she ate a cupcake and a muffin to replenish her weakening energy similarly to how a train uses coal to fill its boiler.

“Isn’t it amazing what magic in a pony’s body can do. I don’t have wings, and yet I’m faster than a public transportation powered by coal,” she whispered as Rainbow Dash and Gilda nodded, both having decided to accompany their no longer little friend in this race as an audience.

“Sure, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted enthusiastically. “No train can beat you in speed. You’re like five times faster.”

“Maybe not that fast,” Gilda interrupted. “Not that I doubted your speed or anything, but running for so long must be very tiring.”

Twilight nodded. “You have a point. I assume my earth pony magic is starting to help me deal with my weakness.”

“You’re not out of the bushes yet,” Dash commented before pointing up. “You may be close, but there's a lot of climbing ahead of you.”

Twilight looked at the large platform Canterlot was build on, and next at the stone-wall she would need to climb up soon. “You mean that little mountain, please.” She waved at her friends dismissively. “I have seen bigger ones when I was tiny. This climbing will be a breeze.”

“That’s a cool-pony’s speech if I ever heard one,” Gilda said, only to receive angered glare from Dash. “Just kidding. Your speeches are just as cool.”

***

Another half-an-hour passed while her flying friends returned to Ponyville. Twilight’s hooves trembled as she was still climbing up Canterlot mountain.

Finally, after her long efforts, Twilight reached her destination. “Stop right there!” She heard a voice of a guard, and while she hung onto the mountain just a meter before reaching the stone platform Canterlot was built on, a pegasus guard flew over.

“Who are you... and do you need any help, citizen?” the guard asked, wondering if the pony in front of him had fallen from the edge of the capital. Suddenly, he looked at her suspiciously, wondering if maybe she was a criminal trying to sneak into the city or escape from it undetected, away from the public eye.

Twilight looked at him and smiled. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle, and I’m fine. I was just climbing towards Canterlot so I could meet with my mentor and…”

“Twilight Sparkle had been shrunk by the princess herself, and you’re a normal-sized pony who’s in a big trouble for trying to impersonate Her Highness’s student,” the guard said with authority and hostility in his voice as he placed a basic magic restraining ring on Twilight’s horn. “You’re under arrest in the name of Princess Celestia, do you have anything to say in your defense before I escort you to my commanding officer?”

Twilight smirked as she lit her horn and shot a beam of magic at the stone wall she was climbing, leaving a hole in it. The guard looked upon the damage from the attack in awe before looking back at the unicorn. “But… restraining...”

“Ring? Oh please, next time use a military customised model instead of the basic one if you hope to restrain even half of my magic at this point,” Twilight advised pridefully as the ring on her horn shattered into pieces. “Here’s fifteen bits, should be enough to acquire a more advanced model. We wouldn’t want any dangerous unicorn criminal to escape arrest because of poor choice of equipment, right?” She levitated the bits from her saddlebag.

The guard looked to the side and blushed. “R-right… that would be a shame.” He opened his saddlebag and took out another ring, this one a bit bigger and red. “I actually have an advanced model as well. Now stay still while I–”

Twilight levitated the ring over and examined it, much to the guard’s surprise. “This one seems to be much more durable. Any reason why you didn't use it on me in the first place?”

“Can I please have my ring back?” he plead, his voice no longer firm and commanding as sweat appeared on his forehead. "Please." His many years experience of patrolling the peaceful town certainly didn't prepare him to face a criminal, more or less a powerful one. Retreating and calling for reinforcements seemed to be the best option.

“In a moment,” Twilight responded as she touched the ring with tip of her horn and cast one spell after another. After a moment, she returned the ring and said, “Done. I enhanced it with my magic. It should handle twice as much raw power before breaking, and I even added a magical rune which will zap the prisoner with a jolt of electricity, should he or she try to cast a spell.” She smiled warmly. “Can I proceed? My hooves are killing me after all the running and climbing I just did.”

“Massive raw power, knowledge in arts of magic and athletic capabilities.” The guard pointed at her as he spoke in fear and confusion, “You… you’re Twilight? But you were rat sized when you left Canterlot.”

“Not anymore. Now, please excuse me,” she said with a relaxed voice before climbing up towards the edge, and with one quick jump, she was in Canterlot, “I need to ask my mentor to shrink me again.” She walked towards the castle, feeling far too tired to gallop after her long exercise.

The guard immediately started to fly beside her and asked, “Is there anything I can do to assist you, Miss Sparkle?” He gulped. "I'll do anything, just don't report this incident to your older brother."

Twilight glanced at the stallion. “Sure, go to the train station, and when the train from Ponyville arrives in around fifty minutes, tell the driver that I won the race.”

The pegasus guard saluted and did as he was ordered, trusting Twilight who gained quite a reputation over the years, not daring to disappoint the no longer tiny sorceress.

Author's Note

Sorry if there are any grammar issues at last section of the story. My top editors covered 75% of the story, and I didn't want to delay release of this chapter any further.

For those of you who wondered how Twilight felt at her new size and how it affected her, I hope this chapter was satisfying. Despite her efforts to keep herself in check, she occasionally failed to restrain herself, resulting in some casualties around her.

As always, I'm looking forward to your feedback and to learn what do you all think of the normal sized Twiny?

Ch7 - Race to Canterlot - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 7

Race to Canterlot
-
part 2

Twilight looked around in disappointment as she approached the castle. The huge stone temples were now mere buildings, the ponies all around her were level with her head, and the mighty castle itself was nowhere near as impressive and mighty.

Too focused on her surroundings, she didn’t look ahead as she felt something bounce off her while she herself barely felt the impact. Slowly, Twilight looked down upon the pony she had accidently bumped into, his face oddly familiar. “Sorry,” she said as she moved her foreleg in an attempt to help the noble stand.

“Hmn, next time watch where you are going, young lady,” the noble said with his head held high as he felt the hoof grab him, but to his surprise, it threw him two meters upward.

“Oops, sorry!” Twilight shouted as she lit her horn and caught the falling noble in mid air, attracting the attention of several other ponies as she accidently spinned him before stabilizing her fountain of magic.

“What is wrong with… you…?” The noble’s eyes opened widely as his mouth went agape, his entire body started sweating in fear. “T-T-Twilight Sparkle, her Royal Highness’s protege…? But how? You were supposed to stay tiny.”

Twilight took a closer look. “I remember you. You’re the noble who was being mean to me when I fell from my mentor’s tower many years ago. You’re the one who convinced the nobles of Canterlot to chase me around.”

Every noble stood stunned and shocked as their attention focused on the personal student of Princess Celestia herself. A powerful battle mage who could levitate a few ponies at once while herself weighing less than a kilogram, the very pony whose raw power could rival or even surpass a normal size unicorn, the same very important and powerful mare was now standing in front of them in her full glory.

Twilight could hear the noise of ponies running around in all directions, and in a moment, she saw as every single noble moved to the sides of the street as if leaving a clear passage for her, some even bowing from fear and respect as others stood on their trembling legs. Twilight looked back upon the noble she was levitating who now looked down at her in terror while begging her for mercy, and apologising for making every pony chase her around.

Twilight smirked as she put him on the ground and looked down at him proudly. “To be honest, escaping from many big clumsy ponies like you was quite entertaining, and a good exercise too. So no big deal,” Twilight said as the noble in front of her bowed and repeated ‘thank you’ several times over. In response, she simply patted him lightly on the head while trying to restrain her strength.

I think I prefer nobles when they fear me rather than shower me with fake praise. That way they’re far more bearable. Plus, it was about time I had my little payback for all those hours they annoyed me and wasted my mentor's precious time.

She passed the ponies without paying any more attention to them, finally entering the castle as two guards let her in the moment she introduced herself.

Every noble looked at the closing gate while still trembling in fear. They all knew that Twilight wasn’t a pony to mess with when she was small enough to be stomped on by their hooves, but now at her normal size she was a walking juggernaut.

Celestia sat on her throne during her day court as nobles stood in line in front of her with various petitions, though the princess’ mind was elsewhere as she couldn’t wait to see her student in all her glory. Next to the throne sat her sister for two reasons: to see how the court was performed in the modern Equestria, and also to wait for Twilight’s arrival as it was something she had been looking forward to ever since their encounter in the dream.

To both princesses’ surprise, a Royal Guard ran in and took off his helmet as he made a half-bow. “Permission to speak, Your Highness.” The sun princess nodded as the guard reported, “Your student, Twilight Sparkle, is on her way to attend your day court, Your Highness.”

Celestia smiled and glanced upon her sister, who looked at her, smiling back even more cheerfully. “It seems that she has finally arrived, Luna.”

Both alicorns’ attention focused on the huge double doors that were closed by unicorn guards just a moment ago, only for them to be opened violently in a purple aura as they slammed against two guards who stood at its sides. Everypony who stood in line looked back in astonishment and awe as Twilight walked into the room and, with the help of her powerful magic, closed the door, only to look upon the two almost flattened unicorn guards who were now pinned against a wall.

***

“Oh, I am so sorry!” Twilight apologised in panic as she, with more care, gently levitated the guards onto the floor. I had been smashed by a giant door more than once, but I never expected I may do the same to any pony one day, she thought, looking upon the guards in pity.

After ensuring that the guards weren’t injured, she turned towards the throne, only to see a line of petitioners now forming a double line, giving her a clear passage towards the princesses. Twilight rolled her eyes while the alicorns chuckled. Wasting no time, she walked towards her mentor and noticed Luna by her side.

The moment Twilight was close enough, she took a closer look upon her mighty mentor who was at least twice her size. Next, she glanced at Luna, who, even if not as big, was no longer the filly alicorn she was when she left Ponyville. Not wanting to keep the princesses waiting any longer, she bowed.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” she whispered humbly.

“Rise, my faithful student,” Celestia said encouragingly as Twilight stood and looked at her. “It has been only a few weeks, and I’ve already missed you. How was your time in Ponyville?” Celestia asked calmly, no longer bothering to act formal or authoritative as she used to.

Twilight smiled. “I missed you too, though I must admit that the craziness of Ponyville kept me distracted and entertained!” Many ponies flinched from the strength of her voice. She glanced upon Luna who just looked back at her in silence and half-bowed. “Greetings, Princess Luna. How are you adapting to your new environment?” she asked politely, wondering if adapting to modern Equestria for Luna was as hard as adapting to living in a giant world for her when she was shrunk for the first time.

Luna smiled cheerfully. “We fare fine, Twilight Sparkle. There are many unknowns everywhere we go, but we learn fast,” she stated before smirking. “Also, we would like to congratulate thee for mastering the Royal Canterlot Voice.”

Twilight looked at Luna in confusion. "Royal Canterlot Voice?”

Luna nodded as she approached Twilight and looked her in the eyes while being only a bit taller. “Wouldst thou allow us to demonstrate ours?” The moment Luna saw a hesitant nod, she took a deep breath. “THIS IS OUR ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE IN ITS FULLEST GLORY!” the night princess yelled, pushing Twilight several metres away with the strength of her voice while a group of nobles put their hooves on their ears to protect themselves from the quite literal vocal assault.

Twilight stood up and shook her head, the voice volume not hard to endure as her ears were no longer tiny and fragile. The no longer tiny mare walked towards Luna and gave her a smirk of her own before taking a deep breath, and this time instead of speaking loudly as she always did, she yelled as if trying to catch the attention of a giant pony who was far away. “AND THIS IS HOW I CATCH ATTENTION FROM PONIES FAR BIGGER THAN ME!”

The force physically pushed the night princess away and she flew through the air before making an impact with the wall right behind the throne. Celestia merely rolled her eyes at the amusing interaction between her student and sister.

Twilight’s smirk turned into panic as she ran towards Luna who was just falling out from the newly formed alicorn-shaped hole in the wall. “I am so sorry, I overdid it. Please, don’t hate me,” she whispered, looking down at the night princess in sorrow with drooped ears.

Luna just looked up at her in excitement. “Thou hast made us proud once again. Mastery of thy voice shall bring many foes to their knees. Hast thou ever considered educating thyself to make a battle cry?” she asked before standing back on her four hooves and spreading her wings while shaking a few pebbles from her body. She chuckled upon noticing a blush on her savour's cheeks.

“Thank you, Princess. You’re not a-angry, are you?” Twilight asked, a bit of panic still in her voice.

The princess shook her head. “Whatever for? Thou wouldst have to push an enchanted dagger through our chest or betray our most solemn trust to make us angry at thee.”

Twilight shivered at the very image of doing something as horrible as assassinating the princess.

Luna continued, “But let us not distract thee any longer. For thou hast come to seek the assistance of our sister.”

Twilight nodded, thankful for Luna’s understanding. She turned towards her mentor who kept staring at her in silence and with a cheerful smile.

“Oh Twilight, you have grown into a wonderful and strong mare, I am so proud of you,” Celestia stated, not daring to look anywhere but in her student’s eyes. “You even dispelled the effect of the shrinking spell from yourself to defeat an Ursa Minor and saved an entire town, a feat bigger than defeating the beast as I know how much you feared to do this.” Twilight nodded and gave Celestia a curious glance. “I see you wish to ask me something. Please do.”

“How’re you doing this?”

Celestia blinked. “Doing what?”

“Restraining yourself. I know that your power is far greater than mine, and after our adventuring, your strength has improved as well. How can you keep it all under control, how are you capable of restraining yourself in front of your subjects?” She took a few steps forward and gave Celestia a ‘please tell me, I have to know’ look. “How did you manage to restrain yourself when you took me as your student? Back when I was tiny and fragile, when you could crush me with one false move?”

Celestia sighed and looked upon the holes in the wall in the shape of two unicorn guards before raising her foreleg towards Twilight. “Would you shake my hoof, Twilight, as you normally do?”

She nodded and did as was told, and instead of the hoof, she somehow managed to shake the princess who was at least four times heavier than herself. The gold-like shoe shattered into pieces.

Celestia reaserted herself in her throne. “Now I understand what you mean, but there is no need to worry, my faithful student. You just returned to your original size a day ago while I had hundreds of years to learn how to keep my power in check.”

Twilight lowered her head and said humbly with restrained strength of her voice, “I see… I was so caught up in fun of adventuring and improving myself through challenges that I started to push aside… to delay learning how to restrain myself.” Her ears drooped as silence overtook the room.

“I kept telling myself that I still have time, that my services as a full-size unicorn won’t be needed yet, or that in times of emergency I won’t need to restrain myself.” The sun princess smiled warmly. “However, as boring as it may be, I think it is time for me to learn how to limit my power and strength, just like you did, princess.”

Celestia stood from her throne and approached her student as she raised her head gently. “I hoped you would figure it out and admit it on your own, Twilight.” She placed hoof against her chest and said warmly, “To be honest, Luna and I know better than anypony what it means to restrain ourselves, and I at some point even forgot the pleasure of just unlocking the chains of self-control and… ‘let it loose’, as my subjects would call it.”

She lowered her head closer to Twilight’s ear and whispered, “Adventuring by your side as a tiny princess was quite enjoyable, one of the rare opportunities I could let my self-control slip. I am very grateful for that.”

Twilight blinked in confusion before asking hesitantly, “Does this mean… that I should stay at normal size?”

Noticing fear in her student’s voice, Celestia shook her head and spoke, “And make you sad, once again taking you away from your comfort zone as I did when you could not control your surges? There is no need for that. Baby steps, Twilight, baby steps.”

A large smile appeared on the unicorn’s face as she stopped herself from squeezing her mentor with a hug while alicorn's horn lit with power.

“It is best if you return to the size that everypony and you are the most comfortable with. Practice at your own pace and feel free to change your size whenever you see fit. I will always be here to shrink you again,” Celestia ordered authoritatively with motherly voice. “Or you can send a letter and I will find a window in my schedule to visit you. I will gladly rediscover the secrets of long range teleportation and practice it.”

Twilight nodded. Now that I think about it, wasting my mentor's precious time to run back and forth from Ponyville to Canterlot seems very inconvenient. I should certainly avoid that.

Every noble in the throne room looked toward the throne in admiration and relief as a powerful aura of magic surrounded Twilight. Slowly, the walking juggernaut was once again shackled by her tiny size, becoming smaller and less dangerous every second, finally leaving a tiny unicorn that they could deal with without fear, at least without fearing her too much.

Celestia and Luna looked down at the small unicorn once the aura of magic faded.

***

Twilight opened her eyes and to her relief, in front of her instead of two normal size princesses, she saw two very long white legs, one with a huge golden horseshoe. Slowly, she looked up into the faces of two mighty alicorns towering over her, who radiated power with their presence.

Wasting no time, she jumped towards her mentor’s foreleg, climbed up above her peytral and hugged her mentor’s exposed neck, now free to hug it with all of her strength. In response, Celestia hugged her gently with her giant bare hoof. “Thank you princess.”

“There is nothing to thank me for, my little pony. I will always be there to shrink you back, as long as you will not hesitate to return to your original size when your power is needed,” Celestia said with reassurance in her voice.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked to her right as she noticed the smaller but still giant alicorn looking at her and her mentor with a hint of jealousy. Not wasting a moment, she pushed herself from Celestia’s neck onto Luna’s and repeated the hug. “Don’t worry, princess, my hugs are enough for everypony.”

Luna blushed. Being hugged by a tiny pony while being in a room filled with nobles certainly wasn’t something she was comfortable with.

“S-sorry,” Twilight said as she released Luna’s neck and landed next to her mighty hoof, hanging her head low in apology. The alicorns looked down upon her with a forgiving smile.

“How about you and my student hang out together?” Celestia whispered, causing Luna and Twilight’s faces to turn red. She giggled and added, “I mean, my student can show you around Canterlot as Cadence did, and she can introduce you to her friends.”

Twilight looked upon her mentor and beamed with a jump, almost reaching the alicorn’s head level. “Thats a great idea!” she said as she climbed up, this time on Luna’s foreleg. Oh, right, I came here with the same idea in mind. Princess Celestia, you know me so well. Once done with climbing, she sat on the alicorn's neck and pointed towards the exit. “What do you say, Princess Luna? After all, I promised to spend time with you when we meet again, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Luna chuckled cheerfully and gave her sister a farewell nod. “Please excuse us, dear sister; we will have to learn how to run a modern court next time as we will now spend valuable time in the presence of our savior. Farewell.”

She walked proudly towards the exit, ignoring the curious and confused eyes of the nobles while Twilight put her tiny hooves on her head in panic. “Oh no! You have been learning how to run a court and I interrupted. I can wait, Your Highness, as you…” Twilight didn’t finish her sentence as Luna jumped lightly, almost causing her to fall off, had she not been holding Luna’s neck strong enough.

“Hush, Twilight; we have been waiting to spend time together with thee, and that is what we are going to do,” Luna said in determination as she opened the door. The two unicorn guards were now standing out of its slamming range, both wary. “Hast thou come with thy little dragon and guards?”

Twilight panicked again. “Oh, I completely forgot about them! They were coming here on the train.”

Luna, now walking in the empty halls of the castle towards the nearest window asked in confusion, “Wait, didst thou not ride the train with them?”

Twilight rubbed her back as she still sat on Luna’s neck, while the princess jumped from the window and flew towards the train station, Twilight right away grabbing and holding it more tightly before answering, “I kind of raced the train.”

That made Luna miss a beat of her wings before hovering in place. “W-what?”

“I just couldn’t stay in one place in such a small room with so many little ponies, so I decided to run directly to Canterlot and make a challenge out of it,” Twilight explained.

“But… how? We understand that thou art a very athletic unicorn, and thou even hast earth pony magic in thy veins; but racing a train for so long would bring even a strong stallion to his knees,” Luna stated with disbelief in her voice. “At least, this is the impression we got when Cadence introduced us to this modern way of transportation.”

Twilight giggled. “Well… my very tough life, diligent training regime written on my checklists and a powerful amount of magic that pony bodies can use for self-improvement, let me face the train in a long race on an equal ground…” She coughed and added hesitantly, “And the fact that the train had to go through tunnels and circles in order to get to Canterlot while I ran straight and climbed up on the way might have worked to my advantage.”

Luna laughed. “So we take it thou hast won the race,” she asked between laughter, feeling her little friend’s strong hooves holding her neck.

“I beat it by almost fifty minutes,” Twilight stated as they both laughed while many pegasi gave them odd glances, for the first time noticing another alicorn other than Celestia fly around Canterlot while having the famous little Twilight Sparkle riding her.

Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 8

Luna’s Fun
-
part 1

“So… what dost thou propose we do first, Twilight Sparkle? Hast thou any suggestions?” Luna asked while flying towards the train station, the small unicorn riding on her back. Saddlebags were present on both mares.

“We still have some time before the train from Ponyville arrives,” Twilight stated as she climbed closer to Luna’s ear. “Would you like to meet my parents?”

Luna smiled proudly. “We would be honoured to meet the parents of such a brave and powerful mare as thee. Cadence mentioned that the House of Sparkle has trained and researched magic for generations.”

“Oh, we do. Now that I think about it, it kind of makes sense for the Element of Magic to choose a pony from the most magical house in Equestria,” Twilight said with pride in her voice before thinking deeply, a curious expression on her face. “Still, our house has many powerful unicorns, some of them even teach in the school for gifted unicorns I tried to attend… not that they would give me any favours or anything.” She cleared her throat. “My brother is very powerful in defensive magic, so I was lucky that it chose me of all ponies.”

“Hush, Twilight,” Luna interrupted. “From what our sister told us, thou hast studied unceasingly and worked very hard. How far thou hast reached shows us that the Element of Magic made a wise decision indeed,” Luna praised, causing Twilight to blush. “Wouldst thou show us the way?”

Twilight nodded as she gave directions to her parents' home, and in a few minutes, the princess and her passenger arrived at their destination. As they landed, several nearby nobles gave them curious glances, as they most likely had never seen another alicorn other than Princess Celestia.

Luna closed her wings and approached the door until she felt as if something was trying to stop her hind leg from moving. Curious, she looked at her leg to see Twilight hanging onto it. “Is something the matter?”

Twilight nodded as she released the alicorn’s leg and ran towards the door before looking up into Luna’s eyes. “I think it will be best if I go first and... prepare my parents for your arrival, Princess. If it’s alright with you?” Twilight said hesitantly as she gave Luna an awkward smile.

“But of course.” Luna stood with confidence. “We shall wait until thou announcest us, Twilight Sparkle, as our presence and position is not yet well known.”

The little mare nodded and ran towards the door, only to jump and kick it with her rear hoof, and the moment she landed on the doormat, she repeated this action a few more times, sometimes using both rear hooves instead. Despite her attempts to remain fairly aloof, Luna's curiosity was piqued, and she had to ask, “Thou canst always use thy magic and levitate something to knock at the door, and though thy attempts to inform thine parents about our arrival amuses us, we wish to know why thou knockest with thy tiny hoof instead?”

Twilight gave the giant door another solid kick before answering cheerfully, “It would be far too easy. I prefer to use a harder solution. More fun that way.”

“I’m coming!” somepony said from other side of the door as Twilight started to wave her hooves towards Luna, asking her to hide.

The night princess grinned. “Thou didst indeed speak the truth when thou spoke with Nightmare Moon in Town Hall. If thou likest to make things difficult, we know a few spells that may be of assistance.”

Luna stepped into the shadow of a nearby wall and faded almost completely from view.

***

Twilight sat patiently as she looked up at the giant door, which opened and revealed her beloved dad. Since her father had not noticed her yet, Twilight crouched and prepared to surprise him. She jumped with all of her strength and tackled Night Light in the neck, causing him to take at least three steps back from the strength of the impact.

“Hello dad!” Twilight cheered and nuzzled Night Light’s neck. She scrambled up to his muzzle, now hanging on it with one of her forelegs while she waved at him with the other one. “I hope I’m not interrupting or anything.”

“T-Twilight, what are you doing here? I thought you moved to Ponyville.” Despite his obvious confusion, Night Light was wearing a delighted smile. “Of course you aren’t interrupting anything. Your mother and I will always have time for you.”

“Well, it’s a long story. Is mom home too?”

Night Light nodded, almost causing his daughter to fall from his nose. Not wasting a moment, he walked inside and closed the door with his magic. “Honey, come quick, our daughter is visiting us!” Night Light shouted, much to Twilight’s displeasure. The little mare had already positioned herself next to her father’s horn, sitting on his head with her hooves on her ears in order to protect herself from the loud noise.

“Twilight, is that you?” Velvet asked as she ran into the room and looked upon her daughter. “Oh Twilight, it’s so good to see you again. The last time we were together was during your birthday, and now you're living in Ponyville. We have a lot of questions,” she said hastily between her quick breaths, obviously resisting the urge to grab her daughter from her husband’s head into a warm and somewhat crushing hug.

“I understand, and to be honest, I have a lot to tell as well. Incredibly much has happened in the past few weeks,” Twilight said in excitement. “However, first I would like to introduce you to my new friend.”

“Friend?” Velvet and Night Light said in union as Twilight nodded.

“Yes! She’s currently hiding near the entrance as first I wanted to…” Twilight failed to finish as her mother passed her and opened the door. “Mom, first I need to…”

***

Luna waited patiently until the house's door opened and a young unicorn mare looked outside. She resembled her daughter, with the same piercing alert eyes and perked-up ears as she called out, "Please, don't be shy. Come on inside. Twilight's friends are always welcome in our humble home."

It was her cue.

The announcing went faster than we expected. If House Sparkle is composed of powerful and wise unicorns, we had better make an impressive entrance.

With a brief flare of magic, Luna lit her horn and sank into a void of darkness.

Night Light took a few steps back as a pool of dark magic appeared in the middle of the living room, and a dark shape slowly emerged from it. “H-honey, we may have a p-problem…” he said in panic and grabbed Twilight with one trembling hoof, holding her protectively against his chest. Velvet turned around, only for her tail and mane to straighten and shoot into air from surprise and fear.

Luna opened her eyes and with one flap of her wings, the black aura surrounding her vanished in a flash of light and the distant peal of thunder. Now that she had both unicorns' attention, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"GREETINGS, PARENTS OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA OF THE NIGHT! WE ARE HONORED TO MEET THEE!".

"AUGH! THE REAPER OF THE PONIES HAS COME!" Velvet and Night Light both gave out a piercing scream and fainted with a thump.

Twilight slid from under her father's hoof and jumped onto the floor, now poking his motionless body.

“Perhaps… we overdid it a little bit?” Luna said hesitantly.

Twilight facehooved.

Luna smiled awkwardly. “We take that as a yes?”

***

“Reaper!” Night Light shouted in panic as he slowly opened his eyes, only to see Twilight sitting in front of his face, looking at him in worry. “Twilight, what happened? The last time AAAA!” he screamed, knocking his daughter on her back with the strength of his voice as he noticed the larger alicorn looming over them both.

Twilight Velvet blinked several times before finally seeming to focus on Princess Luna. "Oh, it's you."

"Pardon?" Luna said, tilting her head to one side.

"Cadence, you can drop your illusion spell now that you've scared us half to death." Velvet seemed unaware that the other three ponies in the room were all staring at her. She rubbed her eyes and continued, "Don't act so surprised, Nighty. You know Cadence is an expert at illusion magic. She's been hiding under that disguise for centuries."

Twilight Velvet looked up and examined Luna with a skeptical frown. "Your new disguise is quite original, Cadence. You might want to tone it down a little before you walk through Canterlot, though."

"What...?" Luna cast a cautious glance at Twilight, who merely shrugged. Turning back to Velvet, she added in a hesitant voice, "Thou thinkest we are... Cadence?"

Twilight Velvet nodded, although her frown deepened as her husband came over to stand by her side. "You can quit now. You really got us with that entrance. Did you and Twiny plan this out ahead of time? Because if so, somepony very small isn't getting any extra cookies today." Her daughter giggle turned into a frown of disappointment.

Luna shook her head. “We are not the former Princess Cadence. Our name is Luna. We are Princess Celestia’s sister and Guardian of the Night.”

Twilight’s parents laughed.

“Sure you are,” Night Light said between laughter. “You can drop the act, Cadence, we know it is you.”

The princess wanted to say something, but she felt somepony hanging onto her ear.

“I... may had failed to tell them about you and what happened in Ponyville. Remember, Celestia is the only alicorn Equestria have known about for centuries.” Twilight whispered.

Luna smirked. “We see that thou have not yet heard about our glorious return after our thousand years of exile. Have thou not heard about thy daughter’s heroic deeds?”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet blinked in confusion and said in union hesitantly, “H-heroic… deeds?”

Twilight, who was still hanging on Luna’s left ear, sighed deeply. “Mom, Dad, do you both remember how I swore not to hide any secrets from you, no matter how terrifying?” she asked calmly as her giant parents looked at her and nodded.

The little mare pointed towards the sofa right behind them. “Please take a seat, it’s going to be a looooong story.”

"Ah!" Luna said with a bright smile. "I shall make the popped corn!"

***

For the next several minutes, Twilight told her parents the short version of what happened in the past few weeks. The short version still turned out to be fairly long, leaving her parents wavering between shivering in fear and trying to be properly supportive at times during the story. More than a few tears were shed.

Twilight followed her story with a few events from her life; like when she played a game of tag with the entire town because of tickets to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’, how she spent sleepless nights researching something that didn’t need research to begin with, and finally how her friend Applejack caused huge troubles for Ponyville and even kicked her so hard that she ended up in hospital in coma for three days.

She paused her story to give her shaking parents a break as Velvet considered using a spell or a quick drink to calm their nerves.

Finally, Twilight told about a griffon named Gilda she befriended, the performance of ‘the Great and Powerful Trixie’ she participated in, and how she had to dispel the effect of the shrinking spell from herself to save the town, and then repair it after an Ursa Minor rampage.

“...when I had returned back to my original size, I decided to run all the way to Canterlot up the mountain road while racing a train." She turned and looked at the living room clock. "If it's on time, it should be pulling into the station any minute now." She turned back to her parents who were shivering in fear on the sofa in front of her. The little mare herself was sitting on the table in the middle of the room with Luna perched on a pillow right behind it.

“Is… is this the end of your s-story?” Velvet asked hesitantly.

Twilight lowered her head. “Yes it is, though I must say that I’m sorry, I owe you an apology.”

“W-whatever for, dear?”

“Well, do you remember my last visit a few years ago? You asked me to….” Twilight reminded her parents of what they did in the rush of insanity at the end of that eventful day.

***

“I know I didn’t save the world or anything, but I still should have written about what happened. I was so distracted after that day and I forgot about my promise. I am sorry…” Twilight apologised as Night Light and Twilight Velvet blushed from embarrassment while Luna laughed deeply.

“They really said that?” Luna asked, laughing. Twilight looked back at her and nodded. “‘Be a dear and do not let other ponies squash you more than ten times a day…’ ‘write to us about your adventure if you save the world…’” Luna wiped a tear of mirth from her eye as she attempted to contain her laughter. “Whatever happened during that day, Twilight? Thou must tell us the entire story.”

Velvet lowered her head and blushed. “Twilight, dear. First off, we weren’t in our best state of mind back then, and second, you really shouldn’t take everything we say so literally.”

Night Light sighed. “Come on, Twilight. Just because we accidentally mentioned that you’re not fighting a millennium-old forces of evil, doesn’t mean you have to prove us wrong.” He facehoofed. “It is like… if I mention that you won’t have to deal with a giant dragon or guardian of the gates of Tartarus or…”

The worried father put his hooves over his mouth as his eyes widened. As he slowly lowered his forelegs, Night Light commanded, “Listen Twilight, no dragon slaying or Cerberus hunting! Do you understand?”

“But daaad…” Twilight said in disappointment, a pout on her face. Both of her parents’ attention focused on Luna, who seemed very amused for some reason.

“So… you’re not Cadence, right?” Velvet asked in search for confirmation.

“That is correct; thy daughter’s story is truthful and explains who we really are,” Luna stated as Twilight’s mother smiled.

“And to think that we always thought that Princess Celestia was the only alicorn in Equestria… if not in the entire world,” Velvet remarked before pointing towards her tiny daughter. “A few years ago our little Twilight introduced us to another alicorn who was a princess at some point, and today we meet you.”

Night Light laughed. “Twilight, first we had one Princess and now we have two and a half. How are you doing this?” he asked before sealing his daughter’s mouth with tip of his hoof. “Rhetorical question.” He reasserted himself on the couch to sit more comfortably. “Still, I must say, you really have something that attracts princesses and alicorns like a magnet.”

Twilight Velvet added, “First an alicorn became your mentor, next one is your foal-sitter and now another is your friend.”

“Thy daughter deserves the best, if we may add. For all her hard work to reunite us with our sister, it is only just for her to be blessed with such mighty friends." Luna's proud smile faded somewhat as Night Light and Twilight Velvet gave her an angry glare. “Have we said something wrong?”

“No disrespect, Princess, but weren’t you the monster our daughter faced not long ago?” Velvet asked before her mouth was sealed in a purple aura.

“Nightmare Moon was not a monster!” Twilight shouted with an angered stomp, much to her mother’s surprise. “Please, don’t call her that!”

“But Twilight…” Velvet responded as she looked between her daughter and the princess. “From what you told us, Nightmare Moon almost killed you. How can you forgive something like that so easily?”

Twilight shook her head. “And afterwards she blessed me so that the moon would restore my vigour and stamina, and she apologised.”

“So let me get this straight." Night Light swallowed and tried unsuccessfully to project an air of calm over the obvious worry in his voice. "Princess Celestia tried to manipulate you into saving her sister, then she changed her mind, yet, you ended up in Ponyville anyway, am I right?” Twilight and Luna nodded. “You tried to sacrifice yourself to save everypony…?”

“I’m truly sorry for breaking my promise. I couldn’t stand by and let others suffer.”

Luna gave a nod of agreement and said, “Thou should be proud of thy daughter. She bested her fears and faced us under Nightmare Moon’s influence to help her fellow ponies.” The princess raised her armored forehoof and added with a respectful tone, “It was a brave and noble thing to do.”

“Easy for you to say! It wasn’t your daughter that risked her life.” Velvet frowned at Luna, who lowered her head in guilt.

“As I was saying,” Night Light interrupted, attracting everypony’s attention. “You were healed by Princess Celestia and foal-sitter, next you ran into a dangerous forest and almost died facing a manticore. Later, you faced Nightmare Moon for a second time and used the Elements against her. And now not only can you and your friends use the most powerful artifacts known to ponykind, but you’ve also acquired earth pony and pegasus magic." Night Light put a hoof against his forehead and took a deep breath. "Next thing, you'll turn into an alicorn yourself."

“Now that you say it that way, it does sound kind of extreme…”

Velvet sighed and turned a compassionate gaze towards her diminutive daughter. "Extreme? Twilight, I can't believe you put your life at risk this many times! Don't get me wrong, because I'm proud of you, but I'm terrified at the same time."

"And so am I," said Night Light. "You may have defeated an Ursa Minor and climbed Canterlot Mount to race a train, but you're still our sweet little filly." He lowered his head in defeat. "It's just hard for us to admit you've grown so much when you're so small. Your mother and I understand that you really love to challenge yourself, but please... Don't end up in a grave before us. That's all we ask."

“I… I‘ll try,” Twilight responded hesitantly.

Night Light and Velvet nodded to each other, then turned simultaneously to look directly at Princess Luna while wearing matching frowns.

The princess took an abrupt step backwards at the sudden attention and blinked in confusion before speaking in a very calm voice. "Does this mean we are still... in your bad graces?"

“Yes, you are. First off, as much as I’m thankful that you didn’t kill our daughter when you were Nightmare Moon, you still did hurt her,” Night Light stated before his face softened. “However, since our dear Twilight forgave you, we'll try to find it in ourselves to do as well.”

Velvet smiled and said calmly, “We’re glad Twilight helped you return to us, Princess Luna. I sincerely hope that you both will become good friends without any more drama.” She looked at Luna with desperation in her eyes. “I know it’s an odd request, but please, would you try to keep Twilight safe when she is in your presence, please?”

Luna smiled and raised her head and foreleg proudly while her wings spread in a display of strength and determination. “We owe our life to thine daughter, and so we shall protect her with it. This we swear!”

Twilight’s parents took a step back and gasped, surprised by the level of commitment Luna had towards their daughter. Once they recovered, they bowed in respect.

***

The carefree chat between Luna, Twilight and her parents lasted for a few more minutes before the princess and her little friend had to say their farewells. However, just as the duo were making their way towards the door and Twilight was still climbing the princess’ foreleg, Night Light and Velvet suddenly stepped in and stopped them from reaching the door.

“Please, don’t leave just yet, Twilight. We have a gift for you,” Velvet said as she held a packet in her hooves.

“Gift?” Twilight asked as she looked up at her mother from her spot on Luna's raised foreleg.

“We planned to send this to your home in Ponyville, but since you’re here, we might as well give it to you now,” Velvet said cheerfully and smiled as she levitated the package over her daughter. Twilight just raised her forelegs and held it above her head, its size covering her entire vision.

“What is inside, mom?” Twilight asked curiously as she found the gift surprisingly heavy, but her legs held their ground without the help of a levitation spell.

“It’s a surprise, Twilight. I’m sure you don’t have much time before the train with your guards and Spike arrives, so take care." Night Light opened the door with his magic and let them pass. Velvet moving to the side as well. Twilight levitated her present into Luna’s saddlebag while she herself climbed up onto the alicorn’s back, and soon the princess flew towards the train station.

While on the way to the train station, Twilight looked around from her position on the princess's neck as she noticed a group of nobles surrounding a friend she recognised. Not wasting a moment, she asked Luna to land.

Many nobles sighed in relief at the sight of Twilight once again reduced to a more manageable size. Upon seeing a gesture from Fancy Pants, they walked away, leaving him to have his private talk with the newest princess.

“I say, this is such a charming encounter.” Fancy Pants gently kissed Luna's upraised foreleg as per custom, adding a warm smile with the smallest eyebrow wiggle. “It’s an honor to finally meet you in person, Your Highness.”

Despite her best efforts, Luna blushed with the attention. Even before her banishment, it had been ages since a stallion had given her such a warm welcome.

Pushing away a drift of Luna's floating mane, Twilight peeked out and announced, "Princess Luna, I would like you to meet Fancy Pants. He is the most reliable and kind noble in all of the land, and one who I respect a lot."

The stallion raised his head, only now noticing Twilight peeking from behind the alicorn’s neck.

“Fancy Pants, this is Princess Luna. She’s Princess Celestia’s sister who returned from her unjust banishment. She’s very honest and honorable. I’m sure you both will get along.”

“I am certain I will. Princess Celestia already shared the news of your return with my family and waited for you to get more comfortable before organizing a meeting between us,” Fancy Pants said with a smile before looking at the little mare. “Greetings, Miss Sparkle. It is always a pleasure. I heard you accomplished quite a lot lately.” He glanced between Luna and her passenger before asking, “Would you both care for a chat with me with some tea? Or maybe a peaceful stroll through the museum.”

“I would be honored, however, I need to pick up my guards and Spike from the train station first,” Twilight said as her ears drooped. “Furthermore, I was hoping to introduce Luna to my brother.”

“I understand.” He looked back at Luna and asked. “Princess Luna, I would be honoured if you would accept invitation to my humble residence tomorrow.”

“The honor will be on our side,” Luna said pridefully.

“I wish I could accompany you, but my time is too limited for a trip to train station and the barracks. I truly hope we will make up for it tomorrow.” Fancy Pants half-bowed and added, “I shall inform my family and prepare for your arrival. Farewell.”

“We must say, Twilight Sparkle, thou choosest thy friends wisely. Mr. Fancy Pants is a very respectful gentle-stallion,” Luna said firmly and walked towards the train station.

“Yes, he is the best, but just wait until you meet his family. Fleur de Lis is very kind and adventurous while their son White Path is so enthusiastic.”

Luna smiled. She had been with Twilight for only an hour, and the time they had together was already enjoyable and meaningful, and the day had just started.

Overwatch yawned, stretching out her limbs after a quick nap in the comfort of the train car. A glance at a nearby clock confirmed that she’d only been asleep for a little over an hour and a half, and she looked at the other occupants sitting with her. Steel Blade was staring out the window, leaning to the side and propping up his head with his foreleg. Spike was still passed out next to a small piece of luggage containing the group’s smaller necessities, curled up into a little scaley ball on the seat opposite her and Steel Blade and snoring gently.

The unicorn guard grumbled, burying her head back into her scarf. It would be at most half an hour before the train pulled into Canterlot, not nearly enough for another good long nap. She wriggled around, stretching out her back as she tried to find another comfortable position to rest in for the rest of the trip.

Steel Blade raised an eyebrow at her, an amused smirk on his face. “I see you’re back in the land of the living,” he said, sitting up and away from the window. “Think Twilight won?”

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Of course she won. The only question at this point is by how much. If I have a hard time chasing after her when she was barely larger than my hoof, there’s no way I could catch her now that she’s my own size.” She cracked her neck, rubbing at it with a hoof. “At least all this running around’ll keep me going strong now that I’m entering middle age.”

Steel Blade snorted. “We’ve been middle age for a while now. I’d say stressing out over Twilight’s silly shenanigans has cut a few years off my life.”

The charcoal mare stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s why I refuse to worry so much. No point when Twilight can take care of herself so easily.”

The stallion let out a sigh at that. “I think that’s part of the problem though,” Steel Blade said, slouching back into the seat. “What’s our purpose now that Twilight’s so… Twilight? After the Ursa, I don’t think there’s anything that could keep her down, and with her at our size, it feels like she’s more of a hazard to others than others are to her. At this point, we’re a misstep away from a natural disaster.”

Spike let out a yawn, sitting up and blinking blearily at the guards as he entered the conversation. “I suppose I know what you’re talking about,” he said, rubbing out his sleepy eyes. “Have you ever heard of the ‘world of hay’ speech?”

Steel Blade’s brow furrowed together. “No, I don’t think so. Might have been mentioned in passing, but I can’t remember what it was off the top of my head.”

“Well, Supermare makes it. It was in the middle of this huge fight between her and a really big bad guy, and the villain makes a big deal out of being godlike and tossing the good guys around until Supermare finally cuts loose.”

“Oh, and you’re relating her to Twilight?” Overwatch asked.

“Kinda,” Spike continued. “See, in the whole ‘world of hay’ speech, Supermare says that she was never able to use her full power because doing so could destroy something or hurt somepony, even accidentally. She lived in a world made of hay, where even a slight loss of control could lead to terrible consequences.”

“That’s… actually pretty close to what Twilight’s going through now,” Steel Blade said, turning to Overwatch. “Remember how she destroyed the door to the library from just trying to go outside?”

“Yeah, it’s the whole reason she’s going to Canterlot.” Overwatch said as if it were obvious. “Makes sense to me. Last thing I want is for Twi to sneeze and take out half the building.”

Steel Blade face twisted into a grimace. “But doesn’t living so close to such a powerhouse worry either of you?”

Spike shrugged. “Not really.”

Overwatch nodded in agreement. “What he said. We’ve lived next to Celestia for at least a decade and a half by now. Twilight might be able to stop an Ursa, but after working with the alicorn responsible for the day-night cycle for so long, I’ve gotten a little jaded in regards to what Twilight does. It’s just super impressive because Twilight isn’t an alicorn.”

“Pretty close though,” Spike interjected. “Twilight has more than just unicorn magic now.”

Steel Blade sighed. “I don’t even know what’s happening anymore. We’ve been Twilight’s guards for so long and now it feels like we don’t have a purpose anymore. What can we do when we can’t even keep up with the one we’re supposed to protect?”

Overwatch shrugged with a hint of a smile. “We just keep doing what we can,” she said simply. “I don’t mind being behind Twilight. She’s rocketed past all of us, but you can miss a lot of scenery when you go that fast.”

The guard mare sat back in her seat and continued, “I’m not the greatest by any stretch of the imagination. I can’t go as fast or as hard as Twilight can, but I’ll always put my best hoof forward,” she said, before her mouth curled up into a smirk. “And besides Twilight, all of my friends are back here. Twilight’s… in a class all her own. The fact that she’s running to Canterlot by herself is a perfect demonstration of that. I know she tries to stay in contact with everypony else, but I can’t help but wonder if she feels lonely at the top sometimes.

“There’s something to be said about being the best you could be, but for the average pony like me, I… I would hate trying to put so much effort into being who I’m not, especially if it means I have to leave everypony I love behind.”

Steel Blade blinked, before reaching out with a wing and pulling Overwatch into his chest fluff, eliciting a surprised yelp from the charcoal mare. “When did you get so sappy?”

“When did you get so depressing?” Overwatch retorted, punching the pegasus in the shoulder.

Spike simply rolled his eyes before curling up to get more sleep.

Bonus Ch - Cadence’s Ballad - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Bonus chapter

Cadence’s Ballad
-
part 1

“Move, move, move! Just a few more rounds before the break!” The alicorn could hear a commanding voice which encouraged her to keep moving. She ran forward restlessly while feeling earth and dirt under her hooves.

Cadence looked to her left and saw armored hooves of a pegasus guard slamming against the ground next to her. On her right she could see the grey legs of a unicorn moving restlessly as well. Cadence’s own hooves moved quickly as she had to make ten steps for every step of the running guards to not be left behind, all because of her temporarily reduced size.

“Is that the best you can do? I’ve seen grannies with more stamina than you all!” Once again the authoritative voice spoke while Cadence looked towards its source. On the horizon in front of her stood none other than Shining Armor, a proud strong stallion in polished captain’s armor. Feeling a surge of determination to impress her very special somepony, Cadence sped up, getting ahead of the guards she ran alongside.

She passed Shining Armor, who just looked down at her with a neutral stare. Cadence could feel the sweat covering her body, weighted down by a miniature leaden armor that tripled her weight, a special training equipment customized for earth ponies, and in this case, for a miniature alicorn. Cadence felt a sense of deja-vu as if she was participating in a snowball war all over again. This time, however, instead of Auntie Celestia and little Twilight as captains of opposite teams, there was one.

Minutes passed as Cadence ran and jumped over obstacles, becoming more and more tired, but she was not expecting any mercy from Shining Armor as it would be playing favourites.

Once she finished the obstacle course for the second time, she noticed a few ponies entering the training area and approaching Shining Armor.

“Greetings, proud Captain of the Guards, and please forgive us for our untimely intrusion.”

“L-Luna?” Cadence whispered as she recognised the voice with ease.

“It seems your break will come faster today. Take a shower while you’re at it,” Shining Armor ordered before turning to face the guests. “It’s not an intrusion at all. We’re honored to welcome you here, Princess… and I see you brought guests.”

Curious, Cadence wiped the sweat from her head and ran towards her very special somepony, following him towards the guests while staying out of sight behind his hind-legs.

***

“How can I be of service, Your Highness?” Shining Armor bowed before looking back at the princess, only to notice a pony he knew all too well peeking from behind her right ear.

“Twiny?!?”

“Hello Shining, I know we have seen each other a few weeks ago, but I missed you,” Twilight said cheerfully before jumping from Luna’s head to hug his neck. “Ready to defeat me again?”

“I am not sure it is a good idea… we’re in the presence of royalty,” Shining replied as he looked at Luna while keeping his composure. A weak blush barely visible on his cheeks.

“By all means, entertain us,” Luna said encouragingly as she took a few steps back and sat down, observing the captain and his tiny little sister expectantly.

With his attention on Twilight once again, he whispered, “If this is the princess’ wish, then we don’t have much of a choice, though I’m curious about the progress you’ve made ever since you moved to Ponyville.”

“If that’s the case, how about we expand the wrestling time to two minutes for each round? I’m feeling lucky this time,” Twilight asked.

“Two minutes? But Twiny, I know that you are strong, but you are still a unicorn. Your stamina won’t last that long.”

“Try me,” Twilight challenged with confidence in her voice.

***

Cadence could hear a noise of armored horseshoe land against the ground. As she approached Shining’s not raised foreleg, she peeked from behind it and looked up at Twilight, who was holding the stallion's neck as his right massive hoof was pushing her off. As Cadence expected, the little mare held her ground.

Oh Twilight, you haven’t changed a bit.

She climbed up Shining Armor’s hind leg until she reached his back, not bothering to use her wings. You were climbing up your mentor regularly while tied to her massive regalia, calling it a morning exercise no less. I would be a pathetic excuse of an alicorn if I couldn’t do the same because of a little weighted vest.”

Once on Shining's back, Cadence could see Luna’s attention focused on Twilight, confusion apparent on her face.

***

“What art thou doing?”

“W-we are w-wrestling, L-Luna…” Twilight said, struggle clearly recognizable in her voice as a giant hoof was now pressing against her head.

“In the first round, my little sis holds my neck while I try to shake her off with just one hoof during the time we agreed on. During the second round, I will press Twiny against my neck while she tries to free herself. She always loses though, due to how unfair those rules are for her,” Shining Armor lectured before gritting his teeth as he put more strength into his hoof, his little sister finally budged.

“I prefer when… the rules... work ag-g-gainst me…” Twilight added before taking a quick breath. “It’s m-more challenging that w-way…” Twilight added.

Luna chuckled. “Quite an interesting competition. We must try it some time with our sister,” she said, briefly wondering which one of them should be the tiny one during their wrestling match.

Our sister was tiny that one time we punished her. Tis only fair we wrestle our sister’s hoof first, she thought while rubbing her chin, her eyes still on her struggling friend.

Not even one minute passed as Twilight fell onto the ground, quickly caught by Shining’s magic. Her breathing heavy and muscles tense while her fur was wet from sweat. Wasting no time, she teleported herself back onto Shining Armor’s neck as his hoof pinned her against it. Despite her exhaustion, Twilight fought against the hoof, trying to free herself during her two minute time limit while earth pony magic aided her in this endeavour.

***

Cadence walked closer until she climbed up and reached Shining Armor’s neck, now looking down at the fight between his hoof and his little sister from a much better point of view. If I remember correctly, Twilight had always lost, not that I can blame her. I wonder if today will be any different, she thought as she observed the duel.

Luna smiled upon noticing her, but kept silent as Cadence raised her forehoof up to her mouth, a gesture the night princess understood immediately.

Cadence could see Twilight pushing herself further little by little as her tiny hooves fought against the large one. One and half minutes passed and, to Shining’s surprise and amazement, with one strong swing, Twilight pushed his hoof away from herself and fell to the ground before he could stop her.

“I win, I win!” Twilight cheered as she started jumping on her trembling legs, before tripping and falling onto her face as she scowled, feeling as if her muscles burned. “My very first draw against you.”

Luna raised a hoof to her face and chuckled while looking down at the little mare in amusement.

Cadence quickly noticed a weak blush of embarrassment on Shining Armor’s cheek, alongside his prideful smile.

“Wow, Twiny, you have become so much stronger in the past couple of weeks. What have you been doing to accomplish that?” Shining Armor asked with worry in his voice as he found it hard to imagine what kind of training regime his sis had put herself through this time.

Cadence hid behind the opposite side of Shining’s neck the moment Twilight energetically climbed up his foreleg towards the head. How can she still have so much stamina after three minutes of wrestling? Cadence thought as she watched in disbelief as Twilight reached her B.B.B.F.F’s head, and started dancing on his horn.

Cadence giggled before jumping onto Shining’s head and looking at the dancing mare. “Twilight, you really beat your brother good.”

The little mare opened her closed eyes and her cheerful mood vanished the moment she looked down into the alicorn’s eyes. “C-Cadence?” she said in panic before losing her balance and falling on her back on her brother’s head. “How…?”

Twilight paused before sighing as she relaxed herself, the panic went away as fast as it came. She rolled and got back on her hooves as she asked, “Let me guess, you shrank yourself to see the world from my perspective just like my mentor did?”

Cadence nodded. “That’s right, I couldn’t let Auntie Celestia have all the fun.”

Twilight was about to reply, when the unique armor on the alicorn caught her attention. She pointed at it and asked, “Why are you wearing a guard's armor of such small size? And why it looks similar to the vests made of lead you wore during our snowball fight?"

Cadence laughed. “I wear it for my workout, or should I call it a training regimen?”

“You… don’t mean…”

“That’s right, Twiny. Cadence will work as a royal guard,” Shining Armor said, not daring to move his head as two mares were now sitting on it.

The tiny alicorn stood proudly and saluted. “Recruit Mi-Amore-Cadenza at your service,” Cadence said cheerfully, faking her seriousness while Luna and Twilight looked at her in confusion.

“But Cadence, why would you even take such a risky job? You were always so gentle, kind and careful. So why take a job that requires you to train hard and fight?” Twilight asked in disbelief, finding it impossible that the giant full of kindness with such a gentle nature was now a tiny pony in training armor.

“I have my reasons,” Cadence stated as Luna walked closer and exposed her ear. Twilight looked at Cadence with a ‘tell me, tell me, tell me,’ eyes. The little alicorn closed her eyes and shook her head, knowing full well that one can’t challenge Twilight’s curiosity. “First off, I wanted to work side by side with my very special somepony.”

“But why a guard? Isn’t it going against your nature? What’s more, you may hurt yourself, especially when you’re so small…“

“To be fair, the most dangerous and tiring part is the training all recruits go through,” Shining Armor commented. “Once they graduate, it becomes the calmest and safest job. Maybe even boring at times.” He paused before adding hesitantly, “The only exception being if you’re sent to patrol the borders. Only the most hardened veterans don’t beg to be relocated after one year of facing dangers and fighting monsters.”

Cadence rolled her eyes at her memory of patrolling the borders herself in the past. She shot the pony she was foalsitting for years a serious glance and said firmly, “Twilight, I may hate violence, but I would be lying if I said that I had never hurt anypony or living creature. I worked as a guard during the war against the griffons.”

“War?” Luna asked in confusion. “Would thou share what had transpired during such dire events after our banishment?”

Cadence nodded. “It all started over one hundred years after…”

“We need reinforcements!” yelled the sergeant as he and the pegasi that fought by his side tried to slow down the griffons’ advance. “We need to buy more time for the town to evacuate, but we won’t last for long without reinforcements!”

Cadence, disguised as a pegasus, ended up in a direct confrontation with a griffon soldier as her halberd went into a stalemate against the enemy soldier’s steel claws. The stalemate was broken when the griffon struck her belly with his talons, in response, Cadence hit the griffon with the halberd into his claw, causing him to scream in pain.

“S-surender,” Cadence said as she moved her halberd towards the griffon’s neck as the big half-bird was trying to stop the bleeding, still in pain. “Surrender and I won’t harm you any more,” she ordered with more authority, but the griffon could easily notice the hesitation which he used to his advantage. He attacked fiercely with claws on his legs while Cadence didn’t fight back for fear of killing him.

The alicorn in disguise flew backward as she deflected the griffon’s attack with her halberd, only to see the griffin's head fall off. She closed her eyes to avoid looking at the stream of blood, her breathing became heavy while her heart tried to escape her chest. Without a moment to calm down, she was grabbed by the sergeant, who now glared at her in anger.

“Listen rookie, I know that you were drafted recently and killing goes against your nature, but for Celestia’s sake, hesitation will get you killed,” the sergeant lectured as he placed a scroll in Cadence’s hooves. “I have no use for a soldier like you on the battlefield, so make yourself useful and fly towards the barracks to deliver this message.”

“Y-yes s-sir,” Cadence said hesitantly as she grabbed the scroll and flew away from the battlefield as fast as possible. I just had to disguise myself as a pegasus in a town that had to be the first target for the invasion. In desperation, the militia gathered every pony capable of fighting, mares and stallions alike, Cadence thought as she flew towards her goal, already getting away from the battlefield. To Cadence’s surprise, a group of griffons flew from behind the clouds and surrounded her.

“What we have here, a lone messenger trying to warn your petty princess? How cute,” one griffon mocked.

“Yeah, it would be very bad if something happened to you and your precious little scroll,” another griffon mocked as he aimed his metallic claw at Cadence. “Now be a nice meat and give us the scroll, and we will finish you off quickly and painlessly.”

“Yes..., it is much better to eat an entire pony without wasting time and effort to search for his or her cut-off body parts,” another griffon added as they prepared to attack.

Cadence shook her head. “Why are you doing this? Equestria and the Griffanese Empire had a peace treaty.”

The griffons laughed. “That’s simple. You ponies have become weak, we couldn’t resist an open feast and a huge amount of territory that is now for the taking.”

“Weak?” Cadence asked hesitantly as a griffon soldier forcefully took away her halberd and was now aiming his claw under her neck.

“Yeah, that dark princess of yours who rebelled and was banished one hundred years ago, from stories we heard, she was a force to be reckoned with.”

“And after the petty princess got rid of her while part of her army fell during the fight against the rebels, you ponies became weak and easy prey.” The griffon in front added, “Our ancestors were spineless cowards who followed the peaceful pact, but our new emperor ignored this useless paper and seized this opportunity.”

“Why are we even talking with a dead meat like her? Finish it already,” another griffon soldier said after losing his patience and struck Cadence in the neck with his metallic claw, failing to pierce it. “What?!? But it was a direct strike!”

Cadence smirked. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you all have no idea who you’re dealing with.” In an instant, she dropped her disguise, using the griffons’ confusion to capture them in a levitation field.

“A unicorn with wings… you look just like the sun princess… how?”

“It is not of your concern,” Cadence said before disarming the griffons while her powerful levitation field kept them immobile. “Now I better ensure that you three won't be a threat to anypony.”

“And what happened next? Did you really take a life?” Twilight asked Cadence in disbelief, while Luna lowered her head in guilt upon hearing about a war that happened because of her rebellion and absence.

“I tried… but killing just goes against my nature. I just knocked them out and used both of my wings and magic to fly and teleport towards the barracks as fast as possible. All I had to do was to hide my horn under an illusion before anypony or guard noticed me in my true form. I was lucky nopony believed the prisoners when they called me an alicorn.”

Twilight asked, "You know you could still use magic even in a disguise. Why did you drop it?"

"Now that I think about it, it was kind of silly for me to do." Cadence shrugged. "I suppose I wanted to intimidate them or something."

“So let me get this straight,” Shining Armor said firmly. “You captured three prisoners and delivered a message at the same time, warning Equestria about the invasion and that way saving the lives of many if not thousands of ponies?”

He studied tactics the griffons often used in the past: swift merciless raids with overwhelming numbers against populated areas and barracks, while several small hunting parties flanked to the rear of the battlefield, killing anypony who tried to escape. The very idea of how messengers would be ambushed and killed before they could warn the princess about the invasion if not for Cadence made him feel proud of his special somepony.

“What next, what next?” Twilight asked hastily as a tiny notepad levitated by her side.

Cadence sighed. “I became a messenger during the war… until several ponies saw me dying in action. So I faked my death and started to take the forms of many different ponies who died as well one by one. During the war, no pony kept track, so no pony even checked if the ponies I disguised myself as ever existed in the first place.”

“I see…” Twilight said satisfied as she levitated her notepad back to her tiny saddlebag. “I’m really sorry. It had to be hard for you.”

“It was, but enough about my past.” Cadence smiled and asked curiously, “What about you, Twilight? What brings you to Canterlot?”

“Well, it’s a long story.”

“If we’re going for a reunion with stories, how about we do it in my office?” Shining Armor suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Twilight said from spot behind her brother’s horn while patting his head.

“Certainly,” Cadence said, perching herself next to Twilight.

“By the way, where are your guards and Spike? Shining asked.

She pointed at the entrance to the training ground and added, “They’re taking a walk through the barracks, sharing advice and having a little fun with the new recruits, I believe. I know Overwatch wanted to go back to her old apartment for a visit, but they’re probably just reliving some nostalgia.”

“...and then Fancy Pants invited us to come to his residence tomorrow. After saying our farewells, we picked up Overwatch, Steel Blade, and Spike at the train station and came here.”

Cadence looked at Twilight as if she saw a ghost, her face was pale and right eye was twitching.

Shining Armor massaged his forehead, sitting in front of his officer desk. He glanced at Twilight’s guards who nodded in confirmation before looking at the two tiny ponies on his desk talking with each other.

Luna was sitting on a nearby table with an open saddlebag and with glee like a small child who had just found a hidden cookie jar, writing intensively in a notepad of her own, which seemed like a diary of some sort. It wasn’t difficult for Shining to figure out that she was writing down Twilight’s adventures.

Spike was peeking from behind Luna’s neck while pointing at her literature. “This is the part where Twilight beat the Ursa Minor and saved the entire town, it needs to be more dramatic. Add a cape flapping against the wind, and maybe even chest armor with a big letter ‘T’ described on it.”

“Letter ‘T’, whatever for?”

“Twilight, Tiny, Twiny, you name it,” Spike commented as the captain raised his eyebrow.

“Maybe ‘ST’ as Super Twiny, or ‘TT’ as Tiny Twi… nah, that’s too cheesy.”

Shining lowered his head, listening to the little mares instead.

“I hope it’s alright with you for me to have a griffon as a friend. Despite the war that took place many hundreds of years ago?” Twilight asked while twiddling with her hooves nervously.

“Twilight… did you really let her eat you?!? Just because she challenged you?!?” Cadence shouted, finding it hard to believe. It was like the Twilight-inside-a-cake-eaten-by-Celestia incident all over again.

“Well… in the end she said that she was just joking, so I kind of... forced myself into her stomach against her will, but it was alright, no bite marks and I just teleported outside quickly,” Twilight said as Cadence looked at her with her mouth agape.

Her disbelief quickly shifting into anger as Cadence narrowed her eyes and poked Twilight’s chest with her hoof. “Twilight! I officially forbid you to let anypony or living creature eat you. If you ever force yourself into my stomach, I will never forgive you. Is that clear?”

Twilight nodded, though feeling it odd to hear such a request from an alicorn who was no longer a mighty giant that could eat her, but instead a tiny pony who herself would more likely end up as a snack for a hungry predator.

“So you beat an Ursa Minor, saved the town and raced the train… no wonder you defeated me in our little wrestle. Even if your earth pony magic is still weak, it made you slightly stronger and recovered some of your stamina.”

“Yes, I’m amazed myself by how much earth pony magic can make a difference. I asked for two minutes time specifically in hope I would have enough stamina left to beat you in round two. It worked,” Twilight said firmly before stomping hard on her brother’s desk. “Would you stomp on me? I would like to see if I’m strong enough to resist it.”

Shining Armor shook his head. “Maybe another time. Anyway, since you are tiny again while spending time in Princess Luna’s company, what do you wish to do now?”

Twilight jumped onto his muzzle and looked into his eyes in excitement. “How about we all go watch a Wonderbolt show and meet with Spitfire and Soarin?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Sounds good, sadly, I cannot join you, I have work to do…”

Luna cut him off with a firm commanding tone, “We, as co-ruler and Princess of Equestria, give thee an order to accompany us as an escort. Wilt thou heed us?”

Shining Armor smiled and saluted. “I would be honored.” He lowered his forehoof and levitated Twilight from his nose back onto his desk. “I’ll call for Lieutenant Iron Blade to cover for me right away.”

Overwatch poked Steel Blade’s wing. “Iron’s been promoted to lieutenant rank already? Took him long enough. How old is he anyways?”

Steel Blade tapped a hoof to his chin. “If I remember correctly, he’s a good five or six years younger than me. Probably late twenties, I imagine.”

Overwatch smirked. “So what, that makes you the only child in your family without an officer position now?”

Steel Blade rolled his eyes and let out a groan.

Twilight stood up to her rear hooves and asked, “You’ve rarely talked about your family, Steelie. How big is it?”

Overwatch wrapped a hoof around Steelie’s shoulders, hugging him close as she put on a smug grin. “Oh, it’s pretty big. There’s Iron Blade, Diamond Blade, Sharp Blade—all high ranking officers—with Brave Blade as the former captain. Just like how the House of Sparkle is known for their magically talented researchers and teachers,” she said with a wink at Twilight, “the Blade house is famous for their strategists.”

Steel Blade covered his face with a hoof. “Can we not?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Steelie,” Overwatch said, removing her foreleg and bumping her partner with an elbow. “Being an officer is boring, and you’d never be able to follow Twilight around to see what she’s doing!”

“Right. Sure. Let’s just leave it at that and go to the stadium already,” he said tersely, his muzzle scrunched up a bit.

Twilight and Spike took a comfortable sitting position on Luna’s back and head as the group left for the Wonderbolt show at the stadium, occasionally giving Steel Blade a few side glances to see if his mood had improved.

Shining Armor’s head accommodated Cadence, but the tiny alicorn was anything but cheerful as she thought deeply, Earth pony and pegasus pony magic… just like Auntie Celestia and Luna… can the Elements really turn her into…?

Author's Note

I know it may be surpricing to see a bonus chapter in between part 1 and part 2 of a normal chapter, but I thought that since Cadence and Shining Armor will participate in upcoming adventure of Twiny's Canterlot friends, this would be a good spot to show some of her backstory. (I know writting Cadence is hard since everyone have their own interpretation of her, but I'm going to give it a try regardless).
Also, if we would compare Twiny Ponyville's friends with Canterlot ones, it would end up as:

Pinkie Pie - Cadence/Soarin
Fluttershy - Soarin/Cadence
Rainbow Dash - Spitfire
Rarity - Blueblood or Fancy Pants
Applejack - Fleur de Lis

Now that I think about it, Twiny's Canterlot cast may actually be main 8 or main 9 (if we include Luna and White Path into the mix).

Anyway, I hope I didn't screw up Cadence's character here.

Bonus Ch - Cadence’s Ballad - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Bonus chapter

Cadence’s Ballad
-
part 2

After enjoying the air show, Twilight and her friends regrouped with the wonderbolts, updating Spitfire and Soarin about the recent events in Ponyville. With the order from Princess Luna to accompany her as an excuse, both officers agreed to join their visit to Fancy Pants’ residence tomorrow.

Cadence returned to the barracks to continue her training as a royal guard, still remaining tiny to ensure that her being an alicorn wouldn’t give her any advantages over the other recruits.

The next day the group visited Fancy Pants’ residence. To their surprise, even Blueblood was invited.

After the party ended, Spitfire proposed an idea to make a big trip to the north where she would show them her secret training ground, a place where she and Twilight almost got captured by two unicorns and two griffons.

Fancy Pants offered to organize their transportation.

The group stepped onto the snow, leaving the warmth of Fancy Pants' luxurious blimp while Cadence recognised her surroundings all too well. A huge space on the horizon where her proud empire once stood, now empty and covered by snow. She shed a tear of sadness as her old memories surfaced.

“Shining,” Cadence called, attracting his attention.

“What is it, are you cold?” Shining Armor asked as Cadence’s head was emerging from behind the scarf on his neck. Everypony in the group except two smallest ones were wearing some clothes to protect themselves from the cold.

“No, I am fine,” Cadence stated. I can withstand colder temperatures than that. She asked, “Are we really going to climb up the highest mountain in Equestria?”

“Yes, we are, at least this is what Spitfire told us.”

Cadence smiled. “I have been here before so I know the way. Would you mind if I visit a certain place on my own and join you later?”

“A certain place…? If you want, I can just take you there and…”

“No!” Cadence shouted, much to his surprise. “I… I want to go alone, it’s important to me, so please, don’t follow me there.”

Shining Armor sighed as he could see his own breath form a white smoke in front of his muzzle. “Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?” He asked. “We didn’t bring anything warm for your size, and it’s extremely cold out here, outh...” He could feel a very strong kick to his neck. “Hey, what was that for?”

“Shining, you’re my very special somepony, and I appreciate your concern.” She gave him a quick tiny kiss on the neck. “But I don't want you to think of me as a defenseless filly,” Cadence stated angrily before delivering a punch with her tiny hoof. “Luna survived for a thousand years on the cold moon, and I managed to take care of myself for the past centuries, cold or not, I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so. Just don’t make us wait for too long.”

“I won’t,” Cadence remarked, and with one solid jump, she got herself from under the warm scarf and landed on the snow. She didn’t account for her tiny size though as the snow reached up to her neck. Without wasting time, Cadence spread her wings galloped as the huge walls of snow didn’t even slow her down, gaining momentum before flying towards her destination while cold blizzard obscured her vision.

The tiny alicorn looked back to see her friends as they showed signs of confusion, at least until Shining Armor started explaining why she was leaving. The image of leaving her friends caused another memory to surface, a memory of her own banishment.

After several minutes of bracing the storm as her wings became more stiff, she reached the place where her castle once stood. She landed gracefully, her bare-hooves barely sinking in the snow under her reduced weight. She lay down on her side, perching herself on the snow bed as the sad memories from more than a millennium ago surfaced, bringing her to tears.

Slowly, the snow started to cover her body and tears were freezing into ice, but she could care less.

After minutes of crying, Cadence waved her wings and shook snow from herself before looking around the wasteland that was once her proud empire, at subjects who were no longer there because of her failure. Now ignoring the cold freezing her tiny body, Cadence looked south where she walked badly beaten and hurt by Sombra, spared only to announce his birth and to strike fear into his enemies.

After taking a deep breath of cold air, she thought about Shining Armor. Am I really trying to love once again… has the pain from the past not taught me anything?

Around 1200 years ago.

***

Cadence knew that Celestia and Luna felt guilty for failing to save her kingdom, offering protection and care as an apology or simply out of pity.

Not feeling worthy of special treatment and afraid of taking political position as it would remind her of her past, she took a different approach, studying and preparing herself for the trip ahead.

For a few decades, Cadence studied diligently all fields of illusion magic until she felt prepared to merge into Equestria’s populace and start all over again as a common pony.

Being a crystal pony at heart, she disguised herself as closest to a crystal pony as she could, taking the shape of an earth pony.

As she moved into a small town away from the capital, Cadence could feel the cold snow under her hooves as it was winter. Adapted to cold, she didn’t wear any clothes the entire way.

“Excuse me, young lady.”

Cadence stopped and turned towards the source of the voice.

“You must be new in the town. Traveler I suppose?”

She nodded, only to see this bronze earth pony put a blanket on her cold body and point at a wooden building. “I work in the INN, please come with me and warm yourself.” She noticed he had a compass for a cutie mark.

“But, I…”

“Don’t worry about bits, first night is on the house,” the earth pony said energetically as Cadence nodded and followed.

Maybe I should have let Auntie Celestia or Luna give me some bits for the trip… no, I won’t be a burden, I will work to earn them, Cadence thought as she looked upon the kind earth pony’s face, noticing a small scar. “What had happened to your face, does it hurt?”

The stallion shook his head. “Not at all. I usually check more dangerous paths and escort travelers into safely. This scar is from an accident I had while climbing a mountain,” he said warmly. “My name’s Lead Way, what's yours?”

“Cad… Careline,” she said hesitantly. “My name is Careline, nice to meet you Lead Way, it’s a pleasure to be in the presence of such a kind and generous stallion like yourself.”

“Thanks.” Lead Way blushed at Cadence’s complement. “By the way, what brings a wonderful lady such as yourself to this empty hole at the end of the world?”

“I’m searching for a place that I could call home and a job,” she said, hiding her own blush behind her foreleg.

“Home and a job so close to the border? This place is somewhat dangerous with all those aggressive animals, earthquakes and diseases, not to mention lack of medical care and limited supplies. Are other towns too crowded or something?" He smiled brightly. "I think I have an idea. Safe and calm work for a cute lady like you.”

“T-thank you…” Cadence answered as her blush only deepen.

***

As time passed, Cadence got a job as a waitress. After years of working her gentle heart and positive attitude won the hearts of the staff she worked with, even the owners of the Inn started to treat her as family, and she was surrounded by many good friends.

While Cadence’s new life started off well, things didn’t go as smoothly as she had hoped. She had more than once lied to ponies who found fur on her sides that felt somewhat… feathery. Explaining why her head seemed a bit sharp for some reasons lead to more than a few awkward moments.

The biggest crisis came with an epidemic of unknown origin in the town which caused many deaths. She did her best to help ponies in their last hours of life, only to gain symptoms of the infection on herself, symptoms that even her basic illusions couldn’t hide.

Without enough of medical experience to extract the cure from her own blood to help the town, while the infection was lethal for the local ponies, she had no choice but to fake her own death. Thus, one night she cast a spell that allowed her heart to stop temporarily, yet her alicorn magic kept her alive. The next morning, the staff of the inn woke up to find “Careline” dead in her bed, assuming she had died peacefully in her sleep.

The next day, the staff brought a coffin and carefully levitated Cadence inside, resting her head on a pillow while placing flowers in her hooves. None dared to touch her. Taking the coffin, they silently walked towards the cemetery, a crowd behind them as those who saw the open coffin of the kind earth pony bowed their heads and wept.

Soon, they arrived at the cemetery, where they placed the coffin just above the grave that held her name on the tombstone. Nopony said anything until Lead Way stepped up first, staring down at her. “Careline… was the kindest pony I ever knew. By just looking at her was like seeing the sun shining in your face. And yet that kindness, killed her… If she hadn't tried to cheer up other ponies, she would never have died from the infection,” Lead Way said with anger in his voice as others tried to calm him down. “Why, why did you have to be so kind, so caring, why did you have to leave us just to cheer up some ponies who were going to die anyway!”

Lead Way broke his way towards the wooden coffin as he looked upon the dead earth pony, while other workers and his friends restrained him from touching her infected body. “I always… always… wanted to say,” his eyes watered, “that I love you dammit. Why did you have to leave me!?”

Cadence didn’t dare answer as it would make her lies and being an alicorn known, while his every word struck her with guilt like a dagger. All she could do was to continue what she started.

Once Lead Way was escorted away to let his emotions calm down, a female worker, a white pegasus with a leaf in a cup of tea as cutie mark faced the crowd and spoke in sadness. “She was, always a hard and diligent worker, always kind and cheerful to our customers. But at the same time she was more than just a friend, she was part of our family. She slept alongside us, spent time with us, cheered us when we were sad, while we cheered her…and I... I...” The pony ran away crying while another took her place and Cadence felt her heart ache at every word of her friends. She would be able to end their sadness so easily, and yet she didn’t have the courage to.

They all think... so highly of me... yet they're so wrong. I'm and always was nothing but a coward.

As time passed and many more ponies spoke, some placing flowers in the coffin before the priest spoke the last rites. “Although Careline was taken from us at a young age, we must never forget the kind soul we were all touched to know. May she find peace in the next life.”

The coffin soon closed and was buried deep underground. Cadence continued her act until she was sure all the ponies were gone. Only then did she drop her disguise and lit her horn as she made a hole in her coffin and dug herself out to the surface at night.

Once free, she levitated the earth back into the hole, covering any traces of her escape, slowly turning towards town while tears flew from her cheeks. “I’m sorry… especially to you, Lead Way… but I cannot let anypony know my secret.”

She wiped tears from her face and sighed. “It seems that it wasn’t meant to be a home for me after all.” She flew away from the town she got used to love, a place she had to abandon if she hoped for a chance to start anew.

Almost a hundred years had passed and Cadence “died” twice before she was forced to move on.

She was walking under a unicorn disguise as she hauled the cart with various cargo to sell, traveling in a convoy consisted of many earth ponies and pegasi, all travelers or traders.

She and her company started to pass a dangerous area called ‘the valley of mischief’ as it was a popular traveling route too far away from civilization to have any guards securing it.

It didn’t take many trips before a group of griffons and diamond dogs surrounded them from the air and from underground, knives and daggers in their paws and talons.

“I see you're new here, so let me state the rules,” a griffon said firmly as he aimed his dagger at a pony neck, the pony in question sweating from fear, causing the griffon to smile in amusement. “If we see something we like, we take it. We don’t have any bits for trade, but I’m sure I can convince you all to give us a big discount.” The griffon smirked devilishly. “And if we don’t find anything edible to feed our stomachs, we will find and eat a volunteer or two instead.”

A diamond dog walked closer to a pony who hauled some gems, knife ready to strike. “We take gems and nopony gets hurt. You not have gems and you dig them for us,” the diamond dog stated as he grabbed several gems and jewelry with his paw.

“As for me,” a pony in a mask said, getting attention from the travelers and traders, “a small pleasure in exchange for letting you pass.” He walked towards a certain pink unicorn.

Cadence took a step back as the masked pony walked towards her. She could see a diamond dog yelling at another mare for not having gems and capturing her while some griffons raged about a lack of food and that they will organise a pony barbecue.

Cadence sighed before shouting loudly, “Leave them alone!”

Griffons, diamond dogs and the masked pony glared at her and advanced. The pegasus and earth pony travelers tried to get in the way, screaming, “don’t hurt her”, but were pushed away violently. Every pony watched in horror as Cadence was surrounded.

“How about we leave them alone and eat you instead,” the griffon said while giving an annoyed glance upon her target, daggers swinging in her talons as if it was a toy.

“No, the loud pony have heart-shaped gem on her flank, she must know how to dig gems,” the diamond dog stated.

“How about a trade?” the masked pony offered. “Your gem mining service for diamond dogs and pleasure services for me, and I will convince my meat eating friends to let you live.”

“I have a better offer; how about you and your friends leave everypony, let them pass unharmed and let them keep their belongings?” Cadence stomped against the dry ground as dust and sand spread around it. “In return, I will let you go unharmed.”

Every pony looked at her as if she was insane as the bandits laughed hysterically.

“You either got guts or a death wish, not that it matters to me,” said the griffon as he prepared his dagger to strike.

“This pony is stupid, can a stupid pony even dig gems?” asked the diamond dog.

The masked pony sighed. “I tried, but it seems that I will need to use force to take what I want.” He grabbed Cadence’s foreleg, only to be kicked away, and the moment he recovered, a pink levitation field threw him away right into the stone formation on the roadside.

“I warned you, now time for consequences!” Cadence shouted while her horn flashed brightly, and the moment the griffons got in attack range, she levitated their weapons from their talons, as she did the same with diamond dogs’ knives.

“I don’t need knife to crush a pony,” the diamond dog said as he charged at Cadence, only for him to be pushed by levitation field into other dogs, and to everyone's surprise, a rope was levitated from one of the carts to restrain the attackers.

“I’m just borrowing it, I hope you won’t mind,” Cadence said cheerfully as she tied three diamond dogs together who now struggled against the rope, unable to free themselves.

Cadence’s attention on the diamond dogs was distracted as she felt sharp claws striking her back, and before she knew it, three griffons started trying to tear her apart, only for a few brave ponies to rush to her aid and tackle them.

Cadence slowly opened her eyes and shook her head, now recovered from the confusion, only to see two pegasi and two earth ponies engaging in combat against three griffons. Wasting no time, she separated them before levitating the griffons at a rock formation, their heads crashing against the stone. She did the same with the masked pony who tried to run, and soon, all the bandits were lying unconscious in a pile with stars circling above their heads.

It didn’t take long before everypony thanked Cadence for protecting them while admiring her raw power, though a few questioned her outstanding durability for lack of deep wounds. Cadence and the travelers escorted the criminals to the closest town where they were judged and put on a trial.

For the next few years, Cadence disguised as random travelers and started to walk by the valley of mischief, luring any pony, griffon, diamond dog or whoever hoped to earn easy money and making sure they end up behind bars. While she was afraid of being treated like royalty, participating in politics and revealing her secret to others, bandits were never a threat to her. Making a good use of her powers was the last thing she could do for her past mistakes... or to suppress her guilt.

After a while, she gained reputation as guardian of travelers. A decade later, the valley of mischief became safe again, as no one would dare to risk facing the newborn legend. Her help no longer needed, Cadance moved on to start a new life.

Cadence opened her eyes and shut down her memories as her body trembled from the cold, not yet adapted to the temperature after centuries away from the frozen north.

With one strong swing of her tiny leg, she kicked a big portion of the snow in front of her. “Stupid love! I can spread it all around me, I can remind ponies why they love one another so much. Yet, whenever I am in love with a pony, something always goes wrong!” she shouted in self-pity before she jumped as high as she could and stomped against the snow, kicking it in rage. “To think that the last pony I loved had to be...!”

The decades after Luna’s banishment were the hardest for Cadence as she tried to help wherever she could.

After Celestia recovered enough and learned how to control both the sun and the moon, she assured her that she didn’t need her help anymore.

Tired of politics and the moving of heavenly bodies, Cadence once again tried to start a new life, ending up in a war against the griffons where she helped as a messenger, guard, nurse or whoever she could under various disguises. Dying in action became a regular occurrence.

As time passed, Cadence ended up disguised as a unicorn trooper as it let her use magic, and fell in love with a charming and brave pegasus sergeant who fought by her side.

Half a year later as the war was finally over, Cadence was carefully trotting upward towards the top of a hill, invited to a stargazing by her special somepony.

“Silent Strike!” she shouted as she ran towards the grey pegasus sitting under a blossoming tree, who smiled back at her. Pink leaves were decorating the area. “How’s my favourite pegasus doing? You never told me you enjoyed stargazing.” Her ears drooped at the memory of Luna, who and whose night wasn’t appreciated when she needed it the most.

To Cadence’s confusion, Silent Strike shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not the case, honey. I just wanted us to be in a place where no pony will interrupt or see us. I… I have something important to tell you.”

“Oh yes, I do!” Cadence shouted.

“You do… what?”

Cadence blushed. “I thought… nevermind. So, why are we here?”

“To drop our secrets, my dear.”

“Secrets?” Cadence said, taking a step back, “what secrets?”

Silent Strike placed forehooves on his sides and shook his head. “You don’t need to act anymore, I know that you’re hiding under a disguise.”

Cadence lost her balance as her pupils shrank. “W-what are you talking about?”

The stallion raised his eyebrow.

“But, how?”

He chuckled. “Oh, that was easy. I can recognize even such advanced illusion magic as I’m under a disguise myself.” He helped her stand. “Though in terms of disguises, you still have a lot of room for improvement your can make. I can give you some lessons.”

“Disguise, you?”

Cadence was caught off guard as the pony in front of her pressed his muzzle against hers, now looking deeply into her eyes.

“You’re the most understanding pony I’ve ever meet, merciful even to griffons who tried to kill you. I love you, truly!” Silent Strike said firmly as Cadence blushed. “If you really love me, you’ll love me for who I really am, and I’ll love you for who you really are. Let's us both drop our disguises and keep one another's secrets safe.”

I don’t understand, is he also hiding under an illusion? Well, if he knows my secret and hasn’t told any pony, I guess I owe him the benefit of the doubt, she thought before nodding. After looking around to make sure that they were alone, she lit her horn and revealed herself for who she was. The pony in front of her flinched and gasped.

“So you’re an alicorn, I didn’t expect that,” Silent Strike said firmly. The moment Cadence gave him a curious stare, he smiled and followed his special somepony's example, and to Cadence's surprise, a pony she loved was now a black pony-shaped creature with bug-like wings and a weird shaped horn. A few holes in his body clearly stood out.

“Who… what species are you?” Cadence asked curiously as she pointed towards the creature, who just laughed.

“What, no screams, threats or hostility, it’s far better than I expected,” Silent Strike said cheerfully as Cadence repeat her question. “Fine, fine, I’m a changeling.”

“Changeling? Can you tell me more about your species and why you did disguise yourself as a pony?” she asked. While finding out that her special somepony was never a pony to begin with was quite unexpected and a bit scary, he was still Silent Strike. Furthermore, she couldn't be mad when she was hiding her true nature from others as well.

Silent Strike nodded. “We’re creatures that needs magic to survive, yet we cannot generate it as ponies can,” he started his explanation, gesturing for Cadence to sit next to him. To his surprise, she did without hesitation or disgust.

“The only way for a changeling to attain it from other living creatures is either to steal it or trick our prey in giving it.”

“Trick? Prey?” Cadence asked. “Is that why you disguised yourself as a pony?” She held her hooves against her chest. “To steal magic from ponies… from me?”

“Correct,” he replied with a hint of guilt as his black and pointy ears drooped. “While we can forcefully take magic, this process isn’t efficient. A lot of it is wasted during the transfer, and the process is painful and dangerous for our prey.” He lowered his head and sighed. “However, it’s said that emotions stimulate magic. For us, positive emotions are like bridges we can use to attain it.”

The alicorn raised her foreleg defensively and furrowed her eyebrows. “Is this why you made me love you, to steal my magic through the most pure of emotions?” Her anger vanished quickly, now replaced by sadness as her ears drooped. “I understand that you need it to survive so I won’t hold a grudge, but wouldn’t just being friends with me enough to sustain you?” She turned her head to the side. “Betraying me like that… is just cruel.”

“Ponies have the greatest affinity for magic of all races we know, and we need it to survive. I’m glad you understand it.” Silent Strike smiled as he placed a forehoof on Cadence’s shoulder as the mare refused to meet his gaze. “But at least we don’t eat our prey like a predator, we just drain a safe amount of its magic, and besides,” he nuzzled the alicorn, much to her surprise, “not every changeling fakes his love.”

Cadence raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Let me guess, if changelings love one another, they just transfer their magic, no one gains anything?”

Silent Strike nodded. “That’s right, but the reason why I drooped my disguise, and at the same time gave up on the best magic love buffet in the entire world,” he said as Cadence felt a bit awkward upon hearing this sentence, which was certainly not the most common line a stallion would say to a mare. “Is because I hope that you’re understanding enough to look past my appearance and my feeding habits and love me without my lies.” Cadence could see a hoof full of very small holes straightening towards her as she could see hope and trust in the changeling’s eyes. “You’re not a prey to me, nor a means to survive, but my special somepony. Will you give me a chance?”

She looked at the bug-pony hesitantly, but when the changeling was about to lower his head in defeat, he felt her hoof touching his and was greeted by a smile. “I will.” She embraced him tightly.

***

For the first weeks the relationship between the odd disguised pair went well, until one day Cadence woke up in a cocoon as a group of changelings hauled her to some unknown destination. She tried to struggle to free herself from the cocoon, but the green fluid inside kept her immobile.

“Release me this instant, where are you taking me!” she shouted, finding it odd that whatever fluid she was in, it let her breath and speak.

“We’re taking you to the hive,” one changeling drone said firmly.

“You’re full of magic to sustain us,” another drone added.

“Your talent is emotion magic, love magic, one we can easy extract,” a third changeling added.

“A perfect food source for our hive, our Queen will be satisfied,” the last changeling said.

Cadence narrowed her eyes with hate and disgust, a glare she would give her captors if the cocoon didn’t cover most of her vision. “You want my magic, be my guest,” she said firmly before lifting her horn, only for the blue aura to vanish as Cadence felt a surge of fear. Until now her magic kept her alive through many dangerous events, through torture, illness and being struck by weapons. She haven’t felt as powerless ever since her encounter with Sombra. “My… magic… what have you done with my magic?”

“A mere precaution, we wouldn’t want such a valuable food source to escape.”

Cadence glared angrily as her eyes watered. “Did Silent Strike tell you about me? Was he behind my capture?” After several seconds of silence, she screamed, "Silver Strike, you traitor, I trusted you!”

“We don’t know much about Silent Strike, he was just a changeling from another hive who fed on you,” one of changelings remarked as Cadence blinked a few times in confusion, the fluid in her eyes not bothering her in the least.

“That changeling and his Queen had to be foolish, keeping you all to themselves. Small and insignificant hives should serve their bigger allies if they want to keep their territory, not challenge us,” said the other changeling.

“You mean… he didn’t betrayed me?”

“I can feel your compassion towards him and how strong it is. Either he was really good at deception, or you’re very naive,” the changeling remarked, causing Cadence to frown. “Make no mistake, you were just a fo…”

“Leave her alone!”

Every changeling turned towards the source of voice while Cadence felt annoyed by her lack of ability to turn around.

“I said, Leave her alone!”

“S-Silent Strike?” Cadence said, recognizing his voice.

Cadence could hear something striking the cocoon, making a small hole in it, though she was still immobile.

“You dare to betray your allies? Step aside or you and your hive will face the rage of our Queen!”

“We may be your allies, but we aren’t your slaves. Now release Cadence!”

“You’ve had your chance, now she’s ours!”

“She doesn’t belong to anyone!”

Cadence could hear Silent Strike and other changelings started to argue, and a moment later she felt another magical projectile struck the cocoon. She could hear the noise of a raging battle. “Silent Strike!” She started to struggle, but the fluid and the green goo still kept her trapped despite the many holes in her cocoon. “Don’t you dare hurt him!” She tried to light her horn, sending more and more magic into it. “Work, please!”

Seconds later, she heard Silent Strike’s painful scream.

“Noooo!” Cadence shouted as she increased the channelling of her magic into her horn in her rage, until it flashed despite the fluid she was trapped in, tearing the cocoon to pieces.

She shook the fluid and cocoon fragments from herself and spread her wings before turning towards her very special changeling. Her pupils shrank upon seeing green blood escaping his injured body while sinking into the grass. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the three changelings who were towering over the wounded one who responded by charging at her.

Being outnumbered and covered in green goo didn’t scare Cadence as she shot a beam of her magic, knocking out one of the attackers. Her eyes started emitting a green aura for a short moment. Her rear hooves struck a second one, pushing away the remaining two attackers. Punches and kicks followed until the way to her lover was clear. “Silent Strike, speak to me, please.” Noticing her special somechangeling opening his eyes and looking at her filled her with hope. “You… came for me…”

To Cadence’s horror, Silent Strike coughed up green blood. “It seems… that… p-pony and…”

“Please, save your strength,” Cadence said in desperation, cursing herself for not learning more advanced healing spells during the war against the griffons, and the idea struck her. “Changelings use ponies’ love to eat magic, and magic to heal themselves, please, eat mine and survive, please!”

“Too late…” Silent Strike said as he coughed more green blood. “Seems that our love… was not meant to be.”

Cadence held him tightly in her hooves, tears falling uncontrollably from her face onto the changeling’s chin. He looked at her, eyes slowly closing as he placed his hoof on her face, caressing it. “When I met you... you were so lonely... I could taste your pain... you’ve... you’ve suffered so much.”

“Silent...” muttered Cadence, holding his hoof.

“Cadence, my love, until I met you...” he sighed, a smile slowly forming. “I never thought a changeling and a pony could... could be together without deception... but now I see... that we can... if only...” His eyes widened as he coughed again.

“Please! Don’t die! I love you, Silent Strike. Please, don’t leave me!” begged Cadence, unable to stop the tears from falling onto his face. She leaned down and kissed him, he returned it and for what seemed like an eternity, they held their lips together as well as their hearts.

Finally, Silent Strike retreated as his eyelids began to lower themselves. “This is it... goodbye Cadence, my love... I...love.... you....’

His hoof went limp in her grip and he breathed his last. Cadence shook him, kissed him, shouted his name but there was nothing she could do. She had lost another loved one. Why... why must I suffer like this every time I fall in love. She gently picked her lover up and flew far away towards the mountains.

She didn’t stop flying as she remembered all the times Silent Strike made her smile. She also remembered all her past loves and how she had to leave them too. In her heart, she vowed never to love again, never to suffer the pain of heartbreak.

Gently, she touched the ground in an isolated area of the mountains and placed Silent Strike on it. With her bare-hooves she began to dig a grave, not stopping until it was done. She then placed him inside, put some flowers she found in his hooves, and looked upon his peaceful expression one more time.

He looks so happy… she thought, caressing his cheek. If only I could join you… you and everypony else I loved….

A thought then came to Cadence. Why can’t I join you? What do I have to live for anymore? My kingdom is gone, as well as my friends and family. I’m a burden to Celestia, I failed to help Luna, and living has only caused me more pain. Death… death would solve everything.

With a final resolve, she kissed Silent on the forehead and gave a small smile. “Don’t worry, my love. I will soon join you.” She filled his grave before breaking off a piece of bark from a tree and used her magic to make a tombstone:

Here lies Silent Strike
Proof that changelings and ponies can love each other
Rest in Peace

Satisfied, she bowed her head and soon headed to the edge of the mountain, sharp rocks awaiting her. Nervously, she made it to the edge before closing her eyes and discharging her magic to a point of exhaustion. So this is it… she thought as she slowly prepared herself. It’s time… farewell world…

With a deep breath she jumped, letting herself fall down towards the rocks. She closed her eyes, letting the wind whip across her face. Her mind flashed back to home, the Crystal Empire, her subjects, Celestia and Luna, all the ponies she came to love and care for. She could see each of them, they were shouting something. It was… it was.

“STOP!” cried Cadence in tears as she pulled up at the last second. She skid across the ground, kicking up dirt as she lowered her head in shame. “What am I doing… what am I doing! I’m sorry… I’m so sorry!” She continued to cry until sunrise.

Cadence opened her eyes as she recovered from yet another painful memory, her vision blurred by the coat of snow. She dug herself out of it while ending her memory-trip.

After shaking her very cold body from the snow, she murmured to herself, “After that day… I swore to never love ever again… to never let a special somepony in my life… Everypony I loved, hurt me or I hurt them in the end.” She began to cry again as images of Shining Armor flashed in her mind. “Twilight was the most kind and cheerful mare I ever took care of… her family was so kind and understanding… and Shining Armor, I love him so much, and he loves me… but will I once again end up hurt…? Or will I end up hurting him?”

Cadence slammed her tiny hoof against the snow. “Will our love be worth the pain once he passes away while I live on?” she murmured to herself in sadness before being levitated gently. Cadence looked around in surprise, only to see the giant face of Shining Armor looking at her in concern, and a moment later his scarf surrounded her cold body, enveloping it tightly. She glared into his big eyes in anger. “I asked you not to follow me you big dumb stallion! Can’t you even do that?”

“Cadence,” Shining Armor said calmly. “I love you, I couldn’t leave you alone when you're hurting.”

Cadence wanted to say something, but found the words stuck in her throat as she was gently placed on the back of her special somepony while a warm scarf heated up her frozen body like a blanket. “We shouldn’t keep the others waiting. We’re here to have fun, cheer up.”

Cadence didn’t say a word as she thought deeply, Maybe the pain after he passes away will be bad… maybe something will go wrong again, but if what we feel to each other is indeed true love… maybe it is worth that pain. She nuzzled Shining Armor on the neck while hiding under his scarf. She closed her eyes and smiled, now napping on her very chosen stallion, but ready to fight the fate alongside the pony she loved.

Author's Note

And this is the end of Cadence's short ark, sorry for putting it between Luna's fun part 1 and 2, but I felt it was the best spot for it. Since action of part 2 will take place in the frozen north where Spitfire and Twilight encountered criminals in the past, a place where Crystal Empire was once located, it made sense for Cadence's memories to overwhelm her.

I hope this bonus chapter helped to establish Cadence's character a bit better without being too boring. Not to mention it was meant to explain when Cadence learned about changelings (having Silent Strike help her improve her illusions certainly helped her with disguises.)

Credits to scene that takes place during and after Silent Strike's funeral belongs to Rated Ponystar. I hope we didn't go too far with it.

As always, I'm looking forward to your comments, cheers.

Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 8

Luna’s Fun
-
part 2

“Hey, Shiny!” Twilight yelled as loud as she could from behind Luna’s neck, but failed to get her brother’s attention as he was too focused upon the tiny pink alicorn who trotted through the walls of snow.

“Please, allow us,” Luna said firmly while holding a hoof on her chest as she took a deep breath.

Twilight's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what was coming, and she immediately put her hooves on her ears while raising a soundproof barrier.

“Thou shalt move thine flank here this instant, Captain Armor!” Luna thundered in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Shining Armor shook his head and stood back up to his trembling legs. “Y-you called, Your Majesty?” He approached the princess and saluted. The rest of the group -blasted backwards into the snow by Luna’s voice- was now busy wiping snow from their fur and coats.

The alicorn nodded. “Thy sister wished to ask thee a question,” she said firmly while pointing at a purple barrier on her back, which slowly vanished.

Without wasting a moment, Twilight jumped onto Luna’s head and looked him in the eyes. “Where did Cadence go, what happened?”

Shining Armor rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure… she just told me that she wanted to, go somewhere…”

“Go somewhere? Alone in all this cold? What if she loses the way or if she freezes to death or if she will...”

“Hush, Twilight,” Luna said firmly, catching the attention of the unicorn on her head. “For a pony who has dedicated thy life to self-improvement, thou hast poor faith indeed in the strength of others. Cadence is an alicorn, and she knows this area well; thou should believe in her.”

Luna’s last few words piqued Shining Armor’s attention. “What do you mean, she knows the area?”

The princess frowned. “We see she has not told thee about it,” she murmured. “In this case, We shall keep her secret; all thou needest to know is that thy very special somepony has been here before, and she has many sad memories that are connected to this place.”

“I think… I think I’d better follow her… any idea where she may have gone to?” Shining Armor asked as Luna pointed at a huge empty field.

“Thy mate will grieve in the middle of that area. Thou wouldst do well to cheer her up; but do not open her closed wounds,” Luna said authoritatively, her foreleg raised in a regal posture.

Shining Armor saluted and ran, slowly disappearing in the blizzard.

“So ummm… what now?” Twilight asked as she was taken off guard by her brother and former foalsitter abandoning their trip.

“Now we tackle that mountain,“ Spitfire said firmly as she stood on her rear hooves and pointed towards the tallest mountain in all of Equestria. Her flame-like mane and blue scarf with yellow lightning were flapping against the blizzard while no coat, boots or hat covered her fur. Her posture heroical and unfazed by the cold as this was her secret training ground, a place where she practiced her secret flying technique where she enveloped herself in flames that even the blizzard failed to extinguish.

Every pony except Luna and Twilight took a step back and gasped as they could see a mountain that would make the Canterlot Mountain look like a hill.

Soarin’ gulped and gave his captain an awkward smile. He quickly rolled his yellow scarf around his neck and fixed his orange hat. His coat yellow with orange flames inscribed on it, a coat he made himself to impress Spitfire a while ago. His hesitation vanished quickly upon noticing Spitfire’s scarf being pulled by the strong wind. Quickly flying towards the scarf in an attempt to grab it, Soarin’ tackled the scarf into the snow before emerging from it with scarf between his teeth and a proud smile. Spitfire rolled her eyes and smiled at this gesture.

Fleur reasserted herself and levitated her white puffy hat into her white puffy saddlebag so it wouldn’t fall off during the coming exercise. Her eyes narrowed in determination as she grinned, stretching her long legs as she couldn’t wait to use them for climbing. Only her red scarf with golden stripes was visible as her fur and thin coat were white, making her nearly invisible among the scenery. She failed to notice a similar smirk upon her son, who also stretched his legs.

White Path took off his sizeable blue coat and red hat with a hole for the horn so it wouldn’t get in the way, silently levitating it back into their air-ship. He glanced at the little unicorn perched on the princess’s head who also didn’t wear any clothes. If she isn’t bothered by the temperature, I will resist it as well. He approached Spike who trembled despite wearing a violet coat with stars inscribed on it, and whispered into his ear.

Spike smirked and shook White Path’s forehoof in agreement.

Fancy Pants and Blueblood looked at each other and next glanced at their transportation. Despite wearing the warmest uniforms bits could buy, the idea of facing a blizzard while climbing such a large mountain sounded uninviting. Their muscles not used to such exercise.

Overwatch placed an encouraging hoof on Steel Blade’s shoulder as she levitated a scarf from her saddlebag and wrapped it around his neck warmly. Her own scarf finally performing its role rather than just being fashionable.

Luna smiled proudly. Not a single accessory or protective cloth was present on her body as her long banishment hardened her to the most uninviting environments.

The little unicorn perched on the princess’ head remembered this place as the same humongous mountain that Spitfire took her to long time ago, a mountain where they encountered two unicorns and some griffons who tried to capture them for ransom.

Spitfire looked at the miniature mare expectantly who blinked at her in confusion. “You once asked if you could reach its peak on your own, well, here’s your chance, go for it and make me proud.”

Twilight nodded before jumping from Luna’s head, landing on the snow that covered her up to her neck. She made several steps before her trot started turning into a gallop, only for a long dark-blue foreleg to block her path while the snow splattered in her face from the impact. Twilight wiped off the snow, stood on her rear hooves and looked up at the towering alicorn. “Is something wrong, Princess?”

“May We remind thee that thou art once again shrunken, and without any equipment to climb up?” Luna knelt as her left foreleg sank into the snow. “ Although We are used to the cold by now, We can hardly imagine how such low temperature will affect thy performance.”

“Yes, isn’t that exciting? I’m so looking forward to seeing how well I’ll do in such difficult conditions!” Twilight said while spreading her forelegs cheerfully.

Luna raised her eyebrow and coughed lightly. “Never mind; We wish thee the best of times and the best of luck.”

Twilight smiled cheerfully. “Thanks Luna, see you at the top.” She sprinted, the snow splashed about as she tore her way through it. The walls of snow not even slowing her down. She started to jump from stone to stone while she ran on the rather steep surface with nothing but her tiny hooves and her determination against the mad blizzard. Eight kilometres distance separated her from the top.

Everypony looked upon Twilight who, while being tiny, was now climbing the highest mountain on the continent, many of them unsure what to do until Luna broke the silence and lit her horn.

“We cannot let our little friend keep all the glory to herself; We shall join in on this epic adventure!” Luna proclaimed proudly as her body flashed brightly, blinding her companions for a moment.

Their blurred vision slowly cleared as their princess shrank before their very eyes, and soon the proud alicorn of the night was nothing but a tiny mare whose neck was hardly noticeable above the snow.

“We shall go in Twilight’s hoof-steps and face this mountain on our own!” Luna shouted as she ran through the snow, her wings pressed against her body as it was a challenge for her hooves and her strength of will.

“I had no idea she could do that,” Steel Blade murmured as he glanced at his partner. “I mean, I know she must be strong enough to cast it, but to learn… hey, wait for me!”

Overwatch, having a worried expression on her face, ran right behind the princess as she tracked the trail that Luna left in the snow, carefully placing her hooves so as not to stomp on her by accident. “Your Highness, you should cast a protection spell on yourself for your own safety.”

Luna didn’t slow down while she spoke in the Royal Canterlot Voice, not bothering to look behind her, ”We art an alicorn. ‘Twould be unfair to enhance ourselves further while our friend’s unicorn body would leave her at a disadvantage.” With one strong jump, she ended up on the stone surface. Regaining her traction, she started to run up, following Twilight to the top.

Overwatch sighed as she could feel the hoof of her partner on her shoulder, while his other hoof pointed out at the two tiny ponies. “And there they go.”

The female guard glanced at him and smirked. “Well, we’re Twilight’s guards, and Luna is a Princess. It’s our duty to follow them... ensure their safety and stuff.”

“Come back here this instant!” Fleur shouted as White Path with Spike on his back passed between two guards and started to climb up like there was no tomorrow.

“Sorry mom, but a chance to climb a mountain and adventure with a super pony and an alicorn princess is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” White Path said energetically as he levitated a few snowballs at his mom to slow her down. “Also, I’m no longer a colt, I can take care of myself.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Fleur. I will make sure that your son will stay safe and sound,” Spike said firmly while holding White Path’s neck tightly before looking up at the two tiny climbing mares. “Wait for us, Twilight!” His yelling somewhat silenced by the noise of the restless blizzard.

Fleur shook the snow from herself and sighed. “I will need a hoof manicure and a spa session once this is over, but I am not going to let you climb up alone,” she said with a calm but determined voice before jumping as she started to climb up. She followed her son, jumping from platform to platform gracefully.

“Let's summarize,” Overwatch started while clearing her throat and fixing her scarf. “Shrunken princess, shrunken unicorn who is also our ruler’s student, a famous fashion model and her child with a baby dragon on his back are now climbing the biggest mountain on the continent in this undying cold.” She chuckled. “Our job sure got unpredictable and interesting ever since we were appointed to guard Twilight. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Steel Blade smiled. “Well, we better follow them, hold on tight and…” He failed to move his wings, and the moment he turned around, he noticed an angered Spitfire who was holding them between her hooves.

“No magic and no wings during the climb, is that clear?!” Spitfire ordered as Steel Blade gulped and nodded before following the other ponies.

Overwatch raised an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes and shooting Spitfire a challenging glare, who returned it with without blinking for several seconds. After a few moments of stare-contest, she rolled her eyes and said, “Fine, but if Twilight or the princess gets hurt, it will be on you.” She turned around and followed her partner’s example. “Now that I think about it, Luna can return to her full size at any moment if something goes wrong. Maybe I can have some fun with Steelie after all.”

Satisfied, Spitfire turned towards Fancy Pants who was staring at the mountain in concern, most of his face hidden under a hat while a fat vest kept him warm. “We’re being left behind, what would you say if we stepped up our game?” Spitfire asked energetically while Fancy Pants looked at her with an awkward smile.

“As much as I would like to comply with your request, dear Spitfire, my lack of exercise and being a unicorn leaves me at a disadvantage in such an interesting activity,” Fancy Pants said apologetically.

“Hey, no sweat, it's not a race after all, we’re here just to have a good time,” Spitfire said with a relaxed voice and a carefree smile. “Still, I hoped that you would at least try.” She took a deep breath before pleading, “Come on, old-timer, it would do you good.” Spitfire pointed at Fleur who followed White Path. “Take an example from your wife.”

Fancy Pants nodded. “You have a point, dear Spitfire. Besides, I have always wanted to experience what it’s like to climb up a mountain.” He walked towards her friend. “Please, go first and do not wait for me to catch up, I will just slow you down.”

Spitfire shook her head. “Nice try, old-timer,” she said firmly before taking out a rope from her saddlebag and tying herself to it. She threw the other end to Fancy Pants. “I will help you climb up… as long as you do your best, it doesn’t matter what result you get.”

Fancy Pants blushed as he levitated the rope around his torso. While he knew that Spitfire was a very skillful athlete, she was still smaller than him, her build light and training focused mostly on fast flying. The idea she would need to haul him all the way to the top while seeing his pathetic display of strength felt embarrassing.

Spitfire looked over to Soarin' and Blueblood to find them also tied up and ready to climb up. She walked towards them with Fancy Pants right behind her while asking curiously, “Hey Soarin', how did you convince Blueblood…”

“Prince Blueblood,” the stallion corrected.

“Whatever. So buddy, how did you convince him?”

Soarin' smiled and said in a carefree voice, “It is actually a funny story, you see…”

***

5 minutes earlier

***

“I am not going to climb up some mountain and freeze in the blizzard like some common pony,” Blueblood said arrogantly as Soarin' gave him a pleading look.

“Please… I will give you a pie if you climb up with me.” Soarin' displayed his puppy-eyes..

“No.”

“Two pies?”

Blueblood shook his head. “I won’t climb for something insignificant like pies.”

“Don’t you dare offend something so delicious!” Soarin' bursted out, nearly knocking the surprised prince of balance. He took a calming breath and thought deeply for a moment while Blueblood raised his eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously.

“Then how about you climb up with me, and I won’t tell everyone your little secret that Cadence told me about you,” Soarin' said with a smirk.

“Wha-what secret?”

“Oh, nothing much.” He paused before whispering, “Just that a certain Prince didn’t stop wetting his bed until he was twelve.” Resisting the urge to laugh. “I can see it now: Royal Bedwetter disgraced! Nobility nearly dies of laughter!”

“No, you wouldn’t…” Blueblood asked in panic.

“Oh, I would.”

Blueblood sighed in defeat and after half a minute, he was being tied to Soarin', cursing Cadence for her big mouth.

***

“Can you repeat what his secret was again? You said it so quietly,” Spitfire said.

Soarin' shook his head. “Sorry Spitty, but a deal is a deal.” His eyes became wide as he took a step back. “I mean, Miss, Sir, Captain Spitfire!” He looked to the side and hid his face behind his wing. “S-sorry…”

The captain nodded. “Fine by me. Anyway, what do you say to a race? Fancy Pants and me versus you and Blueblood.”

“I thought it was not a race?” Fancy Pants asked in confusion.

“The team who catches up to Twilight or Princess Luna first gets to kick the losing team in the flank,” Spitfire offered while giving Blueblood a daring glare.

Soarin’ saluted, “Game’s on!”

Fancy Pants grinned, now feeling quite motivated to participate in the race.

Soarin’s face became pale at the sudden realization. Either he would end up kicked in the flank by his captain, or he would end up kicking a mare, lover and commanding officer. The most pure definition of a no-win-scenario

Blueblood looked at Soarin' in disappointment as he said nervously, “B-but... I like my flank unharmed.”

Author's Note

I apologize for this massive delay. Luckily, my editor found some time to work on this short part on Christmas, so think of it as ours Christmas gift to you all.

I hope Luna's fun will help to flesh out Twilight's friends who aren't from Ponyville as well as provide some laugh.

Ch8 - Luna’s Fun - part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 8

Luna’s Fun
-
part 3

Minutes passed as everypony climbed up with Twilight up ahead. The little mare closed her eyes as a strong blizzard struck her. She wiped the snow from her face while holding the mountain’s surface with three of her hooves, only to notice a big pointy stone emerging from the surface. Wasting no time, she climbed up and sat on it, now taking a breath and recovering from her little exercise.

“Wouldst thou mind if We joined thee?” Luna asked, her voice insistent but not demanding.

Twilight moved to the edge of the outcropping and looked down in search for the giant princess, yet failing to find her.

“We are right here, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said again, startling the little unicorn who jumped forward, only for her hind-leg to be grabbed by Luna’s tiny hooves, preventing her from falling. Slowly, Twilight backed onto the stone and turned around, now facing Luna’s no-longer-giant face. “We are sorry for startling thee. Wilt thou accept our apologies?”

Twilight’s shocked expression vanished as quickly as it appeared before she rolled her eyes and remarked, “Is every pony shrinking themselves these days? So much for me being special.”

Luna laughed. “Not everypony; just alicorns,” she stated before giving her friend a proud glance. “Thou truly art an inspiration, Twilight. Thou shouldst think of it as a tribute to thy dedication.”

Twilight smiled. “Why, thank you, Princess,” she said, bowing deeply, “I am truly honoured.”

Luna waved her hoof dismissively. “Think nothing of it, though I hope that thou will not give up on climbing just yet.”

Twilight shook her head. “Are you kidding? I’m just taking a short break. Trust me, I’m not going to give up easily,” she stated before once again wiping snow from her face, being small made tiny snowflakes so much bigger.

“Twilight!” Something echoed as Twilight blinked a few times in search of the source of the voice, Luna doing the same. “Twilight!”

“Spike?” Twilight said in bewilderment as she once again went to the edge of the platform and looked down, only to see young drake waving his hand towards her from a distance, but what shocked her more was the pony Spike was sitting on. “White Path?”

“Is something the matter?” Luna asked as she walked to the edge and looked down as well. She couldn’t suppress a smile. “It seems that thine number one fan and number one assistant are very dedicated.”

Twilight sighed before taking a few steps backward, leaving some space for White Path’s hoof to grab the stone she was sitting on. Wasting no time, she pulled it with all her strength, doing her best to help her friend.

White Path sat next to her with Spike still on his back, hardly managing to fit on the limited space of the stone platform while both Twilight and Luna stood on their hind-legs and looked up at him curiously.

“Hello White Path, Spike. Why are you in such a hurry?” Twilight asked while Spike rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Twilight, you always go on your adventures alone, I don’t want to be left behind,” Spike remarked.

"Adventuring with a super pony and a princess is the best thing I can hope for,” White Path said before wiping the sweat from his face and looking down at Luna suspiciously, his eyes half-closed, hoof rubbing his chin and the tip of his nose touching Luna's muzzle.

“Is something wrong, child? Why dost thou look at us like that?”

White Path smiled and shook his head. “Nothing at all. It’s just I think it’s awesome you and Twilight are friends, especially after your unpleasant encounter with each other.”

“Unpleasant encounter?” Luna said. “Please, do explain."

“Just think about it. You were an evil villain who followed the dark path of mischief and evil,” White Path started as he poked Luna’s chest with tip of his hoof, attracting her full attention.

Twilight glanced between him and the princess, the mere look at the night-blue alicorn reminding her about Nightmare Moon. “But she wasn’t evil…” she whispered and hung her head low, the sad memories of how she ended up killing the pony she tried to save started overtaking her.

White Path ignored Twilight’s remark and continued, “Then the hero came and faced you, defeated you in an epic battle and showed you… the bad pony, the wrongs of her ways.” He raised his head proudly and spread his forelegs cheerfully, Spike grabbing his neck so as not to fall. “And soon the villain saw the light and became the hero’s best friend and together they fought the crime of the world.”

“But White Path–” Twilight started but was cut off by the princess’ hoof.

“Hush, Twilight.” Luna whispered before smiling at White Path, pressing her hoof against her chest. “We must say, We deeply regret the road We walked, and We are really grateful to Twilight and her friends for showing us the light.”

White Path was about to say something, but his ears straightened up upon the familiar voice.

“White Path, come back here this instant, it’s too dangerous for you!” Fleur shouted.

“Twilight, Princess Luna, hang in there, we’re coming!” Steel Blade added.

“Great, so much for our adventure,” Spike remarked with his arms crossed and narrowed his eyes.

White Path looked around, only to see a far bigger platform and an entrance into a cave. “It’s not over yet,” he said with a smirk as he lit his horn and caught Twilight and the tiny princess in his magic. He then started to climb up the mountainside until he reached the second platform, unnoticed by the chasing ponies thanks to the strong blizzard.

“What art thou doing, child? Hast thy mother not taught thee that it is impolite to levitate a Princess against her will?” Luna shrieked.

“Where are you taking us?” Twilight asked, not bothering to teleport or resist her younger friend’s magic.

“You’ll see,” White Path said as he reached the largest stone platform before running into a cave. He placed both the princess and tiny unicorn on the ground and peeked out.

Spike jumped from his back and looked down, his attention now on his minuscule caretaker. “Can you hide the entrance with an illusion or something?”

“I suppose I could…” Twilight said, tapping her chin while thinking over to a few lessons Cadence taught her.

“Than do it, please, please, pleaseee…” Spike pleaded.

Twilight lit her horn and bit her lip as a fake stonewall started forming at the entrance. She gritted her teeth as she struggled to maintain the illusion; the fact that the entrance was four meters high and three meters wide proved to be very tiring for her miniscule body.

Luna blinked a few times in confusion, but the moment she heard voices calling for them as Fleur and Twilight’s guards passed the cave, she smirked. “So thou hast hidden us from our pursuers.”

White Path nodded. “Yeah. Having mom and guards tagging along kind of destroys the experience of a good adventure, so how about we explore this cave instead?” he asked, only to see his little friend looking up at him with a pout.

“Awww, so no more climbing?” Twilight asked, no longer maintaining the illusion.

“Come on, Twilight, we can always climb up later. For now let’s explore instead,” Spike offered as Luna sat next to his leg.

“We must agree. Who knows what wonders we might find in this cave?” Luna laughed lightly. “Maybe we will encounter a pile of treasures guarded by a large monster. We art looking forward to finding out,” Luna said cheerfully as she and the group of brave explorers started to walk deeper into the dark cavern. Illumination coming from White Path’s horn and two tiny horns lit up the area, as ice and crystals inside the cave reflected it in a multicolored light show.

Spitfire gritted her teeth as she saved Fancy Pants, who had slipped when his hoof made contact with a frozen part of the stone, until the stallion recovered and grabbed the surface of the mountain. “My deepest thanks, Miss Spitfire,” he said as he ignored the sweat falling from his face, his elegant outfit covered in snow.

“Good job, you almost pulled Spitfire out of this race,” Soarin' mocked as Fancy Pants blushed from embarrassment, while Spitfire frowned.

“At least he’s trying to keep up with me, not like that dead weight of yours,” Spitfire mocked in return as she smirked and looked at Soarin', pity in her voice. “You know what, I feel sorry for you, forced to carry Blueblood’s sorry big flank around.”

“Hey!” Blueblood frowned. “For your information, my flank was judged as tenth best in mares’ opinion.”

Soarin' and Spitfire started to smirk, hardly resisting the urge to laugh, while Fancy Pants added, “Oh, I remember, tenth best.” Fancy Pants smirked devilishly. “But number one for the biggest.”

At this remark, Blueblood’s head turned beet red as Soarin' and Spitfire laughed deeply to his displeasure. Now feeling regret for eating snacks rather than exercising as Cadence suggested.

“Graaaarrrrrrr!!!” A powerful roar echoed through the cave as White Path, Luna and Twilight galloped towards the exit, Spike sitting on White Path’s back, his hands around his neck.

“Maybe we can encounter a pile of treasures guarded a large monster, you said.” Spike said sarcastically. “Good job Luna, you just had to jinx it.”

“‘Tis not our fault,” Luna said between breaths as she galloped. “We were merely joking; how would We know that such a magical and rare creature like a Yeti would make its home in this very cave?”

“Luna, you know that you can actually fly away, so why are you running?” Twilight asked curiously as she herself was galloping at the speed of her friends.

The alicorn raised her muzzle proudly. “We are not a princess who will abandon her subjects in times of trouble. Besides, even if We would fly, We would fail to carry you, the baby dragon and the unicorn colt…”

“Spike and White Path,” Twilight corrected as Luna coughed.

“As We were saying, We aren’t strong enough to fly with them on our tiny back, while flying and levitating everyone at the same time would prove far too dangerous considering how high we are right now,” Luna stated before giving White Path a curious glance. “Though We must say, thou art quite fast and strong for a unicorn, catching up with us in climbing and running.”

White Path said proudly, “I wanted to impress my heroine so I often exercised after the school and even joined a hoofball club.” He looked behind, only to see the rampaging giant covered by white fur running on two legs right behind him. “I never thought I would use it to escape from a Yeti. Oh, this is so cool, no pony in school will believe me when I tell them that.”

Colt’s enthusiasm didn’t last long as he ran out of the cave, only to reach the edge of the stone platform where a kilometer long fall awaited him. Spike, wasting no time, jumped off colt’s back and asked in panic, his hands on his cheeks, “What do we do? What do we do?” He glanced at his tiny companions and added, “We’re doomed!”

Twilight and Luna took up defensive positions as they stood between their big friends and a humongous monster, who was slowly advancing towards them, feeling the stone tremble under their hooves with his every step. “Luna, what should we do? We cannot leave White Path and Spike at the mercy of that monster,” Twilight asked in a panic as she pointed the Yeti who was even bigger than a Manticore.

“We shall do the right thing and protect the children,” Luna spread her tiny wings and gave a battle cry. “Let’s fight, Twilight Sparkle, and not let this beast harm those dear to us!” Luna flew into the air as she lit her horn, Twilight charged her horn as well.

Author's Note

I apologize for the long delay. Hopefully uploading will be a bit faster from now on, but no promises.

Ch8 - Luna's Fun - Part 4

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 8

Luna's Fun
-
Part 4

Spike stomped on the platform. “Protect us? Oh come on!” He growled, his fists tightening as he leveled a stern look at the tiny ponies. “Twilight, do you have any idea how embarrassing it is when two miniscule ponies are the ones protecting you from a giant monster? Especially considering I swore to protect you.” He crossed his arms in annoyance and looked away from them.

White Path nodded. “What Spike said. You should have more faith in your sidekick and let him help you.”

Twilight and Luna turned away and fired off small beams of magic towards the beast.

The yeti swatted at Luna as if she were a fly, though his hand missed entirely, and tiny thunderbolts peppered him in response.

Twilight jumped backward reflexively, barely avoiding being stepped on by a leg far wider than her mentor’s. She gulped as the ground jumped beneath her hooves, testament to the sheer weight of her foe.

The yeti decided to ignore the tiny ponies and took a step towards the normal-sized one, only for Luna to block his path and envelop his head completely in a veil of dark magic, blinding him.

Her smug grin didn’t last long. A wild arm from the yeti took her by surprise, and she was thrown crashing into the wall, bouncing off onto the platform and sinking into the snow.

“Princess!” Twilight shouted as she ran towards the alicorn. “Are you alright?”

Luna shook out her mane and massaged her neck. “We art fine. Regretfully, not using the protection spell—” Her eyes widened and she pointed at the yeti towering over them, a leg raised. “Behind thee!” she shouted, sending her magic against the giant foot of the monster before it could land on the tiny mare.

Twilight quickly turned around in confusion, only to lose her balance on the slick ground. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as she stared up at the humongous foot only inches away, the blue aura rippling as it kept the yeti at bay. After a moment of recovering from the shock, she lit her horn and yanked at the yeti’s other leg, causing him to tumble over.

Luna wiped the sweat from her head and stood up, a short trot bringing her abreast to Twilight as they both glared at the prone yeti.

It didn’t stay down for long, and the two ponies flinched as a giant arm swept up a large boulder and tossed it at them. They focused all of their magic on stopping the flying rock, failing to notice the two big hands reaching for them under it.

A burst of green flames intercepted both hands, and the yeti quickly withdrew them in surprise. “Serves you right, you big jerk! No one hurts Twilight when I’m around,” Spike snarled, taking another breath and breathing out more flames.

“Spike!” Twilight shouted as the yeti turned to the new threat, his foul visage scrunched in determination as he pushed past the flames and reached for the dragon. Before she could even charge her horn, White Path levitated Spike out of reach, dropping a hoofful of snowballs right on the yeti's face.

Enraged, the monster struck the stone platform, causing everyone standing on it to lose their balance. Before either Spike or White Path could stand, the yeti grabbed them and started to squeeze.

“Leave them alone!” Twilight raged, all the magic she could muster focused on the hands hurting her friends. Spike has scales and can endure it much longer. I should free White Path first, Twilight thought as she struggled against the beast’s heavy muscles, each of its fists nearly the size of White Path himself.

Noticing Twilight’s efforts, Luna brought her magic to bear, and together they slowly overpowered the yeti’s hand.

White Path gritted his teeth as he struggled. Once the hands loosened enough for him to catch his breath, he quickly put all of his strength to aid his tiny friends, his own horn charging as he shoveled more snow right into the yeti’s face.

With the monster's eyes covered in snow, White Path pried himself out of the yeti’s grip and ran up his arm, striking at his captor’s face with his hind legs. The yeti let out a howl, dropping Spike and swatting at the pony with both of his hands.

Just as planned. White Path jumped from the beast’s shoulder onto the platform just before the hands struck and murmured, “Stop hitting yourself.” He grinned in satisfaction.

The yeti’s face turned red with rage, letting out a snarl. “Grrrrrraaaaawwwwwwwrrrrrr!!!”

A moment later, Twilight and Luna felt the stone tremble beneath their tiny hooves.

“Earthquake?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Twilight, who simply shook her head and pointed up.

“What are you talking about? I don’t feel anyt—” Spike paused when he began to notice the rumbling. “Ahh. I stand corrected.”

Twilight turned to the princess in panic before screaming, “Avalanche!”

Luna stared at a humongous wave of snow advancing down towards them, wondering if it just seemed so big because of her reduced size, or if it really was the biggest avalanche she had ever seen in her very long life. Her attention shifted towards the yeti when he ran back into his cave, now watching them as if hoping that they would run into his hands in search of shelter.

“Princess, we have to protect Spike and White Path!” Twilight said resolutely, Luna responding with a sharp nod.

“Again? Come on!” Spike harrumphed as Twilight and Luna’s horns created a magical dome around them.

“Can I help?” White Path asked, a blush present on his cheeks. “I mean, I’m like… fifty times heavier than either of you. I may not be powerful or talented, but I want to help.”

“Thou canst send thine magic into the barrier,” Luna said.

“How?”

“Just use thine levitation to hold the barriers together, it will help!” Luna shouted before gritting her teeth, pumping more power into her dome. Twilight created her own barrier under Luna’s as a secondary line of defense.

“What’s that sound?” Steel Blade asked as the low rumbling became louder and louder, the stone wall trembling under his hooves.

One of Overwatch’s ears swiveled to face up the slope, and she turned with it. “Huh,” she said, staring blankly at the advancing wave of snow. “It’s an avalanche.”

“Avalanche?” Steel squawked, before lifting up his partner and flying off. “Twilight and the others were up there! We gotta go help!”

“Not while it’s still going,” Overwatch said, wrapping her hooves around Steel Blade. The torrent of snow flowing below them like a roaring river. “There was a cavern down there anyways. I’m sure they’re safe.”

“Cavern? I didn’t see a cavern.”

“It was hidden behind an illusion,” Overwatch responded as she tried to shake off the snow on her helmet. “They’re safe. Call it a gut feeling.”

“So they’re hiding out in a cave in the middle of the mountains and you didn’t tell me? What if there was something dangerous in there?” Steel asked, his voice rising with his panic.

“So we could do what? Bother them while they’re exploring? You know how Twilight gets when we try to help her out.”

Steel Blade tightened his grip. “Yeah, and now she’s buried under tons of snow!”

“P-Princess Luna is there to keep an eye on them,” Overwatch said, her breath slowly being squeezed out of her. “I’m sure she’ll unshrink herself if need be. Now breathe, and please loosen up a bit.”

Steel Blade took a deep breath, untensing just a bit as the avalanche continued to roar by. Before long, a sound caught his ear, and he startled. “Wait a moment, didn’t we forget about somepony?”

Overwatch blinked. “Ponyfeathers, we forgot Fleur!” She suddenly turned downwards, and she quickly pointed out Fleur being pulled along the current of snow, who seemed to have lost her coat, her white fur blending perfectly with the snow. “Get us closer, now!”

The noble was swept along, crashing into multiple objects along the way as Steel Blade tried to catch up. Overwatch drew magic into her horn, waiting to get close enough to pull Fleur out of the snow.

The noble vanished just before they could arrive, but the avalanche was winding down. What was left of the snow drifted off to reveal a battered unicorn clinging to a post in a death grip, her saddlebags gripped tightly between her teeth.

She spat out the cloth, pushed herself up out of the snow, and rolled her shoulders with a grimace. Her always elegant fur was covered in bruises and scratches.

“Did she just… survive an entire avalanche?” Steel Blade asked, his mouth slightly agape.

Scowling, Fleur jiggled some of the snow on her bags onto the platform before shaking the snow from herself violently.

“You first,” Overwatch said as they touched down, sinking into the snow.

“A-are you alright?” Steel Blade asked with a strained smile, keeping a respectful distance from the battered pony.

Fleur turned her gaze to them, her eyes narrowing. “We will speak of this later,” Fleur said sternly as she put her saddlebags back on. “For now, we are going after my son, and you are going to help.” Her tone brokered no argument.

The two guards nodded hastily. Steel Blade lifted up Overwatch again, and the unicorn guard levitated Fleur up as the group made their way down the mountain.

Spitfire’s well-trained eyes noticed the threat even before she felt the trembling. “Avalanche!” she shouted before spreading her wings and flying away, pulling Fancy Pants up by the rope tied around his belly.

Soarin followed her lead and pulled Blueblood away, the confused prince wondering just when his life became so complicated.

“Cadence!” Shining Armor shouted, waking up the alicorn sleeping in his scarf.

She popped her head out, blinking sleepily. “What is it, Shiny?”

“The mountain where Twiny and our friends have been climbing…”

“What about it?”

“There’s been an avalanche!”

Cadence jolted into wakefulness, climbing up Shining Armor’s neck. Standing on top of his horn, she focused on the mountain, tracking the huge wave of snow falling down it.

“Twilight!” she shouted as a blue aura bloomed into life around her horn.

“We have to help them!” Shining Armor declared before he started to feel the tiny alicorn standing on his horn becoming heavier and heavier. “Cadence, what are you...”

He swiftly found himself muzzle-first into the snow, his very special somepony’s hooves on the back of his head.

Cadence looked down at him and frowned. “This is no time to make snow angels, Shiny, our friends needs us!” she shouted, spreading her wings.

Before Shining Armor could get his head out from under the snow, Cadence’s hooves wrapped around his middle, and a moment later he was being hauled up into the air, but not without first creating a furrow in the snow with his face.

The rumbling cacophony passed, and both Twilight and Luna released their magic and collapsed, the leftovers of Luna’s dome crumbling into pieces. The snow around them was deep, but not enough to cover their barrier, leaving a decently sized hole to rest in.

“It seems we’re safe,” Spike said, wiping his forehead in relief before melting the snow with his flames.

The roar of the yeti in the background made them jump, followed by the sound of trundling footsteps through the thick snow. “Not for long,” White Path said.

Twilight’s hooves trembled as she stood back up, Luna following shortly after. “What now? I’m not sure how long we can last,” Twilight said.

She felt a poke on her shoulder and turned to look up at Spike. “Twilight, I have a question,” he said.

Twilight frowned at her assistant. “Spike, we have no time for this. A yeti is about to—”

“Why haven’t you or Luna dispelled the shrinking spell and thrown that yeti to the other side of Equestria yet?” Spike asked, crossing his arms with a frown.

Twilight and Luna turned to each other with a blank expressions before each bringing a hoof to their face.

“I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid,” Luna groaned. She shook her head and cleared her throat. “We mean, after we shrank and began to enjoy ourselves, we forgot we were not in our original size. Tis never been a concern in the past, and twas not the first time we had fought against such a foe who had so outscaled us.” She glanced over to Spike and added, “No wonder thy caretaker forgot to do the same when she faced a manticore.”

Spike let out an exasperated huff. “It’s fine, but we should really get it done sometime soon.”

“Agreed,” Luna and Twilight said in unison as they lit their horns, ready to remove the effect of the shrinking spell as the yeti advanced.

An angry shout echoed from above them, and they dropped the spell in surprise, looking up to see a white blur sail over them, followed by a loud howl from the yeti. The two tiny ponies looked at each other in surprise, before summoning their magic to shove out the snow around them to give them a better view.

“Mom?” White Path said in surprise when he saw Fleur trotting towards them, cuts and bruises across her body. “What happened to you?”

“Trying circumstances,” she said simply as Steel Blade and Overwatch touched down beside them. “Remind me to replace my coat after this is all done.”

The yeti growled again, drawing Fleur’s attention back at him, the flames of anger in her eyes.

“And you’re the reason why! You’re not going to lay your dirty mitts on my son! En garde!” With a flash of magic, Fleur withdrew a long, thin package from her saddlebags, tossing the box away to reveal a shiny rapier. She drew the blade, dropping the sheath onto the snow and charging at the yeti with a shout.

Steel Blade blinked. “That’s a sight,” he said. Fleur jumped to her left, gracefully avoiding the yeti’s giant fist. “We should probably go help.”

“I think she’s fine,“ Overwatch answered, narrowing her eyes at the yeti and charging her horn. “We’ll be done soon anyways.”

Fleur’s rapier struck at the beast’s legs, causing him to move backwards. The yeti tried to slam Fleur with both hands, but the agile mare took a quick backstep before jumping up onto them. The yeti tried to back off, but Fleur was already atop him, bringing the flat of her blade across the side of his head with a snap.

Overwatch fired off her shot, using the yeti’s distraction to snare a bola around his legs. The beast tumbled forward into the snow, but he could only roll onto his back before he found a blade pointed at his neck.

The guard mare threw a smirk at Steel Blade, who rolled his eyes and huffed. “Unicorns.”

The monster froze under Fleur glare, her various injuries only serving to make her more intimidating. “Now, are we done? Are you going to turn around, go back into your cave, and think about your life decisions?” Fleur hissed. “Choose wisely before my next coat comes with exotic yeti fur.”

The yeti nodded carefully around the sharp weapon leveled at his neck. Fleur glared at him a while more before hopping off. The magic bola dissipated shortly after, and he sat up slowly only to find another pony trotting up to him.

“Sorry, I don’t trust you quite yet.” Overwatch turned back towards the group. “We’ll be back shortly. Come on, Steelie,” she said before escorting the yeti back to the cave, the pegasus guard keeping in close proximity from the air.

Fleur trotted towards her son, levitating out a small handkerchief from her saddlebags to wipe the sweat from White Path’s face. “Aww, sweetie, did that overgrown bear-thing hurt you?” she cooed.

“Mom, stop embarrassing me in front of the super pony and the princess, please,” White Path said, a blush on his face as he swat at the floating cloth. Fleur quickly looked down to find the two tiny ponies, and she lowered herself to their level.

“Lady Twilight, Princess Luna, are you both alright?”

“We’re fine, just a little exhausted,” Twilight replied cheerfully.

“We art stunned by thy bravery, Fleur de Lis, jumping in without hesitation to defend thy child,” Luna said, beaming. “Thou hast truly made thy noble house proud.”

Fleur dipped her head in a bow. “I’m honored, Princess.”

“Damn. Seems we missed all the action,” Spitfire said as she landed on the stone platform, Fancy Pants hanging onto the rope before he finally descended and embraced his wife.

“My word, my dear Fleur, you’ve certainly seen better days,” Fancy Pants said as he levitated some of his clothing onto Fleur’s battered and cold body. Just moments later, Soarin' and Blueblood touched down next to him.

“Is everypony okay?!” Cadence shouted worriedly as she landed, dropping a white stallion into a heap before plowing through a couple meters of snow. She turned quickly towards them, shaking off the extra layer of frost she had accumulated. “When I saw the avalanche, I got so worried.”

She finally paused, looking at the ponies in front of her. Twilight and Luna sat next to her hooves, exhaustion apparent on their tiny faces. Fleur was busy stretching, showing a few of her injuries even under the clothes that Fancy Pants put on her. Soarin' and Spitfire were tied to Blueblood and Fancy Pants with rope. White Path even had a few bruises, wrapping around his barrel.

Cadence blinked. “What in Celestia’s name happened here?”

“Oh, you should have seen it! We—” White Path halted under the combined looks from his parents, and withdrew, crossing his forelegs.

Fancy Pants brought a hoof up to his muzzle and cleared his throat. “I feel that we’ve had enough adventures for one day. Anypony fancy a quick trip back to the airship to warm up with some cocoa?” he said, to very quick general agreement.

Twilight frowned, looking across to Luna. “Go back now? We didn’t reach the top yet.”

Luna stared back in disbelief, her mouth slightly agape. “Thou aren’t serious, art thou?”

Twilight nodded and said hesitantly, “I-I am, Princess. Is there something wrong?”

Luna turned toward the guards, who had just made it back. “Is she always like this?” Receiving nothing but nods from Overwatch, Steel Blade, and Spike, she turned back to Twilight, as if reevaluating her.

She spoke simply. “We wouldst say the ponies of this age art truly of epic proportions, but we feel that wouldst convey the wrong message.”

Author's Note

Wonderful news everyone. After years of silence, my top editor Kydois returned with time on his hand to add his high-quality edits. With him back on board, I can once again continue this story.

I don't know how often we can update and how many chapters we can make, but I hope that you'll all enjoy the return of this story from the grave.

Cheers.

Ch8 - Luna's Fun - Part 5

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 8

Luna's Fun
-
Part 5

“Is this really for me?” Twilight beamed as she stared with wide eyes at the gleaming rapier levitating in front of her, the warmth of the airship melting down her weariness. “Thank you, Fleur!”

She jumped towards the handle of the sword, gripping onto it with her front hooves as she waited for the magic holding it to disappear. Twilight landed on her rear hooves, teetering back and forth as she struggled to hold the long weapon steady.

“It is a five-hundred-year-old enchanted rapier and a family heirloom that has passed through many generations. However, I am more than sure that our ancestors would not mind if a worthy pony such as yourself wields it,” Fleur said gently as she lowered herself to the floor. “Your small size, trained agility, and powerful magic play to the strengths of this weapon perfectly.”

“Perfectly?” Twilight asked as she tried to swing the giant sword with her forelegs, only to lose her balance and fall over, the sword falling from her grip.

Fleur chuckled, and used her magic to help Twilight get the rapier upright again. “Swords, maces, and axes rely on strength, halberds and spears keep enemies at distance, and bows and crossbows are used to hit enemies from afar,” she said, before levitating out her own rapier, wielding it as if it were nothing more than a conductor’s baton. “The rapier relies on precision, the ability to strike around the enemy’s defenses at their weak points, something I’m sure a small mare like yourself always keeps in mind when facing larger and stronger opponents.”

Twilight nodded, bringing up the weapon before her with her magic and giving a few experimental stabs in the air.

Fleur gave her a cheerful smile. “When we have more time, I will be happy to give you lessons.”

Twilight bowed as she set the rapier down to her side. “Thank you so much, Miss Fleur, but…” she said, before lifting her head to look at the white mare. “I know I’m a friend of your family, but why do you think I’m worthy of such a treasure?”

Fleur giggled. “If you are worried about its worth to me, It is not even the most prominent rapier in our possession. My favourite is a rapier from eight-hundred-years ago, a true masterpiece of its time, so you don’t need to worry about taking more than you’re owed, and trust me, Twilight, you deserve this gift,” she said, before bringing up her saddlebags from behind her. “And I have a few more things for you too.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “There’s more?”

Fleur nodded. “Of course dear. While Fancy Pants has already sent a shipment with gifts to your new home in Ponyville. I asked for a few favors, and here we go,” Fleur said energetically as she levitated out three tiny sets of miniature clothing. “A fencing uniform, a customized outfit for ballet, and a dress for your first date.”

“D-date?” Twilight stammered, blushing. “But…”

“Twilight, just because you are small doesn’t mean that you cannot have a very special somepony. I’m sure you will look wonderful trying to impress the stallion of your heart.”

Fleur felt somepony poke her foreleg, and she turned to see White Path looking up at her expectantly.

Twilight teleported onto Fleur’s head and started down at him as well.

“C-could I get some clothing like this? Please?”

Fleur and Twilight blinked in confusion before his mother asked, “Whatever for, son?”

White Path twiddled his hooves, blushing. “In case I need something of my own when I ask Twilight out.”

“What?” Fleur and Twilight exclaimed. By now, most of the ponies on the airship had turned their attention to them. Overwatch had burst out laughing, and more than a few were hiding grins beneath their hooves.

“W-when can we get this colt into the guard?” Overwatch tittered. “He’d be braver than all of the other recruits at this rate.”

“Share with us too,” Spitfire said, grinning. “We still have newbies wetting their suits at the mere mention of the Dizzitron. He’d be a way better role model than Soarin’.”

Soarin’ gasped dramatically. “Spitfire, are you offering him my job? Surely, the wings are a plus for me, right?”

“Your job’s fine, don’t worry about it,” the Wonderbolts Captain replied. “We’ll start him off just passing out refreshments. That way, we can make jokes about how the water colt could fly better than the recruits.”

“Ooh ooh wait,” the guard mare replied, clapping her hooves together excitedly. “Has Luna got her Night Guard up yet? We could totally get him in. It wouldn’t even be hard.” The two mares broke down into snickers.

“I... I don’t mind the size difference at all,” White Path pleaded, attempting to bring out the puppy eyes. Fleur could only stare back in shock, and Twilight had already hidden herself in the white unicorn’s mane. “Just a little something to wear on a date. Please?”

A moment passed, and Fleur finally breathed out a heavy sigh. “Fancy Pants is such a terrible influence on you, my child.”

Twilight excused herself shortly after and moved to the windowsill, her mind abuzz with the awkwardness she had just experienced. Canterlot slowly rose on the horizon, and the sun was making its way down.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spitfire called.

The little unicorn turned away from the view, finding the captain with Luna by her side, who was back to her normal size. The tiny unicorn smiled. It was comforting to see the princess large again, better able to exercise her might.

“Spitfire, Princess Luna,” Twilight greeted. “Are you here to enjoy the wonderful view as well?”

Spitfire snorted, grinning. “You call this a view? You need to ride with pegasi more often. Maybe you can ask one of your feathered friends to show you a real view,” she said, before spreading one of her wings. Two golden tickets fell from between her outstretched feathers, and she caught them with her hoof and presented them to Twilight.

The little unicorn grabbed the tickets and gave Spitfire a curious look. “What’re these? Tickets for a Wonderbolts show?”

Spitfire laughed. “Look a little closer,” she said. “Soarin' and I decided to give you a little farewell gift for your new life in Ponyville, something to remember us by.”

Twilight took a closer look at the tickets she held before gasping. “Are these really...?”

“Yup!” Spitfire said proudly. “Two lifetime passes to all Wonderbolts shows, a special VIP seat—”

The little unicorn jumped from the windowsill right onto the pegasus’s neck with a wide hug. “Thank you, Spitfire! And give my thanks to Soarin’ as well. This present is amazing!”

“No sweat,” Spitfire said with a smirk. “One ticket for you and one for a friend. I think you mentioned somepony named ‘Rainbow Dash’ who would definitely enjoy that gift.”

Twilight nuzzled Spitfire and tightened her grip even harder. “I’m sure that she’ll love it, I can’t wait to see her face. I wonder… should I gift wrap it? Or maybe I can let her find it by accident? Oh, the possibilities!”

Luna chimed in with a smile at Spitfire. “Miss Twilight and her brave friends played an important role in saving us from our madness. Seeing their joy brings us happiness as well,” she said before turning her attention fully to the tiny mare. “Twilight Sparkle, may we ask something of thee?”

The little unicorn pushed herself from Spitfire’s neck onto the alicorn's raised cladded hoof and bowed low. “Of course, Princess Luna! I’m your loyal subject. Your wish is my command.”

“Wouldst thou visit our bedchamber and stargaze with us? We would be most honored—”

In a flash, Twilight stood on Luna’s muzzle with a smile on her face, a hair away from dancing a little jig. “Yesyesyes yes, I’d love to!”

Later that night, Luna trotted cheerfully into her not-yet-finished home with Twilight galloping right next to her.

“Thank you for letting me visit your bedchamber, Princess. I’m honored!”

“Hush, Twilight. Thy modest and humble nature doesn’t suit thy stature as our sister’s student and our savior.” Luna hopped up onto her bed. “Make thyself at home. It’s not yet finished, but—”

“It’s amazing!” Twilight exclaimed as she ran from wall to wall before jumping onto the bed as she admired the decorations. "Wow! Your walls are painted with all the constellations! There's Ursa Major, Sagittarius, Gemini… maybe I could do something similar with the library?"

Luna blushed. “Why, thank you. We instructed our subjects on the details of the constellations ourselves. We had a very enlightened discussion with the astronomers of this age,” she said, before clearing her throat. “I’m quite pleased at the love and devotion the night sky has inspired.”

Twilight smiled and next took a seat on Luna’s back. “You’d be amused at the arguments they get into sometimes over the constellations,” she said as she turned to the balcony. “It’s about time for the moon to rise and I’d love to watch if… I’m sorry, Princess, I wouldn’t ask you to do it on your own if you haven’t fully recovered yet.”

Luna rose from her bed and trotted towards the balcony with her little friend in tow. “We may not have regained our former strength just yet, but we wish to attempt to raise the moon on our own.” She gestured with a hoof, and Twilight jumped from her back to the nearby telescope.

Luna gave one final smile before she spread her wings. With a flap, she rose gracefully, her forelegs spread in a welcoming embrace. She closed her eyes and lit her horn, the determination to prove herself in front of Twilight driving her forward.

Twilight could see the princess struggling to raise the moon. Even from her spot on the telescope, she noticed the princess’s posture tense up, as if straining against a large weight. The little mare was about to speak up to convince the night princess to ask her sister for help when she finally noticed the first star shine. Like a boulder rolling down a hill, the blooming of the stars gained momentum, spanning the sky in a brilliant light show, each star sparkling as if trying to get her attention. After a few more seconds of admiring the view, the full moon rose from behind the horizon into the night sky, its light filling her up with energy.

Twilight applauded as Luna landed gracefully, her hooves landing with a soft clop and her brow damp with sweat. “That was amazing, Princess! I’ve seen my mentor raise the sun and the moon so many times for years, but it’s the first time I’ve seen the stars shine so brightly, and the moon’s light is stronger than ever!” she said, clapping her tiny hooves excitedly.

“We are glad thou didst enjoy our first solo performance. What wouldst thou like to do now?” Luna asked.

Twilight responded by sliding down the telescope until she reached the eyepiece. With a widening smile, she shouted, “Stargaze, of course!”

Hours of watching the stars passed with the help of the telescope. Twilight and Luna talked about the wonders of the sky, in which the princess corrected her on a few small mistakes Twilight made during her studies in astronomy. It took a while, but eventually, the little mare began to shoot looks back at the bedchamber.

“Art thou tired?” Luna asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Not at all, your moon keeps me awake and refreshed. However, I promised Spike and my guards to end my restless nights.”

There was a pout for a fraction of a second on Luna’s face, and Twilight grinned up at her. “Buuuut, I would gladly continue our stargazing tomorrow night, if that’s okay with you, Princess?”

Luna nodded and returned the smile. “But of course.” She turned to enter her bedchamber, Twilight jogging at her hooves. “Wouldst thou honor us by sleeping with us tonight? Our bed can easily accommodate a pony of thy size.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked up at the alicorn. “Are you sure it’s alright, Princess? I mean, I’ve always slept with my mentor, but that’s because she wanted to keep me close and safe.”

“Think nothing of it, Twilight,” Luna replied earnestly. “Our bedchamber is yours.”

Twilight beamed, and she hopped up onto the bed and tackled one of the larger pillows on it. “In that case, I’m taking this pillow!” The little unicorn jumped onto it, trotting in a few small circles as she looked for the best spot before curling herself up into a ball.

Luna giggled at the display. “Must thou always act so adorably?”

Twilight looked at the princess in confusion, blinking. “Well, I uhh… I’ve always done this since I became your sister’s student. She’s often told me that I sleep adorably too, so I guess it’s a good thing, right?”

Luna nodded. “Absolutely,” she said before she climbed up onto the bed with enough distance as to not squash her friend by accident, and the two entered the world of dreams peacefully.

Author's Note

Hello all loyal readers of the Twinyverse. I hope you're all enjoying the returning series.

While chapter 8 is over (it is the end for Luna's Fun), it doesn't mean that interactions between Twilight and Luna are over just yet. Things are going to get way more serious on the chapter 9.

Also, while you all are waiting for the next chapter, I would like to ask to give another story of mine a chance (who knows, maybe you'll like it and it will help you pass time until this story will update again).

Link - Little Lost Raichu

Raichu is my favorite pokemon, and it has been a long time since I wanted to involve Raichu OC into a MLP fanfic, and I finally did it. Sadly, as a crossover this story doesn't get much of attention, that's why I would be grateful for at least giving it a glance.

In short, Raichu end up in Equestria in the Everfree Forest and have no memories of her past (and no, it's not human turned pokemon, it is a 100% legitimate Raichu). This story is a slice of life, so it will involve a lot of interactions with ponies, a lot of cuteness and character development. The fact that this Raichu doesn't remember how to use her attacks and control her powers certainly puts her at a disadvantage in a world filled with magical and powerful creatures like ponies. Even if you're not a pokemon fan, it's still worth a try, so please, give it a chance, and thanks in advance.

Cheers.

Ch9 - Secrets and Dreams - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 9

Secrets and Dreams
-
Part 1

“Luna, what are you doing in my dream? I thought I defeated my last nightmare,” Celestia asked as she leveled a suspicious eye at her sister from her sunbathing spot.

Luna pawed at the sand with a hoof in the tropical paradise. Cadence was dancing hula further down the beach with a skirt made of grass with a tiny Twilight dancing on top of her head. There was an decently large sand castle, scaled down to Twilight’s size, while Shining Armor was trying his best not to wipe out on an absurdly large wave.

“Worry not, our dear sister. We do not wish to ruin thy peaceful dreams outside of thy punishment. We are here merely to seek thy council,” Luna stated.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “We can talk whenever you wish. Why in my dream?”

Luna nodded. “This is true. We certainly could, but we were distracted by the time we spent with Twilight and Cadence. We decided to ask thee here and now, while thy student slumbers upon our pillow.”

Celestia sat up into a formal posture. “I understand. What is it that you wish to ask me about?”

“About thy student, of course.”

Celestia’s smile widened. “Go on, Luna. I’ll try to answer as best I can.”

“Can thy student be trusted?”

Celestia’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. “Trusted?”

Luna cleared her throat, blushing. “What we mean is... can thy student be trusted with a secret?”

Celestia’s smile returned, and she put her hooves on her sister’s shoulders. “Of course she can. Why would you think otherwise?”

Luna lowered her head. “We fear she may… panic at our words, and come and tell thee instead of trusting us.”

Celestia shook her head and embraced her sister tenderly. “Luna, if there’s something you have to get off your chest, you can trust Twilight to keep any secret you tell her.”

Luna let out a deep breath as she hesitantly returned the hug. “I hope thou art right, sister. I hope thou art right,” she said morosely before disappearing, like a cloud being blown away by the wind.

“I trust my student. She will make the right decision,” Celestia said before returning to her dream, reclining back onto the beach towel with the sounds of her ponies in the background.

Luna walked through the dream space, her hooves stepping soundlessly upon a bright white path over the star-filled space. Small fragments of rocks drifted around her like floating islands. She swept her gaze over the twinkling stars until she found a particularly bright one, indicative of the magical might of its owner.

She drew the star closer, changing it into a door-shaped portal. With a deep breath, she murmured to herself, “I wonder if nightmares still haunt our little savior?”

She stepped through the door and found herself standing in the ruins of her old castle, the same ruins where Nightmare Moon had been defeated. “This nightmare again…” she murmured.

Luna took a few steps forward as she watched the events unfold before her, knowing full well that she wouldn’t be noticed until she decided otherwise. Nightmare Moon lay on the ground, hurt and defeated, while Celestia and Cadence looked on from a distance in silence. In front of the wounded mare were Twilight and her friends, the golden armor and necklaces of the Elements shining brightly as the six rose into the air.

The Nightmare let loose a wet cough. “Please, I beg of you. Don’t kill me. Spare my life as I spared yours,” she pled desperately, blood trickling from her mouth as she looked up at Twilight, whose eyes radiated with power.

“I will just heal your anger and hate, but I won’t hurt you. Please, trust me,” Twilight said with a reassuring voice as Nightmare Moon hung her head low in defeat and resigned herself to the inevitable.

“I… I trust you, Twilight Sparkle,” Nightmare said as she closed her eyes.

Beams of rainbow colors surrounded her like a tornado, but in the next moment, they turned violent, like a swarm of bees tearing at her flesh. When the light finally faded, the dark mare looked as if she had become a worn statue, cracks spreading across her form.

“N-n-no, this wasn’t meant to happen! Noooo!” Twilight screamed as she ran towards the dying alicorn. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Nightmare Moon looked at Twilight hatefully. “I trusted you! You said you wouldn’t hurt me, but you did,” she snarled as she pointed a bloody foreleg at Twilight accusingly, her hoof guard falling from her crumbling limb and ringing as it hit the floor. “You attacked me when I couldn’t defend myself. You tricked me.”

Twilight shook her head frantically. “N-no, I didn’t mean for this to happen, I didn’t mean to—”

“Save it!” Nightmare Moon snapped, spitting blood from her mouth onto Twilight’s armor. “I never should have trusted you, Twilight Sparkle. I showed you mercy, and now I pay for my foolishness with my own blood,” she said coldly, tears falling from her eyes. “I hate you, Twilight Sparkle, and I will never forgive you!”

The alicorn let out a final cry as she collapsed on the floor, her body shattering into pieces.

Luna looked at Twilight in pity as the poor mare cried in her dream, holding a piece of Nightmare Moon in her hooves. The princesses and the other ponies walked towards her, though whatever they said was unintelligible. Twilight only had eyes for the fragment in her hooves.

“I… I’m sorry… it wasn’t meant to end this way…” Twilight said, sobbing, her head low in defeat while she embraced the black fragment with all her strength, as if seeking comfort in it. “I’m sorry. P-please, f-forgive me.”

Luna sighed. “Time to end this nightmare once and for all,” she said and lit her horn. In a flash, Luna became part of the dream. She knelt to the floor and embraced Twilight, pressing the tiny pony against her neck. “Ssshhh, this is not what happened that night.”

Twilight struggled against Luna’s embrace, wriggling in the hold and swinging her hooves wildly at the princess. “No, this is exactly what happened! I killed her to save you!” Twilight wailed before falling limp, rubbing her tear-stained face into Luna’s neck. “I k-killed her… why couldn't I s-save heerrrr?”

“Twilight, how long hast thou had these nightmares?” Luna asked as she nuzzled her friend gently. “When did they start?”

Twilight slowly released Luna’s neck and looked into the princess’s eyes. “It’s… it’s not important.”

Luna shook her head slowly. “It is important,” she said. “Please, tell us.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Twilight, please. We want to help thee, and so we need to know.”

“No!” Twilight pushed free from Luna’s embrace and tried to gallop away, but was soon arrested by a midnight blue aura. She tried to teleport away as she was pulled back to face Luna directly, but the magic from her horn fizzled away as soon as it came. “W-what happened to my magic?”

Luna smiled. “It may be thy dream, but it is our domain. Here, the rules obey us,” she said with a somber smile. “Tis our duty as the Princess of the Night to keep ponies safe not just from monsters, but also from nightmares.”

“But… but I…,” Twilight whimpered, before letting out a sigh and lowering her head in resignation. “The nightmares… this nightmare in particular first started a few days after we used the Elements against Nightmare Moon, and it started again when…”

Twilight fell silent, her hooves uneasy, and Luna leaned in closer. “Yes?” she asked, more curious than before, but after several seconds of silence, she gasped in realization. “Oh no, we… Let us guess. They started again after thou spent time with us?”

Twilight’s head jerked up to look at Luna with wide eyes, but it was only a momentary lapse before she hung loosely again, her ears flat against her head. “I’m so sorry, Luna. Whenever I look at you, I see her… I see her being destroyed! I see this night! It’s always this night!”

Luna hung her head too. “We… we see. Rather, tis us who should apologize. We were unaware that our presence would bring thee such grief.”

“Nonononono!” Twilight said in her panic, wiping the tears from her eyes, “I had a lot of fun with you, I really did. I enjoyed the time I spent in your presence. I just… I can endure a nightmare or two.”

Luna took a deep breath. “Twilight, there is…” she began, but despite her efforts to steel herself for this moment, she simply let out a sigh and said, “nevermind.” The alicorn paused as she looked around at the dilapidated castle grounds. With a wave of her horn, the nightmare faded away, replaced by the familiar interior of the Golden Oaks Library. “Sweet dreams, Twilight. We will see thee at dawn.”

With that last sentence, Luna vanished from Twilight’s dream and reappeared in the dream space, facing the door she had just entered. The portal shrank back into a star, and she watched as it flew back to rejoin its siblings in the void.

“I cannot tell her. If Twilight knew… I cannot make her fear me as everypony did a thousand years ago. Not her.” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, fighting against the hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Thou showed us so much kindness and understanding, even when we were thine enemy. Were thou to reject us, Twilight…”

Her voice caught, and she turned back to the white road beneath her, walking listlessly along its infinite length.

“Shmerrr…”

Twilight let loose a huge yawn, stretching herself out over the pillow she was on. Her drowsy eyes slowly opened, taking in the room around her. It was still dark, but the moonlight shining in was more than adequate to see by, especially with Luna’s Blessing.

She caught sight of the princess, who was sitting in front of the bed with her hooves on the mattress and looking at her with a stony neutrality, and immediately shot into wakefulness.

“Princess Luna!” the tiny unicorn exclaimed, stepping from the pillow and trotting to the edge of the bed.

Luna's expression seemed unmovable. “Good morning, Twilight. Didst thou sleep well?”

“I did, Princess,” Twilight said with a bow, before looking back up hesitantly. “Did you, by any chance, uh…”

“Visit your dreams? Yes, we have.”

The little mare’s face sunk. “So, you know about the…”

“Twilight, we have known about thy nightmares for three days now. We were merely unsure as to when they started,” Luna stated. “‘Tis our duty to protect ponies’ dreams, and thy nightmares worry us. Is there anything we can do to ease thy sorrow?”

Twilight hastily waved her hooves in front of her. “Oh no, Princess, I’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to…” The little unicorn stopped at Luna’s hard glare, and she timidly rubbed at the back of her neck. “Actually, there is one thing that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now, but it will be a long way—”

Luna raised her hoof for silence. “Whatever thou wishest to do, or wherever thou shalt wishest to go, we shall endeavor to do our best to assist our savior and friend.” She spread her wings and motioned to her back with a wave of her head. “Name thy destination and thou shalt be there in an instant. We will hear no excuses. Tis no trouble at all.”

Twilight nodded, before tapping her hooves together and whispering something unintelligible.

“Couldst thou repeat that?” Luna said as she lowered her head down to her tiny friend and offered an ear.

“The… the ruins of the castle in the Everfree,” Twilight said quietly.

Luna lifted her head again, staring down at the tiny pony. “We see,” she said. “If that is thy wish, so shall it be. We will assist thee in thy journey.”

Luna flew towards the Everfree Forest in silence, her little passenger sitting on her back. They had left soon after informing the door guards that they would be back shortly. She had left out their destination. Its dangers weren’t a threat to her at any rate.

Using her own memory as a guide, Luna descended into the ruins of the old castle in a little under fifteen minutes, giving her still an hour of time before she needed to lower the moon.

Twilight hadn’t bothered to wait until Luna landed before she jumped off onto the stone floor. Her legs took the fall smoothly, though the layer of dust she had disturbed forced out a sneeze.

Luna’s silver horseshoes touched against the floor lightly, and she began to trot after the little unicorn, who had run towards the location where the Elements were unleashed upon Nightmare Moon.

Despite her best efforts, Twilight felt her eyes begin to water, her memories giving life to the dead scenery. Butterflies fluttered in Luna’s stomach as she approached the location where she had been banished, defeated, and saved.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, and turned to look up at Luna. “Thank you, Princess, for bringing me here. This won’t take long,” she said, before drawing upon her magic. A piece of masonry no taller than a pony flew over to rest in front of her.

The tiny unicorn focused, and the stone seemed to reshape itself, slowly and steadily until it resembled a sort of gravestone. With another deep breath, she began to etch words upon its smooth face:

Here lies Nightmare Moon

Luna’s friend and companion

Misunderstood and lonely

Rebellious but honest

A black knight with honor

May she rest in peace

Luna’s eyes widened as she read along, her gaze darting quickly between the words and Twilight.

The tiny unicorn trotted up to her makeshift grave marker, placing a hoof on it. “Nightmare Moon, I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I just… don’t know how I can even apologize,” she said with a sob. “I-I don’t know. Will… will you ever forgive me?”

Luna bit her bottom lip, her breathing becoming steadily more strained. An eye twitched.

“I know it’s n-not much… but I hope that wherever you are, after everything you and Luna had to… had to endure… that you will find… find peace.“

Twilight’s melancholy was interrupted by a sudden stomp of a hoof right behind her, cracks in the floor spider-webbing out from Luna's horseshoe. She turned back to the princess in shock, finding the alicorn with her teeth bared in a snarl.

“L-Luna, is something wrong?”

“Yes. I have had enough of this farce!” the princess shouted, and with a single swing of her hoof, she took off the entire top half the the gravestone.

“Luna, what are you doing!?” Twilight lit her horn in an attempt to gather the pieces back together.

“Nightmare Moon is alive.”

Twilight froze. A few of the stone shards dropped to the floor in a thud as her magic ceased its hold on them, and she stared into the middle ground with her mouth agape. She looked up at Luna, who was breathing heavily and staring at her with a fiery intensity.

“Alive?”

Luna took in a deep breath, her posture straightening as she attempted to regain her poise. “Twilight, there is a second part to this secret we wish to share with thee. We have not shared this secret, not even with our own sister, and if thou tellest her, know that the consequences will be grave.”

Twilight made an effort to loosen her tense muscles. “Secret? Are… are you hiding Nightmare Moon from your sister?”

“More than that.” She hesitated. “We warn you that our words may… change matters. Drastically. You will have to carry the burden of knowledge yourself.”

Twilight turned her body to face Luna. “Please, tell me! Where is Nightmare Moon? I have to know. I have to tell her how sorry I am…”

“Thou deservest to know, Twilight Sparkle. Twas thee who saved us from our hate and anger and who played a major role in reuniting us with our sister, and tis thou who should judge us and decide our fate,” Luna said.

“Decide your fate? I don’t understand.”

Luna sighed, her expression softening as she lowered herself to ground level. “All we ask is thine ear. Listen to our entire story, and judge us fairly.”

Twilight took a deep breath, puffing out her chest. “I’ll not think any less of you, Luna, whatever secret you wish to share with me. You have my word.”

“Be careful of the promises you make, Twilight,” she warned. “Art thou ready?”

“I am ready, Your Highness.”

Luna closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before releasing it slowly. Twilight startled at the black smoke pouring out of the princess’s mane like dry ice, the little pony’s horn glowing briefly before she clamped down on her surprise. The smoke seemed to wrap around the alicorn, swirling slowly, like a growing storm.

Slowly, Princess Luna began to grow. The black smoke seemed to flow over her like mist over a still lake, and her fur darkened at its passing. It clung to her wings, turning them from feathery pegasus wings to pitch-black, leathery bat wings. Her horn turned long, tapering off into a sharp point. When the smoke finally dissipated, Luna stood nearly as tall as Celestia.

She opened her eyes and looked directly at Twilight, her dragon-like pupils like slits on blue irises that seemed to glow in the dark.

Twilight stared up, her mouth agape as she tried to process the events that had just occurred.

“N-Nightmare Moon?”

Ch9 - Dreams and Secrets - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 9

Dreams and Secrets
-
Part 2

The dark mare smirked. “Greetings, my little Twilight Sparkle. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen each other face to face.” She chuckled. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that you have been abusing my blessing for a little too much reading, is that right?”

Twilight sat there, completely floored, and the longer the mare stayed like that, the more nervous Nightmare Moon became. She had expected screams echoing in the ruins of her old castle, perhaps the tiny mare teleporting off in horror to alert her sister, but it was hard to read her when she wasn’t doing anything at all.

She cleared her throat, summoning up a bit more bravado. “I see that my presence has left you speechless. Or are you just paralyzed with fear?”

Twilight swallowed slowly. “Y-you… aren’t dead. I thought…”

“That the Elements you used completely destroyed me?” Nightmare Moon asked, raising an eyebrow.

“B-But… the fragments of your body, they—”

Nightmare Moon let out an amused huff. “You may have damaged my body and weakened me, but it seems that the Elements of Harmony are incapable of taking a life, something I am rather grateful for.”

The alicorn and the unicorn stared at one another in silence, until Twilight finally began to tremble.

There’s the response I was expecting, Nightmare Moon thought as she approached the little mare and lowered herself onto the stone floor. “You must be afraid and conf—”

Twilight seemed to explode from her spot, launching herself onto Nightmare Moon’s neck in a sudden bound.

“I’m sorry, I am so sorry!” Twilight wailed, burying her face into the dark fur. “I didn’t want to hurt you! I thought that the Elements would heal your hate and anger! I didn’t want to...” Her breath caught, and she trailed off into simply sobbing.

Nightmare Moon blinked, looking down at the pony latched to her in confusion as if unsure what to do. “You didn’t hurt me with the Elements, Twilight Sparkle. They merely sealed our presence away as well as return Luna to her meeker appearance. Tis good to those who were hoping to see me vanquished.”

The tiny mare began to climb up again until she reached Nightmare’s nose, who stayed frozen in indecision. The alicorn looked uncertainly at Twilight, who had wiped off her tears with a foreleg.

“So... what happened to you?” the tiny mare asked, finding a steady spot to sit on.

“The Elements made the past thousand years on the moon feel as if it were just a mere dream, even though both Luna and I knew it had really happened. It put our mind at ease, and helped Luna reintegrate into modern society,” Nightmare answered. “As for me, I was pushed deep into Luna’s mind, back to my… birthplace, so to speak.”

“So wait, does that mean you didn’t possess Luna?” Twilight asked.

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes, though she kept close attention to the tiny pony for any changes in demeanor. How can she be so calm? I don’t understand.

Nightmare jerked her head slightly. “I cannot blame you for thinking that way, my little pony, but I was always a part of Luna. I am part of her psyche, an alter personality born more than a thousand years ago. You could say that I am Luna, the part of her she was afraid to show, a more direct and less hesitant part of her mind.”

Twilight’s curiosity only grew, and she climbed back up. “I read some psychology books and they mentioned something like this. Dissociative Identity Disorder? So you’re the part of Luna that surfaces whenever she feels threatened?”

Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Close, but not quite,” she said. “Powerful magic has a tendency to be unpredictable, especially alicorn magic. Over the years, I became more of a separate entity entirely. We share the same body, but our minds are separated, like two ponies taking turns pulling the same cart. We are both aware, but we’re not both in control.” She frowned, looking back at her wings. “Though, continuing that analogy, the cart would also change whenever I take control, so it might be more than that.”

Twilight clapped her hooves excitedly, her former sorrow completely absent. “That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of magic that could create a sentient being out of another personality, especially one that even comes with its own look whenever it takes control!”

The alicorn furrowed her brow at the tiny mare, and she tried to politely shake Twilight off again. Is she for real? She cleared her throat and asked, “Twilight, how can you stay so calm?”

Twilight gave her a puzzled look, tilting her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Nightmare Moon harrumphed. “I expected screams of fear. I expected you to try and escape or to hide, or at the very least to tremble before me.”

She plucked Twilight from her muzzle with her magic and placed her gently onto the remains of the gravestone, just below eye level. “Our mere presence terrified warriors, monsters, and even our own Lunar guards looked upon us in terror. You, however, you show not even the slightest bit of fear, trapped with your enemy in the middle of a forest so far away from your mentor, friends, and guards?”

Twilight shrugged. “I’m afraid, even if I don’t look like it. It’s nothing that I can’t deal with though.” She spread her forelegs wide, gesturing to the tall stone walls around them. “I wouldn’t be able to run from you even if I wanted to, and if you wanted to hurt me, you would have done it a long time ago.

“Luna told me you were alive, that she was going to share a secret with me, to put my guilt at ease. I don’t think she would have let you speak to me directly if she knew you wanted to attack me. Even back during the Summer Sun Celebration, you spared my life twice, so I don’t think there’s a reason for me to fear you in the first place. That’s why I’m calm,” she said, before smiling anxiously at the alicorn. “Besides, you’re uhh… not still angry at me for using the Elements against you, right?"

Nightmare Moon stared at Twilight, as if searching for something. She snorted abruptly and began to laugh hysterically. The alicorn buried her face into a hoof as she continued, teetering off to the side before simply falling completely over, and it wasn’t long before Twilight joined in.

Nightmare Moon took in a deep breath, almost a gasp, as she righted herself, and she slowly raised her head and looked at the unicorn. “You are impossible, Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “You never cease to amaze me.”

The little unicorn blushed. “Th-thanks. I’m just glad you’re still alive. You have no idea how much seeing you got off my chest,” she said, before her expression changed to confusion. “There’s still one thing though. You, err… Luna said that I would need to judge you and decide your fate. What did she mean by that?”

Nightmare Moon’s entire countenance darkened in an instant, and she broke eye contact with Twilight. “Simple. Now you know of my existence. Of my continued presence within Luna’s mind and soul. You hold both of our fates in your tiny hooves. It all depends on what you choose to do with this knowledge.”

Twilight blinked. “You mean... whether I choose to tell somepony else?”

Nightmare Moon nodded, still staring off to the side.

“B-b-but, but I’m trapped here. You could easily force me not to tell, unless…”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes returned to normal for a moment as she looked back up. “We decided to put our fate in thine hooves once again. If we wished to forbid thee to tell of our presence, we would never have revealed ourselves to begin with. No, Twilight Sparkle, if thou wishes to make our presence known, we will not do anything to stop thee.”

Twilight placed a hoof to her muzzle in thought, before letting out a light giggle. “I don’t see the problem. I’m sure that my mentor will forgive and accept you, just like you forgave her,” she said cheerfully, though Nightmare Moon looked decidedly uncomfortable at those words. “You have forgiven her, right? Right?”

She shook her head and said, her ears flat against her head. “I am sorry, but I cannot forgive your mentor.”

“Well… that’s understandable, I suppose, but you don’t want revenge any longer?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“I am sorry once again for disappointing you, but even the Elements cannot erase all of my hate for that witch. It’s the basis of my existence, the only reason Luna created me to begin with, unintentionally or not. I cannot let go of it just that easily.”

“Well… would you want to hurt Princess Celestia?”

The alicorn bared her teeth ever so slightly. “Oh, I would love to hurt her. My very being wishes for her to suffer, to see her bleed, beg for mercy, to see her banished for a millennium on the sun as Luna and I had to endure a thousand years on the moon. I wish for nothing more than to strangle her with my own hooves,” she said, completely seriously.

“B-but you won’t do any of it, right?” Twilight stammered out. “You won’t try to hurt my mentor, will you?”

Nightmare Moon simply snorted, her macabre grin fading into neutrality. “As much as it pains me, I wouldn’t dare to lay a hoof on your mentor, Twilight Sparkle. I will not ruin Luna’s new life, nor will I ruin yours. For the first time after a thousand and hundred years, she is… happy. Accepted amongst the ponies she loves, and I can at least try to content myself with that.”

Twilight managed a tiny smile, blushing slightly. “We’re doing our best.”

Nightmare Moon smiled warmly. “I know. Everypony is much more understanding, and not only do my… do Luna’s subjects not fear her, but they show her the respect and admiration she and our night truly deserve. The days she spends with you and Cadence are unforgettable. You are truly a wonderful subject… and friend.”

Her face dropped, and she let out a forlorn sigh. “Even though Luna’s sister has also changed, doing everything she can to repair her mistakes from the past, I cannot bring myself to forgive her.”

Twilight’s ears drooped, and she slumped down on the stoney stump of the gravestone. “And because I care about my mentor and her safety…”

“You will inform her of my existence and the hate I feel towards her,” Nightmare Moon continued easily, “and she will ensure that I am not a threat.”

Twilight shook her head, rubbing at her head with both hooves. “Why are you telling me all of this? You could’ve just simply said that you’ve forgiven Celestia or that the Elements healed all of your hate, so why?”

Nightmare Moon stood a bit straighter as she looked into the tiny unicorn’s eyes. “Because I do not lie, Twilight Sparkle, even if it would be in my best interest to do so. I am cruel, wrathful, and unrelenting, but I am always truthful and honorable. This is who I am. Who Luna raised me to be.”

“But… but I can’t just not tell my mentor if you truly wish harm on her! I… I don’t know what to do…” Twilight said as she buried her face in her hooves. “I want to go back to the castle.”

The alicorn levitated Twilight onto her back. “You have been through a lot for one morning. Allow me to take you back while you gather your thoughts.” She rose into the air, facing towards Canterlot.

Twilight held Nightmare Moon’s neck tightly as the black alicorn sped up, soon overtaking the speed Luna had flown at. “What will you do if I tell my mentor that you’re still alive?” she asked, her mane flapping in the wind.

“Probably take up painting. The interior of my prison cell could probably use a few constellations to liven things up,” Nightmare Moon said with a smirk, though she became serious again at Twilight’s pout. With a sigh, she continued, “I don’t know what will happen. it is for Luna’s sister to decide. She will most likely view Luna with caution and distrust, afraid that I could emerge to strike her down at any moment.”

“And while you would never do it…”

Nightmare Moon sighed. “Twilight, it is for you to decide if you trust me and, consequently, what will happen to me. You saved Luna before I could drive both of us to the grave. I have the utmost faith in your decision."

So as to not alarm any guards of her presence, Nightmare Moon turned herself and her passenger into a black mist to slink back into Luna’s bedchamber.

“Did you make up your mind, Twilight Sparkle?” Nightmare Moon asked, sweeping the dust from her hooves as she transformed back into her corporeal self.

The unicorn in front of her wobbled a bit from the unusual sensations, but managed to nod. “Yes, I have. I’ve decided to tell my mentor that you’re still alive. I… I just can’t hide this kind of information from her.” Twilight’s head drooped. “I’m sorry.”

Nightmare Moon sighed. “It is alright. I already expected this outcome.” She smiled. “At least you are not afraid of me. That was what Luna and I feared the most.”

Twilight nodded as she trotted over to the chamber’s entrance, hopping up to the doorknob to crack the door open. Before she was about to leave, she turned to look back. “And you’re not going to stop me or anything?”

“Of course not. I have said I wouldn’t.”

“Just… making sure.”

Twilight walked out, the door closing with a soft click, and the alicorn seemed to deflate as she murmured to herself, “It seems your peaceful return to Equestria will not be so peaceful after all.”

The door cracked open again. “Are you sure? You can still stop me if you want,” Twilight said, popping her head out from behind the half-opened door.

“I do not want to, Twilight. If telling your mentor is what you have decided on, so be it.”

The tiny unicorn stomped a hoof on the floor and boldly strode back in, kicking the door closed before walking determinedly back to Nightmare Moon.

“Why won’t you just stop me!?” Twilight shouted.

Nightmare Moon stared dumbly at the tiny mare. “I told you already, I am not—”

Twilight clamped down on Nightmare’s muzzle with her magic. “But I want you to stop me! Telling my mentor is the right thing to do, but I just don’t want to do it. Why does it have to be so complicated?” Twilight groaned and jumped onto Luna’s bed before turning around to face the thoroughly bewildered Nightmare Moon. “I trust you.”

“You do?” Nightmare asked, blinking. “But are not you afraid that I will try to hurt your mentor? That she should not know her biggest enemy is walking the same halls as her, eating at the same table, sleeping in the same—”

Twilight cried out in frustration, rubbing at her head with both hooves. “Just… just stop being so unbelievably honest before I change my mind! Please!”

“Farewell, my faithful student,” Celestia said cheerfully as she levitated Twilight up to her face. The little student wrapped her hooves around the huge muzzle, receiving a nuzzle in return.

Cadence released Spike from his own farewell hug before following her auntie’s example and doing the same for the little mare. “I will miss you Twilight. Please, take care.”

After receiving farewells, hugs, and goodbyes from rest of her Canterlot friends, Twilight finally climbed up on Luna, plopping herself down on the alicorn’s shoulder. “And farewell to you too, Luna. I had a great time in your company.”

Luna’s face tinted red. “We wish thee the best of luck as well. We are honored to have been able to spend time in thy presence,” she said, before lowering her head and whispering, “Nightmare Moon also wisheth thee safe travels. Shouldst thou ever need our help, do not hesitate to contact us.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side. “Err, how so?”

“Spike can send letters to my sister, but Nightmare Moon and I are working on a way to stay in contact with thee.”

Twilight perked up. “Really? Like what? I mean, you could always ask Celestia if you could use one of my guards as a liaison. Overwatch talks about it a lot, though I’m not sure how serious she actually is.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “We shall consider it, though we believe Nightmare has… mixed feelings about her. Feels as if she is not completely truthful, so to speak. We have other ideas, but if we were to take that route, we would be more likely to approach Steel Blade.”

Twilight smiled back. “I look forward to it. By the way, would you tell her that I’m sorry I couldn’t spend more time with her?”

Luna smiled. “She may not be physically present, but she sees and experiences all we do. She sends her thanks for the great time we had with thee these past two weeks.”

After exchanging hugs, Twilight was levitated back to the ground. With one final wave, she trotted onto the train, Spike and her guards right behind her.

Celestia edged a bit closer to her sister. “I see you had a very long farewell with my student, dear sister. What did you two talk about?” she asked cheerfully, before lowering her voice and leaning in. “Was it about the secret you wished to share with her?”

Luna nodded. “It was, dear sister, and thy student proved far more understanding than we had given her credit for.”

Celestia embraced Luna over her shoulder with a foreleg. “See, just as I told you. My student can be trusted with even the biggest of secrets.”

Luna snorted in amusement. “Indeed, it was quite the secret to keep for such a little mare,” she said, before looking up at the larger alicorn and raising an eyebrow. “Say, thou hast not done anything questionable as of late, have thee? Thou knowest the consequences of such an action.”

Celestia raised a return eyebrow with a smirk. “My my, where did you pick up that sadism streak? You know I’ve been trying to keep away from those, Luna.”

“Be sure thou dost, sister,” the smaller alicorn teased as she turned to look at the departing train, muttering under her breath, “or I might start believing you’re a masochist.”

Author's Note

Here it is, the truth behind Nightmare Moon. For thsoe who found Luna's punishment to Celestia a bit out of character, you can now see the reason behind them. Let's just say that Nightmare Moon had a hoof in that idea.

I'm looking forward to your comments. Hope the outcome of this chapter wasn't disapointing.

Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 1

Celestia flapped her wings steadily as she made her way to her tower, the two pegasi guards at her sides peppered with bruises. With a flap of her wings, the princess slowed her descent and landed on her balcony before walking inside. She was mildly surprised to find her sister already awaiting her.

“Thou hast finally arrived,” Luna said as she examined the injuries sustained by the guard, a touch of righteous anger in her eyes. “We would be lying if we said we were worried about thy safety, but what took thee so long?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Luna, I thought that your bedchamber was finally finished. As much as I enjoy your company, I end up meeting you in my room almost every day.”

Luna looked up curiously at her sister. “Thou art concerned about thy privacy?”

“More likely, I would prefer to visit you in your bedchamber for a change. I heard that you’ve overseen the remodeling yourself, sister.”

Luna snorted. “We have no time for small talk. We are here to discuss a big problem our kingdom suffers. Thy wounds are a mark of it.”

Celestia looked over her legs and wings before turning back to her sister and shrugging. “Just a few bruises.” She turned a closer eye to Luna and the wounds barely visible over the Night Princess’s dark fur. “It seems that your own encounter with the dragons hasn’t ended up any better.”

“This is what we want to talk about, dear sister. For the past few weeks, dragons have been using Equestrian territory as their playground, and any attempted negotiations with them have fallen short, typically ending in violence.”

Celestia sighed as she climbed up onto her bed, levitating several reports from the nearby table to read. Luna sat next to the bed, patiently waiting for her sister to finish.

“It is worse than I thought. Nopony lost their lives as of yet, but there are many wounded and even burned, and the cities themselves have received minor damage due to the dragons’ rampage,” Celestia said, her brow furrowing.

Luna nodded. “For the past three weeks, we have had to fly and teleport from town to town to deal with those dragons. So hast thee, thy guards, and even thy skilled and prideful Wonderbolts,” she said with a small grin. It was nice to fight alongside pegasi who knew how to dodge dragonfire, unlike those of the Royal Guard.

She had to admit that Twilight knew how to pick her friends. She made a mental note to visit the Wonderbolts for an inspection once the crisis was dealt with and continued, “How long have dragons threatened Equestria during our absence?”

“They weren’t a threat. They have been visiting Equestria more often over the past century outside of their migration route, but they’ve never caused any casualties or displayed hostilities. Convincing them to leave was—” Her eyes widened considerably as she reached the last line of the report. “It seems we have a very big problem.”

“Do tell.”

Celestia took a deep breath and levitated the reports back onto the table. “The best dragon ambassadors from my school for gifted unicorns failed in their negotiations and ended up severely wounded. It seems that the dragons have broken all agreements they’ve had with Equestria. This explains everything.”

Luna frowned. “How long has it been since thou visited the dragon lands on a diplomatic visit, sister?”

Celestia smiled awkwardly. “Around… six hundred years ago.”

“Six hundred years?” Luna shouted, taking step back, her pupils shrank as she was looking at Celestia in disbelief. “Tis a miracle they haven’t burned our kingdom to ashes by now!” She gave her sister a disappointed glare.

The sun princess left her bed and stepped out onto the balcony to take a breath of fresh air, her sister following close by. After a moment to gather her thoughts, she spoke. “I offered the dragons the opportunity to send their dignitaries to represent them during my meetings with foreign ambassadors. I held such meetings once every three months or during an emergency. I thought it would keep our races at peace.”

Luna frowned. “Foolish. Dragons can be honorable creatures with their code, but they are also proud and violent, respecting only strength. They do not listen to words, they listen to action.”

Celestia lowered her head with a sigh. “I know… I just thought that I could cha—”

A wisp of dragonfire flared up beside her, flaring up into a scroll with an obnoxiously loud ringing noise. Both alicorns flinched and pressed their hooves against their ears as even the unicorn guards at the bedchamber’s entrance barged in.

The siren stopped abruptly after a few seconds, and Luna looked at Celestia with unamusement. “We understand that thou hast enhanced Spike’s fire breath with an audible alarm to wake us up in case of emergency, but didst thou have to make it that loud?”

Celestia grumbled as she levitated the scroll open. “It was a reasonable request by Twilight at the time, in case of any dangers that befall Ponyville at night. There wasn’t a lot of room to refuse, but I’ll see into tweaking it,” she said, before reading through the letter.

Luna looked closely at Celestia’s countenance, noting the furrowing of her sister’s brow as she read on. “Is something wrong? Is Ponyville in danger?”

Celestia looked back at Luna, rolling up the scroll in the process. “It seems that another dragon is causing trouble in Equestria. This one’s decided to take a nap on a mountain next to Ponyville.” She heaved an exhausted sigh and levitated the scroll into the chest where she stored all of her student’s letters as well as any other personal items of great importance to her. “The smoke from a dragon’s snoring covering up the sun above Ponyville is just part of the problem, however. It won’t take long before he wakes up and raids Ponyville in search of gems and treasures.”

“Then we shall deal with the problem immediately, right?”

Celestia looked deep in thought for a moment before she broke out in a blush and buried her face in her hooves.

Luna raised an eyebrow and said, “Let us guess, thou wishest to send thy student to deal with the dragon, something we could deal with easily in an hour or less? Her friends will no doubt assist, putting themselves in great danger.”

Celestia let out a groan, pressing herself deeper into her forelegs.

Luna’s frown deepened, and she said, “Thou wishest to manipulate thy student. Hast thou no concern about her and her friends’ safety?”

Celestia took a deep breath and looked into Luna’s eyes, straightening her posture. “I do not want to do this. I do not want my student to risk her life. However, according to our experience with the Elements, they are only as strong as the bond between their bearers.”

“So thou wishest to send thy student and her friends on a trial? Is it worth the risk?”

Celestia gave her sister a pained smile. “If there can be any hope that Twilight can become an alicorn like you and me, she must face these kinds of trials. Not trials of self-improvement like she imposes on herself every day, but trials that will make her bond with her friends stronger.”

The smaller alicorn looked at Celestia sternly, but finally let out a resigned breath. “As much as it pains us to say it, thou art correct. In order for thy student and her friends to reach greatness, they have to struggle for it.” She grimaced. “Not that we agree with thee about setting trials and withholding information from the Element Bearers. Why play games and gamble with their lives? Why not tell the truth and give them a choice?”

“I fear that if I told them the truth, it would affect the outcome,” Celestia said, gazing out over her balcony towards Ponyville. “Their friendship must be honest and their decisions made to help their own. Dangling an extrinsic reward for something that should be taken for intrinsic reasons would only weaken the basis of their relationship.”

“Thou cannot be certain of that.”

“Perhaps not, but if hiding the truth will ensure that their friendships and decisions are honest? I can’t tell them and jeopardize that chance,” Celestia said, before smirking at her sister. “Well, if you were looking for reasons to punish me, you have them right here.”

Luna frowned. “I certainly shall, sister!” she spat out venomously. “By putting them through such a trial, thou art taking the gamble that the Element Bearers will survive an encounter with a grown dragon and successfully convince it to leave. Unlike us, they have never faced a dragon before.” She closed her eyes and placed a hoof on her own chest. “Hast thou even thought about safety measures? Backup plans? We will not allow this gamble to stand itself upon two flimsy horseshoes! We shall accompany thy student and ensure her safety.”

“Luna, I expect your presence would be much better suited for a diplomatic mission to the dragon lands with me. If we can convince the Dragon Lord to respect Equestria, all agreements between our two races can be restored. While we deal with this one dragon near Ponyville, another three may come to our kingdom and cause havoc.”

“Surely thou canst do it on thy own while we assist in Ponyville, unless thou art so cowardly that we need to hold thy hoof during the negotiations. Thou art strong enough to defend thyself against dragons, should they attack.” Luna said.

Celestia thought for moment. “And if solving this issue will require both of us? A failure in negotiations could cause a war. If anything, they might construe your absence as one of cowardice.” Suddenly, her eyes widened in realization. “How about Cadence? She won’t let anything bad happen to my dear student and her friends.”

Luna hummed in thought. “That is an alternative we can accept. We shall inform our niece immediately.” She trotted towards the exit of the bedchamber, but just as she placed a hoof across the surface of the door, she spun around, glaring sharply at the white alicorn. “Thou almost tricked us, sister!”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Didst thou forget that dragons used to raid the Crystal Empire? Cadence has been terrified of dragons before she even became an alicorn and empress, and now, thou wishest to send her to protect thy student from a dragon when she herself is afraid to face them?”

Celestia winced. “Luna, it is a great opportunity for Cadence to finally face and defeat her biggest fears. I know that she cares a great deal about my student. She will defeat any fears she has in order to protect Twilight and her friends.”

Luna stomp rang out through the bedchamber. “You seem very inclined to your own suffering if you wish to ask me so directly for it,” she said darkly, before she shuddered, her wings ruffling up as if a chill had passed through her. “Forgive us, but we need some time to ourselves. We… have something to contemplate.”

With a flap of her wings, the night princess took to the air, leaving her sister to stare after her in shock.

After a short flight over the city during which she ignored the curious glances of more than a few passing pegasi and Royal Guards, Luna grabbed a cloud and flew upward, making sure that no pegasus would bother her. The air became colder as she rose until the tips of her feathers began to acquire a sheen of frost. While the cold temperature would have quickly turned the white cloud in Luna’s hooves into pure ice, the princess’s pegasus magic kept it warm enough to fluff.

It was still nowhere near as cold as she remembered the moon to be, but it was enough for the cold conversation she was about to make, similar to the thousands of similar talks she had when they were sealed on the moon.

With the cloud in position, Luna planted her left forehoof on the fluffy surface and shifted her weight slowly on top of it. Now standing on a single hoof, she closed her eyes and withdrew into herself.

”Nightmare, we have to talk.”

Luna stood on a floating stone, surrounded by darkness and an endless sea of stars. The ethereal plane was the hallway into ponies’ dreams, a place of mystery flush with powerful magic, where one’s mind could manifest in a physical form.

After several seconds of silence, a voice answered from behind her. “You called?”

Luna turned around to face her darker counterpart, who looked much like she had in Equestria, easily dwarfing the Night Princess.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and on an unheard signal, both alicorns took a seat. Luna opened her mouth first. “Thou art crossing the line. We have been tolerating thine input in our relationship with our sister, but our patience is wearing thin.”

Nightmare Moon blinked in confusion and brought a foreleg to her chest. “Excuse me?”

“Do not play innocent with us, Nightmare!” Luna shouted as she pointed at her accusingly. “Ever since we agreed to help our sister change from her manipulative ways, thou hast been more than eager to point out even the smallest reason to punish her!” She let out an annoyed huff as she lowered her hoof. “We tolerated it at first, knowing that our sister hath deceived us and her student on a few occasions, but thine accusations have became more and more farfetched as time passes.”

The latter alicorn stomped against the stone. “I disagree. That wretch of a sister deserves a hammer of justice to—”

“A hammer of justice, or a blade of vengeance? Thou hast demanded that after we beat up the dragons to gain their respect, we offer our sister to them as a sacrifice. Inside a giant gem-filled cake.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “She is an alicorn. She could survive for a very long time inside a dragon’s belly. You just need to ask her to wait an hour or so before teleporting outside and she should be no worse for wear.”

Luna groaned, bringing a hoof to her face. “Thou art missing the point. Our sister is agreeing with our demands and going out of her way to earn our forgiveness. We should at least restrain our method of vengeance.”

“Why should we? Did you forget our time in that cold, lonely prison? Century after century, with nary a pony to talk to, no distractions, nothing but cold and emptiness,” Nightmare hissed.

“We did not forget about those events, but their influence has been greatly dulled thanks to the Elements of Harmony. Do not act as if they have not.”

The dark alicorn nodded. “Indeed, they have. They brought peace to our mind, but even you have to admit that somewhere in our subconsciousness, we still remember it. Our body shivers in the cold where once it didn’t. The mind may forget, but the body remembers, and this is a dagger that is not so easily removed.”

“Even so, ‘tis not reason for petty revenge, and some of our own faults helped lead us to our imprisonment,” Luna said, looking down at her hooves. “We have the blood of many on our hooves. We are not innocent in all of this.”

Nightmare snorted and looked to the side, her ears pressed backwards. “She still deserves to be punished. Celestia said that she will put Twilight and her friends through these absurd trials, while withholding the truth from them. Who is she to dictate the destiny of others?”

Luna nodded. “She did, but while we disagree with her, we won’t deny that her fears are valid. Our punishments were meant to heal her from her deceptive habits and help her open up to honesty. If she made up her mind to hide the truth from the Element Bearers for their own good, our punishment will accomplish nothing.”

She smiled slightly, much to Nightmare’s confusion. “Besides. Surely thou also wishest for our little savior to spread her wings and take a position among us for centuries to come?”

“We do,” Nightmare Moon answered reluctantly. “But what of Cadence? With her fear of dragons, she is incapable of protecting the Element Bearers. Instead of talking, we should—”

“We should accompany our sister to the dragon lands and assist her during the negotiations. Once preparations for travel are done, we shall depart. From what our niece has told us, she hath been taking care of Twilight as a foalsitter for many years, and she faced many trials and adventures while living under the disguise of a common pony. She may seem weak and fragile, but there is a brave warrior underneath her defenseless demeanor.”

Nightmare Moon crossed her forelegs and growled, and Luna approached her with a knowing smile. “What are we seeking to accomplish here? To reconnect with our sister and help her understand us better? Or are we using this so called 'rehabilitation' as an excuse to see her suffer?” She placed a forehoof on the larger alicorn’s shoulder. “What would Twilight say if she found out that we were torturing our sister for our own pleasure?”

Nightmare Moon snorted, and Luna added, “She trusts that we will not hurt her mentor out of spite. Dost thou enjoy watching our sister’s pain so much that thou wouldst betray this trust?”

The dark alicorn glared at her in silence. The time seemed to drag on as both alicorns kept staring at each other. Finally, Nightmare Moon lowered her head and sighed in defeat. “Alright. I will give her—how would our subjects call it—some slack.”

“Dost thou swear?”

Nightmare Moon pressed a forehoof against her chest. “On our life and our moon, I swear.”

Luna slowly opened her eyes, feeling a burning in her foreleg and cold in her bones. With a flap of her wings, she shook off the frost and dove towards Equestria, the cloud she had been standing on wisping off like powder. Without Nightmare Moon intruding on her thoughts, the night princess could finally focus on rebuilding her relationship with her sister, and what better way than to kick some dragonscale.

A smile slowly grew across her face.

“Calm down, Twilight, why are you so riled up?” Spike raised an eyebrow from his sitting spot on the first step of the stairs, his head resting on his hands from boredom.

“Why am I so riled up?” Twilight asked in disbelief, stopping her restless pacing on the library table. She jumped at him, latching onto his muzzle and knocking him over with force of the impact. “Why am I so riled up? Ponyville is in danger because of a dragon and it has been fifteen minutes since I sent a letter to the princess and she still hasn’t replied.”

Twilight took a deep breath before jumping down and pacing in circles around Spike. “What if something happened? What if the princesses have been attacked by the dragons, or if they are on some important diplomatic visit and cannot respond to my messages? What are we going to do?”

“There’s always the option to just beat it up. Worked on the Ursa Minor,” Steel Blade said, his eyes following the tiny mare as he leaned over the second floor banister.

Twilight looked up at her guard’s face. “And then go all the way back to Canterlot just to be shrunk again? Get half of the Canterlot nobility panicking again? I would prefer not to unless we have no other choice."

“Well, maybe Princess Celestia is on her way to deal the dragon as we speak,” Overwatch added, lounging in a chair. “We might not even have to do anything—”

Spike burped, and a scroll materialized in midair.

Twilight immediately caught it with a levitation spell. It opened with a sharp crack of paper, and she began reading it aloud.

"My Dearest Little Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

Allow me to send my deepest condolences for the danger that Ponyville has ended up in, especially after the Ursa Minor attack a month and a half ago.

Unfortunately, my sister and I will not be available to deal with the dragon problem in Ponyville. Dragons have been appearing all over Equestria and the peace between our two races has been broken. In order to avoid all-out war, my sister and I are going to the dragon lands to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Your brother, Shining Armor, and his guards are also scattered defending Equestria’s borders from encroaching dragons.

Your former foalsitter Cadence, however, has agreed to heed your call for help and will await your arrival under the mountain.

As much as I do not want to send you into danger, I must ask you and any capable volunteers you can find to please assist Cadence in undertaking this mission.

Your Forever Grateful Mentor, Princess Celestia."

Twilight read the scroll three times over before she levitated it to the table and looked at Overwatch. “We need to gather everypony at Town Hall. To Mayor Mare!”

The guard mare let out a laugh as she extricated herself from her seat. “Oh goodie, looks like I’m being volunteered again!”

Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 2

Celestia looked between her sister, who was puffing herself up proudly, and the giant gem-filled cake before her. It took a moment for Celestia to find her voice. “S-sister, I am both impressed and utterly terrified at your creativity.”

Luna smiled broadly. “Why thank you, dear sister. Just as we are with matters of state, we are proud of our ability to resolve multiple questions with one answer. Thus, we are able to both satisfy the Dragon Lord and give thee thy just desserts for sending Cadence into another dragon’s maw.”

She motioned gracefully at the nearby cooks, who seemed caught between a similar sense of pride and confusion, and continued, “Though all praise should go to your royal chefs. We merely gave them the idea and a few suggestions on the decorations, and they brought it to life in a spectacular fashion.”

One of the cooks bowed to them. “Not all the praise should go to us. Princess Luna assisted us greatly by transporting such massive amounts of ingredients to us, greatly speeding up the process of baking a cake on such scale.”

“Time is a precious resource we are low on,” Luna responded. “Think nothing of our assistance and look to celebrate your teamwork that lead to such an accomplishment instead. Thank you very much, our little ponies. You are hereby dismissed for now.”

The group of bakers and chefs bowed one final time and left the chariot platform, leaving the princesses alone with a cake at least four times Celestia’s height.

Celestia still looked quite beside herself in shock and asked, “How did you manage to bake a cake of this size? The Royal Kitchen doesn’t possess an oven nearly large enough.”

Luna pointed at her horn. “With magic of course. We created an isolation field around the cake and used our magic to bake it to the chefs’ instructions. We are pleased that gems are still so plentiful as to allow us to freely breathe life into our creation, and we are certain the dragons will be just as pleased.”

She turned to look at Celestia and flashed her a predatory grin. “Though I am still missing the most important ingredient. Would you like to guess what it is?”

Celestia grimaced at the mountain of pastry before her, her gut coiling up into knots. With a gulp, she asked, “Is this where my ‘just desserts’ comes in?”

Luna stood on her rear hooves, placing a foreleg around her sister’s shoulders and gesturing grandly at her creation, a cake she imagined was extravagant enough to kill for. “Quite insightful, sister! The final puzzle piece, the secret ingredient that will truly elevate this work of art into immortality, art none other than thyself!”

Celestia froze. “M-me? You’re going to put me inside that?”

Was this how your birthday cake looked to you, my faithful student? Celestia thought as gaped up at the pastry.

The two alicorns stood there silently for a long second before Luna finally burst out laughing.

“Gotcha.”

Celestia blinked few times before turning to look into her sister’s smiling face. “What do you mean?”

Luna chuckled before answering, “We were merely joking. We would never put you in a cake for a giant dragon to eat you, not that it would put your life in any danger. At worst, it would only be humiliating and unpleasant. Plus, the Dragonlord would be most displeased if he found that much mane hair in his peace offering.”

“So… your punishment for me?”

Luna shook her head. “We thought deeply and found wrong in our ways. The goal of the punishments were to heal thee from thy ways of deception, and it would be a waste to use them otherwise.”

“Are you… sure?” Celestia asked in confusion.

“But of course. We were too harsh on thee, all the while keeping our forgiveness out of reach, for which we are truly sorry.”

The Sun Princess smiled hopefully. “Does this mean that I have earned your forgiveness, Luna?”

Luna raised her forehoof, shaking her head. “We are sorry, but we are not ready to forgive thee just yet.” Celestia seemed to deflate at the news, and Luna added, “However, we do appreciate thine efforts. We shall bake thee a magnificent cake once the crisis is over.”

“A… cake?” Celestia responded, looking a touch squeemish.

“But of course. We know of thy love for all cakes and sweets. Tis the least we can do to show our appreciation for all that thou dost for us.”

Celestia turned to the side. “There’s… no need to trouble yourself…”

“Tis no trouble at all. Once we are done, thou shall feast like a princess.”

“N-no need… I am not hungry.”

Luna placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, causing the larger alicorn to flinch. “Thou will most certainly gain an appetite after our travel to the dragon lands.”

“But… what if I will gain a lot of weight?”

Luna chuckled. “Tis nothing some exercise would not fix. We must admit that thou hast kept thyself in shape thanks to thy student’s influence, but thou hast nothing to worry about.”

“Luna, please...”

The night princess frowned, her cheerful smile replaced with a suspicious stare. “We get the impression thou does not want to eat our divine pastries. Art thou implying we are a terrible cook?”

Celestia shook her head. “That is not what I meant. I just...” She hung there for a second, unsure of what to say, before she let out a deep sigh and said, “I don’t like cakes anymore.”

Luna’s eyes opened in shock before she charged her horn and tackled her sister to the ground, pinning the larger alicorn to the floor. “Who art thou and what hast thou done with our sister?”

Celestia smiled sheepishly at her sister. “It’s me, Luna. I just… don’t like cakes anymore. F-for a personal reason.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, but got off, helping Celestia stand. “We art most curious. What life-changing experience could have caused thee, who couldst devour cakes even faster than the pink party mare we faced in an eating competition, to have such a change of palate?”

Celestia bit her lip, but she crumbled quickly under the searching glare of the smaller alicorn and murmured, “I… ate her.”

“Ate… her?” Luna asked as she rubbed at her forehead.

“My student.”

“You did what!?” Luna gasped. “When? How?”

“She hid in her birthday cake.” Celestia blushed a deep red, hiding her face behind a wing.

“Thou hast devoured thy student on her own birthday?! Truly, you have strange tastes in birthday presents!” She facehoofed. “How didst thou not notice something the size of a large rat in thy cake slice?!"

“I was… caught up in a moment.”

“Caught up in a moment?” Luna rolled her eyes. “She must’ve tasted delicious.”

Celestia lowered her head and added another wing to hide her radiating red face.

“Art there any more bizarre or embarrassing situations with thy student thou hast found thyself in?”

Celestia said nothing, only shrinking further behind her wings.

Luna sighed. “Of course.”

“I really changed, Dash! There’s nothing that annoying pink pony can do to make me angry now,” Gilda said as she walked towards Town Hall with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

“Oh yeah? Then prove it!”

Gilda smirked. “Hit me with your best shot!”

“Quiet, quiet everypony!” Mayor Mare shouted, trying to calm the panicking crowd, which was much more easily said than done. Everypony had noticed the cloud of smoke above Ponyville, and the very idea that a dragon could attack at any moment stuck fast in many minds.

Twilight, who was sitting on a podium in front of the mayor, was slowly losing patience with Mayor Mare’s failed attempts. After another half a minute, the little unicorn lit her horn and enhanced her voice with as much magic as she could gather.

“SIT. DOWN.”

Everypony plopped down where they were and stared in an uneasy silence at the tiny mare in front of Town Hall.

Twilight looked at everypony and smiled. “Thank you.”

Mayor Mare cleared her throat. “I assume everypony is aware of the danger Ponyville is in,” she said, her eyes sweeping over the crowd. “Twilight Sparkle, the student of our beloved princess, has been kind enough to inform me that our ruler and her sister are going to the dragon lands to negotiate a peace treaty. Unfortunately, this means they will be unable to assist us.”

Murmurs began spreading through the crowd, and Mayor Mare quickly continued, “But do not fret, everypony. Princess Celestia has sent a trusted pony by the name of Mi Amore Cadenza to convince the dragon to leave, and she has asked for volunteers to assist her.”

The murmurs became louder as Mayor Mare looked upon the tiny unicorn in front of her and nodded, permitting her to speak.

Twilight nodded back before turning towards the crowd. “My guards and I are also ready to assist to ensure the safety of Ponyville. It will be dangerous, but I hope that a few more brave ponies to accompany us.”

The crowd let out a cheer. “With you on the job, this dragon problem’s as good as solved!” said one pony from the front row. “You’ll beat it up just like you did with Ursa Ma—Minor, right?”

Everypony looked at Twilight expectantly as she gave them an awkward smile. “Well…” She looked around in panic. “I would prefer to return to my normal size only as a… last resort?”

Immediately, the crowd devolved into panic again, and Twilight was thrown from the podium by the suddenness of their combined voices.

“And pickle-barrel, isn’t that the funniest thing to say? Say it with me! Pickle-barrel-kumquat, Chimi-cherry-changaaaa!”

Gilda let out a skyward cry in frustration and agony. “SHUUUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!”

The panicking ponies went silent as they turned towards the griffon, who turned a shade of red. She chanced a glance at Dash, who was looking back at her with a knowing smirk.

Twilight climbed back onto the podium. “Thank you, Gilda!”

The confused griffin blinked a few times before clearing her throat into her claw. “N-no problem.”

With the crowd pacified, Twilight enhanced her voice and spoke again, “So, any brave volunteers who will join me and Cadence in dealing with the dragon problem?”

Rainbow Dash seemingly materialized in front of the podium with an eager grin on her face. “I’m totally in!” she blurted out, before flying straight up, making a quick loop-de-loop, and landing behind Twilight.

Gilda smirked. “Dealing with a dragon? If Dash is in, I’m in. Sounds pretty radical,” she remarked before flapping up onto the stage and taking a seat next to Rainbow Dash.

“Oooh! That sounds like fun! Me too, me too!” Pinkie shouted cheerfully as she bounced up to join the group.

Twilight smiled at her three friends briefly before once again turning to the crowd and asking, “Any more volunteers?”

“I’ll go!”

The crowd split in two, revealing a shy, yellow pegasus who curled up on herself at the sudden attention. “I mean… if it’s alright with you...” Fluttershy added.

The entire crowd gasped, though not as much as Rainbow Dash, who rubbed at her eyes before taking another disbelieving look.

“Sure, Fluttershy. Please, come onto the stage,” Twilight said as the trembling pegasus walked hesitantly forward, pointedly ignoring the stares of disbelief by hiding her face behind her own wings.

Rainbow Dash smashed her head against the wooden surface, making a hole in it with a sharp crack before glancing once again at Fluttershy. She groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Okay, this is officially not a dream.”

Mayor Mare took a quick glance at the hole and glared daggers at the blue pegasus.

“Whoa, she wants to face the dragon? Didn’t see that coming,” Gilda commented.

“Neither did the half of Ponyville,” Dash said, motioning to the crowd and their open mouths.

It was slow, but Fluttershy finally took a seat to the other side of Dash, and Twilight spoke again, “Anypony else?”

There was a moment of silence as ponies looked at each other in trepidation.

“Nopony else? Really?” The little mare looked around, searching for any familiar faces in the crowd. “What about you, Mr. Cake? Pinkie Pie is coming. Are you going to let her go on this mission without your supervision?”

Mr. Cake rubbed the back of his neck before replying hesitantly, “Well… I’m just a baker, I wouldn’t be much of a dragon slayer… unless the dragon would leave in exchange for some cupcakes and a few sweets.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Mr. Cake! I have it covered with my arsenal of sweets. I’m sure the big, napping dragon will love them!” Pinkie responded with a cheerful bounce.

Mrs. Cake continued calmly, “We are really sorry for not being of much help, Miss Twilight, especially after everything you’ve done for us.” She lowered her head in apology. “However, compared to Pinkie Pie, we wouldn’t be much of use. She has always been very… special.”

“Thank you! I love being special,” Pinkie added cheerfully while Twilight continued to scan the crowd.

“Applejack, Rarity? What about you?” she asked, jumping forward and landing in front of her friends’ hooves.

Both mares avoided looking into Twilight’s face. The farm mare spoke apologetically, “Ah’m mighty sorry, sugarcube, but Ah promised Rares to help her search for gems.”

Rarity nodded. “I’m terribly sorry as well, darling, but I also promised to help Applejack on the farm. Besides, we do not have the proper qualifications for such mission. We would just get in the way.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

The fashionista fixed her mane absentmindedly as she spoke. “Let's be honest, shall we? We have seen what you and Cadence are capable of. Pinkie has her… sweets and Rainbow Dash is fast enough to circle around the dragon all day.” She looked at Gilda and added, “Gilda can… probably keep up.”

The griffon frowned.

“But in short, there is not much we can do to assist compared to them,” Rarity finished lamely.

The farm mare stomped the ground with a huff. “Ah hate to admit it, but Rarity’s right. Against a dragon, wings help more than strength. Besides, ya and yer friend from Canterlot can kick the dragon’s hide and send back t’ where it came from.”

Twilight nodded before looking up at Spike, who was sitting comfortably on Rarity’s back. “What about you, Spike?”

The dragon let out an exaggerated hum, bringing his claw up to his chin in contemplation. “Hmm… Well, I can either come with you, climb a mountain, and try to punch out a fully grown dragon, or I can spend the day in the company of Rarity,” he said, stroking at his chin.

Twilight’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “And what happened to ‘protecting me’. Are you really okay with letting me go on such a dangerous adventure without you around?” she asked curiously.

Spike waved his hand at Twilight. “There’s not much I can do to protect you, at least until I grow up a bit. I’m sure Cadence can do far better job than me, and you can always turn yourself big again, so no prob.”

Twilight sighed as she returned to her search for volunteers, unaware of the forlorn sigh of her baby dragon as she jumped back up onto the stage.

She turned back to the crowd, taking in a deep breath to call for volunteers one last time as a humongous red stallion emerged from the crowd and raised a forehoof.

Twilight looked up at him, swallowing her former announcement. “Big Mac, do you want to help?”

“Eeyup.”

“Now hold up there, big brother.” Applejack trotted in front of her brother, her muzzle nearly making contact with his. “Not that Ah question yer strength an’ all, but yer not exactly the fastest fella around.”

Big Mac’s brow ever so slightly creased into a frown.

“What Applejack mean was,” Rarity interrupted. “Even a big strong stallion like you may not be able to break the scales of a dragon, and you might have a hard time avoiding its fire breath and claws.”

Big Mac shook his head, weaving around his sister and walking resolutely up onto the stage. “Mah friend needs mah help. Don’t matter if Ah can only help a lil’.”

“If ya say so. Just be careful out there, brother,” Applejack said with a nod.

Twilight glanced between her two friends and asked, “Did I miss anything when I was in Canterlot? When did you two become so interested in each other’s activities?”

“Oh, well…” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “How should Ah say this…”

“Allow me,” Rarity said, taking a step forward. “After you left, I tried to learn more about the ponies I live with in Ponyville, especially Applejack and her family. I offered to help her trim stray branches from the trees around town before the planned storm.”

“And hoo nelly, what a storm it was! We had t’ scurry away from the thunderin’ to your empty library, sugarcube. Spendin’ the night under yer roof together taught us, well, just how little we knew ‘bout each other,” Applejack added.

Rarity smiled proudly. “If I want to be a noble mare, a good friend, and live up to Element of Generosity, I need to learn to get my hooves dirty for a friend.”

“And Ah need to learn what's so dandy about fashion and stuff that Rares is so interested in.”

Twilight looked deep into Rarity’s eyes before turning to the farm mare and smiling. “In this case, I wish you both the best of luck.”

“So do we, just promise ya will grow if that dragon tries to gulp ya down. Ah would hate m’self if anything bad happened to ya while Ah was not there to help ya.”

Twilight sighed before shooting Applejack a sad smile. “I will consider it, AJ, though I would prefer it if we won't have to resort to that.” Cheerful again, she added, “Besides, my foalsitter Cadence will be with us, and she’s far more powerful than I am.”

Applejack and Rarity gasped. “She is?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course! She is an alicorn with a millennium's worth of experience. She just doesn't usually resort to her powerful magic unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m sure we’ll be fine!”

Her two friends exchanged discomforted glances as Twilight galloped towards the stage and jumped onto Big Macintosh's back, flying through the air in a fashion more befitting a pegasus than a unicorn.

Upon landing, she climbed onto the stallion’s head and pointed towards the mountain in the distance, her face bright and cheerful. “Onward, dragon slayers!”

“She is doing this on purpose!” Nightmare Moon raged, her wings twitching and her teeth grit.

“Calm thyself. Thou sworest to give our sister a break and restrain thy desire for vengeance,” Luna responded sternly.

“I am trying, but she is making it very difficult,” Nightmare Moon said as she grabbed a stone fragment between her hooves and tossed it with all her might into the aether. “Just look at what she has done in our absence to little Twilight. The damnable mare ate her during her own birthday party, stomped on her during a simple game of tag, sat on her, and let her nearly drown in a bathtub merely two weeks after shrinking her.”

She massaged her forehead. “Do I even need to mention teaching Twilight a teleportation spell without supervision was a recipe for disaster? She teleported herself out of her tower into thin air high above the streets of Canterlot and fell straight down with nothing but her own durability to save her.”

Luna shook her head and spoke calmly, “We understand thy frustration, but our sister did not mean for such events to occur. The bathtub incident, the game of tag, even the cake, they were all accidents.”

“And the teleportation spell?”

“Our sister tried to distract her protege from constantly hurting herself throughout her harsh training regime by giving her a book about theory of teleportation spell. Tis quite understandable that she did not predict such a young unicorn, with her power restrained by the shrinking spell, could even understand the spell, let alone cast it.”

Nightmare Moon growled. “You can still demand that she’ll become part of the cake. Surely she deserves to be eaten by a dragon after she ate her student?”

“Thou swore upon thy life and moon! Do not think to find excuses.”

Nightmare Moon dropped onto the stone with a huff, her hooves rubbing at her forehead. “I know, but it is driving me insane.”

Luna sighed. “That she would confess so easily fits with her desire for repentance, but we shall give it fairly, no matter how hard it seems.”

Luna opened her eyes, ending her meditation and feeling once again the wind gliding over her feathers as she flew forth. She was mid-flight to the heart of the dragon lands, where the mightiest of dragons has his lair. Beside her was Celestia, who was levitating the cake they had prepared and who had taken the length of the journey to say a touch more than Luna had hoped to hear. A small escort of royal guards flew behind them, some which Luna chosen personally.

“So let us clarify. One of thy greatest fears is of losing thy student?” Luna asked, fixing her sister with a serious stare. “And another is that thou wilt be the one who endeth thy student’s life?”

“You have no idea what I experienced when I took care of Twilight.” Celestia said heavily, “When I stepped on my student during our game of tag, I was terrified that I flattened her into the floor. For years, I had to push my student’s limits, hurting her in the progress to help her improve, and then during her birthday, I swallowed her. I want nothing but to protect her, and yet I myself have been the cause of much of her pain.”

Luna stayed silent as Celestia took a deep breath and continued, “The very idea that I may hurt or kill the pony I care so much about, the fear has never left me, sister. The distance between me and my student makes me miss Twilight greatly. It makes me worry for her safety, but it also assures me that I won’t hurt her.”

Luna snorted. “And after thou consumest thy student, the lovely delicacies that thou hast loved to eat so much for millennia now make thee sick?”

Celestia felt her stomach turn at the very mention of the cake. She didn’t dare to look back at gift she was levitating. “Yes.”

“And thou wouldst admit thy desire and willingness to let us proceed with our punishments were in part to relieve thy guilt.”

Celestia blushed, and she was thankful that her mane had blocked off some of Luna’s view of her face. “I cannot deny that it was one of the reasons, but I assure you that regaining your forgiveness was always my first priority.”

Did you hear her? Why is she doing this to us? Nightmare Moon thought.

Luna responded with a simple ‘hush’.

The princesses entered the dragon’s territory in silence, and it was a while before Luna finally spoke again, “Considering that thou hast sent Cadence to assist in dealing with the dragon to face her biggest fears, perhaps thou shouldst face thy fear as well.”

Celestia blinked and stared blankly at her sister before breaking out in a shiver. “Surely sister, you do not mean…?”

Luna grinned. “We will make the cake, and thou are going to eat it!”

Celestia’s face puckered up into a pout, and she let out a groan. Her stomach offered a similar protest with its own lengthy growl.

Luna’s satisfied smile, however, quickly faded as her sharp eye caught several adult dragons flying towards Equestria. “We shall discuss this later, sister. We have dragons to take care of.”

The sun princess turned to follow Luna’s gaze, and she narrowed her eyes. “Dragons are individuals. They dislike working alongside each other. Only the Dragon Lord could organize such a raid,” she said grimly. “We cannot let them reach Equestria. The casualties would be massive.”

“Than we shall fight,” Luna declared as she lit her horn, but her sister flew in front of her before she could change direction. “Help us or stand aside.”

Celestia shook her head as she spread her wings, bring the flight to a stop. “We have no time for this. We need to convince their lord to end this war before more dragons can raid our kingdom.”

Luna frowned. “And what about those who are already on their way?”

“Leave them to me,” Celestia responded, catching her sister off guard. “I have faith in you, Luna. I know you can convince the dragons to end this war. Leave this bunch to me.”

Luna opened her mouth to protest, but nodded instead. “Good luck, dear sister.”

“Good luck, Luna,” Celestia said as she and a contingent of Royal Guards flew towards the hostile army, leaving Luna and a few bat-winged ponies to their own quest.

Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 3

“We seek audience with the Dragon Lord. Meeting with him is of great importance,” Luna stated, taking a regal pose despite the size disadvantage.

“Out of the way, puny pony princess. Dragon Lord does not wish to waste his time with you,” a dragon sneered as another approached the cake. Both were about half the size of an Ursa Minor, and the ends of their tails looked like maces the size of wrecking balls.

“We will take the cake though. It will satisfy our lord’s hunger way better than raw gems or ponies like you would, so scram before we change our minds,” the second dragon said contemptuously and moved to grab the giant cake in his clawed hands. A mere breath away from ruining the cake, both of the dragons were arrested in a telekinetic aura, and they slowly turned their heads towards the alicorn.

“Puny pony Princess? We see that the centuries have done little for the manners of dragons!” Luna boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice, a smirk on her face. "Let us start with respect! This puny pony princess demands an apology from you lizards, lest she take it upon herself to ship you two home in a coffin made from your own scales!"

The dragons tentatively tugged against the magical grip, before gulping and smiling a sheepish smile at the alicorn.

Cadence sat in front of the mountain, her legs trembling beneath her and her gaze fearful and unfocused. Come on, Cadence, get ahold of yourself. Auntie Celestia needs you, Twilight needs you. This dragon is dangerous for ponies in Ponyville and they are all counting on you.

Her eye twitched. I’m much bigger now. What happened last time won’t happen again…

“Leave her alone you monster!” Cadence screamed as she threw a crystal fragment at the dragon as hard as she could. It bounced harmlessly off his scales. “Stop hurting my family!”

The humongous beast ignored her and, with one strong swing of his tail, crushed Cadence’s home, reducing the igloo made from crystals and ice blocks into little more than dust. In his clawed hands, he was holding another crystal pony in a crushing grip.

“Leave my mom alone!” Cadence shouted again as galloped forward.

“R-run… s-save yourself...” the crystal mare wheezed out as the dragon opened his maw.

“Mom, I cannot leave you, I ca—”

“Cadence!”

The disguised alicorn jumped into the air with a shriek and a flutter of her wings. She swiveled around at the group of ponies heading her way, quickly noticing the tall, red stallion and the small, purple shape waving at her from a comfortable spot on his head.

“T-Twilight,” Cadence murmured, and she made a noticeable effort to stop hyperventilating before galloping towards the group. The tiny unicorn jumped from Big Mac’s head to meet her halfway, landing right into her warm embrace.

“Twilight, you and your friends should have stayed in Ponyville. I can handle it myself,” the alicorn advised as she hugged her small friend close to her chest. She loosened up when she felt the tiny hooves pushing against her. Twilight freed herself from the hug and climbed up onto the raised foreleg.

“No way. We won’t sit comfortably in our homes while you face a dragon on your own to protect us. Friends stick together,” Twilight stated with a final stomp.

Cadence looked at her tiny friend curiously. “If that’s the case, would you like me to remove the shrinking spell from you?” she offered cheerfully as Twilight jumped down onto the grass. “I can recast it anytime you want, if you’re worried about that.”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, her face scrunching up into a pout. “Ahh, but it would make this adventure way too easy. I would prefer not to.”

Cadence sighed, her ears dropping. “If you really want to…”

Twilight turned around and crouched down into a special position the alicorn easily recognized, and she perked up quickly when and mirrored her friend’s pose. A moment later, the two mares started their dance.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they said in unison as Cadence’s giant hooves carefully and gently clapped against Twilight’s tiny ones. The tiny unicorn performed a backflip in the air after their final clap and landed on the grass with a shake of her tail.

Both mares fell onto grass, laughing amidst a few stifled giggles and confused looks from the others.

Gilda’s brow furrowed, and though her mouth was open as if to say something, it took a second to find her voice. “Wha… what was that?” she asked.

“That was a welcoming dance, silly, and it was sooooo adorable!” Pinkie said as she bounced forward. She turned around and copied her friends’ poses. “Wanna try it too? It looks fun!”

Gilda rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff. “In your dreams.”

“I’ll pass,” Rainbow Dash replied, drawing out a sad pout from the pink pony. “How about me and Gilda show you what we learned back in flight school?”

The griffon raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “Just like that? In front of everypony?”

“Come on, Gilda, pleasssse?”

Gilda grumbled unintelligibly for a second before she let out a breath of resignation. “Just for you, Dashie,” and she and Rainbow Dash flew up and did their own song and dance to the cheers of Pinkie and Fluttershy.

Overwatch stroked her chin with a hoof. “Ahh, so this is what they taught the foals back in the day.”

Twilight wiped off any stray blades of grass from herself as she got up and trotted towards the team. Cadence followed slowly behind her, careful not to step on her friend by accident.

“I don’t think there’s a point for you to hide under your disguise, Cadence. Besides Gilda and Big Macintosh, only my friends volunteered, and they’re all trustworthy,” Twilight commented as she turned to her taller friend with an encouraging smile.

“Disguise?” Gilda remarked as she gave Cadence a closer look, observing her curiously. “Looks like a regular pegasus to me.”

Twilight and Cadence looked at each other and giggled. With a small bow, a bright flash erupted from the pink pegasus, leaving behind a slightly taller pink alicorn. Cadence slowly opened her eyes and swept her gaze between her friends’ facial expressions, chuckling at the big red stallion looking at her with his mouth agape and the griffon blinking several times in disbelief.

“I thought you only had one pony with both wings and a horn,” Gilda said, looking to Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, I thought so too. Turns out we had another one in disguise in Equestria for hundreds of years,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “Pretty neat if you ask me.”

Gilda walked casually up to Cadence and poked her in the wing, much to her displeasure. The alicorn withdrew from the griffon’s talons and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Nah, I just didn’t expect to ever see a winged unicorn.” Gilda smiled eagerly. “So, you were alive for centuries. Did you learn anything useful about dealing with dragons? They’re not exactly pushovers.”

Cadence’s eye twitched at the mere mention of dragons. “Well…” she started hesitantly.

“Oh, she has plenty of experience. I’m sure she’s learned something useful over all those years,” Twilight replied confidently before looking up at her alicorn friend. “Am I right?”

Cadence opened her mouth to answer, but Gilda spoke first. “Experience may be useful, but does she know how to fight? Dragons are pretty violent, and if you’re not going to grow and kick its flank, we’ll need to rely on her power instead.”

Twilight jumped onto Gilda’s beak and pointed towards Cadence. “Oh, she can fight. She participated in the war between Equestria and Griff—”

Twilight stopped abruptly, slowly bringing a hoof to her mouth. She turned with an apologetic look at Gilda and bowed. “Umm… sorry.”

The tiny unicorn jumped down to the ground and turned around for another bow. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Hey, no problem. That’s a pretty cool fact. Know how many griffon soldiers she’s killed?” Gilda asked casually with a smirk.

Cadence took a step back, caught completely off guard. “Ex-cuse me?”

“How many kills did you score?” Gilda asked again. “I mean, you fought and you’re still alive, so you had to have done something.”

An awkward silence hung in the air for a good five seconds before Cadence cleared her throat and said, “Well… I did fight, but I did not take a single life. I knocked out whoever I could and took them prisoner.”

“Prisoners?” Gilda scoffed. “Lame.”

"Lame?" Cadence asked with a wince. "I fought in a war against your people. Kinda thought you’d be a little more angry at me since, y’know, I was once an enemy of your kind?"

Gilda shrugged. “What’s past is past. I couldn’t care less about a few feather-brains who died in that stupid war. They invaded, they got what they deserved. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that ponies aren’t to be messed with,” she said to the obvious amusement of Rainbow Dash. “What’s more important is that I’m on your team, we fight on the same side, and I do prefer when those I fight alongside with know how to kick flank.”

Cadence blinked dumbly as her memories of her participation in the war butt in and took a seat next to her memories of her encounter with the dragons. Banish those thoughts, Cadence. Gilda may be a griffon, but she’s Twilight’s friend, if she trusts her, so should I, she thought, trying to convince herself that not every griffin is a bloodthirsty monster.

“Well…” Twilight said hesitantly, “how about I introduce you to Applejack’s brother?”

Cadence snapped out of her thoughts with a shake of her head. “O-of course. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Twilight ran towards the humongous stallion, pointing a tiny hoof at him. “His name is Big Macintosh, but everypony calls him Big Mac.”

The alicorn looked at the big earth pony and next down at her tiny friend. Big Mac? How very fitting.

The stallion finally recovered after his long shock and half-bowed. “Honored t’ meet ya.”

“Pleasure is all mine,” Cadence said cheerfully as she raised her hoof towards the stallion. “Please, don’t bow. I’m just a fellow pony, alicorn or not.”

Big Mac straightened up and shook Cadence’s hoof, exchanging a friendly smile with her. They turned to Twilight when she began climbing up onto Cadence’s foreleg, and the alicorn raised the tiny unicorn up to her head.

Twilight settled in behind Cadence’s horn. “Now with introductions out of the way,” she said, pointing a hoof forward. “let’s save Ponyville!”

“What’s the meaning of this?” the humongous, over millennium-old dragon bellowed. His voice echoed through the expansive cavern, causing the other dragons and his servants to tremble in fear.

He rose to his full height as two of his servants escorted in an alicorn and her guards, all of whom were barely noticeable from his perspective. Despite his age, his keen eyes caught the presence of a plethora of gems in the giant cake levitated in as well as several other gifts.

“I stated clearly that your kind is not welcome here. Begone!” The gale-force winds caused by the strength of his voice nearly bowled over both of dragons and lifted the miniscule being off the ground.

Luna spread her wings and grit her teeth, barely stopping herself and her offerings from impacting the stone wall and avoiding the small, loose stones that crashed into it a moment later.

She narrowed her eyes and flew up to the Dragon Lord’s head, giving her a good look at his features. She had already noticed the two massive horns growing down from his head, curling up at the ends. Several teeth were visible, each three times the size of a common pony.

With a deep breath, she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “We assume that thou art the strongest and mightiest of all dragons, respected and feared by your kind, the ruler over all dragons on the continent: the Dragon Lord!” Her eyes scanned over his face, finding no recognizable features. ”We do not recognize you. Hast the previous Lord passed away? Black Claw, was it?”

“You heard about Black Claw?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He did not move from his stone seat, surrounded by mountains of treasures.

“We didn’t just hear about him, we met him and bested him in battle before our banishment!” Luna stated proudly with a fiendish grin.

Dragon Lord burst into laughter, forcing the alicorn to readjust to the sudden gust of wind and bad breath, and stood up slowly. “Of course you did! Black Claw was a weakling, but even so, you? Besting a Dragon Lord in a fight?” He slammed his hand against the ground with a thundering boom, leaving a crater on impact. “And they say dragons blow hot air all the time. Go ahead, amuse me more as long as you still have a mouth on your tiny, empty head.”

”Thou darest to insult us? We are Luna, Guardian of the Night and Princess of Equestria. We shall not stand such lack of respect!”

“And what are you going to do!?” he asked as their audience only grew. “The only Princess I’ve ever heard about was Celestia, and while she defeated my predecessor, all she’s done over the past centuries was nag and nag about having us send ambassadors to her lands. Nothing but words.”

Luna raised her eyebrow. “And what of thy predecessor? We know that a new Dragon Lord is chosen every five hundred years. If he respected the peace with Equestria, why not thee?”

“Ha!” The humongous dragon grinned as he walked towards her, every step making the cavern rumble. “That old codger was a pushover. His time as Dragon Lord was worthless and pathetic.” He glanced down at the gathered dragons and asked, “Am I right?”

The dragons looked at each other.

“Agree with me!”

The cavern filled with nodding dragons and unintelligible, but generally affirmative mumbling. Luna crossed her forelegs and rolled her eyes.

The Lord looked back at the miniscule princess and added, “I respected our laws and waited for the time I could win his crown, and once I did, I brought forth the mightiest reign of all Dragon Lords before me. He groaned before releasing steam from his nose. ”I followed the agreement my weaker predecessor made as he was defeated by the pony princess in a fair battle, but no more.”

Luna coughed and waved her forehoof in front of her nose, wondering if she wouldn’t ruin her negotiations if she suggested the Lord to clean his mouth from time to time. A quick glance at her guards told her they weren’t faring any better. “Why?” she asked. “What changed your mind?”

“My rule is reaching its end, and I will not stand upon any agreement with ponies when their ruler hides from us behind the walls of her castle and the words of ambassadors,” he said, narrowing his eyes at the tiny princess. “I will be remembered as the one who defeated Celestia, crushed Equestria, and claimed untold riches and lands for my kind, something the next Dragon Lord might be too cowardly or weak to accomplish.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s too late for gifts to change my mind.” He smirked. “Though if you kneel before me and beg for mercy as I eat your tribute, I will consider letting you go.”

Lune scoffed. “We said that we bested the previous Dragon Lord in a fight. If thou dost not believe our words, we shall prove the truth in them!” She grinned as she put the giant cake into the custody of three royal guards and one bat-winged pony. She flew closer to the Lord’s face with a confident sneer. “We challenge thee to a fight, that I may prove to thee the might of Equestria!”

“Our Lord won’t waste his time on pony like you!” a dragon spoke up, striding ahead of the group. Though he was the size of an elephant, he burst from the ground at surprising speeds at her before taking a deep breath and sending waves of flames at the flying alicorn.

The proud young dragon’s grin faded quickly when all he saw after the flames had dissipated was the angry glare of an alicorn with nary a burn mark on her body.

Luna growled. “Thou expected to defeat us with such a weak attack? Our fireplace burns hotter than thee. We did not even need to shield ourselves,” she stated as she swept the soot from her fur. In the next instant, she was within melee range of her attacker, planting a solid hoof into his gut. The two-ton dragon was sent flying, and her blue horseshoe bent into unusability from the impact. “We shalt not waste our magic on thee either.”

The dragon quickly fled into the crowd, who had started to look at her with a hint of admiration. Luna chuckled. “Do not let our appearance deceive you. We are stronger than we look.” She flew back to the Dragon Lord, who looked at her unimpressed. “If we win, thou wilt renew all agreements between dragons and Equestria.”

Dragon Lord laughed as Luna darted upward, evading both wind and bad breath. “You remind me of my daughter, so tiny, yet filled with big words.” He closed his mouth and snorted steam from his nostrils. Flames flickered from between his teeth. “I accept your challenge, little pony.”

He flapped his giant wings, pushing Luna and a few of the smaller dragons among the crowd away. He glanced at the cake, noticing that some of his servants were eyeing it with growing interest. “Any dragon dare to take a bite out of my cake, and I’ll be the one taking a bite out of them too!”

The distance between the cake and the gathered dragons drastically increased.

Smiling in satisfaction, the Dragon Lord turned his attention on the tiny alicorn hovering near the top of the cavern, her horn lit with magic. With a grin, he leapt off the ground, and the battle was begun.

Ch10 - Dragonshy - Part 4

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 4

“She really pushed herself into your stomach?” Cadence asked, her mouth agape at the griffin. “So you hunted her and ate her and now you’re… friends?”

“Pfftt,” Gilda scoffed, “Twilight beat me at my own game and got out like it was no big deal.”

“That’s right, and it was fun! We really need to do that again one day,” Twilight said, still perched on the alicorn’s head.

Cadence frowned. “No way, little missy. I told you not to get eaten again, so don’t even think about it. Promise me this won’t happen again.”

“Fine fine,” Twilight grumbled. “I promise.” She chanced to see Big Mac glance at her briefly, and she waved at him with a smile.

Right behind Big Mac was Overwatch, trying very plainly not to show her annoyance as she glanced at Fluttershy again, who seemed to have been glaring at her this entire journey. The unicorn turned back ahead with a deep breath. Just ignore her. Once this mission is over, I’ll find out what’s gotten into her, she thought.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was looking at Fluttershy in disbelief, caught in a world where the meek pegasus was actually marching off to help defeat a dragon.

“Big Macintosh?” Cadence called, trotting closer to the stallion.

“Eeyup?”

“How did Twilight do as an apple farmer? Was she a good worker?”

“Eeyup.”

“Did she really try to heal your wounds?”

“Eeyup.”

“Do you really like Twilight?”

“Eeyup…” Big Mac blinked a few times before turning to the alicorn, his brow furrowed.

“I knew it!” Cadence squealed. She swung her head, tossing Twilight off onto Big Mac’s head instead. “Of course it was love!”

“L-love?” Twilight balked as she struggled back to a sitting position. “What are you talking about?”

Cadence giggled. “Oh Twilight, you didn’t see every time Big Mac looked at you when your head was turned away, and lest we forget, he did volunteer to join you on this dangerous adventure in Applejack’s stead.”

Twilight dropped down to Big Mac’s nose and looked into his eyes. “Is that true?”

“Ye… nop… ye...umm,” the stallion stammered out.

“Big Macintosh,” Cadence said with a hint of smugness. “Has Twilight been visiting your farm often after she returned from Canterlot?”

“Ee-eyup.”

“And has she been spending more time researching and working with you or Applejack?”

Twilight’s face flushed red as she used her magic to seal Big Macintosh’s mouth, but he simply pointed at himself.

Cadence smiled cheerfully. “Just like I predicted.”

Overwatch popped in next to Cadence, a wolfish smile across her muzzle. “Well well now, I thought I caught the hint of Hearts and Hooves chocolates in the air,” she said with a knowing look at Twilight. “Looks like opposites do attract. Just watch out when you kiss her, big guy. She did promise not to get eaten again.”

The guard suddenly stumbled, and when she turned to look back up at Twilight, the tiny unicorn was smirking at her.

“Careful, everypony,” Twilight said. “We should watch where we’re going. It’s quite a long fall from here.”

Overwatch smirked back. “I’m pretty sure no one who lives in Canterlot could profess to a fear of heights. Twilight, you’ve probably fallen from higher places than this in your free time.”

Twilight shrugged nonchalantly. “I might’ve.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “You told me you had wings before, Overwatch,” she said, before looking down the mountain face. “Wanna show us how well you can fly?”

“Sure!” the unicorn guard replied cheerily. “Once my wingpony gets back from his little forward recon in a few seconds, that is.” She turned forward expectantly just as an armored shape flew in from out of view.

"There’s a lot of loose rock all over this area,” Steel Blade said as he came in for a soft landing in front of the group. “We’ll definitely risk getting caught in a landslide if we continue this route, but there’s a cave that looks like it’ll lead us directly to the top of the mountain. C’mon, it’s not far."

Sure enough, there was a cave, wide enough to admit the entire group without issue. Everypony nodded as they walked inside, and Cadence brightened up her horn and illuminated the way in. Overwatch trotted forward to whisper something to Steel Blade, who looked back with a raised eyebrow at Twilight’s new seating arrangements.

It was only a minute or two into the cavern before Overwatch stopped with a noticeable clack of her hooves on the rock, followed shortly by Gilda, whose hackles seemed to be on edge. “We have visitors,” the unicorn guard stated, her horn lighting up

Everypony looked around in confusion, finding little of notice.

“What do you mean, Overwatch?” Steel Blade asked curiously, but before he could react, a flurry of dark shapes entered the light Cadence’s horn emitted. “Diamond dogs!”

Before the group of ponies could form any sort of defense, the diamond dogs bodychecked the different ponies into separate tunnels, easily outnumbering the intruders.

“Applejack, remind me again, why are we here in the boutique instead of rescuing Rarity from those giant dogs?”

Applejack frowned as she tried her best to utilize Rarity’s introductory lessons to sew together a bit of material to hold several gems and metal fragments in one piece, a pathetic imitation of a half-plate armor. “Rarity’s bein’ held hostage by a buncha troublemakers, and with all our friends off facin’ that dragon, we gotta be prepared to deal with this ourselves.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she finished, hitting her creation with a hoof before thrusting the armor onto Spike and herself. Only seconds after Spike reoriented himself, he also found a lance made of gems in his hands.

“Ya always wanted to play the knight. Here’s yer chance.”

Spike sighed. “Are you sure we can pull it off? This armor and weapon you made doesn’t look too reliable.”

Applejack nodded. “Nah, Ah punched it. It’s good enough. The worst that can happen is Rarity beatin’ us up for committin’ a fashion crime or somethin’,” she stated with a dismissive shake of her forehoof before she turned to the third party in the room, a tied-up diamond dog. “Now listen here, partner. Ya want gems, we want Rarity back.” She picked up a bag full of gems she found during her search for Rarity. “Ya lead us to our friend, and alla these are yours.”

Every dragon flinched as their lord crashed against the stone floor, creating a massive crater. Boulders and gold coins rained all over the cavern. Blood streamed from between the cracks in the Dragon Lord’s once pristine scales.

Above the titan was Luna, kept aloft by her battered wings. Her face was covered in bruises as she struggled to keep her eyes open. The aura around her horn weakened before vanishing completely. Her fur and legs bore several burns alongside two large lacerations, one across her belly and the other across her left two legs and her side, luckily missing the wing.

The alicorn was bare, her battered armor lying scattered in tiny pieces over the battlefield. One of the young dragons was holding half of her crown in his claws as a souvenir.

“Wilt… thou… yield?” Luna asked, breathing heavily.

Despite his battle wounds and almost-broken neck, the Lord rose, his giant hands sinking into the stone as it supported his massive weight. “Yield? I won’t yield to a tiny creature like you without showing you the power of a true Dragon Lord!”

Luna’s eyes widened as she saw the beast inhale. Her wings flapped urgently as she tried to escape the wind pulling her into his mouth. She lit her horn and turned around as a wall of flames covered half the tunnel, giving her little room to dodge. She grit her teeth, teleporting out of the way.

She reappeared behind her foe, gritting her teeth and wiping the red liquid from her muzzle. Looking up, she noticed droplets of melted stone started to drip from the ceiling.

She flew towards the wounded part of the dragon’s neck, sending beams of her magic into the cracks as blood started to escape them. Several drops of lava splashed against her, held a breath away from contact by a thin, midnight-blue alicorn aura.

Yelps of pain followed as the Dragon Lord turned around laboriously, too slow to stop Luna from circling around his neck, and delivering yet more blows on the weakened parts of his body. His large horns, flanking his head like shields, still weren’t enough to protect his head.

“Enough!” he shouted, slamming both of his claws into the ground. He jumped up and slammed a fist into the ceiling as he blew out an inferno from his mouth. Boulders and magma rained down across the cavern as dragons jumped to avoid the oncoming apocalypse.

Luna had weathered most of the storm with a barrier, but the moment she released it, she was seized by a giant fist, squeezed for a few seconds and thrown against the stone floor, creating another a crater in the crater.

Dragon Lord jumped up again, this time leading with his shoulder as he fell towards his opponent, but before he could make contact, the alicorn turned into black mist. He blinked in confusion as it seeped out from under him to float in front of his face, reforming itself into a very angry black alicorn, slightly taller than the one he was fighting a moment ago. His moment of hesitation was met with a barrage of spells against his eyes, followed by a thin beam piercing right through the damaged scales on his neck.

Nightmare Moon shuddered and fell into one of the craters on the ground, her body falling heavily against the cracked stone. The Dragon Lord rose into a kneeling position, his hands keeping him from toppling over as he breathed heavily.

“Will you.. finally yield?!” Nightmare Moon shouted as she rose to a sitting position after a long struggle, her forelegs trembling.

Dragon Lord wiped the blood dripping from his neck before lowering his head to the exhausted alicorn. “Will you?”

The alicorn shook her head, and the Lord laughed, pushing the miniscule pony who rolled against the stone. Nightmare Moon dug her hooves against the stone to slow down before righting herself.

“I like you, tiny princess. It would be a shame to crush you between my fingers if we continue this battle,” he spoke with a calmer voice, still wearing an amused smile.

“And it would be a shame to get rid of the world’s greatest masseuse,” Nightmare Moon said back, rolling her shoulder. “I had a kink in my neck that’s been bothering me for millenia.”

He chuckled. “You have impressed us, not just with your power and fighting spirit, but your bravery as well.” He wiped the rubble, dust, and broken scales from his body before walking towards his scattered piles of treasures. He glanced at the dragons and said, “Gather my treasures and clean the rubble. I want this place back to how it was!”

The dragons bowed and did as they were told, scampering off into the far reaches of the cavern.

“This fight is over. Let’s talk,” he said, exposing his giant hand. “On my title as Dragon Lord, I shall not hurt you further.”

Nightmare Moon shrank, and her black fur turned midnight-blue. Luna spread her wings and flew, landing on the exposed hand.

She bowed. “Thou hast given us glorious battle and fought bravely and with honor. Let both our races live in peace.”

The giant dragon scratched his chin, before dipping his head slightly. Every dragon dropped to their knees in an instant. “Don’t expect more of me, tiny princess. I’ve only ever bowed to the last Dragon Lord.”

“Tis satisfactory,” Luna said as she stood up and winced, biting her lip. She glanced quickly at her foreleg and hind leg, both of which were in dire need of medical attention.

“Wilt thou agree to cease the attacks on Equestria? Mayhap even agree to an alliance?” Luna asked, maintaining her regal poise despite her pain.

Dragon Lord looked upon his dragons and said, “Those who will dare to put a claw upon ponies will meet my wrath! Go and spread my decision!”

Luna turned around and added, “And our wrath as well!”

The dragons who weren’t cleaning up spread their wings and flew towards the exit, following the order.

Dragon Lord looked upon the princess and said, “I will spread the news of our glorious battle. Your ponies will be safe.” His eyes narrowed as he added firmly, “However, I will not ally our kind with yours just because you proved your might. You will need to prove the strength and power of your race before I will consider allying with such tiny and meek beings.”

“We understand, and I believe we have but such a proof in the works, if we only just wait.” She gestured to the guarded cake, surrounded by exhausted Royal Guards who had done their best to intercept any incoming rock fragment or melted stone with a little help from the nearby dragons. “Care for a slice?” She lit her horn, slicing off five pieces, one for each guard, before levitating over the biggest one.

Each guard took a bite, though their eyes scanned for any gems scattered in the pastry. Luna simply sank her teeth into the delicious cream, chewing through a gem with abandon.

The Dragon Lord’s stomach rumbled, and he licked his lips. “With pleasure.”

Ch 10 - Dragonshy - Part 5

Author's Note

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy this little gift from me and Kydois.

Ch 10 - Dragonshy - Part 5

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 5

“Wake up, slackers! We’ve got trouble ahead!” Rainbow Dash called behind her, maintaining her defensive stance as she slowly backed up.

Overwatch and Fluttershy groaned. The guard mare lit her horn as she sprung to her feet, illuminating a platoon of diamond dogs aiming their spears at them.

“Ummm… maybe they're friendly,” Fluttershy said as she slowly approached the dogs despite Rainbow Dash’s warning glare. “Hello there, my name’s Fluttershy.” She gestured to her companions, smiling sweetly. “My friends and I would like to pass through your tunnels to meet the dragon and ask him kindly to leave before he hurts anypony in Ponyville. C-can you let us pass, please?”

A few of diamond dogs went speechless, but one of them stepped forward and smacked Fluttershy in the face with a paw, sending her flying back into Rainbow Dash, who caught her midair.

Overwatch’s horn brightened further into a menacing green, casting an otherworldly sheen over her dark fur. “Ahh,” she said, her mouth curling up into a predatory grin, “so we’ve chosen the hard way, have we?”

Rainbow Dash promptly dropped Fluttershy to the ground and shoulder-checked the lead diamond dog, tossing him into his compatriots behind him. “That's for slapping Fluttershy, you big jerk! Nopony bullies her when I’m around.”

Two more diamond dogs advanced on Rainbow Dash and aimed their spears at her, only to bowled over by well-placed arcane bolts. Before the other dogs could react, Overwatch’s precise shots and Rainbow Dash’s quick strikes began to incapacitate any within range, save for a few who decided that the easy way was perhaps the best and dropped their spears and sat next to the nice pegasus.

Thus disarmed, the conscious diamond dogs took their leave, hauling their unconscious comrades with them.

Overwatch rolled her neck, eliciting a few pops from it, and brushed some of the dirt out of her scarf. “Of course. The one day I decide not to bring my armor because I needed to climb a mountain, I get tackled like some rookie on a hoofball field. I was going to be ten miles away from a dragon taking potshots, not wrestling puppies underground.”

Rainbow Dash was still flying, throwing jabs at imaginary foes. “That was good! I needed to kick some flank after all that boring climbing. Now,” she said, before turning to the rest of the cavern, “which tunnel do we take?”

Overwatch winced as she turned her attention to the countless tunnels over the area. “I have a… sorta scanning spell. We’ll use that to help us navigate and find the others,” she said, pointedly ignoring Fluttershy’s close scrutiny of her. “Let’s be off before they bring back more spirited dogs to blast.”

“What just happened?” Twilight wheezed out, coughing to clear out some of the dust in her lungs. She shook her head and lit her tiny horn as brightly as she could.

Big Macintosh and Steel Blade stood ahead of her in a defensive formation. She rounded their hooves to take a better look at the foes they were facing, finding at least thirteen so-called diamond dogs, armed with spears, helmets, and basic armor. From her new vantage point, she caught sight of torches lining the walls, and she promptly lit the closest few with a few well-aimed fireballs.

“Ponies enter our home. Ponies now dig gems for us,” a diamond dog said as he aimed his spear at the big red stallion, “or ponies gets hurt.”

Big Mac stomped a hoof on the ground hard, causing a little cloud of dust to pop up and causing Twilight to cough again. “Ah don’t think so.”

Steel Blade spread his wings threateningly. “I was told I was average for a Royal Guard, but you’re going to need more if you want an even match.”

With a rallying warcry, the diamond dogs charged.

Steel Blade took off into the air, and Twilight jumped onto Big Mac and used her magic to redirect any javelins thrown by the dogs into thin air. With heavy, hard-hitting swings of his mighty hooves, the red stallion punched two of his foes away, tossing them away like ragdolls.

The attackers switched tactics, now keeping at a distance and jabbing at him with their spears. Twilight changed her own plans, focusing her magic on slowing them down instead. The diamond dogs struggled to raise their legs as if moving through molasses, and they soon found themselves in the path of a pain train in the shape of a large stallion. Three more dogs lost consciousness, taken down at the same time with a single swing. Javelins bounced from his body, leaving hardly any marks on his skin as he barreled forward.

Steel Blade found it difficult to attack the diamond dogs from the air, their long spears effective in deterring a flying target. Instead, he took out his sword and began to slice at the hafts of their spears from a safe distance. When enough of his hecklers found themselves either weaponless or forced to try and deal with the other threat, he dove in with a flying kick against his foes, though after only a couple hits against the diamond dogs’ helmets, his armored horseshoes bent into an unusable state.

“I knew I should have taken the magic-enhanced models,” Steel Blade grumbled as he shucked off the useless hoofguard and flung it into the face of the closest dog.

“Need a hoof?” Big Mac called out as he charged into the remaining diamond dogs. Reacting quickly, Steel Blade sheathed his sword as he dove down in front of the escaping forces. Kicking up a headless spear shaft from the ground, he set upon tripping the distracted dogs, letting the unstoppable red force of nature knock the rest unconscious.

They looked at each other with a grin and nodded, but their moment of victory didn’t last long. Several tunnels were scattered all over the place, separating them from the rest of the team.

Twilight sighed before drawing up her magic, using her scanning and tracking spell to search for her missing friends.

“Now you ponies dig gems for us,” the diamond dog ordered before narrowing his eyes and pointing at the griffon. “You are not pony.”

“Wow, were you born this dumb, or did you have to work at it?” Gilda asked with a roll of her eyes as the diamond dogs aimed their spears at them. “Oh, so you want a piece of me, is that it? Come and take it.” She scowled at them, brandishing her sharp talons threateningly.

“Who would want a piece of you,” Pinkie asked to the griffon’s exasperated groan, “if they could have a piece of cake instead!” She pulled out a cake from nowhere and presented to the attackers.

Gilda facepalmed and frowned. “Pinkie, I’m trying to be threatening, and you’re ruining the mood.”

“But now you can be threatening with cake!”

“May I suggest focusing on the problem at hoof?” Cadence interrupted as she took a few steps ahead of the group and waved cheerfully to their assailants. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about finding gems, and I don’t remember the last time I dug up any. Furthermore, we’re on a very important mission to stop a dragon from attacking Ponyville, so please, would you let us pass through your tunnels peacefully?”

She let out a squeak when one of the dogs strode forward and grabbed her by the neck. “You enter our caves, you our slaves. Dragon too big to enter cave.”

Before Cadence could respond, Gilda clawed out the dog’s face and kicked him towards the armed group with a back leg. “Don’t waste your breath. They’re so dumb and short sighted that they’ll give Pinkie a run for her bits.”

The hostile creatures growled in anger as they leveled several spears at the three ponies, and Cadence stepped ahead of the griffon, spreading her wings. "Stand back," she said, scanning over the dogs before her. "I don't want to hurt any of you, but I will have no choice if you won't leave." Her horn charged as she considered the non-lethal spells she’d learned.

“Cake?” Pinkie asked as she emerged from behind a diamond dog, holding out an entire red velvet cake.

“No like cake. Like gems. Pony dig gems or pony get hurt.”

“Awww, Just a piece? It tastes better than a piece of Gilda!” Pinkie tossed the cake into the dog’s face.

Gilda stared in disbelief before something brushed her from the side, causing her to jump forward in surprise. She wheeled around on Pinkie, who whispered at her very loudly from the side of her mouth, “It seems that they won’t let us pass.”

“You don’t say,” Gilda said with a deadpan expression, before turning to the confused alicorn. “Now with that out of the way, can you return to your kicking-flank mode and help me beat them up?” She grinned as she lightly punched Cadence’s shoulder. “Come on, winged unicorn or whatever you’re called, Twilight said you’re tough, so let's see some fireworks!”

Diamond Dogs aimed their spears and charged as Cadence prepared her attack, hoping that her spell will manage to put them to sleep.

“Hey Gilda, wanna see a magic trick?” Pinkie popped up beside Gilda holding another cake, though this time, it was vanilla spotted with small strawberries and plenty of frosting.

“Is it going to make these idiots disappear?” Gilda said, unamused.

“Yep! For Cadence, at least.”

Cadence turned around. “Wait wha—”

The pink alicorn promptly received a cake to the face, blinding her. She felt something wrap around her neck, and she let out a surprised squawk along with her spell. Wrestled around by the other being, she continued firing off shots, ignoring the yips of the dogs around her as she fought to get free.

Cadence was released after a short moment, and she immediately wiped off the rest of the frosting in her face.

The first thing she saw was Pinkie, smiling innocently at her. The second thing she saw was Gilda, who wore a look of disbelief with her mouth open.

The alicorn finally turned around and found the rest of the cavern littered with groaning diamond dogs.

Pinkie made a little flourish with her hooves. “Ta da!”

Cadence turned back at the pink pony as a piece of cake flopped out of her mane and onto the dirt floor. “Pinkie, what did you do?”

Pinkie made a tutting sound. “A magician never reveals her secrets.”

"She just used you like a..." Gilda raised a claw and shook her head. “Nevermind, you don’t want to know.”

Cadence recovered from the shock she was in and began levitating out the remaining pieces of cake from her fur and mane. “Can you keep what just happened here just between us then, please?”

Pinkie nodded. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She pressed a cupcake against her closed eye, before licking it clean a moment later.

Cadence and Gilda shared a look with each other and shrugged before turning to the numerous tunnels.

The alicorn cast a tracking spell to search for others, and the group set off through one of the tunnels.

They wound through the tunnels for a while before Cadence felt something bounce off her hoof. She looked down, finding Twilight in a pile of limbs nearby and shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Twilight was interrupted when she was pulled into Cadence by a wing, now pressed between the alicorn’s warm, fluffy chest and soft feathers.

“Twilight, I am so glad you’re okay,” Cadence said before looking down the tunnel Twilight galloped from. Big Mac and Steel Blade came around the corner, the former looking no worse for wear while the latter sported dented armor and a missing hoof guard. “Have an unfortunate encounter with the diamond dogs as well?”

Steel Blade nodded. “Pretty much. They caught us off guard at first, but once they lost the element of surprise, it was pretty easy to clean up afterwards.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac added.

Cadence sighed in relief before she felt movement between her wing and chest. She looked down, and Twilight’s head emerged from under her hug.

“I’m glad they didn’t harm any of you,” Twilight said as she pulled out her forelegs and freed herself, now standing on Cadence’s wing. “I’m sure Overwatch and Rainbow Dash can protect themselves, but I’m worried about Fluttershy. We need to regroup with them quickly.”

Cadence nodded as she levitated Twilight onto her head, placing next to her horn as she recast her spell.

Twilight sniffed at her ride’s mane. “Cadence, you smell different. Did you bring another perfume? I don’t remember you smelling like vanilla before.”

The alicorn groaned in response and simply set off into one of the tunnels.

“You sure your tracking spell works? It’s… just another dead end,” Rainbow Dash remarked in annoyance as Overwatch frowned at her.

“My spell works just fine. There just happens to be a million tons of rock in the way,” she said with a huff. “Not to mention the hundreds of diamond dogs in these tunnels. It takes time to tell them apart, though I’m sure if I follow the trail of unconscious dogs…”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Your tracking spell points behind this wall, right?”

The guard nodded. “That seems to be where all the signs point.”

“Can you, I dunno, blast a hole in it?”

Overwatch frowned at Rainbow. “Do I look like Twilight or Cadence to you? I’m a sniper, not a walking cannon.”

Fluttershy turned her attention towards Rainbow Dash. “Dash, can you scout ahead and check the tunnels around here? Maybe one leads around this wall.”

Rainbow Dash was once again taken aback by her friend’s assertiveness, but saluted with a grin. “Consider it done, Sir Flutters.”

The blue pegasus zipped off, and Fluttershy moved in front of Overwatch, glaring at her.

“Okay, this is getting really old,” Overwatch said with narrowed eyes. “You have been glaring daggers at me this entire time. If you have something to say, say it.”

“Where’s Overwatch?”

“Where’s who?”

“I said,” Fluttershy spoke again, this time with a little more force, “where is the real Overwatch?”

The guard’s brow furrowed. “In Equestria?”

Fluttershy stood on her hind legs, her forelegs on her hips as she gave Overwatch a hostile glare. “I know your secret.”

“Which one?”

“Which hive are you from?”

Overwatch raised an eyebrow. “Hive?”

“Don’t play dumb, changeling! Which hive are you from? And what do you want from—”

“Nothing but dead ends,” Rainbow stated as she flew out of one of the tunnels, though she started when she saw Fluttershy towering over Overwatch. “Did I miss anything?”

Fluttershy sat back. “Err, not really. We just… tried to talk over a few disagreements, that's all.”

“Whatever you say, Flutters. So what now?”

“I think…” Overwatch began as she lit her horn again. “I think that our friends have already regrouped and are trying to find us. Let’s try to retrace our steps. Maybe it’ll be easier for them if we went back.”

Both pegasi nodded, and the group set out with Fluttershy and Overwatch watching each other closely.

“This is taking forever,” Rainbow Dash groaned. Her wings fluttered restlessly as she looked between the tunnels.

“You don’t need to wait for us,” Overwatch said, motioning towards one of the tunnels. “Scout ahead, and if you find anypony, you can lead them back to us, and if they find us, we’ll just wait for you.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The impatient pegasus flew into the tunnel pointed out by Overwatch.

As soon as Dash disappeared, the two remaining mares squared up against each other, trading glares.

Fluttershy’s ears fell back and her wings spread aggressively as she asked, “What do you want from Twilight and where is the real Overwatch?”

“I could be asking you the same question,” the guard responded. “I overheard your conversation with Twilight. I wasn’t making a big deal out of it since she trusted you, but now I find your behavior to be very odd.”

“Y-you… overheard it?” Fluttershy asked as she stepped back, her wings closing up.

“I have my ways. So what happened to the shy, scared pegasus? Is your personality just a facade? Are you just pretending to be cute, cowardly, and vulnerable just to gain the trust of others?” Overwatch asked, taking a step forward.

“I’m the one asking questions here! When Twilight told me that our magics were similar, I knew you were a changeling. Now spill! What did you do with Overwatch? Tell me, or I will expose your true identity!”

Overwatch scowled. “Then I expose yours too, but forgive me if I don’t seem eager to play your silly infiltrator games. I’ve had quite enough of those for a lifetime.”

“Why should I believe you?” Fluttershy said, her nostrils flaring.

“Why should I care what you believe?” Overwatch asked. “Last time I met changelings from an unknown hive, they tried to kill me. You’re the one acting odd, hiding your true self behind the mask of a fragile pony. Why should I trust you? Why are you here? Who are you, really?”

The yellow pegasus fluffed up her chest. “I have always been Fluttershy. I’m not pretending to be somepony else, but I can’t be cowardly when my friend is in danger,” Fluttershy said, pawing at the ground as if ready to charge.

Overwatch blinked. “Your… friend?”

“You took the place of Twilight’s guard. I don’t know why you’re there, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her from the likes of you.”

The charcoal unicorn snorted. “And you’re the one to do that, even assuming my hostile intent?”

“I’m the only pony who knows the truth, the only one who can do it,” Fluttershy uttered. “You have no idea how terrified I am of facing a grown-up dragon, how much effort it takes for me to hide my fears, but I want to protect my cuddly, kind, little friend. So speak, why are you here?”

Overwatch smirked. “To protect her, exactly as I promised when she first became Celestia’s student. If I wanted to hurt her, I’ve had over a decade to make my move and plenty of better opportunities.”

“Hey guys, look who I found!” Dash said as she flew out from a faraway tunnel, pointing at the group following her, who waved at them. “They found the exit! Follow us, and let’s get out of here.”

Overwatch turned from Dash to Fluttershy. “We’ll talk later, privately, after we save Twilight from the dragon.” She took a few steps towards Rainbow, only to stop when she noticed Fluttershy wasn’t following her. The guard mare turned back, finding that Fluttershy had begun trembling again. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? We’re about to face a humongous dragon,” the pegasus stammered out.

“What happened to the fearless Fluttershy dedicated to protecting cute, cuddly, little Twilight?”

Fluttershy gulped. “There’s a big difference between facing a changeling and a dragon. Ooh, what have I gotten myself into?” she said, biting her lower lip.

Overwatch rolled her eyes and began to pull Fluttershy along with her magic, leaving trails in the ground from her victim’s hooves.

Everypony once again stood at the entrance to the diamond dog cave. They heaved a collective sigh as they looked up the remaining path.

Pinkie beamed. “So, found any loot?”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Did you find any treasure? After all, what kind of dungeon crawl would it be without finding a little treasure on a side quest?”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, catching the mare’s attention, “I know I’m going to regret this, but… can you please explain.”

“Of course, Twilight!” Pinkie said with an eager smile. “We’re on an adventure to slay a dragon, but you can’t reach the boss without good old dungeon crawling and level grinding,” Pinkie gestured at the cave. “A moment ago, we entered a dungeon, split up into three parties, and faced the diamond dogs, and now we’re a high enough level to beat the boss!”

“If that was enough to level us up, I’m starting to think we were severely underleveled to begin with,” Overwatch said, leaning away from Pinkie.

Steel Blade turned to the unicorn guard. “Ahh, right, you were a big Ogres and Oubliettes player back in the day, weren’t you?”

Overwatch shot him a look. “That was more than a decade ago, and it was mostly my… friends dragging me into their roleplay sessions.” She shrugged. “It was good acting practice, at least.”

Twilight piped up. “Oh yeah, I remember Shining being interested in something like this. So what kind of party do we have here?”

Pinkie reappeared behind Gilda. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m the kooky bard, Gilda’s the monk, and Cadence is the sorcerer. Party number one.”

Gilda turned around, but Pinkie was no longer there. “Big Mac’s the big, beefy barbarian, Twilight’s the wizard, and Steel Blade’s an average fighter.”

“‘Average’? Is that going to be a recurring joke around me?” Steel Blade asked.

Pinkie jumped from Big Mac towards Rainbow Dash. “And we can’t forget the ranger, the rogue, and the shy druid,” she said, motioning towards the last group. Fluttershy jumped back a little when PInkie thrust a hoof at her.

Pinkie pirouetted into the middle of the group. “Add that all up, and you get… treasure!”

Right on cue, a minecart full of gems rolled out of the tunnel entrance and came to a stop right beside Pinkie.

Steel Blade looked between the pink earth pony and the minecart. “Are you sure you’re not the wizard?”

Gilda pinched the bridge of her beak, just between her eyes. “Can we just get on with it?” She pointed towards the path up the mountain. “We wasted a bunch of time doing nothing, and we’re not getting any farther up the mountain staring at Pinkie.”

“Eeyup.”

Ch.10 - Dragonshy - Part 6

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Ch.10 - Dragonshy - Part 7

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 7

Twilight jumped like a rocket. “Dragon, Ponyville, danger…!” She scanned the room, only to notice that she was lying on Spike’s bed, which was no longer colossal when compared to her. The mere strength of her voice pushed several small objects away. “What happened?” she asked hastily. “Where’s the dragon?”

“It’s a long story,” Cadence spoke, startling Twilight, who leapt from the bed and curled up behind an upside-down basket, which was too small to hide her presence. After blinking and rubbing her eyes, she looked upon her no-longer-giant foalsitter, whose fur failed to cover her bruises, a small reminder of the many tons of rocks that had fallen on the alicorn not long ago.

“Cadence, what happened, and why are you smaller than before?” Twilight asked curiously as she massaged her own forehead.

“Don’t you remember?” the alicorn asked as Twilight shook her head. “You tried to return to your normal size on top of the dragon’s snout, which was a very reckless move, as it left you vulnerable. The dragon threw you to the ground before the process was complete, and then stomped on you. You were lucky he didn’t press his whole weight against you.”

Twilight examined herself both with her eyes and her hooves, making sure that she was still in one piece rather than being a flattened version of herself. She noticed a few small marks of damage, but nothing serious. She took a step back and gasped. “H-how?”

Cadence placed her hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “You’re lucky you were nearly at full size when this happened. The dragon knocked you out, but your bones endured. With the help of my magic, I nursed you back to health and brought you here.”

“But how? The closer I am to my normal size, the weaker the protection spell is.”

Cadence nodded as she withdrew her hoof and explained, “I think you have your earth pony magic to thank for that. If you didn’t develop it over the past months, you would now be lying in a hospital bed alongside your friends.”

“That’s a relief,” Twilight sighed before her eyes opened widely at the sudden realization. She stood on her rear hooves and shouted, “What do you mean ‘alongside my friends,’ what happened to them?!”

Cadence pressed her hooves into the floor, trying to hold her ground against the full force of Twilight’s voice. Once her mane and tail were no longer being blown about, she answered, “Big Macintosh, Gilda, and Rainbow Dash are in the hospital.” Cadence quickly sealed Twilight's mouth with her magic. “And no, their wounds aren’t that serious. They will get better, and you can assist with your healing spells. Just rest for a little before you do, okay?” She closed her eyes and smiled warmly. “Oh, before you ask, don’t worry about your size change, I can fix it at any moment… with your cooperation of course.”

Twilight nodded as she sat down.

The alicorn continued, “Pinkie is preparing gifts and sweets to cheer them up and also to organize a ‘we saved Ponyville from a dragon’ party, alongside an ‘I am sorry for being unconscious during a boss battle’ party.” Cadence giggled while canceling the seal on her friend’s mouth. “She sure is random, but I like her unpredictability.”

“What about my guards and Fluttershy?”

“Well…” Cadence tapped her forehooves together before looking up at the ceiling. “Fluttershy and Overwatch asked for some privacy. They want to resolve matters between them.”

“Matters?”

The alicorn nodded. “Yes, though they refused to say what it is all about."

Twilight nodded. “I see. What about Applejack, Rarity, and Spike, do they know about the news?”

“Yes, they do, though they are recovering from their own adventure.”

“Adventure?” Twilight asked curiously, now deep in thought, wondering what her friends had gotten themselves into.

“Yes. It seems that Rarity was captured by Diamond Dogs while Applejack and Spike played the role of knights and rescued her… or did they rescue the dogs from Rarity? Hard to tell.”

“Tell me more,” Twilight grinned, her excitement growing.

“Charge!” Spike roared, perched on Applejack’s back and holding a six-foot lance. He belched flame as he aggressively aimed the lance towards a group of Diamond Dogs guarding the entrance, their spears held defensively.

Applejack bolted forward with sparkling gems covering most of her body. “Release Rarity, ya rockheads, before Ah buck ya harder than mah apple trees!”

One of the Diamond Dogs broke out of the defensive formation and charged, his spear aimed at the intruders. The farm mare leapt to the side, barely dodging the sudden attack.

With one strong swing of his lance, Spike struck the Diamond Dog, cracking his armor. Applejack flexed her legs and kicked him in the back, pushing him several meters away, his chest plate now shattering into tiny pieces.

Not wasting a moment, Applejack charged again; a few Diamond Dogs threw their spears at her, but each bounced off the gem armor the pony and dragon wore. Spike once again swung his lance, shattering several spears and knocking their bearers down, while Applejack tackled a Diamond Dog to the ground, only to kick two more that tried to catch her from behind.

With an opening in the enemy formations, Applejack galloped deeper into the tunnel and entered a spacious area full of beautiful glowing gems.

“Rarity, we came to–” Spike failed to finish his sentence, as another group of Diamond Dogs ran towards them.

“Seems the buckin’ isn’t yet over, partner,” Applejack stated as she turned around and prepared her armored rear hooves for another strike, only for her targets to bow before her, their paws held together pleadingly.

“You came for whining pony? Please, take the whining pony!” he begged while another continued.

“We not want pony to dig gems anymore, we want quiet.”

“Take her away, we do anything, but please, take her away.”

Spike and Applejack blinked in confusion as they noticed the pale white mare approaching them, her muzzle raised proudly in triumph.

“You sure took your time,” Rarity said while flicking her mane.

“W-what happened. If those creatures laid a paw on you, I will–” Spike once again failed to finish his knight-like monologue as Rarity put a hoof on his mouth.

“Those ruffians wanted to force a lady like me to dig gems for them, the nerve!” Rarity huffed before looking at Spike and next at Applejack, her annoyed expression devolving into one of complete and utter shock. “But what happened to me does not matter. What happened to you?” she asked in confusion, pointing at her friends.

“What do you mean? Sure, we fought some of those big dogs, but they didn’t do any damage thanks to our armor,” Spike responded, before puffing his chest and gesturing to his chest plate.

“Armor?!” Rarity shouted as she angrily thumped the gems tied together with several frayed and haphazard threads. “You dare to call this an armor?! Wearing that… that thing is a fashion crime.”

“Fashion crime? Now wait just an apple-picking minute here,” Applejack growled in annoyance as she stood up on her rear hooves, almost causing Spike to fall off. “Ah spent at least an hour tryin’ to sew these darn thin’s together to rescue you, and ya call it a fashion crime?!”

Rarity stomped firmly. “As much as I appreciate the gesture, I cannot stand for my friends to wear… this!” Rarity stood up on her hind legs and held one hoof on her chest while her other foreleg raised upward. “I swear, as the greatest fashionista in Ponyville and as the Bearer of Element of Generosity, that I will tear up that thing you dare to call an armor and make for you and Spike the best, hardiest, and most beautiful armor worthy of a friend.”

“Ya do what now?”

Rarity looked Applejack in the eyes with growing determination. “Once I am done with you. You both will look like the most powerful, prideful and fashionable knights that ever lived.”

Before Applejack or Spike could even blink, the fashionista grabbed them with her levitation, while she herself turned towards the Diamond Dogs who trembled in front of her. “I need a stock of the largest and hardest gems you have. Color and shape I will choose personally, do I make myself clear?”

The Diamond Dogs nodded as they rushed to their treasure chambers and searched for what Rarity demanded. Satisfied, the unicorn turned towards the farm mare and added, “As for you, dear Applejack. I cannot let this crime to go unpunished even for a friend, no exceptions.”

“What do ya mean, Rares?”

“MORE SEWING LESSONS!”

Spike and Applejack gulped in unison.

Cadence chuckled cheerfully. “They aren’t hurt, a few bruises at best. It seems that the Diamond Dogs gave up in the middle of the fight as they begged for Rarity to be taken away.”

“Really? Wow. I totally need to ask Rarity to tell me the full story. Where is she by the way?” Twilight asked as she remained motionless, afraid of making any destructive move with her new size.

“In her boutique, of course. As punishment, Rarity is now giving them additional sewing lessons, while she herself is working hard to make battle armor and a lance for Spike and Applejack.”

Both Twilight and Cadence laughed, not doubting that Rarity would indeed do as she claimed.

After the unicorn recovered, she asked, “So, I take it you want me to rest a bit longer? After you shrink me that is.”

“Before I do, can we talk about something important?” Cadence asked.

“Sure,” Twilight responded, “what do you wish to talk about?”

Cadence poked the unicorn in the muzzle and frowned. “I’m very disappointed in you,” she said. Noticing Twilight’s growing confusion, she added, “You hesitated to increase your size for far too long, and it nearly cost you your life.” The unicorn lowered her head as her ears drooped. Cadence continued, “The moment I was in no shape to assist, you should have increased your size before facing the dragon, not during the battle against him. Did you forget what happened with the manticore? Increasing your size in the middle of danger is a recipe for disaster.”

Twilight remained silent.

Cadence gently pressed Twilight’s face against her own neck. “It’s okay, Twilight, I forgive you, but try to change your size in advance next time.”

Twilight nodded, pulling herself free from the warm embrace and inadvertently knocking the alicorn off-balance. She asked, “Can you help me adapt to bigger sizes? I promised my mentor that I will work on control of my magic and strength, but I don’t want to go to Canterlot all the time… Would you,” she tapped her hooves before asking hesitantly, “stay in Ponyville, at least for a few days? I will even introduce you to my friends.”

Cadence, after regaining her balance, rubbed her chin, receiving a worried smile from her friend. After a moment of thinking, she nodded. “I’m sure Luna won’t mind a week or two. I will just send her a letter that I’m staying here.”

Twilight cheered, only to jump into the ceiling as a result, leaving a cracked mark in the shape of her horn on the wooden surface. She shook rubble from her head and massaged her forehead, only to frown in annoyance. “I have been massaging my forehead a lot today. Crashing into things certainly doesn’t help with my headaches.”

“You know what? You should also write a letter to the princess about our adventures,” Cadence suggested.

The unicorn nodded before tilting her head to the side. “Speaking of which, I wonder how well they did on their diplomatic mission.”

“We must say, thou stink,” Luna remarked, grinning as Celestia was being cleaned by several ponies in biohazard suits.

“You don’t say,” Celestia quipped as she pointed at her sister. “You do not look any better.”

Luna burst in raucous laughter. If, after returning from her banishment, a common pony suddenly told her that she and her sister would end up covered in wounds and smell foul after their battle against dragons for the safety of Equestria, she would think the pony was mentally ill.

A burst of pink magic entered the room, a letter materializing, before being caught by Luna’s magic. The moment Luna unrolled the letter from Twilight with her sister’s permission, Celestia asked, “How are Twilight and her friends doing, are they hurt? I know Cadence would not let anything bad happen to them, but still.”

Luna shook her forehoof dismissively. “Thou need not worry. Although thy student and her friends’ lives were in grave danger due to a rock avalanche and a fire breathing dragon, Cadence protected them and even overcame her own fears in the end… much like the Element of Kindness.”

Celestia’s eyes opened widely in horror, as images of her tiny student crushed under colossal boulders flashed in her mind. “That's… a relief,” she said hesitantly, as Luna gave her a prideful glance.

“We must admit though, thou have changed for the better. Thou art facing all our punishments with dignity and grace, and dirty thine hooves to keep our subjects safe. Even if thou stink now, as the result.”

Celestia smiled cheerfully. “Compared to thousand years on the moon you and Nightmare Moon had to endure, it is nothing,” she said calmly until her attention focused on a royal guard with dark fur color and bat-like wings on his back. “And who is your new friend, Luna? Did you bless one of the guards?”

Luna rolled the letter before shaking her head. “We didn’t, dear sister. During our encounters with dragons in the past weeks, We found out that our blessing passed from generation to generation. What thou see in front of thine eyes is a pony coming from a long line of ancestors from the proud Lunar Guards who once fought by our side.”

The bat-pony bowed. “It is an honor to serve as my ancestors did, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia.”

The taller alicorn blinked several times, finding it hard to imagine that any poor Lunar Guards had even survived the purge that the solar guards started after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, while she herself was too deep in sorrow and too focused on recovering damaged Equestria to notice it. She wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat while a wave of guilt struck her.

Luna, noticing it, smiled. “They forgave thee for not controlling thy guards. It has been a hard time for all of us; let Us not dwell on them longer than We need to.”

The Night Princess and her guard walked away, stopping upon hearing Celestia’s voice. “What will you do now? After I finally get cleaned, I will need to restore Equestria from the dragons’ attacks. Will you spend time with Cadence while I do?”

Luna shook her head while her ears drooped. “Cadence decided to spend some time with Twilight to learn more about her friends.”

“I am sorry, Luna, to leave you like this.”

The Night Princess cheered, “Thou need not be sorry, as We will not be bored. We shall search Equestria for a new generation of our proud guards and apologize for what We asked of their ancestors as Nightmare Moon.” She pointed at Celestia. “Thou have worked hard to earn our forgiveness, so now we shall put efforts to earn theirs.”

Overwatch stood in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, watching warily as several of the animals glared at her. She chose to leave her armor back at the library, but she was now starting to regret that decision, lest the animals suddenly decide she wasn’t welcome around their homes.

When Fluttershy walked out from her home, all of her animals took up defensive positions as if they were a well-trained army, tensed and waiting. Several birds glided down to chirp a message into the pegasus’s ear.

“It seems we’re alone,” Fluttershy said and then trotted back inside, gesturing for the guard to follow.

As she shut the door behind her, green flames enveloped the pegasus to reveal her changeling form. Her legs held conspicuously smaller holes across them, but her mane was made of a beautiful pink silk, her chitin was a pretty shade of yellow, and overall, her form closely matched her pony disguise.

Overwatch glanced at the animals once again, noting that they didn’t seem to be bothered by their caretaker’s new appearance in the slightest. She took a deep breath before shedding her own disguise, revealing a lithe, streamlined form like that of a cat. She slid a hoof under her scarf and rubbed at her neck uncomfortably.

Both changelings stared at one another in a moment of silence, neither of them quite willing to say a word. The only sounds were those of the skittering animals, who made sure that no pony could witness their meeting.

Finally, bolstered by the presence of her animal friends, Fluttershy gathered her courage and took a deep breath. “Do you care about Twilight?”

“Of course.”

“What about the real Overwatch? When did she die?”

“I died about...” Overwatch stopped to take a quick mental count, “fifteen years ago, give or take.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “You died?”

The guard mare pursed her lips. “I mean she. She died. It was a couple of years before I met Twilight for the first time. It was uhh…” Overwatch trailed off, rubbing at her neck under her scarf again.

Fluttershy quickly homed in on the movement, able to recognize a nervous tic easily. “I’m sorry, but could I… ask that you remove your scarf for just a moment? Please? If-if that’s alright with you,” she said carefully.

Overwatch shot a glare back, before sighing as she pulled back the scarf, revealing three long lines above her left shoulder where the chitin appeared uneven. They were drawn parallel to each other as if scars from an animal attack.

“Before you ask, yes, it’s related to Overwatch, no, it’s not from Overwatch, and no, I’m not comfortable talking about it,” she grimaced, adjusting her scarf back to its normal position. “All you need to know is that she was essentially dead when I assumed her appearance. I didn’t lift a single hoof against her.”

Fluttershy just stared back evenly. “What was your purpose?”

“At the time, it was… an investigation of potential rival hive activities. My task changed shortly after to infiltration of Equestria’s military.”

Fluttershy nodded hesitantly. “And what do you want from Twilight?”

“What do I want from Twilight?” Overwatch raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want anything from her, except her friendship. I-in a non-changeling way. I care about her. My job is to protect her, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

Fluttershy took in a deep breath. “I believe you. The way you acted today proves that you really do care about her.”

Overwatch smiled wistfully, looking down at the holes in her forelegs, much larger than those of Fluttershy. “Yeah, it’ll take a while before my magic reserves return to normal after today’s display. I’ll have to restrain myself unless I want to exhaust myself completely.”

“I see…” Fluttershy sat on a nearby pillow at her table and gestured for Overwatch to sit across from her. “Last question. Where does your loyalty lie?”

“That’s…” Overwatch hummed as she took the opposite seat. “You’re going to have to elaborate.”

Fluttershy blinked a few times in confusion. “Are you loyal to your Queen? Or to Princess Celestia? Or to Twilight?”

The guard mare opened her mouth to answer, but Fluttershy fiercely narrowed her eyes and added, “And don’t try to lie. Detecting emotions means that we can both easily recognize a lie.”

At that, Overwatch let out a light-hearted laugh. “Oh, you know I can suppress my emotions, right?” she said.

With that, she seemed to disappear to Fluttershy’s senses. To a species who relied just as much on their emotional senses as their physical ones, it was disconcerting to the faux pegasus to see somepony with a magical signature indistinguishable from that of a piece of furniture.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Y-you can? But how? Why?”

“Oh, it’s something I picked up from my mother. I’ve found it useful at times. It’s great for hiding from changelings like yourself and for listening in on conversations I shouldn’t know about, but,” Overwatch released the block, letting her emotions flow out, “this isn’t either of those.”

The guard mare took a deep breath and released it. “You asked who I was loyal to. As part of her hive, I am loyal to my Queen. As a Royal Guard, I am loyal to Princess Celestia, even if I didn’t take the oath myself, and I am loyal to Twilight because I swore to protect her.” She stared into the middle distance, focused on nothing in particular. “So far I haven’t had to choose between them. With luck, I never will.”

“But you won’t hurt Twilight or her friends, nor will you take action against Princess Celestia, right?”

Overwatch smiled. “As long as they don’t give me a reason to, I’ll never harm them.”

Fluttershy returned the smile with one of her own. “Fair enough. I’m content for now. It’s only right if I will tell you about myself in return.”

“Please do.”

Fluttershy rose from her seat and tried to grab her pillow with a wing, though she was stymied by the inflexibility of her native form’s appendage. She blushed and simply took the pillow up in her hooves instead, placing it on the sofa as she gestured for Overwatch to sit there instead.

Overwatch followed her example, placing her pillow on the opposite end of the sofa. Fluttershy shot her a quick smile before entering her kitchen, returning a moment later with two cups of tea levitating in a shaky green aura. She sat on the sofa, placing the teacups between her and Overwatch’s hooves before both changelings took sips.

“Wow, this is really good. Jasmine, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. Jasmine and few herbs that grow in my garden. Glad you like it.”

Overwatch levitated the cup of tea onto the table and looked at Fluttershy expectantly. “So, what happened to the real Fluttershy?”

“I am the real Fluttershy. The hive I come from doesn’t temporarily replace ponies to steal love as yours most likely does. Oh, before I forget, feel free to give Queen Mimic’s best regards to Queen Chrysalis.”

Overwatch raised an eyebrow. “Ooh, how’d you guess?”

“Simple, actually,” Fluttershy responded. “No other hive has a large enough presence here to need infiltrators in Equestria’s military.”

The guard mare stared back in silence for a moment before she muttered to herself. “Ahh. Right. That happened.” Overwatch hesitantly smiled. “Not bad. Please continue.”

Fluttershy took another sip from the teacup. “I made my pony disguise from scratch when I was a nymph. I didn’t receive much magic from the ponies at flight school in Cloudsdale though, leaving me greatly weakened. The fillies and colts in there were very mean to me.”

“I see… so you fed on the magic of animals instead.”

“I do.” Fluttershy nodded. “I take care of them, and they feed me freely in return, though, I try to feed only on a little bit of their magic so as not to hurt them in the process. Unlike ponies, animals don’t have much affinity for magic, Angel being the exception.” She paused as Angel climbed up her foreleg and sat on her head, his little paw poking at a hole in Fluttershy’s horn. “I just take a tiny portion of their magic to stay alive.”

Overwatch nodded. “Considerate, though judging by your holes, you seem to be healthy and well-fed anyways. Overfed, almost.”

Fluttershy blushed, which was clearly visible through her black face. “That’s because I now have many wonderful friends. In my youth, only Dash stuck with me, and I became friends with Rarity two years after moving to Ponyville. But now, I’m friends with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Steel Blade, and Twilight. I can spare a lot of magic and positive emotion for my hive thanks to them.”

The guard mare sighed. “But it’s not just their magical energy you’re after, right?”

“Oh, no. I care for my pony friends as much as I care for my animal friends, especially Dash. I couldn’t care less whether they feed me or not. I just wish to be there for them.”

Overwatch chuckled. “But it’s certainly a nice bonus.”

“It’s… good,” Fluttershy conceded.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other before Fluttershy cleared her throat. “S-so, what’s your name?”

Overwatch blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I-I mean before you replaced Overwatch, but if you don’t want to tell me, I-I’m okay with not knowing.”

The guard mare stared back, letting in another moment of silence. Finally, she drew in a deep breath. “It’s… just Nymph. It’s been a long time since I’ve been referred to by that name,” she said, before scooting closer to Fluttershy and holding out a hoof. “So, truce?”

Smiling cheerfully, Fluttershy tapped a hoof against Overwatch’s and nodded. “Truce.”

Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 11

Cadence's Vacation
-
Part 1 - Welcome of Apple Family

“Welcome to our humble farm, Yer Highness,” Applejack said, gesturing at hundreds of trees all over the horizon.

“For the third time, Applejack, I haven’t been ruling a country for more than a millennium, nor was I ever Princess of Equestria, so please, just call me Cadence,” the alicorn responded gently, though with a hint of annoyance she desperately tried to hide.

“Well shucks, Ah’m really sorry.” Applejack scuffed her hoof on the ground before she resumed her walk, the alicorn followed by her side. “It’s just that whenever Ah see both wings and horn, Ah can't stop thinkin’ of Princess Celestia.” The farm mare paused as she stood up to her hind legs and straightened her foreleg to reach above the alicorn's head. “And Ah must say, yer so much bigger than other mares.”

Cadence sighed before giving Applejack a smile of understanding, her horn lighting in a powerful blue aura as a tornado of magic enveloped her. Applejack blinked a few times at the scene in front of her, until the wall of magic vanished, revealing a pink earth pony, though much taller than Pinkie Pie.

“How about now? Less distracting?” Cadence asked before giggling. “If the size is also an issue, I can always use my age-altering spell and turn myself into a filly or average-sized mare.”

Applejack shook her head. “Ah would rather if ya don’t. Ah must admit, Miss Cadence, this illusion thin’ of yers really does the trick.” Applejack's happy tone vanished as she frowned. “Though Ah still find it unsettlin’.”

The farm mare once again stood in front of Cadence and gestured around. “Anyway, as Ah was sayin’, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Ah hope that hospitality on our humble farm will be to yer likin’.”

The alicorn looked around before rolling her eyes. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a humble farm. Trust me, Applejack, I have seen far smaller ones with more earth ponies running them. Your farm alone is enough to supply an entire town with food.”

Applejack blushed. “Yer just bein’ nice.”

Cadence approached the closest apple tree and examined it. “Can I?” she asked, giving her friend a quick glance.

Applejack followed and blinked a few times. “Oh, sure thin’ sugarcube.” She took off the baskets from her sides and placed them under the tree, Cadence did the same.

“The first thing ya need to do is–” Applejack paused as Cadence, under her earth pony disguise, turned around and flexed her forelegs, her hind legs aimed and bent as well. “Ah guess ya've bucked trees before.”

The alicorn glanced at Applejack and nodded while smiling cheerfully before her attention was once again focused on the tree. With one strong motion, she kicked it as nearly every apple fell into the basket. She picked up the overflowing baskets, attaching on her sides before turning towards her friend. “How did I do?”

Applejack was dumbfounded for a few seconds before answering, “How ya did? Ya kicked the tree far harder than Ah ever did without knockin’ it over. Where did ya learn that?

Cadence started walking towards the cart hauled by Big Mac that was in the distance as Applejack lifted the baskets full of apples and followed next to her. She looked back at the farm pony and explained enthusiastically, “I worked for the Apple family from time to time in past few centuries, and they were all really kind and dedicated to their work.”

“If ya worked for the Apple family, then why did Ah never see ya on any of the family reunions?”

“That’s because I was just a part-time worker under many different disguises. I prefer to avoid attracting attention to myself whenever I’m away from the castle. Of all the different jobs I’ve done, I think earth pony related jobs are my favorite. The most relaxing activity I had was gardening.”

Applejack took a closer look at the amount of apples Cadence had dropped with one kick and asked hesitantly, “Ah understand how ya know how to applebuck, but Ah don’t get how ya’re so strong. Ah worked on mah farm almost entire life, while ya only do from time to time… no offense.”

The alicorn pointed towards Big Mac, who was working nearby, and asked, “Is your brother stronger than you?”

Applejack nodded and raised her muzzle proudly. “He sure is. While Ah would withstand two- or even three-ton boulder fallin’ on me and held mah ground, Big Mac told me that he stopped ten-ton ones.”

Cadence smiled awkwardly as she remembered the avalanche which almost claimed many of her friends' lives, as she herself had been buried under several boulders, feeling part of one hundred tons of weight crushing her.

“Ya there?”

Cadence shook her head and smiled cheerfully. “Yes, I am… As for being stronger, I guess it’s just like with Big Macintosh, being bigger let me store and develop more earth pony magic in myself.” Noticing a grimace forming on Applejack’s face, she added, “Cheer up. I may be stronger than you, and Big Macintosh is without a doubt stronger than me, but I bet we’re nowhere near your speed and agility.”

Applejack smiled in an instant. “Ya’ betcha. Ah can win a rodeo before mah brother can catch a single sheep with a lasso.” Her attention focused on a not tiny unicorn and pointed towards her. “Though both mah strength and agility may not be a match for mah hard worker. Ah was always impressed by how much work Twilight can do on mah farm when shrunk, but when she returned to normal, she withstood mah buck and pushed me away as if it were nothin’.”

Both mares looked upon Twilight, who promptly mimicked Applejack’s technique and accidentally kicked the tree over. Meanwhile, instead of falling to the baskets, the apples rained over the farm. Much to Twilight’s surprise, both her rear hooves were now stuck in the wooden surface, making her yelp when she ended up pulled alongside the falling tree.

Twilight’s horn lit as her levitation field pulled the tree back into the hole in the ground… before tilting it in the opposite direction. Cadence giggled at the unicorn’s awkward position; the mare’s hind legs now stuck in a tree that was falling on her, while her forelegs pushed against the ground, shaking and struggling to keep her body from being crushed. With another burst of magic, Twilight pushed the tree away, freeing her forelegs and sending the tree crashing into another one, at which point both trees fell to the ground with a loud thump and a rain of apples. “I can fix this!” Twilight shouted in panic as Cadence fell onto her belly, hitting at the ground while laughing hysterically.

Applejack massaged her forehead and resisted an urge to chuckle. She couldn’t deny that the performance itself was hilarious, but the damage caused to her precious trees wasn’t.

After glancing at Big Mac’s more gentle kick with one hind leg, Cadence said, “I think I know the reason.”

“Ya do?”

Cadence nodded. “It’s quite simple, actually. Since you always kick trees with your hind legs, they have become far harder and stronger as more magic focuses in them, not to mention how regularly working on the farm has improved your stamina. Twilight, on the other hoof…” She pointed at the panicking mare and chuckled again. “Her entire life she had to endure crushing pressures and weights pressing on her entire body, and recently gained access to earth pony magic on her own. If you do extra exercise for your forelegs alongside some solid endurance training, you should one day meet Twilight on an equal ground.”

With her attention once again on Applejack, Cadence continued, “In terms of strength and power, Twilight is nearly unmatched, but her stamina can never keep up with her strength, so if she’s pushed to her limits, she gets tired fast.” She pointed at the farm mare and added, “Your strength focuses in your legs, and it’s balanced with your stamina. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Applejack rubbed her chin and said, “So if Ah get it right. Twilight’s like a close distance runner, runs out of steam faster than me.”

“Exactly.” Cadence nodded. “She still has a long way to go before she’ll match up your stamina. There’s no need to be jealous.” She looked to the side, thinking, Maybe it’s best not to mention Twilight’s stubbornness when it comes to improving herself. I fear before AJ would reach her current strength, that little pony would already be far ahead.

Applejack shook her forehoof dismissively. “Well, Ah’m not the one to complain. Despite her small size, Twilight’s been a great worker. Ah’m ahead of schedule thanks to her ideas.” She paused before looking at her brother, who had placed his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and was quietly saying something, clearly trying to calm her down as both damaged apple trees were levitated back to their original location. “Ah must add, Twilight and Big Mac make a great team.”

Cadence didn’t bother to use her magic as she dumped the apples into the cart with her hooves, Applejack following her example. “So she really likes to work side by side with him?”

“Eeyup, she sure do, sugarcube. They both have been sticking together for most of the time. Twi with levitating baskets and Big Mac with kicking the trees. Why do ya ask?”

Cadence took a closer look, noticing a small blush on the cheek of the muscular stallion as he smiled upon his no-longer-so-little helper, while Twilight waved cheerfully at him. The alicorn turned towards Applejack and said innocently, “No reason, really.”

Meanwhile, Overwatch and Steel Blade were also keeping an eye on Twilight to ensure that she wouldn’t destroy the farm while trying to adapt to her normal size. Overwatch was using both her levitation and strength to move a cart full of apples towards the barn, while Steel Blade flew back with an empty one before hitching it to Big Mac, but unnoticed both by the unicorn and the large stallion, he gave Big Mac a glare full of jealousy.

A long day of hard work passed as the Apple family gathered around the wooden dining table. Twilight, now tiny again, sat on the table near the large stallion, while Cadence sat next to Applejack on the opposite side. The guards took their example as Overwatch sat next to Cadence, while Steel Blade sat next to Big Macintosh, occasionally giving him an odd glance. The pegasus guard did his best to hide his jealousy whenever Twilight looked at him, while Overwatch sensed the mixture of emotions in the air in amusement.

After a moment of waiting, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom entered with apple pies and other delicacies made of apples on their heads and backs. Cadence and Twilight wasted no time before they stood and asked in unison, “Can we help?”

Granny Smith nodded, causing one pie on her head to fall off as the little unicorn jumped from the table towards her hooves, her horn lit with power just in time to save the falling pie.

Twilight levitated few more towards the table and placed each one in rightful locations in front of everypony, a service that she repeated whenever she worked for Applejack’s family while eating with them.

Cadence, forgetting that she’s still under an illusion, levitated over the rest of the food in her magical aura, much to Apple Bloom’s shock.

“How did ya do that?”

Twilight jumped to the left, barely evading the filly who passed her and jumped onto the table.

Apple Bloom sat in front of Cadence, looking her deeply in the eyes as she asked, “Did ya just use magic?”

The disguised alicorn smiled awkwardly. “Well… you see…” Her words were stuck in her throat, when suddenly Twilight ran between her and Apple Bloom and stood up to her rear hooves.

“I completely forgot to introduce you all my former foalsitter.” Wasting no time, the tiny mare jumped onto Cadence’s head with ease and balanced herself on her invisible horn. Her action was met with a few gasps as she was hoofstanding on air before their eyes. “Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, I would like you all to meet my former foalsitter and one of my best friends, Cadence.”

The disguised alicorn smiled and waved. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I heard and experienced nothing but best from the Apple family.”

Granny walked towards a haystack to sit on.

Twilight jumped from Cadence’s horn and ran to the edge of the table, her horn lit up with magic once again. “Allow me.”

Granny Smith gave Twilight an odd glance as she shook her head. “Oh, no no no, it’s not…” the elderly mare failed to finish as she felt something lifting her. She looked over herself, noticing that she was enveloped in a purple aura that slowly and gently placed her on the square of hay.

Before Granny could say a word, Twilight had already levitated a knife to cut the pie into several parts. She lifted one piece with her tiny hooves and presented it to the old mare. “Bon appetit.” Granny took the piece of pie and bit it as Twilight looked at her expectantly and asked, “Can I help with anything else?”

The elderly mare slowly chewed and swallowed before smiling. “Yer mighty kind little seed, but mah old bones can still handle themselves.”

Twilight nodded before bowing in respect and sitting once again close to Big Mac.

Applejack whispered to Cadence, “Ah’m unsure what surprises me more. A tiny mare like Twilight showing Granny respect as if she was Princess Celestia herself. Or the fact that Granny Smith lets Twilight act as her personal butler. Usually she’s very stubborn about not being treated as elderly.”

Cadence whispered back,while attempting to ignore the soul-piercing stare of Apple Bloom, who didn’t break eye contact with her even for a second, “Twilight may be prideful, but she’s also very respectful towards the elderly and authority… as long as she doesn't try to sacrifice herself for the greater good.”

Applejack rolled her eyes at the memory of them heading to face Nightmare Moon.

Cadence continued, “Twilight sees your granny as a wise pony who deserves respect and servitude. Maybe Granny Smith likes this kind of respect and...” She was cut off by Smith’s annoyed glare.

“Yer Twilight’s friend, heh?” Granny asked with a weary voice as she gave Cadence a judging look. “Ah cannot shake the feelin’ in mah bones that somethin’ isn’t right.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Me too. She levitated somethin’, Ah saw it with mah own eyes.”

“That’s because Cadence is under a disguise.” Apple Bloom and Granny Smith’s attention focused on Twilight who smiled at them cluelessly. “Did I say something wrong?”

Cadence whispered to Applejack, “Oh no, I know where this is going.”

The farm mare whispered back sternly, “Yep, yer gonna drop the disguise.”

The disguised alicorn started to sweat as she was once again the center of attention.

“Yer hidin’ under a disguise, show me, show me!” Apple Bloom pleaded with excitement as she started to bounce on the table, almost landing in a pie that Overwatch quickly moved out of the way.

“I think it may be a bad idea,” Cadence responded.

“And why not? Mah family folks are trustworthy, they won’t tell anypony,” Applejack said pridefully.

The disguised alicorn grabbed Applejack with a hoof and pulled closer to the corner as she whispered, “Applejack. I’ve dropped my disguise many times, but most of the time it ends up as just a mere rumor that no pony believes anyway.” She paused before adding, “However, it always ends up with a pony fainting or being stunned. Every. single. time.”

“And?” Applejack asked cluelessly.

Cadence said in a growing panic, “Now is the first time I drop my disguise in front of an elder. I don’t want to cause a heart attack, much less in the family of a friend of my friend.”

Applejack grinned before bursting into laughter, much to Cadence’s confusion. She wiped tears of laughter away before answering in a firm tone, “Granny Smith and a heart attack? That stern mare’s heart is still strong. Ya need more than wings and a horn to surprise her.” She pulled Cadence towards the eating table and patted her on the back. “Ya do be surprised. Now drop that disguise. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

Cadence sighed before closing her eyes as her ears drooped. Her body radiated with magic a moment later. Apple Bloom’s eyes opened widely at the light show in front of her, only for her mouth to open agape the moment it vanished, revealing a pink alicorn.

Please don’t be dead, please be okay… Cadence thought as her eyes were still closed, afraid of what was about to happen and of the hate she would receive from ponies who were like a family to her.

The alicorn slowly opened her eyes, and as she’d expected, Apple Bloom was stunned, while Twilight was poking her with to no avail. Cadence’s fears increased as she slowly turned towards Granny Smith who looked at her emotionlessly.

“Are… you alright?” Cadence asked hesitantly, already charging her horn with a weak electric spell, ready to give Granny Smith first aid. To her surprise, the old mare just smiled at her.

“Ya youngsters and yer flashy magic. Hidin’ yer horn and wings from yer fellow pony as if ya were ashamed of them.”

Cadence was stunned by the calm reaction from the old mare but was shocked even more by Twilight’s next words.

“Excuse me my boldness, Miss Smith, but calling her a youngster is a large understatement; Cadence is far older than you!”

Granny Smith blinked a few times and looked at the little mare in disbelief. “Whaaaat?”

Twilight grinned. “Cadence is more than a thousand years old… at least, I think so.”

“She is…?” Granny Smith didn’t dare to move a muscle as she examined the pink alicorn, feeling the awkwardness in the air. “Ah thought she’s the princess’s daughter.”

“Why does everypony always think that?” Cadence asked, rolling her eyes before smiling with relief. “I’m just glad you’re taking this so well. I was afraid I would be giving you a heart attack with my revelation.”

Granny Smith laughed and slapped the table. “Me, a heart attack? Nah, Ah ain’t kickin’ the bucket until Ah get me some great grandkids. Ah’ve been suggestin’ Applejack get closer to that pegasus guard, Steel somethin’.”

“Granny!” shouted Applejack, blushing in embarrassment to the point where she hid behind her hat. “Why do ya have ta go and embarrass me like that? Why not Big Mac for once?”

“Cause at least yer brother’s got an eye on Twilight, even if he’s too shy to ask her out already,” Granny responded with a chuckle.

“We’re just friends!” shouted the now embarrassed duo.

“Anyway, if ya ain’t related to Celesta, how are ya an alicorn?” asked Apple Bloom.

Cadence sighed, releasing a breath she didn’t know was holding. “It’s a long story.”

Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 11

Cadence's Vacation
-
Part 2 - Secrets of Fluttershy

Step by step, Cadence walked very slowly towards Fluttershy’s cottage, her breathing and heart beat slower than usual. With her head lowered, she looked at Twilight out the corner of her eye. The tiny unicorn was walking next to her, still in her diminutive size. The alicorn slowed down even more, trying not to get ahead of the tiny mare, who was busy balancing two rounded stones; the one on her nose was slightly bigger than her little muzzle, and another on her head was half Twilight’s size. To make it more difficult, one apple was also balancing on her back while seven bubbles of water were levitating in a circle above her head.

After a tired sigh, Cadence knelt and whispered, “How are you holding up?”

Twilight levitated the stone off of her muzzle and spoke, “Poorly; I can barely walk while balancing these objects.” Her attention focused on the stone atop her head, its rounded shape only slightly anchored against her horn, just one false move away from sliding to the side. “How far are we?”

“We’re almost there,” Cadence responded.

“Finally!” Twilight said impatiently. “Walking and being tiny never adds up as I can barely make any distance on my tiny legs. It has been hours since we left Sweet Apple Acres.”

Cadence sighed again. She could clearly see a bored expression on her tiny friend, and while Twilight indeed had the stamina to walk so slowly for hours, not being able to push her limits for the same time had to be unbearable. “I know how you feel, and I’m really sorry. I should’ve come up with a shorter training regimen for you to keep your strength and raw power in check.”

Twilight whimpered before moving her head in all directions to keep the stone stable while her neck begged her for mercy. She looked up at Cadence, which wasn’t difficult since the pink mare towered over her, and asked, “What about you?”

The alicorn blinked a few times in confusion, trying to understand her friend’s question. She closed her eyes and smiled warmly. “If you’re asking if I’m bored of walking like a turtle for the past few hours while observing your progress, you don’t need to worry. Living for centuries forges a lot of patience. I once watched a cocoon for two days straight until a butterfly emerged from it. It was a little boring, but also very relaxing if you ask me.”

Twilight gasped. “You did what? Why?”

Cadence frowned before adding with suddenly depressed tone, “I had to come up with many ways to cope up with outliving ponies I cared about. Until today, I wondered if boring myself to death was a good idea in the first place.”

“Oh…” Twilight bit her lip as her ears drooped. With her former foalsitter’s cheerful personality, it was easy for her to forget about the darker side of the long lifespan the alicorn had to deal with. Hopefully, Cadence and the princesses would help Spike with those issues when she passes away. Not wanting to open any mental wounds, Twilight said, “I didn’t mean boredom, though it’s good to hear it doesn’t affect you as much as me. I was instead wondering why you were so nervous?”

“Nervous?” Cadence asked, as she placed a hoof on her chest. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said sarcastically as she stopped and pointed at Cadence’s raised foreleg. “Maybe because you’re trembling like a jelly. Being small and walking next to you is enough to notice that your legs tremble with every step… or at least they started to several minutes ago.”

“Oh…” Cadence blushed before rubbing her hoof. “I cannot deny that I’m a little nervous.”

“Really, why?” Twilight asked as she levitated away the stone and apple from her body before streching her neck. “I just want to introduce you to Fluttershy. I’m sure she will be more nervous than you’re now.”

Cadence looked up at the sky, away from the tiny mare’s concerned stare. After what happened yesterday, I doubt it. She looked down once again and spoke, “Let's just say that after we defeated the dragon yesterday, there’s something I wanted to discuss with her… and it’s making me nervous.”

Twilight walked closer to Cadence’s foreleg and stroked it. “Don’t worry, I will be there with you.”

“Thank you, but I would prefer for us to talk in private, if you don't mind.”

“Oh, more secrets.” The little unicorn nodded firmly. “Don’t worry, I already let Overwatch and Fluttershy keep their secrets from me, I will respect your privacy as well, just say the word.”

Cadence rubbed her chin after hearing this new information. Don’t be curious, Cadence, you must respect another's privacy. Just nod and roll with it.

“Come on, Angel, just one more carrot, pretty please,” Fluttershy pleaded as she pushed the carrot gently towards her little bunny, who without hesitation kicked it away again.

‘Knock... knock’

Fluttershy’s attention focused on the door. I wonder, who might it be? Maybe Rainbow Dash? “I’m coming.”

She slowly opened the door, quickly recognizing the alicorn from the last adventure a few days ago. “Cadence…? W-welcome,” Fluttershy said hesitantly as she opened the door further. “If I may ask, what brings you to my cottage…? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but I thought that…” She paused, unsure of what to say next.

Cadence smiled cheerfully. “That I would return to Canterlot after helping with the dragon problem? I won't waste such a great opportunity to learn more about Twilight's friends for the world."

Seeing that the alicorn looked down at the floor, Fluttershy did as well and noticed Twilight sitting next to Cadence’s left forehoof.

“Twilight, may I ask you one question?” Cadence asked.

The shrunken mare looked up and smiled. “Sure, ask away.”

Cadence chuckled. “Do you always attack the door with a jump kick whenever you’re knocking?”

“Pretty much,” Twilight said proudly, before she performed a strong jump and kicked at the air, surprising Fluttershy with how high her friend could reach. “And to think that being such a small size makes even a simple action like knocking on a door into an exercise this fun.”

Fluttershy gestured her hoof indoors. “Please, come in and make yourself at home. Would you care for some tea, Princ… I mean, Cadence?”

“I would love to.” She nodded, taking a seat on the sofa next to a pillow, leaving it free for Twilight to sit upon.

Fluttershy nodded and walked towards the kitchen, passing Angel, who narrowed his eyes as he glared at the guests.

“Hello, Angel, nice to see you again!” Twilight shouted while waving her foreleg. Angel jumped onto the table as the little pony pointed at him. “Cadence, this is Angel, Fluttershy’s friend, and my adventuring companion.” She pointed at the alicorn. “Angel, meet Cadence, my former foalsitter.”

Noticing a carrot on the floor, Twilight jumped from the pillow before grabbing it with one foreleg and galloping towards Angel, jumping onto the table. “Is that yours?”

Angel nodded before pointing at the carrot and then to her. Twilight smiled and responded while placing a hoof on her chest, “Oh no, I already ate at Applejack's, but I appreciate the gesture.” Seeing as the bunny pointed towards Cadence, the unicorn glanced towards her, noticing that she was now staring at them curiously. “Angel asks if you would like to have a bite?”

The alicorn blinked a few times before speaking in confusion, “You… understand him?”

Twilight nodded before levitating the carrot above her head. “Well… mostly. Angel cannot speak in our language, but he’s smart. If you pay close attention to his paw gestures, you can easily decode a message… or simply guess what he's trying to say.”

Cadence’s horn lit up in a blue aura as she levitated over the carrot right to her mouth, biting into it with a smile. “Thank you.”

Angel smiled back before turning around while looking at the carrots on the table. He smirked devilishly.

The pegasus balanced three teacups on her wing, carefully trying to get them safely out of the kitchen as her wing and hooves trembled a little. Calm down, Fluttershy. Cadence was Twilight’s foalsitter and took care of her for years. There’s no point to be intimidated. She took a deep calming breath, gathering her determination as she resumed her walk. She’s caring and concerned about Twilight’s well being, just like I’m about my cute little bunnies and mice and… She gulped. So what if she’s bigger and has those huge Celestia-like wings. She’s calm and gentle…

Fluttershy stopped herself as she was about to enter the room with her guests, her fight against her shyness being compromised by memories of yesterday’s events. So what if she took down a grown up giant dragon. So what if she had those vengeful eyes and radiated with those hostile emotions. It was just a moment of weakness. With a final push, she walked into the room.

Noticing how Cadence stepped from the sofa and sat in front of the table, while Twilight and Angel were already seated on it, Fluttershy asked, “Excuse me pr… Cadence. W-would you l-like a pillow to s-sit on?”

The alicorn turned towards Fluttershy, almost making her flinch, but a gentle, cheerful smile and a wave of nicely tasting emotions calmed her. “Please, don’t bother yourself, Miss Fluttershy, the floor is comfortable enough.”

Fluttershy smiled back and nodded before approaching slowly, as Cadence levitated three teacups from her wings onto the table. Fluttershy sat on a pillow and was about to say something, but Angel caught her attention, remains from a fully eaten carrot in his little paw. “Oh, so you ate all the carrots, good Angel.”

Cadence looked at the sneaky bunny in confusion before realization struck her. She smiled awkwardly at the yellow pegasus and remarked, “Yes, he sure has his ways to make carrots disappear.” Both Twilight and Angel giggled at her response.

Fluttershy looked at her guests cluelessly before noticing that two specific ponies were missing. “What about your guards? Aren’t they going to join us?”

The little mare shook her head and responded, “Not this time. It’s not like they need to watch my every step anyway.”

“Are you sure? After the events with the dragon, I thought they would keep an eye on you more often.”

“Overwatch said that under Cadence’s watchful eyes, I’m safer than ever, especially now when I’m training at different sizes,” Twilight stated before tapping her chin. “She even raised her concerns, saying that she’s not worried that the environment will hurt me, but the other way around.”

Fluttershy nodded as she lifted a teacup with her wing and drank it gently, before looking at Cadence, who took a sip of her own tea, drinking it slowly and gracefully. After seconds passed, Cadence and Fluttershy put their teacups back on the table, smiling at each other.

“Your tea is very refreshing,” Cadence praised before glancing at the singing birds that landed on Fluttershy. Unable to help herself, she joined in and whistled quietly along with the birds.

Seeing that the alicorn was now enjoying herself, Fluttershy looked at the table, now focused on Twilight. Much to her surprise, the little mare carefully tilted the teacup she was levitating, making a small stream of liquid go down into a tiny crystal cup between Twilight’s hooves. “What is this?” she asked, pointing towards her small friend.

“A tiny and fragile crystal chalice,” Cadence answered. “I made it for Twilight as a gift when she told me she wanted to improve her control over her strength and her raw power.”

“She made me ten sets of crystal dishes… several times in a row, all customized for my size,” Twilight said as another drop of sweat fell down her forehead, but not from pushing her limits, quite the opposite. “Once I’ll finally stop breaking them, I will know I’m ready to eat in a restaurant at my normal size.” The little mare bit her lip in concentration, with her tongue hanging out the right side of her mouth and all her focus directed towards not breaking the levitated object.

Once the crystal chalice was full, Twilight moved it up to her mouth, but it didn’t take more than a few seconds before the shaking chalice shattered into pieces. Her ears drooped in disappointment as Cadence levitated over another one for her to practice with. Twilight looked at the fragile object and then at the giant alicorn with jealousy. She had a lot to learn.

Fluttershy looked away from the pocket in the saddlebag filled with delicate accessories, now staring at her alicorn guest in disbelief. “But how? This chalice is so small.” She lowered her head to take a closer look, somewhat impressed by the details of Cadence’s craftsmanship. “I mean, it’s so… so…. tiny. How could you make hundreds of such small dishes, more or less from crystals?”

“A magician doesn’t reveal her tricks,” Cadence said with a wink as she puffed her chest pridefully.

“But where did you get those crystals? How did you manage to shape them into something so small? Crystals are very vulnerable and difficult to use as building material.”

“Just roll with it, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she took a sip of tea before the tiny dish shattered in front of her face, leaving yet another stain on the table. “Cadence is a mare of a thousand talents, and if she doesn't wish to tell us, it would be mean of us to demand answers.”

Fluttershy was about to nod when suddenly she noticed Angel approaching the hovering teacup. “Angel, please don’t...” She didn’t get to finish before her companion jumped on the cup, tilting it and breaking the delicate hold Twilight desperately tried to maintain. Before the little unicorn could react, a cup full of tea trapped her alongside the hot liquid that was now wetting her fur. Angel jumped again and performed a victory dance on top of it.

Fluttershy was about to scold him for his mean behavior but stopped when Twilight lifted the teacup from herself with her forelegs, as the liquid itself was trapped in the field of her magic.

Additional drops were falling from Twilight's tail and mane as she spoke up, “So you want some tea? Well, be my guest.”

Angel jumped back onto the table and shook his head and paws in refusal, only to run as Twilight galloped right behind him, several bubbles of tea levitated right above her head.

“Now Twilight, I know you want to play after a few hours of boredom,” Cadence started, capturing her friend’s attention, “ but remember my lessons about self-control. You must be very careful and not harm your small friend with your magic.

“Don’t worry, I will be extra careful,” Twilight said before jumping from the table, bubbles of tea flying towards the running young bunny. “You can run, but you can’t hide. Feel the wrath of the HOT TEA!”

Cadence bit her lip as her ears drooped at the loud noises coming from the kitchen.

“They’re just enjoying themselves, nothing to worry about,” Fluttershy assured.

Cadence sighed in relief and then giggled at Twilight starting a RABBIT hunting season, before turning her attention towards the pegasus, her cheerful smile returned. “So, Fluttershy,” she started, gesturing her hoof towards the animals running all over the place, especially one mouse that climbed up on her foreleg towards her face. Cadence picked up the mouse with a hoof and nuzzled it gently. “Are you giving shelter and taking care of all those cute animals out of your own free will?“

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes, I do. I love to take care of animals, and not just the small and cute ones.”

Cadence felt a bird landing on her shoulder as she asked curiously, “Bigger ones?”

Angel showed his tongue and jumped out the window. Twilight followed his lead.

Overwatch, who was approaching the cottage after her long break, curious if Fluttershy’s house was still standing, noticed Twilight chasing a bunny out of the corner of her eye. “Angel?” she said to herself before hiding behind the closest tree, deciding to stay out of their sight.

Realizing that Twilight was getting closer as a carrot levitated above her head, Angel decided to play his ace. He ran towards a bear who was sleeping peacefully and jumped on his rear. With his little teeth aimed and ready, Angel bit him with all his strength.

Twilight stopped in front of the waking up bear as Angel started to whisper something into his ear. She took a step back once the humongous bear growled at her in anger, her ears drooped and her body curled. Despite bravery mastered over years of challenges, she could barely look at the humongous animal without trembling, its size much larger than Big Mac or Celestia’s. If she learned anything from her encounters with wild animals like the dragon and manticore, it was that she usually ended up under their paws or between their teeth.

Twilight started to run away as the bear followed her, and the moment she looked back at him, Angel was on his shoulder, mocking her by sticking his tongue out. So this is how you want to play it? Let's see how you like this then, Twilight thought as she charged her horn, her body flashed in a bright light. Perfect.

Unlike in past situations, this time the little mare ensured to keep enough distance to remove the effects of the shrinking spell from herself without interruptions. Her body grew in size as her every step become slower but longer. Suddenly, Twilight tripped over an obstacle, causing her to open her eyes and yelp in surprise. She quickly looked back at the chasing beast, who now didn’t seem scary any longer. If I am correct in my calculations, I recovered around sixty-five percent of my mass, it’s more than enough.

She stood up and balanced herself on her right foreleg, her attention focused on the approaching bear. With one swift move and smirk on her face, she pushed herself towards her foe while performing a spin kick. Her no longer tiny rear hoof made a contact with bear’s leg, causing him to lose his balance and trip over.

The unicorn rolled to the side and evaded being trapped under the bear’s body. She jumped and kicked him in the back, causing Angel to fall from his shoulder. Wasting no time, Twilight grabbed the bear’s leg between both of her forelegs and asked, “Would you like a massage? I learned it by watching Fluttershy…It will be my first time putting what I learned in practice, though.”

The bear shook his leg, but Twilight held her ground, holding the leg in a vice grip. After a few seconds of pointless struggle, Harry looked at Twilight and growled with a pleading tone. Satisfied, the unicorn released the leg and pointed towards his last sleeping spot. “I thought so.”

With the bear out of the way, Twilight approached the bunny and knelt to his level, feeling uneasy at the fact that her adversary was now so much smaller than her. The rabbit tried to run, but Twilight stopped him by stomping her hoof. “Boo!”

After her powerful voice caused the bunny to roll on the ground with a small trail of dust following him. Angel massaged his ears and turned towards the unicorn. He waved his little paw while smiling awkwardly.

Twilight raised her own hoof, which caused the bunny to flinch. With bitten lip, she moved her hoof as delicately as possible and poked the terrified rabbit in the nose. “That’s for sending the bear after me, Angel.” She raised herself from the ground and looked away from the rabbit who was now massaging his nose. With the help of her magic, she focused on the water in a nearby stream as a large bubble emerged from it. With the bubble of water levitating towards Angel, she added, “Time for a bath!”

The talk between both mares took at least an hour as Fluttershy did her best to cheer up Cadence after hearing a heartbreaking story. Having her parents killed by a dragon raiding her village during her youth explained the recently defeated fears of dragons and her desire for vengeance on their previous adventure.

“I hope I can trust you to keep it a secret, especially from Twilight,” Cadence said with relief as she wiped leftover tears from her cheeks and the corners of her eyes.

“But… why?” Fluttershy asked as she escorted the alicorn towards the exit.

Cadence walked with slow and careful steps as several small woodland animals including mice, rats, bunnies and several kinds of birds perched on her body, her wings spread to give them more space to sit on. She looked to the side, right into the pegasus’s eyes as if trying to read her very soul. Not breaking eye contact, she spoke, “I care a great deal about Twilight and I want to keep her happy. I want to see her smile and cheer despite all the harsh obstacles and burdens she puts on herself. I… I couldn’t bear to see her look at me in pity. Her happiness is more important than mine.”

Fluttershy raised her foreleg to respond but lowered it moment later as she didn't know how to respond. She looked at the floor and whimpered. After the avalanche of emotions she felt for over the last hour, she still felt restrained sadness and regret behind the cheerful smile of the former princess. What else was she hiding? What else was weighing on her heart?

“Thank you so much for listening to me, Fluttershy. I feel so much better after getting this off of my chest.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m glad that I could help. It was a pleasant conversation for me as well. I hope we can repeat it one day.”

Once outside, Cadence shook Fluttershy’s hoof, who didn’t hesitate to return the gesture, feeling as if a deep bond had formed between them. “Where is Twilight, by the way?” she asked curiously, only for Overwatch to cough from behind and to point her hoof towards the field where Twilight sat next to several tired animals.

Cadence walked closer to her no-longer-little friend and asked, “What have you been doing, Twilight?” She looked at the tired animals. A bear was lying with his paws spread, with some deer lying next to him and an eagle standing on his back. A few small critters seemed tired as well but tried to hide it. “Did you organize an animal marathon or something?”

Twilight turned around and waved at her. “Kind of. While you were busy, I tried to test myself and play with Fluttershy’s animals. I was extra careful not to hurt any of them and choose the games with care.”

“Oh… what did you play with them?” Fluttershy asked curiously as she examined her animals from a distance. None seemed injured.

Twilight pointed at the bear. “I was hoof/paw wrestling with... Harry, was it? I even managed to convince him to a full wrestle with me, and I won,” Twilight said with a prideful smile.

Harry murmured something in his own language as Fluttershy raised a hoof to her face and said, “Oh my... “

“What did he say?” Cadence asked curiously as she looked between the pegasus and her larger friend.

“Harry said that Twilight got him to his knees faster than I ever did,” Fluttershy said with a suspiciously tired voice as her body trembled for a short moment.

Cadence’s pupils shrank as she pointed at the pegasus and asked, “You wrestled a bear?” A few animals jumped off her body, sensing her shock.

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh no no no… just a friendly massage from time to time.”

Twilight pointed at the deer and said, “I participated in hundred meter sprints.” Her foreleg turned towards the eagle on Harry's back. “The eagle and falcon tried to beat me in a game of tag, and I didn’t teleport to make it fair.”

Cadence rolled her eyes before pointing towards Ponyville as she spoke, “Sugarcube Corner is next on the list. Do you want a break before we go?”

“Nah,” Twilight responded as she hopped back to her hooves and trotted in place as if warming up for a sprint. “I had a few breaks during our competitions. I’m warmed up and ready.” She looked at the female guard, who was currently staring at the cottage, and asked, “What about you, Overwatch, wanna join us?”

The guard shook her head. “Nah, I’ll pass. I hoped to have a little chat with Fluttershy about… personal matters.”

“Okay, see you around,” Twilight responded as she started to trot towards the town. Cadence knelt and asked the animals to disembark from her body as she said her farewells to them before taking Twilight’s example in an attempt to catch up with her.

With her little unicorn friend and a large endless walking storage of magic and love leaving for the town, Fluttershy gently closed the door to her cottage and collapsed, hyperventilating as her disguise dropped in an instant, her horn lighting with a large aura of magic.

Fluttershy struggled to get her magic under control, breathing heavily in the process as she wiped drops of sweat from her face. I… I need to deliver this love to my queen as fast as possible… it’s far too much for me to store, she thought before sighing, feeling as if her own heart tried to escape her chest. “I cannot believe how much magic and kindness Cadence shared with me. I feel as if I ate a month’s supply of love.”

Fluttershy looked from behind the window upon Cadence who was now far away on the horizon. "You truly are an alicorn of love. Bearing pain and guilt for centuries while keeping your anger and hate at bay. The stories they say about you aren't even close to the heart you truly have…”

“What stories?” Overwatch asked as she was sitting in the center of the room, staring at the changeling with jealousy. “I really envy you, Fluttershy. Neither Cadence nor Celestia ever opened up so much to me. Animals, friends and now the alicorn of love, you sure get lots of magic out of it.”

The challenging stabilized herself, her horn still flaring brightly. “Envy… me? But surely you receive enough magic from Steel Blade and Twilight to sustain yourself.”

The guard sighed. “Twilight is too small, and while she cares for me, there isn’t much magic she can share that way. Steely always kept me well fed, but lots of stored love has to go to the hive.”

“Really, why? I thought you were a scout who became a spy, not a love collector?”

Overwatch chuckled before nodding. “True. Normally I wouldn’t need to bother sending magic back to the hive as long as I do my job, but times changed.”

Fluttershy raised her hoof to her face as her bug-like wings buzzed and her eyes widened. “Oh… is the situation that bad?” After noticing a nod, she approached Overwatch on her trembling legs and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I… I will contact my Queen and ask her… if I can share magic I gather with your hive.”

The guard smiled warmly. “It would be… appreciated.” She then looked towards the window and added, “I just hope that the magic you’re draining from Cadence alongside her constantly shrinking Twilight will not have any… consequences.”

Fluttershy gulped as she looked up at the bright aura of magic. Positive emotions, compassion, and love are like holes in a dam. The bigger the holes, the more magic will leak to me… Poor Cadence. I hope I didn’t take too much.

Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 3

Author's Note

A little note: This part takes place before Overwatch makes her apperance at Fluttershy's cottage in part 2.

Enjoy.

Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 3

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 11

Cadence's Vacation
-
Part 3 - Pinkie’s Quest

If Pinkie prided herself on anything, it was surely bringing smiles to everypony’s faces. She poured her heart and soul into spreading cheer with her trademark Pinkie Power. Sugarcube Corner was a place she could proudly call her second home, a place she loved to work in. It served as her personal base of operations, stocked with balloons, party cannons, and emergency supplies always ready to welcome new ponies or cheer up the sad ones.

Today, her sanctuary of sweets and laughter had been invaded by a depressed pony, a pony in need, but it wasn’t time to strike just yet.

Find the sad pony needing your professional assistance - check.

Prepare arsenal of sweets and cheering-up equipment for any possibility - check.

Figure out what bothers the sad pony - uncheck.

Prepare plan of operation or cheering up party - uncheck.

Cheer up the sad pony by any means necessary - uncheck.

“Here are your cupcakes,” Pinkie said as she placed the order in front of the two guards sitting at the table. The pegasus stared at the wall, resting his head on a hoof. “Where’s Twilight, by the way? I thought you guys were inseparable.”

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Just because our job is to ensure Twilight’s safety in this crazy town doesn’t mean we need to stick to her like glue. That little mare can take care of herself just fine,” she said, sniffing at the cupcake before her. “Besides, Cadence is with her, helping her to learn how to get back to normal size without exploding or crushing everything in her way, so we got a long break.”

“Ohhh…” Pinkie said before pointing at the depressed pegasus, who hadn’t even looked at his cupcake and was instead trailing his hoof in circles on the table. “What about Steelie then? What's gotten into him?”

Overwatch shrugged. “Beats me. Been trying to figure that out for the last couple hours, but he hasn’t really given me much at all. I’m really starting to worry about him.” She took a bite of her cupcake, chewing it for a couple seconds before breathing out a sigh. “I’m not hungry. I’m gonna head to the cottage and make sure it’s still standing.”

She glanced at Steel Blade as she stood up before turning to Pinkie and motioning with her head towards one of the empty rooms. Pinkie, lacking much in the way of subtlety, bounced after her.

The unicorn guard closed the door after Pinkie before turning to her and saying, “I need your help.”

“Ooh ooh ooh! I love helping!” Pinkie said, still bouncing.

“Good.” Overwatch took a deep breath. “Steelie’s behavior has been… off for quite some time now, and recently it’s been even weirder than usual.”

“Huh?”

“Every time we go to Sweet Apple Acres, he always sneaks glances at Big Mac and you can feel the jealousy coming off him. It’s started happening since our adventure with the dragon.”

“You mean when Big Mac saved Twilight from being crushed under a giant boulder and Cadence saved everyone from being crushed under a ton of humongous boulders?” She asked before tapping her chin. “I doubt even my sisters could manage to handle that many rocks at once.”

Overwatch shrugged. “Jealousy, self-pity, I’m not sure, but it’s pretty serious. He usually doesn’t shut me out like this, and I have no idea how to bring him out of this depression. It’s driving me nuts.”

Pinkie nodded and smiled. “Don’t worry your armored little head because the best party planner in Ponyville is on the job.”

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

Pinkie stood on her rear hooves and spread her forelegs. “Of course I can. I’ll never stand by when my friend is sad.”

“Can you promise to get him better?” Overwatch asked with a hopeful smile.

Pinkie’s cheerful smile turned into a serious one as she placed her hoof on her chest and grabbed a cupcake with her other hoof. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Pinkie Promise!”

Overwatch furrowed her brow. “What was that?”

Pinkie stopped and spoke with unusual seriousness, sending a wave of emotions into Overwatch which nearly knocked her out of her hooves. “This was a Pinkie Promise, and nopony, especially me, breaks Pinkie Promise. I will use any means necessary to make Steelie smile. Anything!”

Overwatch nodded slowly, “That’s… good to hear. I’ll just be going then. Good luck on your quest,” she said with a brief salute before heading out of the empty room.

Figure out what bothers the sad pony - still uncheck. Time to change that.

“What’s with the frooowny face?” Pinkie asked as she emerged from behind Steel Blade. Her worry only increased when the pegasus guard wasn’t startled at all by her signature ‘emerging from behind ponies’ move. “Come on, tell Auntie Pinkie what makes you so sad, and I’ll do everything in my power to turn that frown upside down!”

Steel Blade sighed. “Doubt that.”

Pinkie used her puppy-dog eyes on Steel Blade. After several seconds of not receiving any response, her expression shifted into a serious one. “I see this is a special case,” Pinkie said as she clapped her forehooves together before sitting next to the pegasus. “Wanna hear some funny words I came up with? I already have a two-hours long song written about them!”

Steel Blade’s eyes opened wide as he nearly fell from his seat. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell you. Just no funny words or any sort of singing, please.”

Pinkie smiled enthusiastically. Always works. She asked, “So, what makes you so sad?”

Steel Blade’s ears drooped as he leaned back over the counter. “I dunno, it’s just… I just feel so useless and weak. I’d been a guard for Princess Celestia’s student for almost half of my life now, but recently I’ve just been doing a whole lot of… nothing.”

“Awww… you're not useless. You’re a great supporting character!”

“I’m a what?”

“Nevermind! Anyway, why are you feeling so useless? Please tell me.”

The guard took a deep breath. “I’ve been completely useless against Nightmare Moon, the dragon, and the Ursa Minor, while Twilight, no matter her size, can hold her ground. I can't even protect her on a daily basis! My partner is doing most of the work anyway and doesn’t really need my help. She’s been handling all these crazy situations head-on while I’ve just… been there. Recently, Big Macintosh has done more for Twilight than I’ve ever done over the years, and once she gets used to being bigger, I’ll just… fade into obscurity.”

He sighed and lowered his head. “Twilight even said my magic was only a fifth of what Rainbow Dash has. I don’t even know what the point of me being here is,” he muttered before looking up at Pinkie. “You even said I was some low-level rogue. Feh. Figures.”

Pinkie moved closer and stroked his back. “Ssshhh… I'm sorry. I didn’t know that you felt that way.”

“Yeah, well, sorry for being a waste of space. Just get Big Mac to do my job. It’s not like he hasn’t been doing a better job of it than I have anyways.” Steel Blade pressed his forehead into the table as Pinkie embraced him in a hug.

“You are not a failure! You don’t need to have super powers, be super special, or beat powerful foes in a battle to be a fun and cool supporting character. You’re great just the way you are.”

“Pinkie, you’re not helping,” Steel Blade replied, his face deadpan.

Pinkie dropped the pegasus guard with a gasp before disappearing in a cloud of dust.

The guard simply sighed before forcing himself to nibble on the cupcake in front of him.

“Pinkie, dear, are you sure you want to do this?” Mrs. Cake asked in worry as she considered Pinkie’s request. “It’s not like you to take a vacation. Not that you don’t deserve it.”

Mr. Cake nodded in agreement. “What could possibly be so important?”

“A Sad Pony Emergency and a Pinkie Promise, that’s what. After the dragon slaying quest, Steel Blade is feeling under the bridge since two other ponies saved Twilight from being crushed by an avalanche of rocks while he couldn’t do anything to help.”

“Oh dear,” Mr. Cake responded. “What happened?”

After putting on the last of her gear, Pinkie raised her foreleg and said, “Well, Big Mac stopped a giant boulder from falling on Twilight, and then a little later, Cadence dove in and pushed both Big Mac and Twilight out from getting squished by a bunch of rocks.”

Mr. Cake’s eyes widened. “Were they alright?”

Mrs. Cake tapped him on the shoulder. “We saw them at the hospital. Big Mac got out alright in the end, even if he was bedbound for a couple days, but Cadence seemed to be just fine.”

“Actually,” Pinkie said with a chipper smile. “Cadence was the one who got buried under a mountain of rocks. Definitely not a fun time!”

Both Cakes gasped as the stallion spoke first, “But… she had nothing but bruises. If she was hit by an avalanche, how could she survive?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “She’s an alicorn. Duuuh…”

Both of the Cakes gasped and said in unison, “But… but…”

“You’ve already met Twilight. Aside from being super strong, she’s very tough, I mean, like very, very tough thanks to her harsh training, being crushed repeatedly and stuff. It turns out that alicorns are even tougher thanks to their magic while also having the power to conquer or protect entire towns, putting even Twilight to shame.” She shrugged. “Who knew.”

Mrs. Cake raised forehoof up to her face. “Alicorn or not, Cadence seemed to be very kind and fragile, and surely she didn’t spend years pushing herself at diminutive sizes. I find it hard to imagine anypony, even an alicorn, could survive a rock slide.”

“Cadence is over a millennium old, and has lived all over Equestria in disguise that whole time. I’m sure she’s had her share of bad experiences to make her toughen up,” Pinkie said as she fixed her hat. “If she or Twilight comes here, please tell them that I’m going on an adventure to cheer up her guard and that I’m sorry we couldn’t bond more. Love you.” She gave them one firm hug before dashing away, leaving two stunned earth ponies in her wake.

“So… As an alicorn, Cadence is tougher and more powerful than Twilight at her full size… Interesting development,” the mare said. “Also, it seems that alicorns weren’t as rare as we thought.”

“We live with Pinkie Pie. It’s hardly the weirdest thing we’ve encountered, dear. Remember when we first met Twilight?”

The two bakers stared at each other for a few seconds, shrugged, and returned to their work.

Steel Blade walked towards the exit, his head hanging low, only to see a shadow of a pony blocking the door. He raised his head to find Pinkie Pie standing on her rear hooves, wearing a trainer’s hat with big ‘P’ on it and a T-shirt with ‘I will catch 'em all!’ written on it. A young alligator was sitting on her shoulder.

“W-what's with the outfit?” Steel Blade asked apprehensively.

“Do you no longer want to be a low-level failure? Do you want to kick flank? Do you want to be the very best, like nopony ever was?” Pinkie asked firmly, catching the guard off guard with the seriousness in her voice.

“Seems… nice?”

Pinkie smiled as she grabbed him and pointed towards the exit. “Then come with me on an adventure! And once we’re done, you will be a high-level champion!”

Steel Blade rolled his eyes. “So what I’m hearing is… You want to drag me into some sort of crazy, illogical adventure to waste my time and risk my life doing something unproductive?”

Pinkie nodded. “Pretty much!”

“Give me one reason why should I follow you instead of wallowing in my self-pity.”

“You will no longer be just some average guard and a mere side character, but a super-duper guard and a more prominent player! What’s more, you'll impress all your friends with your newly gained skills!” She narrowed her eyes at the guard. “Also, I won’t sing you my two-hour song on getting better.”

Steel Blade closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sooo going to regret this, but alright, c’mon. Let’s do this!”

Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 4

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Ch.11 - Cadence's Vacation - Part 5

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 11

Cadence's Vacation
-
Part 5 - Dash and Aerial Exercise

“I admit, while work on the farm was invigorating and Applejack’s family was very welcoming, meeting with Rarity was much more memorable,” Cadence said as she flew lazily towards Rainbow Dash’s house, a tinier-than-usual unicorn perched next to her left ear. “Making such an intricate model of Ponyville and then creating those wonderful sets of armor for Spike and Applejack, she’s clearly very passionate about her work. I’m quite envious of her drive. To be honest, all your friends seem to be masters at their jobs.”

“They sure are, but why do you envy Rarity?” Twilight asked, speaking into her friend’s ear. “You’ve worked on likely hundreds of different jobs and mastered many different skills and spells, like when you restored all the damage to the tiny Ponyville.”

Cadence’s ear twitched, and she carefully reached up with a hoof to scratch at an itch as Twilight moved out of the way and sat next to the large horn. “Twilight,” she murmured. “I may be adept at hundreds of different fields of work, but the only things I’ve mastered are illusions and spells related to emotions. Besides, I was never passionate about anything I’ve done. I just did them to pass the time and be useful to society.” Well, there was one work I loved to do… She dipped her head and breathed out a melancholic sigh, forcing Twilight to hold her horn in order not to fall off. But that was in the past, and it’ll never come back.

“Awww…” Twilight returned to her spot behind her friend’s ear, fiddling with her hooves. “So foalsitting me… was that also just to pass time?”

Cadence bit her bottom lip at her choice of words. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her friend’s feelings. Spending time with Twilight was… the most excitement and fun I’ve had in centuries. She is like a daughter to me… does that count as being passionate about foalsitting? What should I tell her? Cadence thought as she desperately searched for the right words to answer.

After a moment of thinking, she took a deep breath and spoke, "No, Twilight. That job was anything but ordinary. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I wasn't happy for a long time because of all the death and loss I had seen, but meeting you has changed that. You opened my heart again, you tiny unicorn, and I will never forget that feeling."

Twilight cheered up in an instant as she grabbed tip of Cadence’s ear in a tight hug, pressing her cheek against it. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Cadence responded, ignoring the return of the itching on her ear. “Still, it’s a pity that Pinkie Pie wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner. It may sound surprising, but I really missed her random and energetic personality.” She smiled warmly as she thought back. “The welcome party for Luna, the cake-eating competition, all her puns during our adventures, and even when she used me to shoot down all those Diamond Dogs. I was really looking forward to bonding with her.”

Twilight pouted, her ears drooping. She released her friend's ear and stroked it gently, which only caused it to flick at her. “I’m sorry, but look on the bright side. Pinkie and Steelie now have the vacations they so much deserve. I’m sure they’re having a great time.”

“Are you sure it’s safe for us to camp here?” Steel Blade asked, raising an eyebrow as Pinkie set up a tent near the entrance of the cave where they had encountered the Diamond Dogs.

“Of course it is! We're near a safe zone, no random encounters here,” Pinkie said before rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Unless we follow the rules where sleeping near an enemy patrol area has a certain chance for us to be ambushed if we use the rest option.”

“Pinkie, this isn’t exactly an Ogres and Oubliettes campaign,” Steel Blade stated, frowning.

Pinkie looked up at the pegasus guard, who was covered in bruises and sweat from climbing during a harsh training montage, before turning her attention towards another party member. “Thanks for coming with us, Vinyl Scratch! And thanks for providing the background music and training montage soundtrack for Steelie.”

The unicorn fixed her purple glasses and smiled at her. “No sweat! Whenever you need an epic soundtrack, DJ-pon3 is the pony for the job.”

Steel Blade looked at the oversized speaker and frowned. “Still, did I really have to carry that thing all the way up here just to have musical accompaniment?”

Vinyl smirked and waved her foreleg dismissively. “Nah, I have smaller and more mobile equipment that could provide the music.”

Steel Blade’s eye twitched. “Then what is it and why I was carrying this giant thing all the way here?”

“Oh that, it’s nothing special,” Vinyl said calmly before beaming with excitement as she pressed a big red button. “It is just my ‘Soundwave Blaster!’”

Before Steel Blade could respond, a loud noise pushed him into the wall, suddenly thankful that they were not near the avalanche area.

“It was meant for large parties, but Pinkie came up with a few cool ideas how to weaponize it, something about keeping monsters from ruining her parties. We also had a lot of fun coming up with a cool name.” She looked at the sky, a wistful smile on her lips. “Loud-noise directional-vibration speaker and Timberwolf Repellant was way too long, Bass Cannon was better, but after some brainstorming, we decided that Soundwave Blaster was the coolest one.” She lowered her head and gently patted the device. “I just finished upgrading this baby and wanted to test it out, but my roommate complained that it’s too loud and blablabla like that, can you believe it?”

The guard shook his head, hardly hearing anything with bumping sound in his ears. “Could you repeat that?!”

“I said, I wanted to test my SOUNDWAVE BLASTER prototype without Octy complaining, and then Pinkie showed up and asked me to provide music for some crazy adventure, and boom, here I am!"

Pinkie nodded. “Yup! She not only provides music, but is also a party member, bard class. She can confuse our enemies and use sound-based attacks. Isn’t that awesome?!”

Steel Blade put his hoof on his head. “How did I get myself into this mess?”

“How could you forget already, silly? You felt useless compared to a pony you really, really like and her friends as they—with me included—became national heroines. Not wanting to stay in the background and be overshadowed, you asked me to help you, and so we set out for an epic adventure filled with random encounters, character development, and treasure hunting so you can keep up with a mare who can beat you in everything while not even reaching up to your knee.”

“Hey, I like her, but I think you’re exaggerating a little on just how much.” The stallion guard rolled his eyes. “And I was being rhetorical.”

“And I gave you a rhetorical answer,” Pinkie responded with a large smile. Chuckling.

Steel Blade facehooved and murmured, “Sweet Celestia, I traded Overwatch for this.”

“I am sure they’re becoming the best of friends!” Twilight added cheerfully before she furrowed her brow. “Wait a moment. She used you for magical rapid-fire?”

Cadence sighed again. “I hope I can go on another adventure with Pinkie one day. After millennium of traveling all over Equestria, not much can surprise me anymore. I may not know your friend too well, but I get the feeling that she would do something unexpected every so often.”

“That’s Pinkie Pie for you,” Twilight responded, distracted by the soft wind of their flight passing through her mane and tail.

“Cadence!”

The alicorn halted abruptly as Twilight was launched from her ear by her sudden startled reaction. She bit her lip, quickly catching the little mare with her magic and giving her a sheepish smile.

Both mares turned toward the source of the familiar voice, quickly recognizing the approaching pegasus.

“Hello Rainbow Dash! Such a coincidence to meet you here,” Cadence responded as she waved at the pegasus, her wings flapping slowly. “We were on the way to your house.”

“We?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew closer, catching sight of the tiny pony still surrounded by a blue aura. “Twilight?”

“That’s me!”

“You look… smaller than usual…” Dash said as she moved her hoof beside the levitated Twilight. Usually if she stepped on the tiny mare, her hoof wouldn’t cover her entire body, but now it could with ease.

Cadence chuckled. “After Rarity introduced us to her tiny model of Ponyville, Twilight tricked me into shrinking her to the smallest size possible at her current level of power.”

Twilight turned to the alicorn and rubbed her neck. “S-sorry!”

Dash crossed her forelegs and said, “Model of Ponyville… I hadn’t thought of that. Neat.” A smug grin appeared on her face. “So, are you going to stay this small from now on? That’s going to be hard to get used to.”

Twilight shook her head. “Not for long!”

The pegasus tilted her head to the side in confusion while Cadence rolled her eyes and said, “With me around, she has been changing her size for days. I’m surprised how quickly her reserves are replenishing considering how much magic she spends fueling the shrinking spell.”

Twilight puffed her chest pridefully. “I have been enduring power surges for years and pushing my limits almost every day. If anything, it shouldn’t be a surprise I regenerate magic so quickly.” She tapped her hooves together and added thoughtfully, “Plus, my magic recovers faster at night thanks to Luna’s blessing.”

“Luna’s blessing, how could I forget?” Cadence added with a facehoof as she thought, No wonder she succeeds where I fail. Unicorn or not, she has an additional regeneration source. I doubt Auntie Luna’s blessing would work on me though.

“Cool,” Dash said before looking at Cadence. “Not to mention you have an all-powerful flank-kicking alicorn on your side. There’s nothing you cannot do together.” The trio of mares laughed before Dash crossed her forelegs again and looked at the tiny pony. “So, why did you want to meet me? And what’s up with that size-changing business?”

With the help of a brief teleport, Twilight freed herself from Cadence’s levitation and appeared on Dash’s muzzle, now finding so much more space to sit on. “Two reasons. First, I wanted my new friends to bond with my former foalsitter and friend from Canterlot, and second, I was thinking I could practice controlling my strength and magic at bigger sizes.”

Dash nodded. “Sounds cool,” she said as she flew next to Cadence and placed a foreleg around her neck, ignoring the fact that Twilight was forced to anchor herself tightly on Dash’s nose to prevent herself from being thrown off. “You saved our flanks from the dragon and got buried under a rain of boulders for your friend’s safety. You’re totally okay in my book.”

She let go of Cadence and gasped, placing her forehooves on her cheeks. “That’s it. I can teach you all I know about flying!” She beat her chest with a hoof and smiled proudly. “I mastered lots of cool stunts and we can have so much fun.”

Rainbow Dash looked at the little mare and added, “And you can both train your pegasus magic as well as self control if you increase your size.” She pointed at an approaching griffon, who was flying towards them at full speed. “Also, on a side note, I talked with Gilda, and she wants to practice fighting with both of you. It’s the perfect opportunity.”

“‘Sup guys—” Gilda stopped as she came closer, narrowing her eyes at Dash’s muzzle and the pony sitting on it, who was now standing on her back hooves and waving at her. The griffon immediately pulled her head back and covered her beak with both of her talons. “Don’t you even think about sneaking into my stomach again at that size. I won’t let my guard down this time.”

Twilight giggled. “You won’t need to worry about that for now, but well… could I ask you to get somepony for me really quickly?”

Gilda shot her a deadpan look.

“Remind me, how did I end up in your talons... again?” Overwatch asked in annoyance as she tried to look anywhere but down at the ground hundreds of meters away.

“You’re a special delivery ordered by your boss,” Gilda said.

Overwatch let out a deep sigh. “Celestia, I should have asked for more respect when I was younger,” she grumbled, crossing her forelegs. “Maybe then I wouldn’t end up being treated like baggage after being one of the best marksmares in the Guard.”

“I couldn’t care less if you were the princess herself. You did pretty good against the Ursa Minor and the dragon and you got my respect, but don’t expect chariot service from me. I’m a griffon, not a taxi,” Gilda said with a snort.

Overwatch rolled her eyes.

“Besides. With Steelie gone, Twilight was worried you might be a little bored, unless you would prefer the company of books instead.”

The guard tapped her chin thoughtfully. I spent a dangerously high amount of magic during our battle against the dragon, and with Steelie gone, I lost my main source of magic… I need to consider my choices carefully. Overwatch cleared her throat with a cough and asked, “So, what’s Twilight up to this time? Usually she’s pushing herself too hard or biting off more than she can chew, but ever since Cadence’s arrival, she’s done the exact opposite.”

“Dash said she was taking Cadence and Twilight to a canyon named Ghastly something…” Gilda said as she scratched her chin with her talons.

“Watch it, you almost dropped me… again!”

After pressing both of her hind legs against both sides of Overwatch’s belly, the griffon continued, “Twilight is practicing how to not blow up stuff up at her full size, and Dash is giving Cadence some flying lessons. In return, the alicorn was gonna share some of the fighting skills she learned from Shining.” She chuckled. “Anyway, as a sniper or whatever you called yourself, you can contribute as well.”

“Hmn…” Overwatch closed her eyes and thought, Wasting my low reserves just to show off my abilities wouldn’t be wise… but on the other hoof, with Twilight at her full size, if I can get some positive emotions from her, I should be fine, and just having Cadence in the general vicinity would be a great boon too. The guard huffed and muttered under her breath, “Lucky Fluttershy, hogging all the nice, juicy emotions from Cadence when I need them most.”

“Speak up. You’re mumbling,” Gilda said.

“N-nothing. I‘m looking forward to some time in the field. The fight against the dragon proved that I’m a bit rusty.” Suddenly her ears perked up as a grin spread across her face. “Wait a moment, you said that Dash was giving Cadence flying lessons?”

“Nice to see your memory isn’t filled with holes after all.”

“I’m not that old yet,” Overwatch said with a pout. “If I remember correctly, Rainbow Dash is trying to become a Wonderbolt, right?”

“Bingo! Keep it up and you may just get a cookie,” the griffon said before a loud burst of laughter reached her ears. She looked down at her passenger and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Placing a hoof on her mouth, Overwatch took a moment to restrain her laughter and said, “Sorry, it’s just funny that Dash would give Cadence flying lessons of all ponies.”

“And what’s wrong with sharpening an alicorn’s flying abilities? They have those large wings after all, so they should at least make use of them.”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong with that. It’s just that Dash is trying to teach flying skills to a retired Wonderbolt.”

Gilda’s ears perked up as she stopped in mid-air and looked down. “What are you talking about?”

Overwatch’s expression snorted with a smug expression. “I’m sure Cadence already told you that she took a ton of different jobs over the centuries while disguised?” Noticing a firm nod and growing curiosity, she added, “It just so happens that five centuries ago, she joined the ‘Bolts’ under the persona of a pegasus named Braveheart.”

The griffon pressed her beak against the guard’s muzzle. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am. Officially, she died in action while saving two of her wingmates from being devoured by an enraged mutated chimera during a mission in the badlands.”

Both griffon and the guard laughed again before Gilda said, “I can’t wait to see Dash’s face when she hears this.”

“Hey, Twilight!” Overwatch waved her hoof at the no-longer-tiny mare as she was set down on an upper part of the canyon.

Twilight would have gladly returned the gesture if not for the fact that she stood upon a hind leg, balancing a round stone half the size of a pony’s head on her right rear hoof. Two similar stones were also balanced on the unicorn’s forehooves, and one last rock was balanced on her muzzle, forcing the battle-mage to look up motionlessly. Twilight’s horn was lit in a very dim aura as several more small stones levitated in a circle above her head.

With a smirk, Gilda approached and moved a primary feather towards the unicorn's muzzle.

“Y… you, w-wouldn’t… dare,” Twilight said slowly, doing her best to not drop the stone from her muzzle as she looked at the griffon out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh, I would,” Gilda responded as she began to tickle Twilight with her wing, causing the unicorn to sweat and tremble a little, barely keeping the balanced objects from falling.

“S-stop it... “

“Make me,” Gilda challenged.

The levitating stones suddenly changed direction. Two of them left their orbit, swinging down towards the griffon’s legs and taking them out from under her with a swift push. The others followed after, and before Gilda could get more than a yelp out, she was pinned to the ground with stones on her wings and beak.

Overwatch approached the griffon, shaking her head with a long sigh. “Alright, Twilight, let’s stop bullying the poor peasants.”

“‘Sup guys!” Dash called as she landed in front of the group, quickly bursting into laughter at Gilda’s expense.

Twilight dropped the rest of the stones and got back to her hooves as she rubbed the strained parts of her body, freeing Gilda from her trap. “Now, with Overwatch here, we can perform some more difficult exercises. Hitting a target with a long range attack requires a lot of precision, and I would really like to practice that.” She looked at Dash and tilted her head to the side. “Where’s Cadence?”

“I’m… here…” the alicorn responded, breathing heavily with her horn glowing as she flew out from inside the canyon, barely reaching the top even with the help of her rapidly flapping wings. With a loud thump, she landed on the ground, cracking the stone beneath her hooves from the impact. Her legs bent under the pressure and trembled.

Overwatch raised an eyebrow and approached the sweating alicorn, her attention turning to the several large stones attached to Cadence’s legs, back, and wings. She raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “Did you really strap a ton of rock to Cadence and make her fly? Seriously? She’s gotta be at least three times her weight here.”

“A-actually…” Cadence started as she reasserted herself, “I feel at least five times heavier.”

Rainbow Dash puffed her chest and spread her wings presentably. “It’s important to keep one’s wings in good shape. Many pegasi can pull chariots with cargo several times their weight, and Twilight lifts stuff fifty times her size on a daily basis.”

Twilight blinked. “Did you actually guess that amount? My current record actually is fifty times my own weight, though I do have help from my protection spell and I can’t really take a step while lifting it.”

“I can already say that pulling a weight is way easier than having the same weight tied to one’s wings,” Cadence remarked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead for the umpteenth time today.

“Are you trying to cast a spell, Cadence?” Overwatch asked as she pointed at the still glowing horn.

The alicorn blinked. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she responded before gritting her teeth as the aura around her horn increased in size. Everypony stared in shock when several boulders levitated from inside the canyon and dropped to the ground. Even Twilight at her normal size could feel the earth tremble under her hooves from the impact.

Overwatch looked at Dash once again and said, “You tied weights to Cadence’s legs, back, and wings, and told her to levitate around ten tons of rocks while flying?” Noticing a nod, she asked, “Is there anything else you did to increase the difficulty? I am all ears.”

Dash rubbed her foreleg. “Well… I kind of asked her to fly by a huge number of spike-covered vines, face a strong wind while passing a tunnel, and evade being eaten by Quarray Eels.”

The alicorn frowned, and, after a closer look, the group could see bruises and cut-marks all over her body. Cadence said, “Trying to avoid those giant monsters while feeling one and a half tons pulling me down, I was lucky that those monsters didn’t find the stones attached to me tasty, or else I would have needed to teleport from the inside of their stomachs.” She sighed before adding in a depressed tone. “I pity anyone who you will force to fly by this canyon.”

Gilda and the guard looked at each other and smirked.

The griffon approached Dash and placed foreleg around her neck. “I see you’re giving our alicorn friend the exercise of a lifetime.”

Dash nodded. “I’m just trying to make her more awesome. If she will keep following my training regime, then in a few years she may even become Wonderbolt material.”

Gilda barely contained her laughter before adding, “Wonderbolt material, you say.”

Cadence noticed a smug look on the guard and griffon’s faces, and took a step back, already feeling where this was going. She looked at Overwatch and growled, “This was meant to stay between us, how could you?”

“Oh come on, Cady, surely you don’t want to have any harmless secrets kept from your friends,” Overwatch said innocently.

“Secrets?” Dash said as Twilight approached and exposed her ears.

“Oh yes. You see, Dash… Cadence already was a Wonderbolt.”

Dash’s pupils shrunk. “Y-you're kidding right.” She laughed awkwardly. “G-good one.”

“It wasn’t a joke,” Overwatch added, causing the alicorn to glare daggers at her. “Cadence was a Wonderbolt five centuries ago. Officially she died while protecting her wingmates.”

“Died, how?” Twilight asked curiously. “Cadence more than once told me that she often faked her death, but what reason would she have?”

Overwatch pointed at the alicorn who was approaching with firm steps, stone cracking under her hooves. “It’s hard to explain why you’re alive when you've been attacked and poisoned by a Chimera. Only alicorns and the most tough earth ponies can survive that, and Cadence was disguised as a pegasus.”

The alicorn bent her hooves and was about to jump at Overwatch, ready to slam her with the help of the stones still tied to her body. The frustration, after all she was put through, was waiting to be unloaded in a sweet bodyslam of vengeance, when suddenly Dash got in the way and stared with stars in her eyes.

"Y-you. Were. A. Wonderbolt?!" cried Dash, her eyes growing bigger and bigger as she got closer to Cadence's face.

"Um, yes?" the alicorn answered nervously, taking a step back.

"Eeee!" squared Dash, pressing her cheeks together. "I can't believe I'm friends with one of the Wonderbolts! This is so cool! You have to teach me your tricks! Your history! All the cool adventures you went on! Maybe you can even recommend me to Spitfire and... and..." Dash, blushing, put her hooves between her legs. "I have to pee really badly, this is just too much excitement for me to handle!"

With that said, they watched her zoom out into the woods, leaving them stunned in a slightly awkward silence. Gilda chuckled before elbowing the alicorn. "Looks like you’ve got yourself a fangirl."

Cadence looked at the ground and sighed. “I was a Wonderbolt five hundred years ago. I don’t remember too many stunts, and I’m nowhere near as good a flier as I was before.”

Gilda turned to the side and looked at Cadence from the corner of her eye as she rubbed her chest. “You thought that flying with increased weight through a dangerous canyon was a tiresome training regime, just wait for what Dash will have in store for you when she finds out how rusty you’ve become.”

“B-but… you won’t tell her,” Cadence asked with pleading eyes.

“Oh, I will. If you ponies are my team now, then I prefer you to be in the best shape possible,” Gilda responded before flying towards the forest where she saw Dash flying to moment ago.

“What did I do to deserve this?” Cadence asked plaintively as her ears and wings drooped, receiving a look of pity from Twilight, who placed a forehoof on the alicorn’s shoulder.

Overwatch’s quiet laughter stopped the moment she felt a very specific emotion coming from Cadence: fear. That’s odd. I hadn’t felt this emotion ever since the dragon incident… What can possibly trouble her now?

“Hey Overwatch,” Twilight said, waking up the guard from her thoughts. “Since I am at my full size, and this canyon and area is spacious enough to keep my anxiety in check, can you teach me the art of sniping?”

Overwatch looked between Cadence and Twilight as she thought. Getting magic reserves from Twilight takes priority. I will ask Cadence what’s wrong another time. She shot her boss a smile and said, “Sure.”

Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 1

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 12

Bridge Gossip
-
part 1

Twilight yawned and stretched her legs, feeling energised after a long night of sleep. She quickly turned around and approached the sleeping alicorn, smirking. She gently changed Cadence’s sleeping position, pushing the alicorn’s legs, tail and head closer to the belly, positioning her to be curled like a sleeping cat, her own tail under her head. “Much better,” Twilight said to herself as she stroked Cadence’s head lightly. “My mentor is right, I do look adorable in this sleeping position,” she murmured to herself before jumping from her bed, not having a heart to wake up any of her sleeping friends.

Turning back, Twilight ran along her giant pillow with her hooves. Once her pillow looked presentable enough, the little mare jumped from her basket and galloped downstairs. Her attention focused on Overwatch who was still deep in sleep, while Steel Blade was nowhere to be found. As she looked at Spike sleeping deeply on the sofa, she felt pity towards her adoptive son as his young age as a dragon forced him to oversleep most of their adventures despite how desperately he wanted to participate.

Twilight looked at the big clock on the wall, pointing at seven in the morning. It seems that my sleeping habits have returned back to normal… actually, I am up far too early, she thought as she trotted towards the door, and this time she used her magic to open it quietly. Time for my morning exercise, she thought before levitating a heavy weight with her magic.

Not wasting a moment, she climbed up the giant tree while saying hello to the bees in their hive, who greeted her in return and even let her take a small lick of their honey. I must thank Fluttershy for helping me befriend the bees. It’s so much easier to climb up without them curiously walking over me every time I pass their hive.

After reaching the top and climbing back down a few times over, Twilight shook sweat from her body and looked upon Ponyville. For some reason the town felt empty as not a single pony was walking around. She levitated the heavy weight back to the ground and, once free of the heavy pressure on her back, she jumped to the ground, her legs flexing slightly from the impact. The little unicorn galloped towards the city while looking around, all the big doors closed and not a single pony in sight. “That’s odd.”

“Over here,” a whisper called as Twilight looked around in search for the source.

“Who’s there?”

“Over here, sugarcube,” once again the pony whispered, as Twilight looked upon ‘Sugarcube Corner,’ only to see upper part of the door open, a big orange hoof gesturing her to enter.

“Applejack?” Twilight galloped towards the big house decorated as if it were made of sweets. “Why are you and every pony hid…” Twilight failed to finish her sentence as the moment she was close enough, she was grabbed and hauled in forcefully.

“What in Equestria is going on in... here?” Twilight asked as she was being held in a darkened room, trapped in a strong grip as she looked around, recognizing familiar faces. “Fluttershy… Apple Bloom… Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake.” She teleported out of Applejack’s grip and reappeared on the floor, now starting at the farm mare. “Applejack, why are you all hiding?”

“B-b-because of h-her,” Applejack pointed her hoof outside of the window. Wasting no time, Twilight galloped and jumped onto it, only too see a hooded Zebra walking the main road.

“A Zebra here?” Twilight said in confusion. “She must have come a very long way from that giant jungle in the south. Does she not deserve some hospitality after such a long trip?” Twilight stated firmly as she turned towards Applejack who trembled for some reason. “Is Pinkie back yet? I bet she would love to organise a party for a new pon… zebra.”

“Have ya’ lost yer book-lovin’ mind? Why would Pinkie make a party for an Evil Enchantress?” Applejack asked with fear as Twilight looked at the farm mare in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“Are you serious?” Twilight asked in disbelief in her voice as she facehoofed for the third time during Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s explanation. Noticing that both mares nodded their heads in agreement, she sighed. “That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”

“But… but…” Fluttershy tried to say something to change Twilight’s mind, still remembering stories that her changeling mother told her about Zebras. She was happy living in Ponyville and her hive was peacefully living in Equestria in secret. Her legs trembled uncontrollably as fear of her and her kind being exposed went through her bones. “Y-you cannot trust her… she will cast a c-curse on us if we don’t hide from her.”

Twilight jumped from the window onto Fluttershy's muzzle and sat on it, while giving Fluttershy a lecturing glare. “I think you need a small education about curses.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly, trying not to throw the tiny unicorn from her nose.

Twilight spoke, “Curses belong to the branch of dark magic. It is practically accumulated dark energy formed from a spell that use the caster’s anger and hate. When the spell strikes its target, it causes either short or long lasting negative side-effects, but just like every other spell, its effect is just temporary and based on the amount of magic used to cast it.”

Twilight turned around despite the limited space she had on Fluttershy muzzle and jumped back to the window, and once again pointed her hoof at the Hooded Zebra who started to dig in the ground. “Zebras don’t have horns, they cannot cast spells, much less curses. My mentor told me that while Zebras have almost the same affinity to magic as the pony races, their magic is similar to earth ponies.”

Noticing that Applejack was giving her a curious glare, Twilight chuckled. “Instead of gaining greater strength and stamina like the earth ponies, the Zebras’ magic has developed to make their bodies more resistant to poisons and illnesses that jungles are full of. It also improves their senses like balance, perception and focus. What's more, they are also much more resistant to mind-control, dark magic, and all kind of hallucinations caused by poisonous plants.”

Twilight took a deep breath before continuing, this time more calmly and slower, “Not many ponies may know about it, and it’s not written in books, but my mentor told me that their magic can affect herbs, potions and antidotes, making them much stronger. This is just like how earth ponies can make food grow quicker and with higher quality.”

Applejack calmed down a little, while Apple Bloom nodded, “Ah have not much idea what ya just said, but it sounds cool, and yer probably right.”

Applejack looked at Apple Bloom, giving her a stern glare, making the filly flinch under it.

“Now with this out of the way, where is Pinkie Pie?”

Fluttershy approached and spoke calmly, “I saw her passing my cottage on the way to that mountain where we faced the dragon… your guard was with her.”

“Steel Blade is still with her?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, and I also saw a white unicorn wearing purple glasses with them, while your guard carried something heavy on his back… Poor dear, climbing up with it the entire way must be very stressful.” Twilight looked at Fluttershy curiously while listening to her lecture. “When I asked him what they are doing, he said that they are… umm… something about a dungeon... or was it level grinding inside the Diamond Dogs’ cave… something like that.”

“Let me guess. Pinkie Pie’s idea,” Twilight asked suspiciously. The moment Fluttershy nodded, Twilight facehoofed and decided to ignore whatever craziness her guard got himself into. “What about Rarity?”

Applejack trembled even stronger than before as she bit her lip and started to glance about shiftily. “Ah have no idea.”

Twilight shot Applejack a suspicious glare, “Let me guess, working on your armor. While you decided to hide away from your farm to avoid her sewing lessons?” Noticing that Applejack started to sweat and didn’t say a word, she smirked at her, “Figures.”

After Applejack hid her blushing face behind her hat, Twilight looked upon Fluttershy again, “What about Dash and Gilda?”

“Well…” Fluttershy started as she lowered herself to the floor and didn’t look into Twilight’s face. “From what Dash told me, after yesterday's aerial battle simulation, Gilda used Overwatch as a shield. Your guard was not happy about it and there was already a lot of tension between them.”

“And where are they now?” Twilight asked as she tilted her head to the side. Her eyes became wide a moment later and she said, “Wait, don’t tell me…”

“Dash is keeping Gilda company in the hospital at the moment,” Fluttershy stated as Twilight sighed at how easily her top guard could turn into an assassin.

Twilight turned around and opened a window with her magic, not bothering to challenge her hooves this time.

“What are ya doing Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, only to suddenly dash towards Twilight in a panic as she swung her hooves in an attempt to catch the little mare, but not before Twilight jumped outside and began to gallop towards the Zebra. “Dagnabbit!”

Much to the surprise of any ponies still peeking out of their windows, Twilight galloped towards the Everfree Forest, or rather towards the zebra that they all called an Evil Enchantress.

“Wait!” Twilight screamed as loudly as she could, causing the hooded figure in front of her to stop in her tracks and slowly turn around, before looking to her left and right in confusion.

Noticing that there was seemingly no pony around, she spoke in an annoyed tone, “Wherefrom comes this voice I hear? And is it far or is it near? Stop skulking around and leaving me blind, this disrespect I certainly mind!”

Twilight rolled her eyes before bending her legs and jumping upward. “Over here!”

The zebra blinked a few times before she took off her hood and looked down at the tiny unicorn in front of her. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you!”

Twilight looked at the zebra with a wide smile, standing on her hind legs to be more noticeable and waiting patiently for a response. The zebra leaned forward and examined her thoughtfully.

Twilight chuckled awkwardly, feeling as if she was a museum exhibit as the silence continued for many seconds, until the zebra finally broke it. “Could there be something wrong with my eyes, or are you truly this small in size?”

Twilight released a breath she was holding as the first ice was finally broken. “Oh, I’m indeed very real, though I understand that seeing a pony of my size would make you think that I’m a puppet or a prank, but I’m made of flesh and blood. I assure you,” Twilight said with a serious tone, her forehoof pressed against her chest.

“You can call me Zecora, a researcher of wild flora.” The zebra lowered herself to ground level, looking at the tiny mare with a soul piercing glare. “Have you made contact with Poison Joke? If so it seems I'm your only hope.”

Twilight looked back at the large face in confusion. “Poison… what now?”

“Tis a flower of blue in the forest of green, it gives curses and spells and it's really quite mean. Hexes, curses, it can do them all. It could easily be what made you so small.”

“Time out,” Twilight said firmly as her two tiny forelegs formed a letter ‘T’. “You’re really thinking that some blue flower called Poison… Joke, is responsible for my size reduction?”

Zecora nodded. “The flower's cruel joke can be hard to predict. This curse you have you could never have picked.”

Twilight beamed, jumping one meter high, much to the zebra’s surprise. She landed on her hind legs and put her forelegs on the large nose. “There is a flower in the Everfree Forest that can do that?! Amazing!” Twilight said in excitement as she took her forelegs from the surprised zebra and put them together in a pleading gesture. “Can you show me where it is, please, please, please.”

“I shall take it then that your minuscule appearance was not the Joke's cause, which gives me some pause." Zecora raised herself and sat, as she looked upon the irresistible puppy eyes of the tiny pony. “In all of my years I have never heard of such an extreme size-altering spell, so I would be grateful if you cared to tell. Please tell me why you're so small, start from the beginning as I want to hear it all.”

Twilight nodded as she sat and explained in a very short version how her power surge caused massive damage to the school for gifted unicorns when she was just a filly. She went on about how the princess shrunk her, and that she was tiny ever since. Zecora listened the story in disbelief and admiration, while she herself introduced herself and told Twilight how she lived in Everfree Forest alone in a small house of her making.

“I assume you wonder why we are all gathered here today?” asked a big and muscular pegasus royal guard, next to him stood two unicorns and four earth pony royal guards, while in front of them gathered small crowd of ponies.”

The crowd started to murmur to one another, while a more brave pony walked in front of it, looking around the spacious building they were in before looking straight forward into the guard’s face. “We are indeed very curious, but we already assumed that the cause behind this meeting must be very important,” said an earth pony with confidence in his voice, as guards in front of him nodded their heads.

“You are not wrong, as the day we feared has come. Nightmare Moon has returned from her long-lasting banishment,” A guard said with a serious tone in his voice as panic and confusion appeared upon everypony. “Calm yourself, brothers and sisters, as that is not all of the bad news. It seems that some of those wretched companies, the followers of Nightmare Moon, survived our ancestors’ purge.” Noticing that he had captured everypony’s attention, he continued, his expression now grim, “Nightmare Moon is gathering her army once again as we speak.”

The earth pony who ended up as the crowd’s representative spoke with fear in his voice, “B-but what can w-we do. How can we stop N-nightmare Moon… is her Majesty Princess Celestia aware of this?”

Guard shook his head, sad and disappointed expression on his face, “Nightmare Moon took the mask of a defenseless and innocent pony to fool our merciful ruler. It is up to us to finish what our ancestors started and get rid of Nightmare Moon and her followers once and for all.”

“B-but how?”

The guard smirked, “We will purge her in fire.”

Zecora walked towards the Everfree Forest, while Twilight sat on the hood on her back. “Your dedication earns my praise, your bravery leaves me amazed!” Zecora paused as she turned her head to look back at her little passenger, smiling deeply. “Even those normal in size flee from me, quite full of courage you must be.”

Twilight laughed. “Well, they said some nonsensical things about you being an Evil Enchantress and they are afraid that you will curse them, isn’t that just silly?”

Zecora frowned. “Silly? Yes, it seems to be, yet hurtful still it is to me.”

Twilight smile vanished as she looked at Zecora with understanding and pity. “I’m sorry, I guess it is mean of them to hide from you for no reason, not giving you even the slightest hospitality.” She started to think deeply as half of a minute passed.

“You're clearly thinking hard and long, perhaps you might share what is wrong?” Zecora asked with curiosity.

“Well. It is just that… that my friends are very brave, we even faced a dragon a month ago,” Twilight said while Zecora’s eyes opened widely, finding what Twilight said rather hard to believe. “And here they are, panicking over some nonsensical rumours.” She sighed and used her hooves to massage Zecora’s exposed neck as she continued, “Don’t worry, I promise that I will convince everypony that there is nothing to fear. A little education, and you will be welcomed with the kindness and respect that you deserve.”

“Speak with them if you feel you must, but why would one so small have their trust?” Zecora asked with curiosity, while Twilight smirked.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I may be small, but I’m very big in their eyes.” Twilight giggled while Zecora wondered what her little passenger meant by that.

“Wait for me!” A familiar voice captured their attention as Twilight turned around, noticing Apple Bloom running right behind them. “I see ya made Twilight as a friend, can Ah be yer friend too?”

Zecora looked down at filly and smiled. “Lonely I was, missing my home far away, making friends however has brightened my day.”

As Zecora walked into Everfree Forest, Twilight and Apple Bloom asked her various questions as they chatted freely until they reached a huge field of blue flowers. Zecora pointed at them and spoke, “Poison joke you wanted to see, here it is, waiting for thee.”

Twilight nodded and jumped from Zecora before galloping towards the flowers in excitement, only for a zebra foreleg to slam in front of her, blocking her path.

“You must not touch the flowers of blue, for horrible spells they may cast on you!”

“Awww… is there any antidote?” Twilight asked curiously with a tone of disappointment.

Zecora nodded her giant head and spoke proudly, “I have herbs to make a remedium, but…” she failed to finish her rhythm as Twilight beamed and jumped onto her nose, looking her in the eyes.

“That’s great. It mean that I can research this flowers magical effects without fear of being infected longer than I need too. Will you let me research it? Pretty please.”

Zecora sighed. “Your thirst for knowledge is obvious to me. For being open minded, I will reward thee.”

“Yay!” Twilight screamed with happiness as she released her hold of Zecora’s nose and galloped towards the flowers, only to grab the biggest one she could find with her hooves, and tear it from the roots. Wasting no time, Twilight examined it with several different scanning spells, before capturing it in telekinetic field and walking back to the group. Zecora and Applebloom made a few steps back from her as she looked curiously at them and asked, “Is something wrong?”

Zecora nodded. “Poison joke pollen is on you now, it may travel to me if I touch you somehow.”

“I see. So this flower releases pollen whenever somepony or animal touches it, and it can be spread on others too, right?”

Zecora lectured, “It probably has sunk into your fur and skin, as the effect of the joke will take hours to begin.” Zecora paused before adding, “Though some of it may still be left on you, so I better not risk by touching it too.”

Twilight nodded in understanding as Zecora went towards her home, Apple Bloom next to her while the little mare right behind them, keeping a proper distance as she wanted to be a test subject for the flower herself without infecting anyone else.

Twilight’s attention was captured by a voice of Applejack that came from a distance, and the moment she turned around, she saw her and Fluttershy standing in the poison joke flowers, screaming at her to grab Apple Bloom and run.

Twilight rolled her eyes and ignored them, annoyed by her friends’ mean behaviour as she followed Zecora towards her home. Once I get back to Ponyville, I will tell everypony that I was in Zecora’s home and nothing bad happened, but if I return now, my friends will most likely not believe me, Twilight though before levitating the blue flower closer to herself. Not to mention all the research I can do.

“Next time watch where you’re aiming, you almost made me deaf… again!” Steel Blade shouted as he still heard a bumping sound in his ears.

Vinyl Scratch frowned. “Hmn, not my fault that you got in the crossfire. Next time fly up whenever I say, ‘Bass in the hole!’ and you won’t get struck by it.”

Steel Blade rolled his eyes, “How was I supposed to know what you meant by that. I thought that you found a bass in a hole,” Steel Blade said as Vinyl facehoofed.

Pinkie Pie quickly got between the two arguing ponies, and with swing of her forelegs, she pushed them away from one another. “Stop arguing and look on the bright side! We won another random battle and got a bunch of experience!” Pinkie pointed towards several unconscious Diamond Dogs as she quickly grabbed a helmet and put it on her head. “And look, they dropped a lot of armors and weapons! We can finally equip ourselves better.”

Steel Blade blinked several times before saying, “Pinkie, you understand that what you’re doing right now is stealing?”

Pinkie waved her hoof at him. “Oh, don’t be silly, Steely. It's not stealing! We are getting loot from a won battle. We earned it fair and square.”

“Taking something that is not ours without paying for it, without asking for permission, more or less taking it away by brute force is the definition of stealing!” Steel Blade shouted. His work as a Royal Guard left had him with a sense of justice.

Vinil touched Steel Blade on the shoulder with her hoof and said, “Would you rather have those weapons and armor be used to capture ponies?” Steel Blade blinked a few times at her in surprise, Vinyl nodded her head. “Yeah, I heard what happened to Rarity.”

“Come on guys! Take your loot and let's go go go! We still need to find the boss of this area,” Pinkie said firmly as she was now standing on her hind legs. The Diamond Dog-sized armor, now being sized for a pony, suited Pinkie perfectly. What shocked Steel Blade even more was that when Pinkie threw spears and armor towards him and Vinyl, it took pony shape.

“H-how?”

Vinyl put some of the armor on herself and started to push her Soundwave Blaster again as she gave Steel Blade a relaxed look. “The less you think about it, the better. Just let the adventure overtake you and have fun, dude.”

Steel Blade sighed and put the looted armor on himself, images of impressing Twilight and overshadowing Big Macintosh giving him courage and determination to proceed. Even if it meant stealing from Diamond Dogs.

Cadence yawned deeply as she felt something poking her, and the moment she opened her eyes, she saw the giant hoof of Overwatch.

“Wake up. Twilight is gone and her friends asked for our assistance to save her,” Overwatch stated firmly, and tiny alicorn stood up in an instant.

“Twilight is in danger?” Cadence asked, though not waiting for an answer as she jumped from the pillow onto the floor, galloping towards the opened doors where Spike was talking with Twilight’s friends.

Everypony jumped back the moment they noticed her little frame landing right on top of Spike’s head, looking at them with fear in her tiny eyes. “What happened to Twilight?!”

Everypony blinked in disbelief and confusion before Fluttershy took a step forward and looked at Cadence with worry and curiosity. “You’re so small. Did something happen to you? Did she curse you already?”

The group started to panic at the thought of the Evil Enchantress not only taking Twilight and Apple Bloom as hostages, but also shrinking the strongest pony in terms of magical prowess they could find in Ponyville.

Cadence shook her head. “Oh, this, I just shrunk myself to participate in Twilight’s night exercise… also, what do you mean, cursed me?” she asked curiously, as everypony released a sigh of relief. The alicorn shook her head. “Nevermind, thats is not important!” Cadence jumped from Spike’s head and hovered in front of the confused group. “Where is Twilight? What happened to her? Please, tell me.”

“Oh, that was horrible, just horrible,” Fluttershy started as Cadence put her forelegs on her cheeks, fearing of Twilight’s well being. “We tried to warn her, but she didn’t listen.”

Applejack nodded and said with a stern voice, “Ah tried to stop her, but she was to fast for mah hooves as she ran to that witch.”

“Yes… and then… and then, that Evil Enchantress hypnotized her and took her hostage,” Fluttershy added hastily as the alicorn felt a wave of emotion, forcing her to land on the floor as her heart tried to escape her chest.

Cadence looked up at Twilight’s friends with a horrified expression on her face. “And, what happened next ?”

Applejack lowered herself and said saddened, “Before Ah noticed, mah sister disappeared too, she was foalnapped.”

Cadence eyes opened widely. “She captured a filly too… that's horrible!” she said with a barely audible voice, not yet used to speaking loudly enough in her new size.

“We followed them and screamed for Twilight to help us rescue Apple Bloom,” Fluttershy said.

“But she just ignored us and followed that hooded Zebra deeper into Everfree Forest,” Applejack added as Cadence horrified expression turned into one of confusion and doubt. “Ah wanted to go and rescue them, but Fluttershy told me that she would just hypnotize me with her evil magic too.”

“So we came back as fast as we could, rounded all of our friends and came to you,” Fluttershy said while Rarity and Big Macintosh nodded their heads.

“And that’s why we need someone as powerful as you to counter her evil magic and curses and save Twilight and Apple Bloom from her grasp,” Rainbow Dash said firmly as Cadence looked at them as if they were insane.

“Dash, fifth time, Zebras don’t cast curses. They make potions, sure, but don’t cast magic!” Gilda said firmly, growing in annoyance.

“Please, save mah sister… and friend, ah beg ya’,” Applejack asked with her hooves held together, giving Cadence the most pleading look she could muster and failing at it.

Cadence facehoofed with her tiny foreleg and said as loudly as her tiny mouth could let her, “Are you serious?!”

“Yes we are!” Rainbow Dash said loudly as Cadence put her forelegs on her tiny ears, feeling a huge amount of pain from this verbal assault, “sorry.”

Noticing that Cadence recovered, Rainbow Dash said calmly, “We cannot leave Twilight with her alone, just think of all the tortures and curses that this Evil Enchantress will test on her,” the pegasus said firmly. “Twilight is tough, but even she won’t withstand for long all that physical abuse.”

Cadence rolled her eyes as giant apple-pony lowered herself to add more nonsense into the pile.

“And all that fancy magic she will test on them. What if she turns them into frogs? Only to eat them later. Or she will turn them into an apples, or worse, into an apple and orange and then eats them,” Applejack added with fear in her voice.

Cadence turned her attention away from Applejack and looked upon Fluttershy, “Not you too.”

Fluttershy smiled awkwardly and added, “What if she decides to cut off Twilight’s horn as a trophy, it would be so horrible.”

Cadence glared suspiciously at her, finding the lack of hesitation and shyness odd, more or less the fake concern that she easily noticed in the always so caring and kind pegasus.

The alicorn could feel the floor under her hooves tremble, as her attention focused on the humongous giant whose mighty hoof slammed the floor of the library. “Ah’m gonna rescue mah friend and mah younger sister, and Ah will crush anything in Mah way. With or without yer help,” Big Macintosh stated this with determination in his voice, and the very posture of the giant from Cadence’s perspective was no less than terrifying.

Cadence sighed and turned to Rarity, “And what is your side of the story. Any ideas how they will be cursed and tortured that you wish to share?”

Rarity thought deeply for a moment before shaking her head. “Nah. If anything, Twilight always pointed out that it is important to look beyond appearance. Until I meet that so called ‘Evil Enchantress’ and talk with her face-to-face, I am not going to make any assumptions,” Rarity stated firmly, her head held high and proudly.

Cadence nodded. “At least one pony who can act mature around here,” she said firmly as everypony looked at her in confusion, hardly hearing what she just said. Wasting no time, she flew into the air and looked at them from above, shouting, “I believe we need to have a very long talk!”

Minutes passed as Cadence did her best to convince every pony that the zebra was not an Evil Enchantress and that Twilight was just probably trying to befriend her. After which she gave them a long lecture as if she were a mother scolding a child for being mean and insensitive to another's feelings. Despite her tiny size, all of Twilight’s friends took her words seriously, as Cadence spoke with more than a millennium’s worth of old wisdom.

As she miraculously managed to convince everypony to relax and wait for Twilight to come home. Overwatch didn’t waste a moment before sneaking away from the library, upholding her duty to ensure Twilight’s safely.

“Wait!” Fluttershy screamed, much to everypony’s confusion. “Can I come with you? I can lead the way.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes, once again caught off guard by her friend’s behaviour. “Fluttershy. Overwatch was nothing but mean towards you this whole time, why are you so friendly with her all of a sudden?” She paused before giving Fluttershy a suspicious glare, causing her to flinch. “Much less going into a very dangerous forest. What gives?”

Fluttershy rubbed her hoof across the floor, not looking Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “It’s… a long story. Let’s just say that Overwatch and I had a long talk in my cottage. We are on good terms now.”

“And what about you being ‘Mrs. I do not fear anything?’ Where is the shy pegasus I always knew?”

Fluttershy blushed. “Well… after the incident with the Dragon, I am working on being more assertive. You won’t mind… right…. Right?” she asked hesitantly, her uncertainty and fear returning to her.

“Of course I don’t, it is just… just that… it caught me off guard.” Rainbow Dash smiled proudly. “I guess that my friend from school times is growing up. You make me proud, Flutters.”

Fluttershy blushed and thanked Rainbow Dash before she led Overwatch towards the Everfree Forest.

Applejack tried to return to her farm to work alongside Big Macintosh, only to be dragged by Rarity for her sewing lessons while Spike, being annoyed about missing another adventure, locked himself in the laboratory, throwing a tantrum.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda decided to hang out with Cadence until Twilight’s return.

“So, what is the real reason you’re leading us there?” Overwatch asked as she trotted right behind Fluttershy.

“Is it really that obvious?” Fluttershy asked curiously, only for Overwatch to chuckle.

“We’re changelings, and you leave your emotions out like an open book. Now spill it, what’s this ‘Evil Enchantress’ thing all about?”

Fluttershy sighed and spoke calmly with hidden sadness in her voice, “It is… a long story.”

“Unless you have anything better to do, I can listen.”

Fluttershy nodded and said, “Okay. It all started two thousand years ago, when our hive was living south in the jungle, feeding off…” Fluttershy continued storytelling, giving Overwatch more details about her hive’s past culture and feeding habits before…

“You don’t need to give me so many details, short version please,” Overwatch plead.

“Oh, s-sure…” Fluttershy nodded. “Long story short, our life and feeding habits weren’t much different in the past as they are now. The problem was that it was a lot harder to keep our presence a secret with so many predators and dangers the jungle had to offer. Once some members of our hive lost their disguises due to strong poison or heavy injury, zebras became alerted to our presence, creating a potion that would forcefully drop our disguises.”

She lowered her head and sighed. “We didn’t have any bad intentions and tried to live in peace, but Zebras weren’t very trusting towards our kind. After our numerous attempts of negotiation was meet with hostility, we had no other choice but to retreat and find a new feeding ground. Our hive was greatly weakened during our travels and lost most of its members before we found, and settled in Equestria.”

“I see…” Overwatch said, giving the fellow challenging a pitiful glance. “This explain why your hive has such a weak presence. My deepest condolences.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said before shaking her forehoof dismissively, increasing her speed a little. “But it was centuries ago, and we don’t mind keeping our influence small. Unlike your hive, we decided to focus on quality over quantity and we integrated into Equestria by peaceful means.” She raised her head proudly. “We may not look like it, but I assure you, one of us can handle more than ten soldiers from your hive.” She lowered her head, now looking the fellow challenging in the eyes. “Speaking of elite changelings, you’re far more skilled and stronger then other members of your hive. You must have had quite the journey, you would fit among us perfectly.”

“Thanks for the complement.” Overwatch asked. “And the zebra?”

“Well…” Fluttershy blushed. “Once we found out that a zebra set up a house in the Everfree Forest, we panicked, afraid that she would reveal our presence if given a chance. To counter it, we spread rumors in Ponyville about her being an Evil Enchantress to ensure that this zebra could never tell ponies about changelings.”

Overwatch’s brow furrowed. “Seems like a lot of effort for an uncertain outcome. What’s stopping the zebra from just running into town and claiming there are shapeshifters among them?” she asked carefully. “If it were my hive, we’d have probably done away with her altogether. It’s too much risk, and the zebra seems ostracized enough from the rest of Ponyville to make her disappearance go unnoticed.”

Fluttershy shook her head and glared daggers at Overwatch. “Queen Mimic would never agree to take such measures. Our hive never takes innocent lives, no matter the circumstances.”

Overwatch rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because revealing the changelings’ existence and creating potions to drop their disguises to starve them to death make zebras angels. A pure example of innocence to the world.” Overwatch took a deep breath and spoke louder, “They tried to commit genocide. It is kill or be killed.”

Fluttershy stopped her march and shook her head, looking at Overwatch with growing anger. “They didn’t mean it. They knew nothing about us, they feared us, and they had every right to defend themselves. Even if we never meant any harm, and our eating habits never caused any, they didn’t know that.”

After a minute of silence, both changelings calmed down and continued their walk, finally reaching their destination. Fluttershy pointed her hooves at the blue flowers, “When Applejack and I stood in poison joke to call for them, they were heading in that direction.” Fluttershy paused before smirking. “If you follow this path and next climb up upon that small hill, you will see a big tree with a door. This is where our scouts located her when she set up a house here.”

Overwatch nodded, but the moment she saw Fluttershy going back to Ponyville, she asked, “What will you do now, and why did you go into the poison-something if apparently you are aware of it?”

Fluttershy turned and looked back at her ally from another hive. “Applejack and I will be pranked by poison joke, simple as that. I will just say that Zecora put a curse on us… The only problem is Twilight.” Fluttershy lowered her head and continued, “In the end, I am sure she will convince everypony to befriend Zecora and all our efforts will go to waste. All I can do is to delay it a bit until we come up with a permanent solution.”

“If you and your hive are too soft to take her life, I can inform Queen Chrysalis about this threat. After all, she can expose not just yours, but my hive as well.”

“You will do no such thing, Overwatch,” Fluttershy said firmly, as she walked towards her and gave her a stare, easy penetrating the changeling’s defenses as she had far more love reserves, giving her the advantage. “Everfree Forest is our territory, and Zecora, even if she is a threat, is under our protection, do you understand?!”

Overwatch, feeling overwhelmed, yielded and nodded her head.

Fluttershy smiled and walked away. “I am sure that just like me, you wouldn’t want to cause Twilight to cry over a lost friend she just met, so to make everypony and every changeling happy, we need to find a peaceful solution.”

Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 2

Celestia’s Tiny Student

Chapter 12

Bridle Gossip
-
part 2

“Please, little ponies, be calm and stay still! I'll answer your questions ‘til you've got your fill,” Zecora pleaded as Twilight and Apple Bloom were running and jumping all over the place, looking upon various items, herbs, and rare ingredients, asking questions one after another.

Twilight didn’t need to be asked twice as she ran towards Zecora and sat in front of her. Her eyes pleading her to be fed with knowledge and wisdom.

Zecora took a long stick and put it on the floor in front of the tiny mare. To Twilight’s surprise, she stood on it with just one of her hind legs, while taking a meditative position.

Twilight looked up upon the giant Zebra towering over her from even higher ground, impressed by her display of balance. Wasting no time she beamed. “Can I try that too?”

Zecora said, “It is not up to me to tell you what to do. Try it if you like, as long as you can manage it too,” while doing her best to maintain balance, not a single muscle in her body moved other than those on her face.

Wasting no time, Twilight looked around for anything she could stand on until she found something shiny. Without hesitation, she levitated it towards herself and exposed in front of Zecora, “How about this one?”

Zecora blinked twice before shaking her head, “That needle is for knitting, not standing, my dear, and besides that, it's too sharp to stand on, I fear.”

Twilight waved her hoof at her. “I was hoof-standing on sharper horns, and once even tried on a needle, I will be fine,” Twilight reassured as she slowly put the knitting needle on the floor, holding it with her two forehooves. She grimaced at the memory from when she was but a tiny filly one year after she was shrank. Back when she tried to sew, and the giant needle had pierced her tiny foreleg followed by a loud scream of pain.

She shook her head and banished the bad memories, easily defeating the fear from her youth. Following what she had learned from Fleur de Lis, she placed the edge of her forehoof on the sharp part of the needle, and slowly lifted herself onto it, her hind legs and other foreleg spread as she tried to maintain balance.

Zecora looked at Twilight in amazement, impressed by her display of balance as she lasted on a sharp needle way longer than she had expected. “Your balance is brighter than the stars at night, it rivals even mine in all of its might.”

Twilight who was now upside down opened her eyes, putting some efforts into looking upon the giant Zebra while noticing a warm smile. “You like stargazing?” she asked curiously, while Apple Bloom tried to hoof stand on a stick she found, falling off it several times over.

For the next hour, Twilight kept her balance on a needle, as its sharp point was unable to penetrate her hoof. Zecora maintained balance as well as she answered various of Twilight’s questions. The talk went on as Zecora gladly talked about zebra’s arts of potions making and natural medicine while Twilight told about her theories and discoveries about different types of inner magic.

Apple Bloom finally learned how to maintain balance, though the stick she stood on was far bigger than the one Zecora used. “Ah wish Ah knew what you two talk about. Makin’ potions, castin’ fancy spells, it all sounds so fun… but Ah’em just a simple farm earth pony, no fancy magic in me,” Apple Bloom said with saddened tone, her head hung low while she struggled to maintain balance.

Zecora wanted to say something, but Twilight was first, “Apple Bloom, you are full of magic.”

Apple Bloom eyes opened widely as she looked at the tiny mare standing on a needle, “What do ya mean?”

Twilight smiled, as she carefully changed the foreleg she stood on, giving the tired one a break. “Just because you do not have a horn to cast spells, it does not mean that you aren’t special. Your magic is focused in your legs, whenever you work on your farm. Your body is also full of earth pony magic that heals you whenever you are hurt or fills you with stamina whenever you are tired.”

“Yer just bein’ nice,” Apple Bloom replied.

Twilight sighed, wondering if she will manage to endure hoof standing on a needle long enough to convince Apple Bloom how amazing earth pony magic really is. She looked at Zecora curiously. I wonder how powerful zebra’s magic really is… but I am not going to give up hoof standing before she does, she thought as she started to lecture Applebloom.

Overwatch walked up a small hill that Fluttershy pointed out, and as she expected, the zebra’s house was in her line of sight. Okay Overwatch. Twilight is inside with a zebra who, most likely, can expose changelings. You must play it smart and not look suspicious at all. What would Steel Blade do in this situation? Overwatch thought as images of the pegasus rushing into houses flashed in her mind.

The door broke open upon the contact with a dashing pegasus, who was now looking around the house, much to Twilight and zebra’s surprise. Not wasting a moment, he jumped in front of Twilight and spread his wings threateningly. “Twilight is under my protection so stand back!” Steel Blade shouted loudly, forcing a confused zebra to walk backward.

“Steelie, what do you think you are doing?” Twilight asked with disappointment in her voice, while her pegasus guard turn around and grab her in a strong hug.

“Do not worry Twilight, you are safe, I won’t let any evil enchantress hurt you!” Steel Blade released Twilight who was now dizzy and winded from enduring powerful hug. “Oh Twilight, I was sooo worried. You just ran off to a stranger and followed her into the Everfree Forest… you reckless mare, do you have any idea how much worried we all were?”

The scene of a hug and monologue how much he was worried about her put a smirking smile on her face. Overwatch shook her head and thought, Okay, it was a bad example, what would Princess Celestia do? Her mind gave her an image of a proud alicorn appearing in a bright light, demonstrating might and power in a grand entrance.

Zebra and Twilight looked upon her completely stunned, as Princess Celestia herself was standing in front of them, radiating like a sun itself. After the blinding lights from her grand entrance vanished, Celestia looked down upon her tiny student as she spread her wings and hooves into welcoming gesture.

Twilight shook her head and wasted no time before she jumped right onto alicorn belly, as the giant hooves and mighty wings of the powerful ruler embraced her gently.

“Twilight, my little faithful student. The moment I heard about you once again traveling into this dangerous forest, it got me really worried.” Celestia slowly released her student from the hug and lifted in front of her face.

Twilight looked back at her with guilt and sadness. “I am sorry, Princess. I didn’t want to worry anypony. I just wanted to befriend a zebra who everypony was afraid of for no reason.”

Celestia smiled. “I am glad you are alright, I would never forgive myself if something happened to you… especially after all you have done for me. You are an irreplaceable part of my life.” After nuzzling her student lightly, Celestia put her on the floor and turned towards still confused and silent zebra. “You must be the Evil Enchantress every pony spoke of...” She sighed and lowered her head in shame. “And to think that my little ponies would be so close minded and spread harmful rumours like that.”

After zebra accepted her apology, Celestia sat in front of a small table in the room, Twilight jumping upon it. “As Princess of Equestria, I welcome you to my kingdom and apologise for all disrespect my subjects showed you. I swear to take a direct action in this matter.”

Drinking cups of tea followed while the monarch and immigrant talked upon various topics and culture of each nation. Nah, too boring, what about Big Macintosh. Overwatch trembled upon seeing an image of big red stallion breaking tree after tree, only for the unstoppable force of nature to crash into the house.

Zebra and Twilight stared back at the big hole in the house in awe as huge red stallion stood in front of them.

“Big… Mac… what are you doing? Why did you? Twilight asked in confusion while zebra walked backward in fear.

Big Macintosh walked silently and firmly towards the zebra, while maintaining an intimidating posture. Twilight tried to get in the way, only to be gently pushed to the side by Big Mac’s humongous foreleg. Wasting no time, zebra grabbed the cauldron and threw it at the giant who didn’t even blinked when it made contact with his face. To zebra’s horror, with one strong swing of his hoof, the cauldron broke into several pieces, as the stallion in rage kept walking.

Zebra now trapped in the corner started to throw various objects with no result, until Big Mac, now standing in front of her turn around and flexed his foreleg and hind legs, and before zebra could speak her last wish, she was sent crashing into a tree, leaving another hole in a wall of her house.

Twilight jumped upon Big Mac and started to protest angrily, only for the giant to grab her. “Yer safe. Ah’m glad.” Big Mac nuzzled Twilight in rush of emotions. “Ah would never let anyone to harm you, mah love.”

Before Twilight could teleport away, Big Mac kissed her with his giant mouth.

Overwatch felt butterflies in her stomach. “Curse you emotion detectors! I just had to end up as a guard of such attractive pony like Twilight, just my luck.”

She signed. Okay, last try, Cadence maybe, Overwatch though as she tried to imagine a calm and mature pink alicorn knocking before entering Zebra’s house.

Cadence made a polite bow. “Thank you for your hospitality, my name is Cadence, what’s yours?”

After hearing zebra’s introduction, she continued, “First off, the reason why I have come here in the first place, is because all of Twilight’s friends are worried about her safety and blame you for cursing them.” Cadence looked around, only to notice Twilight now standing in front of her hooves.

“Hello Cadence… were you worried about me.”

Cadence smiled cheerfully. “Oh Twilight, I am always worried about you. You will always be a tiny young mare I used to foalsit, but I am sure that your new zebra friend kept you safe and entertained.”

Twilight nodded energetically. “She sure did.” She could see Cadence lowering herself and gently lift her off the floor, only to hug as gently as the giant alicorn could, pressing the tiny mare with sole of her hoof against her fluffy chest.

Overwatch face-hoofed, resisting the urge to puke. “Is there not a single pony in the entire world, mare or stallion, who wouldn’t want to hug Twilight?! Come on. That tiny mare is the most huggable pony I ever saw in my entire life. Like some sort of irresistible plush toy.”

Overwatch stomped her hoof on the ground before she jumped from the hill and walked towards the door, only to knock gently. I could just play an assassin or ninja and sneak into the house to get Twilight out unnoticed, but she would not like it, so let's do it the old-fashioned way.

“Who could be brave enough to knock on my door? You faced many dangers to get here, what are you here for?” a rhythmical voice called from the other side of the door before it opened slowly.

In front of Overwatch stood the zebra that Fluttershy told her about, a possible danger to all changelings. Zebra looked at Overwatch in surprise before smiling. “For many long years I have had not one guest, and today I have three, making this day my best.”

The female guard smiled and spoke professionally, “Greetings Ma’am, first off, let me introduce myself,” Overwatch paused as she took off her helmet and continued, “my name is Overwatch, and I am a royal guard assigned to ensure Twilight’s safely. My apologies for the intrusion, but it is my responsibility to be with that tiny mare and keep an eye on her.”

Zecora looked at Overwatch dumbfounded before she turned her head around, glancing down at the tiny mare who was now walking on hot coals, standing on the tips of her hooves to minimize the contact with burning fuel. “You're guarded full time by this mare, my new friend? I now wonder just when the surprises will end.”

“Hello Overwatch!” Twilight shouted to be heard from distance, though the guard mare could hear a hint of pain in her voice.

“Please fear not, dear Twilight is safe here with me, but I see why you worry, this is the Everfree,” Zecora said firmly as she gestured her hoof for Overwatch to enter.

She nodded and walked inside casually before she lowered herself to the floor level. In front of her she could see several stones separating hot burning coal from the floor, and upon the coal stood a tiny mare with barely noticeable burning marks on her legs. “Twilight, what did you get yourself into this time?” Overwatch asked calmly as if Twilight standing on burning coals inside a house in the middle of the most dangerous forest in Equestria was a normal occurrence.

Twilight smiled despite the annoying feelings in her hooves, “Z-Zecora told m-me about how by c-calming her m-mind, s-she can c-control her b-body and r-resist pain… I w-wanted to try to participate in h-her exercises.”

Overwatch looked back at the zebra and asked firmly, “And how well is she doing?”

Zecora spoke with a hint of admiration in her voice, ”Her willpower's impressive, she's determined and strong, no normal pony would have lasted this long. Since she lacks Zebra’s Magic and the calm that it gives, it's a show of her strength by the fact that she lives.”

“So… she is winning?” Overwatch asked curiously, noticing a blush on Zebra’s face.

“It's a shame to have lost at my own game, but she has beaten me fair and square.”

Overwatch look around and asked, “And what about Apple Bloom, where is she?”

Twilight shakily lifted her a bit burned hoof and pointed it towards the corner where the filly was reading a book, only to close it and look back at her. “Don’t look at me like that. Ah tried, but that coal is just so hoooot.”

Twilight giggled and commented, “Applebloom got so excited about art of potions making, that Zecora gave her a book to read about it.”

The filly nodded. “Eeyup. Twilight said that just like she has became athletic unicorn, Ah can become a smart earth pony, and Zecora promised to teach me.”

Zecora clopped her hooves, capturing everyone’s attention. “Although it's a shame to end our fun, we must leave at once if we're to beat the sun.”

“Awww…” Twilight looked at Zecora with a pout on her face, “but I can last longer than that.”

“We must go outside now, we need to act fast, the Poison Joke will act soon and its power is vast.”

Twilight lowered her head in defeat before jumping onto her guard, feeling a huge relief as her hooves were no longer being heated up. The moment Twilight’s hot hooves made contact with her guard’s fur however, they left a few small burned marks in it. “S-sorry.”

Overwatch rolled her eyes as she followed Zecora outside, her tiny passager now sitting on her back while Apple Bloom was trotting right behind her. “Where are we going?” she asked curiously as Zecora stopped to gesture upon an empty space in front of her house. “So let me get this straight, you wanted us to stay outside… and here I thought you will lead us to some sort of a secret dungeon or something.”

Zecora frowned. “I think that I know what the poison will do, and it's one that's best borne outside too.”

Twilight walked closer to guard's ear and asked, “Overwatch, can you be so kind and bring the hot coal outside? I want to break Zecora’s record.”

The guard mare sighed as she did what was asked of her, and Twilight once again tried to endure the heat, while Applebloom walked towards Zecora and poked her in the foreleg.

Zecora focused her attention on farm filly who was pointing her trembling foreleg towards the trees. “Ah, I see that you fear the might of Everfree, but you're safe for the moment while you're here with me.”

“How can ya live here with all those dangerous monsters? This forest is scary.”

Zecora lowered herself to Apple Bloom level and spoke, while Overwatch listened, “Dangerous this place is, but my jungle also have its hiss.”

“What?” Apple Bloom asked cluelessly. Overwatch walked closer and added.

“She meant that jungle where zebras live is almost if not more dangerous than the Everfree Forest.” Overwatch paused before looking at Zecora curiously. “Should I assume that you know many ways to keep the animals and monsters at bay?”

Zecora nodded, proud expression on her face. “From my tribe I was the wisest, so I was chosen to travel farthest.”

“W-wait a m-moment!” Twilight shouted. She gulped and concentrated all her willpower to ignore the pain. “So you're like the Zebra’s ambassador? Why have you never visited Canterlot and talked with the Princess?”

Zecora shook her head. “We live in tribes, not as a country, I was…” Zecora was cut off.

“Now it makes sense why Zebria never started any relationship with Equestria… much less trade agreements. You’ve never chosen a representative,” Twilight said, beaming as a realisation struck her. “To make matters worse, the welcome that ponies here gave you in Ponyville didn’t leave the best of impression.”

Zecora growled. “Twilight Sparkle, you are wise but have much to learn. You should let others speak their turn.”

Twilight blushed and hid face behind her mane nervously. “S-sorry.”

Zecora’s annoyance for her rhythm being cut for the second time vanished as her usual smile returned. “Even though I am old and wise, the knowledge does not come just from the age and size.” Zecora lowered herself to Twilight's level as she looked in the eyes of the struggling mare. “I never knew about differences in magic that lies inside us all, a knowledge that you are sharing with me I am grateful, my friend so small.”

Twilight made few steps closer and spoke cheerfully, “You're welcome. Though most of what I know I learned from my mentor as there is very little knowledge about zebra’s in books in general, much less about their inner magic or culture.”

Their pleasant discussion was interrupted the moment Twilight‘s legs trembled, and not just out of pain. “W-what is happening to me?” Twilight asked in panic as Zecora made a few steps back, Overwatch and Apple Bloom sat right next to her and observed.

Twilight collapsed and closed her eyes as zebra, young pony and changeling in disguise looked at her curiously, only for their eyes to open widely, outside of Zecora who didn’t seems surprised. Overwatch and Applebloom walked backwards to make more space for what was happening in front of them, not blinking even once.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, only to see how once the humongous trees were now reaching her head level. Now no longer a tiny mare, she looked around in panic, only to hear someone calling her name from next to her hooves. She quickly looked down and what she saw caused her big heart to beat much faster. “Am I dreaming?” Twilight asked in confusion as she moved her forelegs to wipe her eyes, not believing what she saw, only for her giant hooves to move slower than ever before, This cannot be happening, this cannot be happening!

Noticing that the world was smaller than ever before and that it was not a dream, Twilight collapsed and lost consciousness. The coal she was standing on now crushed into dust under her massive body while quake nearly knocked others off their hooves.

Overwatch wondering if she is dreaming as well, also wiped her eyes before she spoke in panic, “Sweet Celestia! We have a big problem.”

Apple Bloom who sit next to her smiled widely and released one firm word, “Coooool.”

Tiny Cadence sat on the floor in the middle of the library next to the giant table with a big horse shaped wooden head. In front of her sat a giant blue pegasus with rainbow like mane and a giant griffon that Twilight befriended more than month ago. Cadence's attention focused then on the giant bottle in front of her, as it spun rapidly. She could feel sweat falling from her head as the bottle slowed down and was about to point out the poor soul who was about to suffer. Her fears proved true as she saw the bottle stop, its’ drinking side pointing at her, sealing her fate. Cadence gulped as she looked up at the smirk on the face of Rainbow Dash, her giant eyes observing her like a predator ready to strike its’ prey.

“Truth… or… dare?” Rainbow Dash asked with excitement and a glimmer of anticipation in her eyes.

Cadence gulped again and smiled awkwardly as she said calmly, nervousness in her voice, “T-t-truth.”

“I cannot hear youuuuu…” Rainbow Dash mocked as she lowered herself and exposed her ear.

Cadence sighed and took a deep breath, I really don’t envy Twilight, shouting loudly her entire life, Cadence though before she shouted, “Truth!”

Rainbow Dash nodded satisfied as she put her foreleg under her head and though deeply, not taking attention from nervous tiny alicorn even for a moment. To Cadence’s displeasure, she saw a huge smirk on pegasus giant face, “I want you to tell me…” Rainbow Dash paused and lowered herself again, now looking Cadence in her tiny eyes from almost no distance between them, causing her to sweat even more. “How many ponies have you kissed or have kissed you during your time in Equestria?”

Cadence blushed and blinked a few times, but in mere seconds, her nervousness vanished, as she smirked devilishly. You asked for it, she thought before walking forward proudly and put both of her forelegs on the muzzle of Dash’s lowered face, looking deeply into her big eyes. “Nine-thousands-three-hundred-seventy-three. Majority of them were hoof and cheek kisses. And before you ask, I counted and made a mental list of them.”

Rainbow Dash eyes opened widely before she laughed nervously, causing Cadence to take her forelegs off her nose. “I g-get it, it was a j-joke… g-good one, but the rules are rules, you have to tell the truth.”

Cadence hopped onto Dash's muzzle and added, “Oh, it is the truth.”

Dash lifted her head from the floor level, tiny alicorn still on her nose. Rainbow Dash mouth opened agape as she asked in disbelief, “B-but… how?”

Cadence giggled. “Oh silly Dash. I am not an over a millennium old alicorn with talent in spreading love for nothing,” she joked before jumping off her nose and landing on the floor. The Dumbfounded expression on Dash’s face causing Gildia and Cadence to laugh. “What can I say. Even under a disguise, every pony still finds me attractive, and over centuries those really adds up.”

The cheerful atmosphere maintained, until Cadence walked towards the bottle and turned around, flexing her forelegs with her hind-legs ready to strike. “If Twilight can challenge herself despite her tiny size, so can I,” the alicorn said firmly as she kicked the drinking side of the giant bottle, causing it to spin.

Cadence jumped forward to not be hit by spinning bottle as she looked at it curiously. The moment the bottle slowed down and finally stopped, Cadence turned to her right and look up upon the giant proud griffon, as Gilda look back at her curiously. Not wanting to embarrass herself again, Cadence took a deep breath and shouted cheerfully, almost as if singing, “Truth or daaaaare!”

Gilda smirked and said proudly, “Dare! Bring it on.”

Cadence nodded and thought for a moment, before she remembered how Twilight told her about Gilda’s challenge she passed. Smirking, she flew above the floor in front of Gilda’s face. “I challenge you to eat me!”

Gilda rolled her eyes, “Suuureee, really original.” Gilda paused and raised her tallon in front of her face as Cadence looked at her in confusion. “How about you bring everypony from Ponyville and shrink them so we can make a pony barbeque where I will feast like never before.”

The griffon facehoofed and gave now embarrassed Cadence a serious glare. “What’s wrong with everypony. First Twilight forcefully pushes herself into my stomach, and now you. Yeah, the big mean Gilda just cannot wait to eat meat… uh, it is so annoying.”

Dash gave GIlda curious glare. “But when you met Twilight, you kept babbling about how she is just like a rat that you eat for breakfast. Until she proved to you how cool she is, you didn’t have anything against eating her.”

Gilda sighed. “So I like to show off and talk trash, big deal, that’s who I am. I hunt rats and fish, sure, but do you think I would ever eat a pony and break the peace treaty between our nations? Do you think that I would eat a pony while my best friend is a cool pegasus like you?”

“I‘m sorry,” Cadence apologised, capturing Gilda's attention, “I was so inconsiderate of your feelings. It is just… just like auntie Celestia, I also wish to experience life from Twilight‘s perspective. She has been eaten three times so far, and I foolishly hoped that you can let me experience it. I am really sorry.” Cadence held her forelegs together and bowed her head, while still flying in mid-air.

Gilda gave Cadence relaxed smile. “No sweat. Though I would prefer if you changed your ‘dare’. I don’t feel comfortable eating a friend again.”

Cadence raised her head and nodded, but before she spoke, Rainbow Dash advised with excitement in her voice, “Make her fly around Ponyville and yell how she has a giant butt.”

Gilda frowned and looked at her friend. “In your dreams, Dash.”

Cadence laughed lightly before an idea struck her. “I got it.” The moment the giant Eagle face focused on her, she cheered, “I dare you to help Fluttershy with the animals for one day.”

“Help with the animals, what for?” Dash asked, as Cadence turned towards her and lectured loudly enough to be heard.

“It’s simple! Not only it will let Gilda and Fluttershy learn more about one another and get into better terms as friends, but taking care of animals will help GIlda become more open to others!” Cadence turned her attention back at the relaxed Griffon and asked, “What do you think? Are you up for the challenge?”

Gilda smiled and nodded. “I accept, it may even be fun.” She turned her head away from the alicorn, a more mischievous smile replaced her cheerful one as she murmured, “There is one certain bunny on my hit list I would love to take care off."

“That’s wonderful, I am sure you and Fluttershy will enjoy spending time together,” Cadence spoke cluelessly while Rainbow Dash facehoofed.

The alicorn landed on the floor as Gilda moved her talons towards the bottle and caused it to spin. To Gilda's pleasure, the bottle stopped on Rainbow Dash, while the blue pegasus gave her a ‘bring it on’ glare.

Gilda opened her mouth and was about to give the challenge, only for a loud knocking on the doors to interrupt her. “Oh, and it just started getting good.” She frowned in annoyance before walking towards the door with Dash by her side. Cadence flew above her head.

Before Dash could open the door, the alicorn flew in front of her, covering Dash’s vision. “Allow me. I’ve always wanted to try it,” Cadence plead as she landed on the floor, and mimicked the way Twilight always opened closed doors without the help of her magic.

After a little effort and without help from her wings, little Cadence jumped onto the handle, wrapping it with her forelegs. After a moment of wrestling, she pushed the unlocked doors open, just in time for Spike to come out from the basement, only for him and everyone in the room to jump back in surprise, not believing what they saw.

“Zebras’ don’t cast curses, ya said. She ain’t an Evil Enchantress, ya said. Well, buck what ya said!” Applejack yelled in annoyance as everyone in library glared at her tiny form standing on the top of Fluttershy’s head.

“Applejack!” everyone shouted at the same time.

“And who else in the bucked would I be?!” Applejack answered before she stomped her tiny hoof on Fluttershy’s head repeatedly. “When we wasted our time, that evil witch cursed us. And who knows what she did to Twilight and Apple Bloom,” she yelled with worry in her voice as she pointed her hoof at the pony who she stood on, “and look what she did to Fluttershy’s sweet voice.”

Everyone’s attention focused on Fluttershy, looking for anything odd about her. Fluttershy sighed and spoke in a strong voice, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Everyone except Cadence fell on the floor and laughed deeply, while Rainbow Dash wiped tears of joy from her face and spoke, laughing in between words, “Flutters… I knew… that you changed… that you wanted to be more assertive.” Rainbow Dash started to hit the floor with her hoof out of her laughed. “But this… it is a completely new level.”

Fluttershy blushed, What I don’t do for the safety of the hive, Fluttershy thought before adding, “We should hurry and save Twilight.”

Everyone, especially Gilda laughed even more, while tiny Cadence flew closer and sat on Fluttershy’s head in front of tiny Applejack, who at this point was the same size she was. Applejack pointed her tiny hoof accusingly, “It is all yer’ fault. Ah listened to ya’ and look what happened!”

Cadence lit her horn and sent a wave of her magic into surprised a Applejack, “What in tarnation are ya doing?”

Cadence opened her eyes and said firmly, “I tried to reverse the effects of the shrinking spell cast upon you, but it didn’t work.” Fluttershy smiled proudly. “See, it is not a curse, or else I could reverse it with ease. Whatever happened to you must come from other sources.”

Fluttershy feeling panic, added, “And what if you’re wrong? What if she just used magic that cannot be reversed?”

Before Cadence could reply, she felt Fluttershy’s head tremble, as she and Applejack grabbed her ears in attempt not to fall of. The moment they recovered, their attention focused on Spike who just a moment ago pushed Fluttershy out of the way, as he was now in his battle armor that Rarity made for him, spear in hand. “What are you waiting for. Twilight is in trouble and we have to save her.”

“You got it right, Spike,” Rainbow Dash said firmly before she focused on Applejack again. “How sad that you’re too small to wear armor what Rarity made for you, Apple…tiny,” Rainbow Dash paused as her eyes opened widely. Not wasting a moment, she dashed towards Fluttershy and raised hoof above her head, now poking the tiny farm mare. “Oh… for Celestia’s sake!”

Cadence sat right next to Applejack and looked at Dash curiously, easy noticing irritation on her face.

Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash’s hoof and held it tightly, as she spoke with annoyance in her voice, “What’s gives Dash. Ah may be small, but Ah won't stand to be toyed with.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and said angrily, “This is so unfair!” Everyone looked at Dash who started to gesture her hoof around while Applejack held it firmly like if she was riding on a bull. “Twilight was tiny for so many years and had tons of awesome adventures while she became stronger and more cool everyday. “

Dash paused and took a deep breath before she continued, “Just yesterday Cadence shrunk herself to Twilight’s size. And now this!”

Cadence alarmed about what was about to happen, lit her horn, and forcefully pushed Applejack away from Dash’s hoof, before the angered pegasus got an opportunity to smash her into the floor like Nightmare Moon once did to Twilight. “When will be my turn, when!?”

The alicorn put Applejack on Fluttershy’s head as the farm mare thanked her, only to be caught off guard as Dash grabbed her and held her in front of her face.

“Cadence, I beg you. When this Evil Enchantress business is over, please, shrink me.”

The alicorn looked at Dash dumbfounded before she nodded as the pegasus put her back on Fluttershy’s head.

Fluttershy turned around and was about to follow Spike, only for Gilda to land in front of her, “Now hold just a moment.” Everypony stopped and looked at the Griffon curiously. “What about my turn in ‘truth or dare’, I was about to ‘dare’ Dash.”

“Gilda, we really don’t have time for this,” Rainbow Dash said with a serious tone in her voice, only for Gilda to start a chicken dance. “Call me chicken if you want, my friends takes priority.”

Ch.12 - Bridle Gossip - Part 3

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Ch1 - Welcome Ponyville

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 1

Welcome Ponyville

Twilight yawned.

After closing her mouth, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and slowly adjusted to the blinding rays of the sun. Her vision still blurry, she groggily turned her head to and fro in search of her mentor, exclaiming cheerfully, “Rise and shine, Princess!”

The little unicorn blinked a few times as the world came into focus.

“P-princess?” Twilight said as she took in the bookshelves lining the walls and the open door revealing the wooden stairs leading downstairs. The decorations and the room’s shape were nothing like her mentor’s wonderful, spacious bedchamber. Twilight slowly looked down at what she believed was her trusty pillow, something she had slept on for most of her life, only to notice she had been sleeping in a basket lined with mere soft linens instead.

“Oh. Right. I’m not in Canterlot.”

Twilight blinked the sleep out of her eyes and sighed deeply, already missing the morning routine when she would wake up her mighty mentor and put the golden regalia on her without using magic. A morning exercise she had enjoyed doing for the past five years she had spent in the Princess Celestia's presence.

Ever since Twilight's first magical surge, she had felt vulnerable. She understood that Celestia had shrunk her to this size in order to protect others from her uncontrollable magic surges, but at times over the first few years, she had missed her original size. Still, her power, strength and skills had grown immensely through the many thrilling experiences and relentless training she had endured. The size reduction spell had become more than simply a way to keep other ponies safe. Instead, it had become a part of her lifestyle, an exciting new world filled with new challenges and adventures that ordinary ponies could not even dream of experiencing.

Now she could grow back at anytime, though she was not in any hurry to do so.

The last time I hadn’t slept in my mentor’s bed was during my studies of pegasus magic under the Wonderbolts. It seems I will need to get used to being independent, Twilight thought as she examined her surroundings, looking in all directions. While both the room and bed seemed big from her perspective, it seemed small when compared to her mentor’s sizeable bedchamber.

Twilight shook her head and stretched again, driving away reminiscences of climbing up and down her mentor’s humongous bed as she liked.

A purple tail protruded from under the eiderdown blanket on the bed, and she stood on the tips of her rear hooves, leaning against the top of the basket to get a better look. Extending her head a bit, she noticed Spike’s head pressed comfortably against a pillow, deep in blissful sleep.

She quietly watched Spike for a few moments, a warm smile on her face. She was happy with her decision to give up the bed to make sure her dragon child could sleep comfortably, especially since there was no reason to waste an entire bed for her tiny self, and upon noticing Spike’s cheerful smile, she wondered what kind of pleasant dreams he was having.

Twilight looked down at the basket she woke up in and let out another sigh. “Hmmm…. it’s just not the same,” she murmured to herself. She dropped down from the basket’s edge where she propped herself up and had turned to leave through the little opening when she found herself staring face-to-face with Overwatch’s wide, predatory grin.

She was mere split-second away from letting out a surprised yelp when Overwatch’s hoof shot out and stopped Twilight’s instinctive shout. In a loud whisper, the guard mare admonished, “Shush, Twilight. There are still ponies trying to sleep, you know.”

Twilight pushed the hoof away from her muzzle, glaring at her guard of thirteen years. Overwatch was still wearing an infernal grin, the type of grin that should have fangs poking out of it.

“I think I could’ve lived without you sneaking up on me so early in the morning,” she said, looking between the unicorn guards-mare and Spike, who was still sound asleep. “Why’re you awake so early? And where’s Steel Blade?”

“Oh, Steelie’s still passed out on the couches downstairs. Something about a giant party and having to travel between Ponyville and Canterlot twice has him all tired out.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and put on what she thought was her most intimidating face. “Didn’t you travel just as far as he did? Aren’t you tired?”

Or at least tired enough not to try giving me a heart attack?

“Yep and nope! I’m still running off of the high from the party. There were just so many sweets and excitement everywhere, I-I couldn’t help myself. I’m just brimming with energy!” she said with a gleeful giggle, her voice still a few notches over a whisper as she bounced in place. “You’ve got a good week before I stop being a morning pony again.”

Overwatch suddenly perked up, as if remembering something. “Ahh, right. Celestia came in here while you were sleeping and she left you a few things,” she whispered, tossing the tiny mare a rolled letter followed immediately by a pillow to the face that she pulled from around the bed. “I’m going to see if Steelie’s up for making breakfast. Later!”

Twilight scrambled to get the offending object off of her face, flipping it off just in time to see Overwatch’s tail disappear from the doorway downstairs. She frowned at her retreating guard, but all thoughts of vengeance evaporated when she looked at the pillow which had been thrown at her.

She grabbed the giant pillow in a wide hug, nuzzling the familiar surface energetically. It felt right. It certainly smelled right, and Twilight curled up into it happily before she unrolled the scroll she’d received and began reading.

My Dearest Little Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

I thought you might be missing your favourite pillow, so I teleported to Ponyville at night and snuck into your library to drop it off. I did my best not to wake you.

Hopefully, you can forgive me for this rather un-princessy act and think of it as a farewell gift from me towards your new independent life.

Also, Luna sends her best regards. She has convinced me to invite you to another celebration where we can reunite once again, so I have attached two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala for you and any friend you wish to bring. Think of it as Luna’s own farewell gift.

You can also thank your foalsitter Cadence for reminding me to leave Smarty Pants in the chest next to Spike’s bed. She wishes you the best of luck in Ponyville and sends you her love.

I am sure your family and all of your friends from Canterlot will send you their own housewarming gifts for your library in due time. Shining Armor and I will inform them of your decision to stay in Ponyville when they are fully awake.

Your Forever Grateful Mentor, Princess Celestia.

P.S. You look so much like a kitten curled up in that basket! Hope you don’t mind, but I took a few pictures for Luna.

Twilight blushed and bit her lip when she reached the end of the letter. She wore a wide smile as she rolled up the scroll and carried it over to the chest around the bed, opening it with a glow of magic. She crouched down like a hungry panther ready to strike and, with a great bound, leapt right into the wooden confines just next to her favorite doll.

She looked fondly at the buttons serving as the doll’s eyes, one of which was held together by little more than a thread. Even at her age, she could barely resist the urge to wrap herself around Smarty Pants and give her a big hug, despite the doll still being at least twice her size.

After levitating the letter into the chest, Twilight placed it carefully next to her doll as if it was the most delicate object in the world. With the letter in its rightful location, Twilight readjusted the hanging button before tightening the thread holding it in place and tying a knot, restoring the doll to its former glory before nuzzling it.

With another deep breath, Twilight jumped from the chest towards her giant pillow, grabbing it awkwardly and lifting it with her forelegs above her head. The pillow itself proved rather light, but because it was designed to match the size of a certain large alicorn, it made an awkward burden to move without falling over for the much smaller unicorn underneath. With a solid jump and a good push of her hooves, she threw the giant pillow into her basket before hopping atop it to push it in further, fitting it all in perfectly.

Twilight breathed out a nostalgic sigh as she sunk into the soft surface of her pillow. A pillow she’d slept on for thirteen years. A pillow from which she looked up at the face of her mighty mentor every morning. It had endured hundreds of magic surges, more than a few pillow fights, and even survived being burnt in the crossfire when Philomena set the entire room on fire defending her territory.

This single pillow had been repaired by sewing or magic several times a year, and it was a miracle it had not succumbed to the abuse it received over time. It belonged only to her and, just like with Smarty Pants, she held it very close to her heart.

Once her moment of reverie was over, Twilight turned around and levitated the two Grand Galloping Gala tickets into the chest, letting out a contemplative hum.

Odd. Princess Celestia knows there are six Elements of Harmony, plus Spike. Why did she send just two tickets?

Twilight narrowed her eyes suspiciously. A second passed before she let out a breath and shrugged. On the other hoof, Rarity sounded as if she would enjoy that kind of stuffy event, so the second ticket must be for her. Smart move, Princess. Very smart move.

Now, didn’t Overwatch mention something about breakf—

“AAAUUUGGHHHHHhhhhh!”

There was a sudden clatter of books and a thump of somepony falling onto the floor from the doorway downstairs.

“Get that thing away from me!”

Twilight looked hurriedly at Spike, but the drake only let out a few snores and turned in his bed before pulling the covers up further. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to trot over to the door.

“It’s a frying pan! For food!”

“You were looming! Looming over me while I was trying to sleep! Don’t even try to deny it!”

Twilight decided to trot a bit faster.

“CELESTIA!”

The white alicorn looked up from the desk she was working at to see Luna kicking down the door to her bedchamber before stomping in.

“Is something wrong, my dearest sister?” Celestia said innocently, opening a drawer behind her with magic and levitating out a red stamp. She tilted her head slightly to the side to see her two royal guards at the entrance crumpled on the floor, stars fluttering around their heads. Her expression changed into a pout, and she refocused her attention on the raging alicorn in front of her, absentmindedly stamping the well-intentioned but poorly thought out proposal on her desk.

Luna slammed an armored hoof into the floor. “Thou darest to ask?” she boomed, levitating up five tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and threw them at her sister’s hooves. “Thou gave thy word that thou wouldst send invitations to thy student and all of her friends to this occasion of merriment and celebration, yet We have discovered thou hast sent but two!”

“Really? They must have slipped out,” Celestia said with a knowing smirk, though it evaporated quickly under the sight of her sister's hostile glare.

“Do not take such a tone with us!” Luna exclaimed. “It infuriates us that thou findest such jest in deceiving thine own student!”

Celestia flinched and bit her lip, slowly lowering the stamp to the desk and trotting over to her sister. She let out a sigh. I should know better than to tease her like in the old days before I regain her trust.

“I am sorry, my dearest sister. I’ve made a terrible mistake, teasing you as if it was still the olden days,” Celestia said calmly, sitting down in front of Luna. “I suppose I should explain myself. I sent those two tickets to give my student a chance to learn a valuable lesson. I had every intention of sending the rest of the tickets to her later.”

Luna let out a snort, but seemed to be partially pacified by that answer. “Thou knowest how We despise thy manipulative ways. We thought thou hadst learned thy lesson.”

Celestia took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. “I know, yet I had forgotten yet once again. I am truly sorry for not taking your feelings into consideration.”

Luna smiled as she placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, “We will forgive thee this shortcoming this one time, but do not test our patience, dear sister. Thy student deserves trust and honesty, not lies and tricky lessons.”

Celestia’s mood lightened a bit as she stood. “You are right, sister. But as the old saying goes, it is hard to teach an old horse new tricks." Celestia felt a great sense of relief as Luna giggled, taking her hoof off Celestia's shoulder to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to restrain the happy emotional outburst.

“Thou need’st not worry. We will help thee change thy manipulative ways and show thee the road of honor and honesty, as long as thou art willing to try.” Luna said confidently.

Celestia nodded her head. “I will, sister, and it looks like the first step is to send the rest of those tickets and a letter of apology,” she said, the edges of her mouth lifting up.

“Exemplary, sister!” Luna exclaimed, clapping her hooves together excitedly. “Just today, We had a most enlightening discussion with the elder brother of Miss Sparkle. He told us of his methods of training his younger sister in the arts of combat magic. As thy sibling, We shall heed his wisdom and follow his example for thine own benefit.”

Luna grinned widely as she levitated over a quill, scroll, inkpot, small writing desk, blotter, and ribbon she just 'happened' to have with her, plopping them down in front of her sister. The moment the objects of Celestia’s redemption were down, Luna used her magic to temporarily transform some materials from around the room, creating a whistle, a trainer’s cap, and a miniature hourglass.

"Thou hast until the sand falls to the bottom. Art thou prepared? On our mar- ReadySetGo!" Luna blew into the whistle hard enough to fracture eardrums, alarming the Royal Guards outside the door enough that they poked their noses into the room to make sure everything was alright. It took precious writing time for Celestia to convince them to return to their posts, and in what little time she had left, Celestia bent to her task. It didn’t help her concentration to have Luna calling out the time every ten seconds or to have her shouting at minor grammatical differences that had occurred in the language over the last few centuries.

What have I gotten myself into?

Shifting uncomfortably in his sleep, Spike rolled over on his side and belched. The resulting contrite apology letter, done ten seconds before the deadline, and five golden tickets fluttered to the ground, wedging themselves behind the bed and outside of Twilight's sight.

Relieved of his discomfort, the little dragon returned to his happy slumber.

Twilight took the last few steps into her room, wiping her mouth with a napkin after what was left of her morning food. It was the first time she’d eaten with both Overwatch and Steel Blade, and she was surprised that both of them were fairly experienced cooks, tossing the necessary spices and ingredients to each other from across the kitchen with practiced carelessness, almost as if they’d been doing this for years. They were preparing to unpack the rest of their personal possessions, leaving Twilight to herself for the day.

The tiny mare stretched out like a cat with a yawn. Now that I’m in Ponyville, I can’t exactly start my day by lifting my mentor’s golden regalia onto her like I normally do.

She turned her head to-and-fro, rolling her neck restlessly as her eyes traced lines around the bedroom. I’ll have to find another way to warm up in the morning, an alternative activity, something hard… something exhausting… something challenging…

Twilight’s gaze stopped on the balcony, which featured an old, but clean telescope sitting a few hooves away from the railing.

Without further ceremony, she galloped over to the balcony and climbed up onto the telescope. She took a few extra moments to steady her balance before straightening up at the high end of the instrument, gazing down at the town before her. The little mare turned to look back at the mighty oak tree the balcony was attached to, following it down all the way to the ground, which was a long way down, but nothing compared to the heights in Canterlot.

Twilight sighed. The scenery was a bit disappointing compared to the view from a Canterlot Castle tower. A sea of tall stone buildings sprawling out from the higher ground, the orange rays of the sunrise gleaming off the smooth castle walls. Despite the distance, the city still seemed to shimmer in the light, as small as it appeared from Ponyville. It was almost unbelievable that she would find reasons to live in Ponyville, the tiny, insignificant village that she’d glimpsed only once or twice from Princess Celestia’s balcony.

She shook her head then jumped forward off the telescope, narrowly missing a flower bed and landing solidly on all four hooves onto the grass below.

Twilight turned towards the large tree, admiring it for a moment as she began to stretch out her legs.

“Time for some tree tackling,” she murmured before stopping. On second thought, even climbing such a large tree might be a bit too straightforward. What else could I add?

She looked around for some inspiration, but the only thing she found were some smooth rocks in the nearby flowerbed next to the entrance of the library. Twilight sighed, embarrassed at the lack of creativity of her idea. They're not golden regalia, but they look heavy enough.

She shot magic ropes from her horn and bound herself to the small stones, which were still five times heavier than her one kilogram weight. After double checking the ropes to ensure that they were securely fastened, she turned to the tree again and crouched down, her legs ready and eyes burning with determination. “Let's do this!”

***

“Should we help?” Steel Blade whispered out of the side of his mouth to Overwatch, massaging his left wing nervously. Their duty as Twilight's personal guards was to protect her from danger, after all, a responsibility they had held ever since the princess’s shrunken student had proven herself too vulnerable and reckless for her age.

Overwatch took one look up at the tree before rolling her eyes. She chuckled to herself and turned back to her original task of sorting through their armaments supplied by the Royal Guards, a piece of toast floating nearby in her levitation. Steel Blade hung his head and let out a sigh. The most difficult part about guarding the tiny, powerful unicorn was not protecting her from the dangers the reckless mare got into ever so often, but figuring out when she was actually in danger and when she could handle the challenge.

***

Twilight had made it halfway up the tree in about a minute, but she was forced to reconsider when she ran into an obstacle she wasn’t quite expecting. She hung upside-down with all four of her hooves clinging tightly to the long branch supporting her balcony. Sweat dripped up her muzzle, and her breathing was a touch faster than normal. The stones she was tied to dangled directly below her, rocking back and forth as she swayed in the breeze blowing through the huge oak tree. The situation was fairly common for her. The other party raptly observing her, not so much.

"I'm j-just p-passing through," Twilight called out to the cloud of bees buzzing around their nest beneath her. "D-don't m-mind me." Each of the bees was the size of her muzzle, with stingers that seemed as long as knives.

“Yeah, I’m sure she can handle it herself,” Overwatch said offhandedly as she ticked off an item on the list floating in front of her, tossing another bit of toast into her mouth. “Having fresh honey around is nice, but we may have to relocate that nest if it becomes too much of a bother.”

“I-I’m just p-passing by. D-don’t m-mind me,” Twilight said nervously, slowly inching along the branch. One of the bees split off from the rest of the swarm, briefly hovering a few centimeters away before deciding to delicately land on her nose. Twilight’s eye began to twitch as she tried to ignore the tickling and the urge to sneeze.

Now that I think about it, I can always set up a barrier around myself, so what am I even afraid of?

Twilight sighed and ignored the bees examining her, and the farther away she was from the hive, the less interested they were in her. The one on her nose thankfully flew off before any lasting damage could be done, and the rest of her journey to the end of the branch and onto the balcony was uneventful.

Twilight didn’t stop on the balcony, taking only a quick breather before she jumped on top of the railing and then from branch to branch moving ever higher. The magical ropes that tied her to the small stones often got tangled amongst the branches, slowing down her progress.

Finally after one more jump, the little unicorn reached the tallest branch of the library tree and stood upon it for a better view after untying the ropes from herself and levitating the rocks down for tomorrow’s exercise. Her tiny ears failed to hear Steel Blade’s yelp of pain and regret towards his decision not to wear a helmet today.

Not bad, but still too easy. I'll have to find something heavier for tomorrow, maybe consider climbing the other side of the tree away from the bees. After all, I still need to stay in top physical and mental shape, even away from Canterlot.

She wiped away a few droplets of sweat and took a long, deep breath of the fresh air blowing around the top of the tree. She sat there for a moment in silence to relax and admire the view in peace, the wind in her mane felt amazingly cool after such a good workout.

"What's up?!"

The loud voice right in her ear startled Twilight, which would normally have not been a problem if she hadn’t been holding onto a thin branch so high above the ground.

Leaves and branches whipped at her face as she fell from the top of the tree. Twilight braced herself for impact, only to feel something grab her in mid-air and jerk her sharply upwards again. She was placed onto the railing of her balcony, her heart rate significantly higher than she wanted it to be. With a shake of her head, Twilight turned and glared angrily at the pegasus hovering in front of her.

“Sorry.”

The little unicorn maintained her glare for a few seconds more. “Rainbow Dash, didn’t anypony teach you how impolite it is to scare ponies?” She pointed towards the ground. “Especially if said pony is a few stories above the ground and has no safety measures preventing her from falling.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "No sweat. I could have caught you waaaay before you even got close to the ground. Besides, can't you just telepop back inside if you fall down?"

Twilight thought for a moment as logic overcame aggravation. "It's teleportation, not 'telepop.' And I suppose you're right, this time. So, what are you doing here?" Twilight took a glance at the sun, which had not managed to climb completely over the horizon yet. "Particularly so early in the morning."

Rainbow Dash’s hooves began to fidget. She may have been the fastest flyer in Ponyville, but she took a long time finding the words to respond.

“Well,” Dash started, looking around as she searched for the correct words, “I was just passing by on my morning exercise and noticed you standing on top of the library, so I decided to check what my little friend was up to.”

Twilight examined her surroundings before looking back at Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow as she pointed her hoof towards a cloud. “Oh, and it just happens that on a clear sky, there is exactly one cloud floating next to the library, just big enough to accommodate one sleeping pegasus?”

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Oh, I must have missed that one when I cleared the sky for the Summer Sun Celebration. My bad,” she said innocently. The pegasus flashed Twilight an awkward smile, but the little mare could easily see the sweat falling from her friend’s face.

“Oh, so you didn’t sleep on this cloud next to my library last night?” Twilight asked, smirking. “Waiting for me to wake up and go outside, so you could ask me to hang out with you, did you?”

Dash shook her head nervously. “‘f’course not, that’d be silly.”

Twilight giggled and said, “Yeah, that would be really silly.” Dash sighed in relief. “Actually, I was hoping to hang out with you and have some fun during an epic adventure today, but since that’s not the case, why are you here?”

Rainbow Dash panicked and grabbed Twilight in between her hooves. “Epic adventure? I’m in!” She blushed upon noticing a smirk. “I mean…”

Twilight chuckled as she slid her foreleg outside of Rainbow Dash’s grasp and poked her in the nose. “Got you.”

Dash sighed in defeat. “Fine, fine, you got me. So what if I slept next to your house? So what if I waited until you woke up? We just became friends and I wanted to spend some time with you, to get to know you better.”

The little mare let out a wistful sigh. “I know, Rainbow Dash, I feel the same way. However, I’m afraid I can’t spend time with you right now. I have something else planned for today.”

“Hey, why not do both? Whatever you have planned, can’t I come along?” Dash asked.

Twilight smile returned as she struggled against Dash’s hooves, pushing herself from the pegasus’s grip in order to sit on her hoof. “Actually, you may,” she said, lightening her friend’s mood a bit. “The main reason for me staying here in Ponyville is to progress in my studies of earth pony magic, and I was about to go to the farm—”

“Sweet Apple Acres.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, there. I wanted to ask the Apple family to guide me in my studies as well as for permission to observe them during their work and even set up a small experiment or two.”

The pegasus smirked and landed on a nearby branch, her wings spread. “No prob. Just hop on and I will get you there in less than a minute.”

Twilight shook her head. “Thanks, but no thanks.” She jumped from Dash’s hoof onto the branch, shaking a little from the impact before regaining her balance. “I’d rather gallop there and get a better look at the town. Flying there would be just too easy.”

Dash frowned and crossed her forelegs as the tiny unicorn was jumping from branch to branch until she landed back on the balcony and trotted inside.

***

Twilight didn’t have it in her heart to wake up Spike, so instead she just wrote a memo that she would be at Sweet Apple Acres and placed it on a pillow in her basket. She grabbed her tiny saddlebag and somehow managed to push in several bits before declaring herself ready to depart. With a gallop she ran towards the balcony and jumped from it to the ground, saving her the time of using the door.

“Oh, silly me. I forgot about the map,” the little mare said to herself as she turned around, only for a giant pegasus to land in front of her with a loud thump, forcing her to jump back reflexively, coughing from the dust that spread around Dash’s hooves from the impact.

“I know the way,” Dash said as she lowered her wing, forming a bridge onto her back. “Hop on, I’ll get you there.”

Twilight wiped the dust from her face and frowned. “You really want me to ride on you that badly?”

Rainbow Dash nodded as Twilight gave her a challenging glare. “Then let's turn it into a challenge, shall we?” she said, causing Dash's ears to perk up as the pegasus knelt, head lowered to her level. "I will ride on you, but only if…”

Dash’s eyes and smile widened. “Yes?”

“If…” Twilight said with a teasing tone.

“Yes!” Dash’s face moved closer, her nose almost touching Twilight’s muzzle.

“If… you can catch me!” Twilight said as she poked her friend’s nose. With this action the little unicorn galloped away, her horn charging a teleportation while Dash looked at her with a smirk.

“Game on.”

Rainbow Dash was flying towards the farm, her little passenger holding her neck tightly, pressing herself against her soft fur without even bothering to tie herself down with magical ropes.

Twilight felt her mane blow in the wind as she leaned around Rainbow’s neck, catching sight of rows of hundreds of trees on the horizon. Nearly at her destination, she whispered to Dash’s ear, “How did you do that?”

The pegasus smiled proudly. “How did I catch you? Simple, I am the fastest pegasus in Equestria. There’s no way you could outrun me.”

Twilight frowned. “But I’m tiny! And I can teleport!” she pointed out before closing her eyes as her ride collided with another cloud and puffy leftovers washed against her face.

Rainbow Dash rolled in mid-air, forcing Twilight to tighten the hold of her neck so as not to fall off. "Oh yeah, I'm totally awesome. But you knew that already, right?"

Twilight was about to protest, but just sighed instead. “Fine, Rainbow Dash. I admit defeat.”

The pegasus only answered with a grin, before slowing down as they leveled out over the farm.

Her tiny passenger released her neck and said, “Thanks for the ride, Rainbow, but rest assured, I won’t rest until I can beat you in a game of tag. Mark my words.” Twilight narrowed her eyes briefly at Rainbow, but her serious expression broke quickly into a giggle. With a just, she jumped from the pegasus onto an apple tree, grabbing a branch before judging her next hop down.

She released the branch and landed effortlessly on the ground, only to jump forward as the giant pegasus dropped like a brick next to her, kicking up another puff of dust. After waving away the cloud, Twilight wiped her face with her own tail and released the breath she was holding, shooting Dash an annoyed glare. “You really should stop doing that.”

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash said before following her friend, one of her steps to every five of the tiny mare’s. “Nice tree climbing by the way,” she commented, “I’ve never seen a unicorn who could pull off something like that without using magic, let alone one as small as you.”

“I like to exercise almost as much as using magic and reading. It’s very exciting,” Twilight responded cheerfully. “Though I admit, it was a bit easier than what I’m used to.”

The pegasus gave Twilight a curious glance. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, a year after I started working on my physical training, I decided to push it to a whole new level. Every morning, I took it upon myself to help Princess Celestia don her golden regalia by hoisting them up and putting them on for her. The crown was heavy, but her petryal was the hardest of all." Twilight puffed out her chest proudly, much to Dash's amusement. "Trust me, that thing is heavy. Even after all these years, I still don’t understand why my mentor wears it every day.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Wow, you sure have very original ways to get morning exercise. I bet no pony can say that they’ve climbed Mount Celestia every morning.”

Twilight shared Dash’s laugh, but she stopped at the sight of another pony, a big, red earth pony. He must be one of Apple family members I met during the ‘Summer Sun Celebration’. What was his name again? Twilight thought as she turned to her companion. “Rainbow, what’s his name?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the pony in question, pausing for a moment before responding, “If you want to be official, it’s Big Macintosh, but everypony calls him Big Mac. He’s Applejack’s older brother.”

Twilight looked once again at the stallion. Big Mac? How strangely fitting. She trotted towards him as he, with one strong kick, dropped a huge amount of apples into the waiting baskets.

Impressive. He’s way stronger than Applejack. His inner earth pony magic must be incredibly powerful, perfect for my studies!

Twilight grinned widely, stopping in front of the red giant and taking in a deep breath.

***

“Excuse me!”

Bic Mac heard somepony speak, but when he swept his eyes over the orchard, there was only a singular pegasus sitting under a tree a short distance away.

“Hmm, wonder what she needs,” he murmured under his breath. Wiping his brow, he began trotting towards her until his hoof abruptly got stuck.

Big Mac looked down, finding his hoof suspended a little above the ground. He put a bit more strength into moving it, but to no avail.

“Down here!” somepony called again, but it didn’t come from the pegasus in front of him.

Big Mac’s brow furrowed, watching as a purple magical aura moved his foreleg to the side and onto the grass.

“Ah. Ah’m sorry,” Big Mac said as he lowered himself to the ground to get a better view of the tiny mare. “Ah almost stepped on ya.”

Twilight shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, Big Macintosh. It wouldn’t hurt me anyway even if you did,” she remarked with a smile. Big Mac was big, but she had been stepped on by Princess Celestia without major injury, and that was years before she hardened up and began exercising.

Big Mac simply nodded, watching the tiny unicorn expectedly. A moment of silence later, as Twilight's confident smile was slowly replaced with an awkward one, she cleared her throat and began speaking, “You’re probably wondering why I came here in the first place.”

“Eeyup.”

“Well, I’m here to study earth pony magic. I want to ask the pony in charge here for permission to observe, maybe perform a few tests, as well as for assistance from the Apple family.”

“Ahh, then you’d want to talk to Applejack,” Big Mac said, sitting up. “She’s working the patch o’ trees a few rows that way.”

“Your younger sister’s in charge?”

He simply nodded.

“I see. Thank you for your time, Big Macintosh.” Twilight bowed politely before trotting towards Applejack, keeping her eyes on him. “It was nice talking with you… I guess.”

“Eeyup.”

***

Applejack’s attempt to kick an apple tree was interrupted by a bright flash on her muzzle, causing her to miss the tree entirely and lose balance, her side tumbling into the grass.

“S-sorry,” Twilight said as she held herself onto Applejack’s nose, who blinked back in mild surprise.

“Howdy, Twilight. What can Ah do ya for?” she asked, forcing her friend to hold on tighter whenever she spoke.

The little mare cleared her throat. “First off, I would like to make sure about something. Big Macintosh said you’re in charge of the entire farm. Is that true?”

Applejack tipped her head forward slightly, grinning widely. “Sure am, sugarcube.”

“I see, I’ll get straight to the point then,” Twilight said, hopping off onto the ground and levitating a miniature pen and paper from her tiny saddlebag. “My mentor has allowed me to stay in Ponyville on one condition: that I study earth pony magic.”

The farm mare picked herself up, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Earth pony wha’?”

Twilight stood on her rear hooves and repeated herself. “Earth pony magic! You know, the magic that every earth pony possesses. Aren’t you an expert in this field?”

Applejack smiled awkwardly. “Ehehe... Ah have no idea what yer talkin’ about. Ah can’t cast any spells. Ah don’ have no horn to perform any fancy magic. Where’d ya get that idea?”

Twilight stared back dumbfounded for several seconds, the concern that she had said something stupid or silly growing in strength with each passing second.

The tiny unicorn slowly cleared her throat. “I see. You lack theoretical knowledge on the topic. It’s fine, I am here more for the practical knowledge anyway.”

Applejack lowered herself to the ground, her nose almost touching the unicorn’s muzzle. “Care to explain, sugarcube?”

Twilight let out a sigh. “Well, in short, back when I was still studying in Canterlot...

***

“Ah don’t believe it!” Applejack said firmly as Twilight stared back from her spot on Dash’s wing.

“But it’s the truth, Applejack. Please trust me, I’ve researched this topic extensively.”

The farm mare looked around her farm, admiring the trees she had kicked for years before looking back at her little friend. “So what yer sayin’ is that every time Ah kick a tree to get apples, Ah give some of mah fancy magic in return to let it grow apples faster?”

Twilight jumped onto Applejack’s muzzle and anchored herself against it with her forelegs, her head nodding energetically. “Not only just grow faster, its fruits are also of a higher quality and give much more energy when eaten. Furthermore, it doesn’t just apply to the trees but also to the seeds you plant and everything you farm as long as you make contact with the plant or with the ground it grows in,” she lectured, before adding hesitantly, “In theory at least. That’s why I’m here, to gain practical knowledge and see everything for myself.”

The little mare climbed up Applejack’s muzzle before sitting on the top of her head, gesturing her hoof over the farm. “Just think about it, Applejack. During all your work, part of your magic, part of you is in every single tree, and in return, they’re giving back the fruits of your work.”

Applejack took a deep breath and closed her eyes, proud smile on her face. “There’s a lot of wisdom in yer words, sugarcube. Ah always thought there was some of the Apple family in every tree of our orchard, but Ah never thought of it quite like that.

Twilight cheered as she jumped from her friend, landing softly on the grass. “Great, then let the studying begin!”

Applejack blinked a few times. “But Ah told ya Ah know nothin’ of mah magic. Ah didn’ even know Ah had it.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Twilight remarked cheerfully. “After all, I’m here to learn from practice.”

“Okay Applejack, everything is set. Are you ready?” Twilight asked, sitting in a nest of leaves. She was in full research mode, a tiny pen behind her ear, a small notepad in her hoof, a tiny bottle of ink next to her hind leg, and her horn lit with magic.

Applejack stood in front of a tree and looked back at the marked point. “Ah’m ready, sugarcube.” The farm mare settled into a wide, stable stance, fully prepared to buck the tree as she had done for years. Even though this was an experiment, baskets were still scattered around her, ready to receive the rain of apples.

“Good, but first, I need to cast a scanning and marking spell,” Twilight said. Her horn flashed, and a few seconds later she wrote something in her notepad.

The tiny unicorn let out a hum. “That's odd,” she muttered.

“What’s weighin’ on ya, Twilight?” Applejack asked, but she just got a shrug in response.

“Nothing important. Probably just a minor discrepancy to look into. Anyways, go ahead and kick… now!”

Applejack did as ordered. A standard kick with pretty normal results, judging by the baskets around her. Twilight cast another spell, and to everypony’s astonishment, Applejack’s legs began to glow, as did the point at which she hit the tree. Even the apples that fell off were illuminated lightly.

Applejack’s face furrowed as she leaned in closer to the apples. “What in tarnation is that?”

Twilight smiled. “This, my friend, is your magic. Wonderful, is it not?” she remarked excitedly, clopping her hooves together.

The farm mare turned to the tree as the light began to spread across its trunk, down to the roots and up to its branches. Twilight’s grin only widened as she spoke again. “As you can see, your magic revitalises the tree, which is why earth ponies will always be superior to pegasi and unicorns in agriculture, as there’s no spell that can replicate that.”

“Darn right! No fancy magic can beat me in what Ah love to do,” Applejack said proudly before giving her friend an apologetic glance. “No offense, Twilight.”

“None taken,” she said cheerfully. “Say, could I borrow your brother for a trial?”

Applejack shrugged. “Y’should probably be askin’ him, but Ah can get him here for ya.” She turned to the side and hollered, “Hey Big Mac! Twilight wants ya to participate in a little somethin’!”

The big pony perked up at the sound of his sister, and approached them with slow, deliberate steps.

As soon as he entered hearing range, Twilight cleared her throat to attract his attention. “Big Mac, could you buck that tree over there?” she said, pointing to a marked area on another tree. “Just a normal buck will suffice.”

Big Mac turned to the tree in question, stating simply, “S’plannin’ on buckin’ that tree later t’day anyways,” before turning around and letting loose a thunderous buck dead center on the mark.

Twilight quickly ran through the spell again, and as she had expected, his magic burned far brighter than his sister’s; if Applejack was a light bulb, Big Macintosh was a spotlight.

“Now your turn, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. The proud pegasus walked towards a third tree and imitated Applejack’s technique, without much success.

Twilight once again cast her scanning spell, only to frown and rub her eyes in confusion. As she recast her spell, the little unicorn drew in a sharp breath, tapping at her notepad in agitation.

“So, how was it?” Dash asked as she looked at the apples she forced to drop, noting that her baskets had only half of what Applejack’s gathered. “Stupid apples.”

“Everythin’ okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as she walked towards the unicorn.

Twilight looked up from her writing. “Mostly, everything was making sense up until that happened!” she said, jabbing her hoof at the tree that Rainbow Dash hit, or rather, the very small glow of magic emanating from it.

“I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash, tilting her head to the side. Twilight’s magic pulled her head to the ground, and the little unicorn touched her nose with a hoof as she hopped in place in excitement.

“Neither do I! Rainbow Dash, you just used earth pony magic!” she exclaimed, much to the confusion of Dash, Applejack, and Big Mac. “I’ve scanned many ponies, and I’ve never seen any unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony use any other type of magic than their own. Well, outside of the princesses of course, but they’re alicorns!”

Rainbow Dash put a touch more strength into her hooves to free herself from Twilight’s levitation. “And this means?” she asked, her expression confused and unamused. “In Equestrian, please.”

Twilight stepped back and frowned. “It means, Rainbow Dash, that you’re the first pegasus I’ve met—maybe even in history—who in addition to your incredibly high amount of pegasus magic,” she stated, making Dash smile proudly at the compliment, “also possesses a tiny bit of earth pony magic as well. It’s just a little bit compared to how much Applejack uses, but it’s still there.”

The farm mare approached and patted her friend hard on the back. “Congratulations, Dash. Ah always knew ya had tha’ determination an’ stubbornness of an earth pony.”

“Don’t laugh just yet, Applejack,” Twilight cut in, her horn lighting up again. “It also seems you have some pegasus magic inside of you as well.”

Applejack’s mouth opened, and Rainbow Dash patted her back in return, faking a sniffle and hugging AJ as if she was a long lost sister.

“Welcome to the club, airhead.”

Big Mac approached and looked down at the tiny unicorn with a hopeful smile. Twilight just shook her head. “Sorry Mac, just earth pony magic in you,” she said, much to his disappointment.

Twilight noted the gathered data before levitating a few tiny memos onto the trees, pointing out which one was hit by whom. “Good, now all there is left to do is to observe the growing progress from time to time and see how long it will take for the apples to grow back, as well as check their quality.”

The little mare walked towards the last tree, looking at it from top to bottom. The tree itself resembled a tower, and each apple was at least half her size. Twilight gulped as she turned around and raised her tiny forelegs, though she set them down again as somepony cast a shadow over her. She raised her head to look up at the towering form of Big Mac in front of her.

“This tree’s a bit too big for such a little pony.”

Twilight smiled and said, her voice filled with confidence, “Correction: this tree is too big for my strength, but not for my magic.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow, but kept staring down curiously.

Twilight lit her horn, summoning two small barriers before slowly wrapping them to her rear hooves. The purple aura around her hind legs grew with each second, catching the others’ attention.

“Is she is going to...?”

“She sure is.”

Both mares giggled as they watched their tiny friend preparing herself to kick the large tree. “I bet ten bits she’ll drop at least one apple,” Dash challenged.

Applejack snorted. “Ah’m sure she won't. Why’d ya think otherwise?”

Rainbow Dash smirked in response. "Because she's awesome. Not as awesome as me just yet, of course, but still pretty far up there on the awesome chart. There’s no way she can fail.”

The farm mare blinked at her friend’s logic before she spat on her hoof and held it towards Dash.

“Yer on.”

***

This is gonna hurt, she thought as the aura of her magic grew a bit brighter as she sent more and more of her magic into her legs.

This is gonna hurt… a lot.

Finally, her legs stopped glowing brighter as Twilight released a long sigh, her ears flattened against her head. I am so going to break a bone or two, but science sometimes cannot progress without sacrifice. Worst case scenario, I can always heal my legs.

The little unicorn closed her eyes and grit her teeth as her levitation spell—which had reached enough strength to lift more than a thousand times her own mass—pulled her legs towards the tree. In fraction of a second, her hind legs slammed against the wooden surface, the two barriers that were shielding her hooves shattering like a glass. Twilight could feel an incredible amount of pain as the jolt of it passed from her legs into her entire body, her forelegs giving out and her head slamming against the dirt. Her hind legs were now half-stuck to the tree, leaving small, but deep holes in it.

Twilight’s ears shot upward as she heard a loud thump, and then another as apples fell into the baskets around her one by one. It wasn’t even of half of what Rainbow Dash managed to gather, but still enough to put a proud smile on her face despite the aching pain in her fractured legs. She raised her head to look up at Applejack standing over her, staring down as if seeing an apple-eating insect of some sort.

“Ah can’t believe it!” the farm pony said in astonishment as she carefully eased Twilight out of the wood. The unicorn’s tiny hind legs rubbed against the wood, a few flakes falling off as she placed Twilight on her back. “How’d ya do that?”

Twilight smiled and spoke, her voice strained. “I j-just used my magic to compensate for my s-s-size.” She bit her lip before taking a deep breath. “Though I put too m-much magic into pushing my h-hooves into the t-tree…”

Twilight groaned, focusing her magic on her sore legs. “and too little t-to p-protect them from the impact.”

Applejack grinned. “May’ve lost my bet with Dash, but darned if Ah’m not happy to witness such a thing. Unicorn or not, yer like an earth pony at heart.”

Rainbow Dash shot Applejack a challenging glare. “No, she’s not! She’s an adventurous pegasus at heart.“

“Ah think she’s all three,” Big Mac commented to everypony's surprise as he pointed towards the tree Twilight kicked. The effect of the marking spell was noticeably still present as a small, but strong flare coming from the holes left by Twilight's hooves.

“Earth p-pony magic?!” Twilight lit her horn and scanned herself, running her aura over herself multiple times. “No no no, that’s impossible!”

“Problems, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as the tiny unicorn tried to stand on her hind legs and promptly collapsed under her own weight.

Twilight ignored her trembling legs as she levitated her notepad and made notes before speaking, “I have a little portion of pegasus and earth pony magic inside me.”

Big Mac smiled. “Ah’ve known ya just a few minutes, but Ah say you’re as smart as a unicorn can be.”

Rainbow Dash spoke proudly, “Adventurous like a pegasus.”

Applejack added firmly, “Determined an’ strong like an earth pony.”

Twilight’s panic attack waned at the praise from her friends and she just thought deeply. There must be a logical explanation. Only alicorns like Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the former princess Cadence possess all three types of magic. There must be a reason why my friends have more than just one type, and why I have all three... I’ll just have to research it alongside Luna’s blessing later on.

Twilight smiled and spoke energetically, her notepad and pen once again in her saddlebag, “I think it is best to research one thing at a time. I will figure it out later, but for now, we still have more earth pony magic research to do.” She levitated over a sickle that might as well have been an overgrown scythe from her perspective. “Let’s get harvesting.”

***

Overwatch simply rolled her eyes from the top of the hill she had set as her perch, overlooking the small clearing in the orchard where her charge was staying. It was good that she left Steel Blade doing the rest of the inventory so she could make sure Twilight doesn’t hurt herself, but really now…

“Twilight, you almost broke your legs,” she muttered to herself. “At least fix them first.”

Author's Note

First off, I would like to apologize for the long delay in uploading this story. My top editor Kydois had very little time to work on this story, and after over half a year he finally finished this chapter. I was afraid to upload this story without keeping its quality on a similar level to the rest of the series.

I am afraid that Kydois won't have enough time to edit next chapters fast enough, and I don't want to keep you all waiting so long again, so I will keep uploading chapters regularly. The bad news is that the quality of next chapters may drop a bit, but I hope that the story itself will make up for it.

For those who didn't read prequels, welcome to Twiny-verse. Feel free to check previous stories to learn more about tiny Twilight's adventures and her grow as a character, and most importantly, have fun with her shenanigans.

Ch2 - Ticket Master - Part 2

Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 2

Ticket Master
-
Part 2

Twilight groaned, an irritated look on her face as she could feel growing pain in her forelegs that were stretched like a bubble gum. From her left Rainbow Dash was pulling her towards herself. “Why do you want to give the ticket to Rarity? I thought that you didn’t like her as much as you liked me!”

Twilight bit her lips as she could feel a powerful force pull her in opposite directions. “Ah must agree with Dash. How could ya choose Rarity over me? Do ya have any idea how much it would help mah farm if Ah could go!”

“I thought we were friends,” Rainbow Dash said as she squeezed tiny foreleg between her hooves while pulling it towards herself.

“Why Twilight, why?” Applejack said as tiny foreleg between her hooves gained at least a centimeter in length.

Twilight’s annoyance and pain only grew as Rainbow Dash and Applejack played the tug of war with her tiny forelegs playing the role of the rope, both mares complaining that she has chosen Rarity over them and demanded an answer. Twilight grit her teeth, sweat covering her red face as she held air in her lungs, refusing to scream. Finally, her irritation reached its limits as she lit her horn and freed her hooves from this painful torture, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack lost their balance and fell onto their backs with a weak thump.

Twilight landed on her rear hooves as she puffed on her forelegs before casting a healing spell on them, and next she gave Applejack and Rainbow Dash an annoyed glare as both mares sat in front of her. “I am taking Rarity with me because I owe her an apology for how I treated her in the Everfree Forest. Besides, it is Rarity’s dream to meet nobility in Canterlot and socialise with the upper class that she admires so much.”

Both the pegasus and the farm mare lowered their heads in shame as Twilight asked curiously, “Why would you even want to go? I thought you both would hate to be there.”

Dash’s and Applejack’s mouths were agape as they looked at Twilight in disbelief, Applejack spoke first, “Hate to be there? How could ya think that? It's a heap of more than just nice, Ah’d love to go.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What for, Applejack?” she asked as the idea of Applejack spending time at a boring party with nobles who would call her names flashed in her mind. Suddenly she felt as a hoof grab her and pressed against a shoulder.

“If Ah had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chasin’ our tails ‘til the cows came home. Do ya have any idea how much business Ah could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres?” Applejack explained with excitement, gesturing around the farm with her other hoof.

“With all that money, we could do a heap of fixin’ up around here; like replace that saggy old roof, and Big Macintosh could replace that saggy old plough,” the farm mare took deep breath and pressed Twilight even harder as she added, “and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip.” Finally she sighed, lightening the hold over the struggling mare. “Ah would give mah right hind leg to go to that Gala.”

“Applejack, most of what you said just doesn’t make sense. The Gala isn’t like that,” Twilight commented as she pushed the hoof away, only to be taken away by Dash’s.

“The Wonderbolts perform at the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ every year, I can see it now…” Rainbow Dash explained how she would amaze everypony and the Wonderbolts with her tricks while pressing the little unicorn against her cheek while her other hoof gestured over the sky. “...And then they would welcome me as their newest member.”

“Well, you have a point, but–” Twilight was released, landing on the grass, only to jump to the side the moment Applejack rushed in, avoiding being slammed by farm mare’s foreleg as dust spread around it. Both taller mares started to argue with each other, ignoring everything she said.

Twilight sighed in relief and straightened her softened body, massaging her forelegs while looking at her arguing friends, who quickly started to hoof wrestle. The little unicorn rolled her eyes and turned around, galloping from the farm towards Rarity’s house, deep in her thoughts. It seems that I and my new friends still have a long way to go. I hope that at least Princess Celestia’s and Luna’s reunion is going better than that. Her ears shot upward at the loud noise, causing her to turn around to look at her hoof-wrestling friends… who were now wrestling in the mud. Surely it was impossible for the royal sisters’ reunion to be any weirder than that.

“You’re going to pay, Celestia!” Luna yelled as she flew around the trees in the royal garden, her wings flapping like there was no tomorrow while two pegasi guards followed right behind her. She ended up separated from her sister and Cadence minutes ago, each doing their best to lose the chasing party.

She evaded left and right, even circling around the trees as the giant hooves of the guards tried to catch her now one kilogram heavy body. Suddenly one of the guards blocked her way, forcing the princess to slow down before she could crash against his belly, ending up pinned between guard’s armored hoof and a wooden surface of a tree.

“Release us this instant, or thou wilt feel our wrath!” Luna screamed as she struggled against the guard’s hoof, but it was to no avail; unable to move anything besides her head.

“I am coming, hang in there!” Luna heard the voice of her sister as the guards turned their attention towards her, ending up blinded by a strong flash of the sun flare. Once the guard holding Luna was blinded, the tiny alicorn flew at him with full speed and, with one swift swing of her hind leg, she delivered the pegasus a kick strong enough to push his hundred times heavier body towards the ground as he slammed against it with a weak thump, freeing Luna now from his grasp.

Luna didn’t waste this opportunity as she lit her horn and shot another pegasus in the wing, causing him to fall as well. She then gave an angry glare towards her sister as she asked coldly, “How hast thee gotten us into this mess, sister?”

Celestia smiled at her shrunken sister as they were the same size. “I just wanted to spend some valuable time together with you like in the good old times when we fought against monsters and enemies to protect our little ponies,” Celestia said with an innocent smile and her forelegs curled against her belly.

Luna lit her horn and sent several thunderbolts at two giant pegasi guards who flew to catch them from behind, her sister shooting beams of golden magic of her own as they earthbound two enthusiastic pegasi guards temporarily.

While Luna’s memories of the events when Nightmare Moon was in control were slightly blurred, she still remembered quite an impressive resistance and skills the royal guards displayed while fighting her in the Everfree Forest. Those guards she faced today however were nothing to compare, unable to catch two alicorns despite their massive size and number advantage.

Maybe those Celestia send after us were trained knights, and the ones we’re facing are like squires at best, that would explain why our sister picked them for this crazy game. Luna thought, hearing a silent voice in her head a moment later.

It matters not. First she tricks Twilight, next us, Cadence and the guards, and now she humiliates us. This cannot go unpunished.

“Once We grow back to our original size, thou shalt spend three minutes under our mighty hoof for this!” Luna growled as a loud noise caught her attention, ducking her head just in time as a beam of magic passed above it.

Luna’s eyes opened widely, her mouth agape as she stared into a hole in a tree right behind her, smoke and burned remains decorating it. She quickly turned around, focusing upon the unicorn guards who ran between the trees and sent more deadly projectiles against her as she and Celestia started to evade. Luna looked at her sister and asked with panic, “Why art thine warriors shooting deadly beams of magic as if they’re attempting to kill us, sister? It was meant to be an innocent game of tag.”

Celestia set up a golden barrier around herself and Luna to give them a small break, an awkward smile on her face. “Well… I kind of ordered them to catch us by using any means necessary, aside from changing it into a game of hunter and prey.” The sun princess rubbed back of her neck as she whispered, “And I may or may not have possibly told them they could use lethal force–”

The golden barrier shattered in an instant under a barrage of giant beams as Luna and Celestia were pushed away. The night princess grit her teeth and flapped her wings as she slowly regained her balance and flew away from the unicorns, her sister right next to her. Luna looked to her side and growled, flames of rage in her eyes. “Thou shalt spend five minutes under our hoof when this is over,” she stated as another beam of magic flew above her head, “Six!”

***

Celestia just smiled at the threat as she felt adrenaline flowing through her body, evading beams of deadly magic and fighting for her life side by side with her sister like in the good old days. Oh Luna, you have no idea how much did I missed the times we spent and played together. The times we teased and pranked one another, pushing our bodies to our very limits. I haven’t had that much fun since we turned part of our castle into a trap-filled dungeon... she thought, only to notice a fireball heading towards her and her sister.

“Look out!” Celestia shouted as her wings flapped strongly, dashing upward.

Luna, who was still looking at her sister, turned her head to see a giant meteor of fire flying at her. The tiny alicorn braced her forelegs for the impact, and the moment the burning flames of offensive magic passed her, she could feel an unpleasant smell of burned fur while her mighty and majestic body was now burnt and charred, smoke coming off it.

The blue alicorn gave her sister an angry glare as Celestia was giggling at the sight of her grilled posture. Luna’s anger bottled in her, her transparent mane flaming just as bright as the fireball that had hit her just a moment ago. Her sister briefly wondered if the flames were a manifestation of her sister’s rage, or if her mane really had caught on fire from the fireball; but Celestia didn’t the have time to find out as a powerful and loud voice full of vengeance pushed her with great force.

“TEN!”

Twilight went a long way from the farm towards Rarity’s boutique, sometimes even teleporting ahead to cut down her distance, but the moment she walked next to Sugarcube Corner, the upper doors opened. Twilight’s ears twitched, her head turning to the side as a giant pink shape charged directly at her; reflexively she jumped back, avoiding being crushed by an energetic mare only by inches. “Are you alright, Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head and looked around, but after a light bulb appeared above her head, she looked down to see a little unicorn staring back at her. “Hey, Twilight! What brings you to the Sugarcube Corner?” Pinkie asked as she took a cupcake from behind her back and placed it in front of her small friend. “Cupcake?”

Twilight shook her head as she pushed the giant cupcake to the side. “Thanks Pinkie, but I already ate an entire apple today. I'm quite full.” Twilight sat and spread her forelegs as she tried to show the size of the apple. “It was nice almost bumping into you, but I need to visit Rarity. Farewell.”

The little unicorn waved her hoof and jogged at a steady pace towards her destination, but Pinkie Pie quickly caught up as she bounced by her right side. “And why are you visiting her, Twilight? Anything fun going on at the boutique?”

Twilight increased her speed, trying to stay ahead of the bouncing pony. “Not really,” she started as she looked up at her friend, “I just want to pay her for the clothes she made for me.”

“Oh, but she gave them to you as gift! You don't pay for gifts, silly! Imagine how mean it would be if I wanted ponies to actually pay for the parties I made for them!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the word ‘pay’, asking, “Tell me Pinkie, how do you even earn enough bits to organise those parties if you don’t ask anypony to pay you, let alone have anything left for living?”

“Oh silly, it's very simple,” Pinkie started, getting Twilight’s attention who slowed down a bit and exposed her ears. “I work at Sugar Cube Corner! I have access to all I need for the parties while Applejack and Fluttershy supply flour and eggs at discounted prices!”

Twilight nodded her head, finding the answer very logical.

“As for the things I need and don’t have access to, I just find them.”

Twilight gave Pinkie a curious glance. “Find them… what do you mean?”

“By saying that I find them I mean that I find them, silly! For a smarty, you sure ask the silliest of questions,” Pinkie replied cheerfully as Twilight looked at her with confusion. “If I need something to cheer up other ponies, I get it; I don’t question how, I'm just happy that I can make other ponies happy with it.”

Twilight’s eye twitched and looked at Pinkie as if she was insane. “Whatever you say, Pinkie. I think I will be going, the ticket to the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ is not going to deliver itself.” She said before galloping, but a pink streak of lightning passed her and was now towering in front of her.

“Did you say ‘ticket for the Grand Galloping Gala’?”

***

Twilight galloped as Pinkie Pie bounced behind her, still singing her song about how the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’ was the best place for her. Do those ponies really don’t understand that it’s the most boring party in the history? Twilight thought as she increased her speed, still looking at the singing mare right behind her. No pony will buy a single thing from Applejack, the Wonderbolts’ attention will be so focused on the nobles that they will ignore Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie will be bored to death or she will annoy all the nobles to death... which on other hoof won’t be so bad in the long run.

Twilight, deep in thought and not watching where she was going, ended up bumping into something. “S-sorry,” she said as she looked forward, only to see a young white bunny massaging his head before giving her an angry glare, but quickly his hostile expression changed into a confused one. Next to the bunny, Twilight could see forelegs of the overprotective pony who saved her from the Manticore. “Sorry Fluttershy, it seems that I bumped into your friend.”

“It’s quite alright, I’m sure Angel Bunny doesn’t mind. Am I right, Angel?” Fluttershy asked but didn’t get any response, her little friend too focused on examining the tiny unicorn in front of him. “Twilight, this is my friend Angel Bunny, Angel, this is my friend Twilight Sparkle. I hope you both will get along,” Fluttershy introduced as the little mare smiled and walked closer to the bunny, who was just a bit bigger than her.

Twilight raised her her hoof towards him and said, “Nice to meet you, Angel.” The white bunny just stared back at her without returning the gesture, his ears straightening to the sides.

“Now Angel, be nice and shake her hoof,” Fluttershy said, but after Angel ignored her request, she pushed him gently, “Please.”

Angel and Twilight stared at each other for a few seconds before Pinkie Pie jumped over their heads and landed on top of Fluttershy. Angel jumped in panic as he grabbed Pinkie’s hind leg in attempt to pull it but to no avail, only to see the party mare being levitated off the yellow pegasus, surrounded in a lavender aura.

“Are you alright, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as she used her levitation to help her stand, much to Angel’s surprise who blinked a few times at this display of power, looking between the tiny unicorn and the levitated pony.

Fluttershy was about to answer, but Pinkie Pie jumped between them and started to talk with her about the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’. Twilight sighed and looked at the bunny in pity and spoke, “Sorry Angel, nothing I can do to stop Pinkie Pie, your owner is on her own.” With one quick nod of her head she passed the pet and galloped towards Rarity’s house while the bunny just looked at her running away with a dumbfounded expression, only to rub his eyes moment later.

Twilight finally reached Rarity’s house. At this point she could use her magic to open the door, levitate an object to knock on it, or she could just use the entrance for a cat, but it would be far too easy and no fun at all. Instead, she flexed her legs and jumped at the door while kicking it with her hind leg, not too strong so as to avoid leaving any tiny mark of damage, but also strong enough to make it sound as if somepony was knocking at her door. Twilight repeated her jump-kick three more times before she could hear a loud, “The door’s open, please feel free to enter.”

She once again jumped at the door, her forelegs grabbing the handle while hind-legs pressing against the edge of the entrance, pushing it open. “Twilight? I had no idea that you would be coming. What can I do for you darling?” Rarity asked as she trotted towards the sofa gracefully and gestured her hoof at it. “Please, hop on and make yourself comfortable.”

Twilight did as she was told. The moment she was sitting on the sofa, Rarity sat right next to her and asked, “So what brings you to my Boutique?”

She smiled cheerfully and levitated over her tiny saddlebag, several bits jumping out of it. “I just came to buy the clothes you made for me. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Oh no no no no no, Twilight, I would not dare to take bits for something I gave you as a gift.”

Twilight frowned. “I won’t take no for an answer, I want to pay for them like a common pony would, I don’t want any special treatment.”

“But…” Rarity paused as memories of their first encounter flashed in her mind. With a sigh of defeat, she levitated the collection of tiny clothes to Twilight. “That will be twenty bits, since even though I used expensive materials to make them, the required amount was very small.”

Twilight levitated the bits over to Rarity and took the clothes in her levitation field. “Thank you, also, I have a present for you, an apology gift for how I treated you in the Everfree Forest.”

Rarity lowered her head slightly and looked at Twilight with curiosity. “And what may it be? Surely I do not deserve any presents after I hurt your feelings back then.”

“I want to hear nothing of it, Rarity,” Twilight started as she jumped on Rarity’s muzzle, now hanging onto it as she looked her deep in the eyes. “I know how much you would love to go to Canterlot and meet the nobility you admire so much, so I’m sure you’re going to love it!”

Rarity blinked before crossing her eyes, focusing upon the mare on her nose. “Yes, I do, but what does it have to do with—”

“Because the princess sent me two tickets for the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’,” Twilight said hastily as Rarity’s eyes went wide, mouth agape but silent. Twilight climbed further on her muzzle and spread her hooves in excitement, “And I’m inviting you to accompany me! Aren’t you excited?”

Twilight waited patiently, her hind legs holding Rarity’s muzzle form both sides as she observed the stunned mare. She was expecting for Rarity to dance from joy or even embrace her in a hug, something ponies tended to do.

“Thank you very much Twilight, it is very generous and thoughtful of you,” Rarity’s smile softened, “but with a heavy heart, I have to refuse.”

“What?” Twilight whispered as her grip weakened, slowly sliding from the muzzle until she fell off right onto the sofa. While lying on the comfortable surface and with the giant crazy unicorn towering above her, she screamed, "WHAT!"

Rarity cleared her throat with hoof over her mouth. “After the talk with you and the former princess, Cadence, I understood how selfish, self-centered and shallow I was.” Rarity turned her head away from Twilight as she waved her hoof. “I am sure there are friends who need and deserve to be there with you far more than me.”

Twilight’s mind was a mess. “What did you do with Rarity?” she yelled as she pointed her hoof at Rarity accusingly, but the elegant unicorn shook her foreleg.

“Hush Twilight, I may not act like my usual self, but only because I am trying to change for the better. If I were to go with you for my selfish desires, one of our friends would not realise her dream.”

“But… Buuuuut,” Twilight couldn't form any other word than ‘but’ in her throat as she was now speechless. “My head... I want to go home…”

The little unicorn no longer felt the soft surface of the sofa as a blue aura levitated her and tiny clothes outside of the Boutique. “I wish you and another friend you choose to enjoy the Gala, and I hope that the clothes you bought from me will serve you well, have a pleasant and eventful day,” Rarity said as she closed the door in front of Twilight slowly, leaving her speechless and stunned, glaring at the closed door motionlessly with her eye twitching occasionally.

***

Rarity looked outside of her home by the window as she watched her tiny friend walking away, only to raise her head up proudly while saying to herself, “Good work Rarity, you have made a big step forward in your new selfless life. Thanks to your sacrifice, one of Twilight’s friends will have a lot of fun…” her smile weakened slightly, ”partying with the nobility…” her smile turned upside down, “meeting very important ponies…” her ears flattened against her head, “marrying the charming prince…” tail drooped onto the floor. “What have I done!?”

Rarity started to tremble, only to trot in circle in panic as images of herself at the ‘Grand Galloping Gala” flashed in her mind, the very idea that she could marry Prince Blueblood was the final push into insanity. “Realisation of your deepest dream had been given to you on a silver plate, and you just threw it away!” Rarity screamed to herself as she placed her forelegs on the wall and with one strong swing, she hit it with her head. “Rarity, you stupid mare.” She hit her head against the wall again.

“You could have become popular.”

Smash

“You could’ve married a prince!”

SMASH

“You could’ve spent an entire day in the company of nobility!”

SMASH

“Stupid… stupid… stupid!” Rarity repeated over and over as she hit the wall with her head repeatedly, its surface cracking under the force of the continuous blows.

***

Overwatch groaned.

It wasn’t exactly the groan of frustration. Or the groan of exasperation. It was simply the groan of somepony who already knew what was going to happen and wished to be done with it already.

To be fair, it was probably the nobility’s fault that everypony have such strange notions of what the Grand Galloping Gala is, she mused. It was hyped up as the event that everypony should go to, and it didn’t help that it was generally held at the castle with Princess Celestia there to attend. Why would anypony care about an event if it really only held appeal to the noble class?

Regardless, ponies everywhere always got super excited for the gala. The jealousy and disagreements it spawned were a few of the things contributing to her headache at the moment.

A flap of wings drew her attention, and she glanced up into the sky just as Steel Blade alighted just next to her on the roof of Carousel Boutique.

Well, at least she could have some company.

Steel Blade frowned as he tried to find a comfortable position. “I can’t even be surprised to find you up here,” he muttered. “So, what’s happening? And why do you look like you want to punch something?”

“Grand Galloping Gala,” Overwatch droned. “Ponies know that Twiny has extra tickets.”

The white pegasus let out a hum of understanding. “Suddenly, it all becomes clear,” he said. “Y’know, if Twilight doesn’t give them to anypony else before she gets back, we could always offer to take them off her hooves and then there wouldn’t be all this drama around them.”

His companion straightened to attention, frowning. “Why would we care about the gala?”

Steel Blade snorted. “It’s not like we don’t attend every year anyways. This time, we can at least talk to each other without looking unprofessional.”

He paused. “Well, without looking more unprofessional, in your case.”

“And what, we’ll call it a date instead?” Overwatch smirked. “Shouldn’t you already have a special somepony at your age? You’re what, moving into your late thirties?”

“Well…” Steel Blade responded, feigning thought, “I guess I did chase a few mares when I was younger. Y’know, in between all the guard shifts and extra training.”

“Wow. Really? I can’t believe I never noticed,” the guard mare said, genuinely surprised. “And none of them worked out?”

Steel Blade simply shrugged. “Well, it’s more that I’ve had my eye on one particular mare for a while now…”

“Ahh, that makes a bit more sense. I hope that works out, by the way, especially if you left her back in Canterlot,” Overwatch said, before hopping off the roof like a cat and carefully following behind their charge.

The guard stallion chuckled. “Thanks,” he said with a soft smile, before jumping off after her with a flutter of his wings.

Author's Note

Here is first part of chapter 2. My top editor managed to edit the beggining and last scene while others helped with the middle. I hope that the quality is acceptable and that I didn't overdid interaction between Celestia and Luna.

Now when Twiny is in Ponyville, Celestia no longer have her tiny student to take care of, teach and adventure with, so she's trying to bond with her sister instead. Luna is not amused.

Also, poor Rarity. She's trying hard to become a better pony, and now it backfired.