"Now, what exactly is fire?" asked Twilight Sparkle.
She was sitting in one of the side rooms of the library inside her crystal castle. Countless books on ceiling-high shelves surrounded her. A small wooden table with several open books on it stood in one corner of the room. The floor was covered by a plush, yet comfy dark brown carpet.
"Hot and orange?" asked the little unicorn filly across from her, head slightly tilted to one side.
Twilight chuckled. "Definitely an astute observation, but not exactly what I was going for." She motioned to a bare piece of wood lying on the floor between them. "If I were to light a match and use it to set this log on fire. What exactly would happen - on a chemical or energetic level?"
The unicorn contemplated this for a moment and squinted her eyes. "Nothing, 'cause the fire produced by a match would be far too small for it," she concluded.
Twilight paused. Then she rubbed one forehoof across her temple. The headache she had had since morning increased slightly. "You know, Amber," she said, "sometimes you remind me of myself far too much."
Amber Starbright hesitatingly looked up to her, unsure of whether she should take this as a compliment or not.
"What I meant was," Twilight continued just slightly louder, "when some material like this wooden log burns in what is an exothermic chemical process, it releases energy in the form of heat and light." She paused and continued when Amber nodded enthusiastically. "So what, then, do you think is the basic idea when creating fire with magic?"
"Making it hot and orange?"
Twilight stared at her brightly smiling young student and sighed. "You know what, in this case... that might actually just be it." She lifted the log in her magic and passed it to her student. "Why don't we just try and see what happens. You seem to like this approach in any case."
"Yay!" Amber cheered and took the proffered piece of wood into her magic. Sticking out her tongue, she began to stare at it as if the two of them were participants in a particularly intense staring contest.
Twilight, meanwhile, used her magic to probe the air around the log to find out how her student was faring. With a mixture of exasperation and slight amusement, she realized that levitating and staring was all Amber was doing so far.
But that was just how things worked with her newest and youngest student. They had met almost two years ago, right inside the throne room of this castle. Amber had earned her cutie mark on that day, an occasion which Twilight played no small part in.
The alicorn shifted her attention towards her student's flank. It showed an intricate flame blazing from an unseen candle. When Amber moved about, it almost looked like the mark was moving along - ever twisting and dancing.
Both Twilight and Amber weren't really sure what the mark represented. Twilight had speculated that it had to do with the rekindling of old friendships - something that would definitely be in line with what Amber got it for. Amber said it was because she liked hot hayburgers and s'mores.
For about one and a half years, Twilight had not heard from the filly after that first encounter - she and her parents had lived in Fillydelphia after all. Then, almost exactly four months ago, Twilight had learned that the family had moved to Ponyville because Amber's father was being transferred there. Naturally this presented a golden opportunity for the little unicorn and she had begged her parents to be allowed to ask for private lessons from the princess.
Since Starlight Glimmer was pretty much self-reliant in her friendship studies by that point, Twilight agreed to tutor Amber in magic, math, science and several other subjects twice a week. Of course she still went to school, too, but every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon it was lesson time in the castle library.
Twilight had quickly learned that Amber had a very specific way of tackling problems. It usually included the most straightforward and simple idea she could come up with and then modifying and altering it until whatever was desired was achieved. That being said, it was not like she always stormed headfirst into things without thinking. Rather she just favored simple approaches over unnecessary complicated ones. The most amazing thing was... it worked out surprisingly often.
They had quickly covered basic levitation, simple spells and some technical things of spellcasting like how much energy you should use for which spells. Today was going to be the last day before Amber went on holiday with her family. It had been Twilight's idea to introduce fire spells, thinking it would probably interest the unicorn a great deal. Well, at least so far that seemed to be the case - more or less. It was hard to tell with Amber sometimes.
Twilight's ruminations were interrupted by a loud bang from the direction of the door. Amber twisted around and lost control of the log in her magic. Twilight quickly caught it in her own field and turned to look at the newcomer. Her personal assistant and adoptive dragon brother Spike stood in the doorway, a scroll in his hands.
"Message from the princess, Twilight," he said and strolled into the room.
Twilight frowned slightly and accepted the scroll. "Thank you Spike, but couldn't that have waited until after the lesson? You know I don't like it when you interrupt us like this."
Her words fell on deaf ears since Amber - in the manner all young students did when presented with a distraction from studying - had quickly dashed over to Spike and started chatting with him.
Twilight sighed and figured this would be as good a time as any to see what Celestia had written. She unrolled the paper in her magic and started to read.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I hope you and your friends are well. It has been quite a while since we heard anything from Ponyville. You should definitely write more often!
Luna tells me to say hello. She is looking over my shoulder as I pen this letter and her mane is getting in the way constantly... on purpose most likely.
There was a smudge of ink at the end of this last sentence. Twilight had to supress a grin as she imagined the two immortal rulers bickering with each other.
The actual reason I am writing is because I have managed to persuade Cadance and your brother to visit Canterlot next weekend. It wasn't too hard actually, it seemed like they were glad to get away from looking after Flurry Heart for a little while. I was thinking this would create a perfect opportunity to gather the "extended royal family" - sans Flurry - for a nice relaxing afternoon tea on Saturday. We can catch up and let our manes down for a bit. Luna and I could definitely do with some relaxation, it has been a rather difficult couple of weeks.
There is also another small thing I would like you to do until then. I have enclosed in this letter a certain spell - one that I would like you to go over and study before coming. It is nothing major and I assure you, the fate of Equestria does not hang in the balance this time nor does the spell cause life-changing events of any sort.
Please let me know if you can make it in the usual way. Also send my regards to young Spike, if he'd like he is welcome to join us.
Hoping to see you soon,
Celestia AND LUNA
The last two words were erratic and disproportionate compared to the rest of Celestia's tidy and smooth horn-writing, almost as if they were written by a quill being fought over for control.
Giggling, Twilight rolled up the letter and took a look at the second page containing what was evidently the spell her former teacher mentioned. It was very long and, at least judging by her first impression as she quickly skimmed the formulas, insanely complex.
The grin on Twilight's face became even wider as she contemplated the unsolved riddle before her. It was Tuesday, so that gave her four entire days to immerse herself fully into this challenge.
As she rolled up the second parchment as well and was about to summon another one to write a short answer on, Twilight suddenly noticed she still held the log in her magic. Puzzled, she squinted at it. This had happened more often lately - she would levitate some object and, getting distracted, forget about it. That in itself wasn't so strange, her mind tending to jump around a lot, but up until one or two months ago, the object usually would fall to the ground with a loud clatter. Levitation only worked when the caster concentrated on the object continuously. Stronger unicorns sometimes were able to levitate multiple objects, but they had to be aware of casting the spell on all objects at all times. For Twilight to be able to simply forget about the log entirely was strange indeed.
Twilight frowned. Of course she knew what the most probable cause was. It seemed as if her transformation had given her even more powers than she had previously thought. It frightened her sometimes. She couldn't help but think how far she had come from the studious little unicorn she once was.
Silently she regarded her own student, who was laughing about some silly joke that Spike made at that moment. The filly was indeed very similar to a young Twilight - and at the same time so different.
In terms of raw magical power, Amber was not that far off compared to Twilight at her age. Who knew what would happen in the coming years. It would definitely not be long until Amber could light up any piece of wood like a bright bonfire.
At this moment, without intending it, a great surge of power suddenly flowed through Twilight and out of her horn. The next second, the log exploded in a hot, fiery ball. A wave of heat blasted her face. The quill and all three scrolls were obliterated in an instant. Slightly delayed, Twilight screamed out and dropped the log onto the floor. More screams from Spike and Amber echoed in her ears.
Twilight shook her head and tried to get rid of the bright spots in her vision where she had looked directly at the flames. The smell of burnt hair entered her nostrils and almost made her choke.
"Twilight! Twilight! Are you alright?!" The voice was Spike's, but Twilight still wasn't able to make out more than his silhouette. Slowly, her vision returned.
The fire had gone out as quickly as it had come, only leaving a great scorch mark on the ceiling and the quietly smoldering piece of wood on the floor. Parts of the carpet were ruined, the intricate pattern destroyed by the hole that had been burned into it.
"I'm... fine," Twilight managed to cough out, "just give me a moment." Slowly gathering her bearings, Twilight looked around at the carnage and the worried faces of her student and assistant.
"What the hell happened, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Who conjured the fire?"
"I... I think I did..." she answered silently.
"What? But why? You mean, you didn't mean to? And why was it so big? And why..."
"Please Spike, I'm... it's really hard to think right now." She pinched the bridge of her nose with her hoof. Surprised, she realized that for some reason the headache she had been sporting all day had become lighter instead of worse. This, and the shock slowly ebbing off, helped ordering her thoughts immensely. "Can you... can you get something to clean up this mess, please?"
The dragon acknowledged this with a short "Yes, ma'am!" and then left the room. Twilight, meanwhile, used her magic to snuff out the rest of the fire burning inside the wood, then conjured a watering can and emptied it above the log for good measure.
Amber stood before her, fidgeting. "Uhm... is... does this mean our lesson is over for today?" she asked meekly.
Slightly faltering, Twilight tried to reassure her student with a smile. Judging by Ambers reaction, it came out more like a grimasse.
"I think we'll take a break at least until we all had a big cup of tea," Twilight then said, "could you go and help Spike with cleaning up? Tell him to set up the teapot afterwards. I'll be in the bathroom getting cleaned."
Nodding an affirmative, Amber left the room. After making sure that the last remains of fire were gone from the log, Twilight teleported directly into her bathtub, before turning up the cold water all the way.
Fortunately, the rest of the day went by without any more calamities. Twilight and Amber resumed their lesson after tea, and even though the filly was not able to ignite the wood, at least no part of the library or its occupants received any more unwanted fiery attention. At least somewhat content with the remainder of the lesson, Twilight bade her student goodbye after wishing her a nice holiday.
Only after dinner Twilight remembered the burnt up letter. She had Spike send a note to Celestia explaining what had happened and included a request for another copy of the spell.
Sleep did not come easy for her once she laid down for the night a few hours later. The headache had returned over the course of the evening and her worrying thoughts weren't helping matters. How she could have cast something without meaning to left her baffled. Usually it required so much concentration that such an accident was nigh impossible. It was also what made it so difficult for young ponies doing magic for the first time. Yet somehow, she had defied the circumstances. Somehow, she had done what she had assured Amber not three weeks ago was nothing to worry about. And it had blown up in her face.
Finally, in the wee hours of night, Twilight fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning her skull pounded in time with her heartbeat. Groaning and cursing life in general, she got out of bed and made ready for the day. Taking another cold shower, Twilight's thoughts were filled with coffee, breakfast and pretty much nothing else.
Hair still standing off in several directions, she made her way downstairs through the quiet castle and entered the kitchen. Spike wasn't there. "Well, there goes my hope of pancakes," she muttered under her breath and made a beeline towards the coffee machine. While the machine rattled loudly, Twilight slowly massaged her temples. This day was definitely not off to a great start.
Two minutes later with a warm coffee in her belly, Twilight started to feel awake enough to start foraging for some breakfast. Unfortunately, all the somewhat empty shelves offered was some dry bread and a box of cereals, but no milk. Spike, Starlight and her had only come back from a trip to Manehatten on Monday night and had not yet had the time to stock back up on groceries. They had used up most of the remaining food yesterday. This meant she would have to go shopping before she could have a proper breakfast.
Twilight sighed. "What wouldn't I give for a couple of fresh, juicy apples right now," she mumbled and imagined standing between the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, plucking one of the delicious fruits down and biting into it.
With a flash and another rush of magic through her horn, Twilight found herself standing on a patch of grass that was still wet with morning dew. All around her were the same trees she had just imagined. Wind rustled through the leaves and the sun peeked out from behind a small hill. Taken entirely by surprise and in a still slightly sleep-addled state, Twilight just stood there on all fours, a dumbfounded expression on her face. Somewhere to her left a cow mooed.
"This... was unexpected," she finally stammered and then sat down on her rump. She regretted this immediately, since the grass was cold and wet against her nethers, and jumped back up.
"Okay, Twilight, take it slow..." she said, starting to trot in a cycle instead. "You can figure this out, it's just another problem and you're a genius... hehe... ehehe." She felt the tugging of her eyelid trying to twitch in place.
Over the last few years, Twilight had gotten better at holding in her panic fits. But this, this was an entirely new type of problem. Casting without being able to control it was bad. Very bad. Just imagining all possible scenarios of what could happen made her breath go faster. What if she hurt somepony? What if she caused irreparable damage?
Using Cadance's breathing technique, Twilight was able to calm down a bit. "Panicking won't help, just breath and think clearly, you can solve this, you're in control. Panicking won't help, you can solve this." Repeating the mantra a few more times until she felt calm enough, Twilight started to make a mental checklist of how to tackle this problem.
Item one on her list was pretty basic: stop using magic altogether, at least until she had more information available. Items two and three were getting home and some breakfast respectively. The checklist was concluded by the most important item - number four: finding out what the hell was happening to her.
Shivering in the cold spring air, she nodded to herself and started the long walk back to the castle.
Starlight Glimmer was a morning pony. Certainly, her mornings usually didn't start before ten or even eleven sometimes, so this was not as impressive a fact as one would think. Starlight, naturally, didn't concern herself with what others thought of her anyway. But when she would finally wake up late in the morning, especially on such a fine day as this one promised to be, she was chipper and lively.
Starlight stepped out of bed and made herself presentable for the day. Looking out of the crystal-framed window of her bathroom, a cold but sunny spring day greeted her. Shivering, she was very glad to be inside and not out in the chilly morning air. Ten minutes later, she made her way towards the kitchen and breakfast.
Crossing the hall on the first floor, Starlight paused. She could hear noises coming from the door leading to Twilight's laboratory downstairs. Since she was curious and wanted to see if her mentor was in the mood for a late-morning snack, she changed directions and headed down the broad steps.
Pushing open the door at the end of the stairs, Starlight entered the castle's laboratory. Even though the old library's lab had not been small, it was tiny compared to what the tree of harmony had created in the roots of the castle. Spanning two stories, the laboratory had several work places, all set within small alcoves along the wall on three sides. In the center of the room on the lower level, adjacent to the entrance, was a larger space where Twilight usually worked on her various projects. Behind it, on both sides of a huge blackboard, stairs led to the upper floor. The room almost looked like a large version of a lecture hall and in fact had already been used for exactly that purpose by some classes from Canterlot University.
Starlight spotted her mentor standing at her usual spot behind the large center table, several vials and flasks standing on it. Some of them were empty, some contained variously coloured liquids. On the blackboard were several rows of complicated equations. She made her way over and cleared her throat to make Twilight aware of her presence.
The alicorn, of course, failed to notice this and continued muttering to herself under her breath while using a short piece of chalk to scribble out some more equations. Curiously enough, she was holding the chalk with her mouth. Starlight coughed more loudly and when Twilight still didn't acknowledge her, she said, "Hey Twilight! What are you doing?"
Twilight gasped and whirled around to face her. The chalk fell to the floor and cracked. "Starlight!" she panted, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Not that long," Starlight answered with a grin, "but with how fixated you were on your work, it could've been hours. You'd never know."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's been a tough morning for me," Twilight said, picked up a new chalk and then concentrated back on the blackboard.
Starlight noticed the ragged look of her mentor's mane and tail, as well as the bags under her eyes. "What happened?" she asked.
Twilight stopped writing for a moment and sighed loudly. "For some reason I started randomly throwing around spells since yesterday. I have no idea why or how I can make it stop. And... it seems to happen every time my headache is getting worse. I think it is a symptom of whatever this strange illness is." She picked up a sheet of paper from the table.
"I... what? You get a headache and then cast some random spell? Like what?"
"Like setting a log on fire yesterday or teleporting to Sweet Apple Acres this morning!" Twilight exclaimed. "Then, just before you came in, I realized I needed my copy of "Known unicorn diseases and how to cure them" from the library and next moment - poof - it's right there on the table in front of me! And I didn't even want to use magic! Why is this happening? It doesn't make sense!"
Carefully, Starlight made her way over to her mentor and laid a hoof over her shoulder. "Are you okay? You look slightly put off by all this. You're not panicking, are you?"
"No, no, no, don't worry. I already did that. I even put it on my magical-calamity emergency-checklist." From somewhere between several more sheets on the table, Twilight pulled out a single page filled from top to bottom with bullet points. Sure enough, the first item read 'Panic about unexplained magic phenomenon' and was checked off dutifully. "See? Already taken care of."
"I.. err," was the intelligent answer Starlight managed. Before she could say more, Twilight suddenly tensed and in the next moment sneezed loud enough to rattle some of the glass on the table.
"Stupid cold spring weather, stupid unintended teleporting, stupid wet grass, stupid, stupid, stupid!" Twilight sniffed and started heading for an assortment of used tissues on a side table. Before she could reach it however, she was shaken by another violent sneeze.
This time, Starlight felt a surge of power coming from the alicorn in the exact moment she sneezed. Then, she was treated to the sight of Twilight Sparkle breathing a stream of flames from her nostrils right onto the pile of tissues before her. The paper caught fire faster than dry twigs and ash rained down on the far side of the table.
Both ponies stood there for a long moment. Then Starlight said reverently, "that was the most wicked thing I have ever seen!"
Twilight whirled around. "Starlight, seriously! I'm this close to loosing it here! Don't you know what could happen if this continues? Just imagine I had been looking at you while sneezing!"
Starlight had the mind to look slightly bashful. "Well... what do you want to do?"
Twilight sat down on her rump and held up two hooves to her temples. "I don't know! It would be great to find a way to stop me from harming other ponies until a solution can be found."
A flash, another wave of magic, and suddenly Twilight was lying on the floor, air floating in and out of her nostrils steadily.
Again, Starlight just stood rooted on the spot.
"Uhm... Twilight?"
The dream Twilight had was nice. Particularly, there were no exploding logs, random teleports or fire breathing incidents. But, just as most nice things for her lately, the dream was bound to end way too soon.
Twilight started and sat up quickly. Sweat clung to the fur on her back and to her wings. Blinking, she tried to make out anything through the haze of a headache that was worse than ever before. Slowly, three shapes came into focus.
Gathered around the bed in her room were Spike, Starlight and Pinkie Pie. The dragon and unicorn were watching her with worrying expressions. Characteristically, the pink pony was smiling brightly. Still caught in a post-waking daze, Twilight looked at the sparkling teeth for a minute. Her head was empty, throbbing with the pain of several jackhammers pounding just behind her eyes.
She realized Spike was talking to her. "... and you just fell asleep in that moment! Starlight brought you up to your bed and you've been sleeping for almost an entire day! It's Thursday morning, by the way. Most of your friends came over at some point yesterday, too."
Twilight shook her mane and massaged her temples. She swung her legs over to the side of the bed and just sat there for a while. "I'm sorry if I made anypony worry. It actually isn't really that bad. I just... I..." she tapered off.
"Twilight? What is it? What has happened?" Pinkie took her friend's head between both of her hooves. "Did you cause a terrible accident during one of your experiments? Maybe you're turning into a she-hulk or something! That'd be really cool. Or..." her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. "Has anypony attacked you? Cast a spell on you? Is there another monster we need to take care of?" She started throwing punches at invisible enemies around her.
Twilight chuckled weakly. "Well, I guess you could say someone cast a spell on me, but it's not in the way you think. I... it's really embarrassing..."
Suddenly, Starlight started to giggle behind a raised hoof. "Oh no, you didn't," she said. Seeing the expression on her mentor's face and the red spots on her cheeks, she started to laugh louder. "Don't tell me... you cast a sleep spell... on yourself?"
Face shining, Twilight snapped her mouth shut audibly. "It wasn't on purpose, okay? I couldn't control it. And... and that's exactly the problem!" She stood up and started pacing up and down the room.
"Aww, come on, Twilight!" Pinkie said, again grinning brightly. "I think it sounds pretty nifty to be able to magic yourself asleep immediately. Just imagine you were on a super-fun but also super-exhausting balloon-popping party and couldn't fall asleep because your ears were still ringing with all the loud bangs. Wouldn't it be the most useful thing ever? Or what if you were super nervous because of a present your pet alligator promised to give you in the morning and you couldn't go to sleep and... "
On and on went Pinkie's tirade. Twilight's ears were lain back against her head while she stood as far away from her friend as the room allowed. As soon as she got the chance, she said loudly, "Pinkie, I love you. I really do, but... today, for once in your life and mine... please just... don't speak. For the sake of my sanity and the safety of every pony in this room, please just be quiet. For ten minutes at least. Can you do that?"
"Oh! Sure can! Easy peasy. No talking. I'll just zip up my mouth and..."
"Pinkie..."
"Oh, right. No talking. Hihihi... oh no! I talked again! And again! And a-"
A strategically placed claw from Spike on her snout saved her just in time before she was stuck in an infinite loop.
Meanwhile, Starlight had pulled something out from a bag she had brought. "Twilight?" she said, "I might have at least a temporary solution for the random spellcasting. I still have this from my time in the village, it was very useful there at times. It's not the best one out there, but it should be pretty solid - even for an alicorn."
A silver ring, about an inch thick, was levitating in her teal aura. Four gemstones were spread evenly around the outer edge, each glowing in a slight, red colour. Ominously, Starlight's magic seemed not to be able to permeate the ring. Rather, the metal repelled it and it looked like she was having trouble holding it up.
"A magic inhibitor?" asked Spike. "I... don't think this is a good idea. Twilight's hates those. She had to wear one for half a year after her entrance exam to Celestia's school. To prevent any more magic surges until she was able to control them..."
"Oh, thank heavens! Give it to me!" Twilight quickly grabbed the ring directly from her student's aura and placed it around her horn. Immediately, she felt it blocking the connection to her magic. She breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing Spike's deadpan, she chuckled weakly. "Sorry Spike, but in this case, I really need to stop myself from casting anything else."
"You know," he said, "this is really something you should talk to Celestia about. I mean, she probably has..."
"NO!" Twilight interrupted. Then, hesitating at the outraged looks of her friends, she hung her head. "No," she continued more calmly, "I mean... I don't always need to bother her with every little problem that pops up. I'm a princess, too, right? I kinda should be able to deal with such problems myself. Be independent, you know..." Seeing her friend's unconvinced faces, she sighed. "Look, I really don't want to take this to her. It... it would be embarrassing... she'd think I couldn't even solve the simplest things on my own. I promise, if I don't find a solution by tomorrow, I'll consider writing. But not before that."
"Alright, Twilight," Spike relented. "Hopefully, at least the inhibitor will stop those crazy accidents."
Twilight nodded, gratitude showing on her face. Pinkie, in the meantime, was pressing her lips ever more tightly together, tears in her eyes as she tried very hard not to speak. Noticing this, the alicorn sighed and motioned with her hoof. "Alright, Pinkie, now that I have the inhibitor on... hit me."
At this, Pinkie inhaled dramatically. "Oh, thank you, Twilight. Thank you, thank you! Do you know how hard it is not to talk for this long? I tell you, a bakery full of cotton candy is a piece of cake compared to this! Or... technically a bakery full of cotton candy is just full of cotton candy - no cakes involved! Well - except for the Cakes, but they really are a couple, not a piece. Well - not a couple cakes, but a Cake couple. You know what I mean. It's easy to confuse sometimes - it happens to me more often than I would care to admit. Oh! Did you know that..."
Twilight grabbed her forehead and shook her head slowly. "This probably was a bad idea."
"What'cha doin'?!"
"Gah!" yelled Twilight. She turned around to glare at her pink friend. It had been three hours since she woke up from her self-induced sleeping fit. Since then her headache had gone from 'Rhythmical knocking on her skull' straight to 'Drill concert in A minor'.
"What I'm trying to do is concentrate! But-!" She turned back towards her work desk which was littered with scrolls, books and innumerable sheets of paper, "somepony is making that kinda impossible!"
"Ooooooooooooh, yeah. Concentrate." Pinkie nodded. "Totally understandable. Exactly what I would do. A solid four out of six stars on the reasonable-actions scale."
Before she could reply, yet another mighty sneeze tore from the alicorn, spraying droplets across the table and its contents. Exhausted, Twilight hit her head heavily onto the note she had been scribbling. When she lifted it up again, some of the not yet dried ink dripped from her face. She tried to remove it with a simple spell. Nothing happened.
"Arrrrgh! This would be much easier if I still had my magic!"
Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, but then you would also randomly send ponies to the moon or something."
Twilight's head hit the table again. "I know..." came the muffled reply.
"By the way, do you think that's what happened when..."
The sound of the door to the study crashing open drowned out Pinkie's rambling. Starlight and Spike quickly dashed over the threshold towards Twilight. Both of them were shouting. Twilight could only make out some words and phrases as all three ponies around her talked at once.
"Found something that's..." - "...not gonna believe this!" - "...in 'Unicorns and why they are so overpowered'..." - "You know, the moon's probably super tasty..." - "...know Rarity's gem finding spell? She used it to..." - "somepony named 'Impy Wimpy', no idea how she could live with a name like that. Anyway..." - "is really something to consider..." - "really cheesy..."
Twilight just sat there, head on the table, for about a minute. Then she couldn't take it anymore.
"BE QUIET...!"
There was a flash of light after Twilight's scream, accompanied by a loud crack and a wave of magic washing over the room. Suddenly, everything was indeed silent. All that could be heard was the air wheezing in and out of Twilight as she sat in her chair, chest heaving. The horn blocker was lying on the ground, broken into two.
The two ponies and dragon had not stopped talking - but all the same, no sound came from their mouths. After a while, they stopped their imitation of a fish out of water. Nothing moved for a few moments.
Then, as she realized what had happened, Twilight gasped. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! The inhibitor! What am I gonna do now? This wasn't supposed to happen!" She quickly swiveled on her chair and levitated about a dozen notes towards her face, muttering, "unbelievable. Never happened before. Okay, so. Fourth basic elemental law definitely eliminated as possible source, but..."
Starlight, Spike and Pinkie just stood there for several minutes while Twilight took the desk apart. Then suddenly, the whirlwind halted. The alicorn visibly deflated. At the same moment, Starlight and Spike found they could hear the sound of their own breathing again.
Pinkie Pie gasped excitedly, but when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing happened.
"You know what," Twilight said, back still facing them "Who am I even kidding. I know I will not find anything, since I went over all of this three times already. Manic studying won't solve anything and I'm definitely stressed out enough as it is." She turned around. "I'm sorry, everyone. I know it's not your fault but I'm still venting all my anger at you. I'm also sorry for magicking your speech away."
Starlight's expression softened. "No problem, Twilight. We know you didn't do it on purpose." Behind them, Pinkie screamed indignantly but silently, gesturing towards her muzzle. "You know," Starlight continued unblinking, "no one really is to blame for this. We just don't know where it comes from. It could be anything." She hesitated. "This really all seems so unnecessary. If you just went to the Princess, then..."
"Starlight," Twilight said, begging, "we've been over this. Not yet. Not until I'm sure we've tried everything."
Her student groaned. "Come on! Why do have to be so stubborn sometimes?" It came out more frustrated than she intended.
"Me?! Stubborn?"
"Well... yes! Especially when it comes to your mentor... former mentor - whatever. You just shut out all reason!"
"I am not!" She turned to her dragon assistent. "Spike, tell her I'm not like that when it comes to Celestia."
Spike frowned, shaking his head slowly. "Wait, wait..." he said, "weren't we just reconciling?" Behind him, Pinkie nodded gravely. "And now we're back to blaming each other?" Pinkie shrugged and raised her eyebrows as if to say 'I'm not really sure, but it definitely looks like it - also have you noticed the shiny spot on the book cover over there?'
"Spike," Twilight addressed him, "when I tell you to agree with me, you're supposed to agree with me, okay?"
"But Twilight," Starlight continued while Spike hesitated with his mouth open and finger raised halfway up. "You know I am right! Go write her! I promise she will not think poorly of you for seeking help with a problem you definitely need help with!"
"Starlight, drop it. I'm not gonna do that."
"But...!"
"No!"
"Twilight...!"
"I said NO!" Twilight yelled exasperatedly. Suddenly, everyone in the room was blinded again as Twilight's horn flashed once more. When the bright glow finally faded, Starlight was gone.
Now, actual shock registered on Twilight's face. She jumped up, swinging her hoof through the empty space that was very recently occupied by her student. "Oh Celestia, no! I only wanted her to leave me alone with this!"
Spike chuckled. "Well, she definitely left you alone - in a way."
It was a wonder Twilight's glare didn't disintegrate him on the spot.
She continued waving her hoof through the air. "Where'd she go? Oh no, no, no." Twilight whirled around to look at her remaining friends. "Spike. Pinkie. You gotta leave immediately. There's no telling what else could happen if you stay near me. Oh, if there only was another way of keeping me from casting temporarily..."
A flash, a wave of magic and Twilight was back on the floor again.
Starlight was lying on warm, smooth sand when she came to. Opening her eyes, they were immediately assaulted by glaring sunlight. Blinking, she got to her feet. Before her, as far as she could see, a blue ocean stretched towards the horizon. The sun was high above her, blazing down and heating the sand of the beach such that it was uncomfortably hot against her hooves. Open-mouthed she stared, mind not comprehending what her senses were telling her.
After a while she noticed that something - or rather someone - was jumping around her, a trail of words coming from the little pony's mouth.
"... really great that you decided to join us! I didn't know you were also going on vacation! This is gonna be the best two weeks ever, we can do so many things like swimming, diving, eating ice cream, annoying my dad... Oh! We can be beach buddies! Is that a thing? It totally should be."
When the filly finally drew a breath, Starlight used to opportunity to butt in. "Amber...? Where...? How in the world did I get here?"
Twilight's younger student tapped her hoof thoughtfully against her chin. "You mean, you didn't want to come here? But you'll stay anyway, right? Oh! You've never met my parents! Come, I'll introduce you!" And with that she stormed off.
Starlight looked forlornly after her. Then, she shrugged and followed. She could use a vacation in any case.
For the second time in one day, Twilight woke up suddenly and covered in sweat. Despite the fact that she had just been sleeping, her heart hammered against her chest. Trying to calm down, Twilight repeated Cadence's hoof motion multiple times. Once she didn't feel like running as far away as her feet would carry her anymore, she looked around. Her bedroom was empty. No light came from the windows, it was already dark outside. Twilight really hoped that it was actually the same day still and she hadn't slept for over twenty four hours. She flapped her wings in an effort to cool them down a bit. She was really feeling quite hot and sweaty. Her still present cold and slightly runny nose was definitely not helping. Surprisingly, the headache wasn't as bad as before, just a dull pulsating pain behind her temples. Sniffing, she stood up and made towards the door.
Before she could reach it, Spike opened it from the other side.
"Twilight! Are you alright? Thank Celestia you're awake. We thought you were going to sleep as long as last time. How are you feeling?"
Twilight managed to smile slightly despite it all. "I'm... good, at least as good as can be expected. How long was I out?"
"Only about six hours."
"Oh, good... what happened to Starlight?" Twilight asked.
"She sent a letter a few minutes ago. Ended up with Amber, funny enough. Told me she'd stay there for a day or two." He hesitated. "So... what are you gonna do now?"
Spike fidgeted in place, hands wringing in his lap. Twilight knew he wanted to find a way to bring up Celestia such that she wouldn't immediately snap at him again. Twilight smiled a defeated smile.
"Don't worry, Spike. I'm not going to argue this time. It's high time I went to her. But first, I really need another shower to..." That was as far as she got before she was blinded by another flash of purple light.
Darkness surrounded her as she suddenly started falling, cold night air rushing by. In the dim moonlight she could just make out the glinting reflection of water below her.
"No, please..." she whimpered.
Author's Note
Poor Twilight. Don't worry, it'll be all better soon.
The heavy double doors to the chamber fell shut with a silent click. Celestia closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Stretching her wings and cracking her neck, she couldn't stop a small grin from surfacing. Finally on her own after a long day of duties, she allowed herself this small moment of breaking her regal mask.
For the last few weeks, Cantorlot Castle had hosted the embassiary envoy from Griffonstone. As always, dealing with griffons was exhausting and headache-inducing work. They tended to have an attitude that could tire out even millenia-old alicorns. The only thing that Celestia wanted to do this evening was relishing in the fact that tomorrow was going to be the last day of their stay. Unfortunately, as was quite often the case, life seemed to have a different plan for the princess of the sun.
After walking two steps from the door, the sudden flash of a teleportation spell going of in the middle of the room blinded Celestia. Once she could see again, she was treated to a truly sorrowful view.
Sitting there, drenched and sodden, shivering like a leaf, was her former student, alicorn of Friendship and Magic, Twilight Sparkle. Her wings were downcast and limp and her mane was sticking to her face. Silent sniffing could be heard coming from behind the wet curtain. When she looked up, recently shed tears were glistening on her cheeks.
Celestia considered herself a mother in all but the literal sense. How could she not, when basically all of Equestria viewed her as such. Considering the mare before her had more right to it than most, it was no wonder Celestia rushed over without a second's hesitation.
When the large white wing embraced her in a warm and comforting hug, Twilight hiccuped silently, then snuggled closer. Celestia was murmuring soft, calming words. She held her closely, not bothering about becoming wet as well.
After sitting like this for about a minute, Twilight shrugged of the wing and sniffled again. "I'm sorry, princess," she said. Though she did not show it, Celestia was once again disappointed that her student still hadn't abandoned the use of her title. "You must think me a total wreck," Twilight continued. "You're probably right." She looked away.
"Oh Twilight," Celestia used a hoof to move a strand of mane out of her fellow princess's eyes. "You know that's not true. We all have our low moments."
Twilight blew out air through her nostrils. "Yeah, right. Moments. I feel like I have episodes like this every other week."
Celestia stood up and smiled. "Come on, let's just get you dried first, then you can tell me what happened." With a pop, a handful of towels from the bathroom materialized right next to Celestia. She quickly started using them to rub her student dry. When it was done, Celestia went to the fireplace situated on one side of the room and lit it with a quick spell. Then she went back to the doors and told the guards outside to bring them a pot of hot tea and two cups.
Twilight, meanwhile, had made herself comfortable on the rug in front of the fireplace. She seemed to have calmed down considerably and was watching the flames flicker.
"Before I tell you exactly what happened," she began, "I really need to ask if you can... can...," she hesitated, then took a breath and said, "...if you can temporarily block my magic. I... I've kinda been casting spells all around the place the last two days and I have no idea how to control it."
Alarmed, a very uncomfortable feeling crept up on Celestia. Her mouth opened in a silent 'Oh' and her eyes widened.
Twilight, of course, noticed this.
"Princess?" she asked, frowning.
Thinking fast, Celestia closed her mouth and stood up. She looked around. The item she needed to find as quickly as possible was probably not in this room, though. No, it was more likely in an entirely different part of the castle.
"Princess, what are you doing? What is..." Twilight trailed off.
Celestia hadn't really paid attention to her words. Instead she was focusing on her sister's bedroom, as if she could see it through the walls. Charging up arcane power in her horn, Celestia blinked and found herself standing at the foot of Luna's bed. She looked around. Where was it?
Twilight stared dumbly at the spot her mentor had just vacated. She was confused, so confused. What was happening lately? Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. It was so unlike Celestia to leave without explaining anything.
Not really knowing what else to do, Twilight waited. And waited. At least she was dry now. And warm. It really did wonders to her mood and ability to think straight. Sighing, she massaged her still throbbing temples.
It happened when she concentrated on the pain in her skull. She suddenly had a feeling that there was something - like a knot of energy - swirling just underneath where her horn met her forehead. In the moment she noticed it, it was already slipping from her grasp again.
Twilight tried for the better part of a minute but couldn't sense it again. Grumbling, she continued watching the flames dance. She was almost certain what she had felt must've been connected to her headache as well as the spellcasting.
With a flash, her mentor returned. Twilight quickly started to rise, but before she could say anything, Celestia levitated a very heavy looking metal ring over and dropped it unceremoniously on her horn.
Twilight blinked. This horn blocker didn't feel the same as Starlight's or even the one she had worn as a filly. No, this one was a different caliber. It wasn't like the connection to her magic was damped, it was simply not there. So far she had always been aware that it was still present inside her somewhere, maybe even accessible enough to brake through the barrier keeping it from her, but with this particular inhibitor, it felt like there was none left at all.
Celestia smiled at the younger princess and then stepped back.
"I almost didn't find it. Fortunately, Luna just came back from evening court and she knew where it was. It's been ages since we last needed to use it."
Tentatively, Twilight poked the ring sitting on her horn. When nothing happened, she began to smile. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, princess!" she said. "You have no idea what a relief this is."
Celestia sighed and sat back down at the fire."I actually might. Alright, now that we can actually take the all time we need, let's talk. And by the way, Twilight, please call me Celestia. No 'Princess'." She smiled gently.
"I, hehe, sorry... I'll probably never get rid of that habit..." Twilight grinned apologetically as she settled next to her.
An attendent from the kitchen chose this moment to bring their tea. Celestia thanked him, to which he bowed and then left.
"So," Celestia continued after pouring them two cups of hot, steaming tea. "You say your horn has been throwing around spells? What kind of spells?"
"Apart from tossing me into a freezing lake in the middle of the night, you mean?" Twilight asked with a sort of wry humour. The last two days somehow seemed a lot less bad now looking back. It definitely also had something to do with the feeling of security the horn blocker gave her.
Celestia giggled. "Yes, apart from that."
"Well, I almost set my youngest student on fire, caught a bad cold after teleporting to the Acres, quite nearly destroyed my castle through fire-breathing and sent Starlight halfway across Equestria." Twilight tapped one hoof against the other while counting down the list. "Oh, and I managed to magic myself asleep - twice," she added with a deadpan.
More chuckling came from her mentor and Twilight realized that just this simple interaction had helped her calm down immensely.
"Knowing your inquisitive nature, you'll probably want to know why this all has been happening..."
Twilight didn't answer, but it was not necessary anyway. She knew if she just waited patiently, her mentor would explain everything.
Celestia's wings twitched softly at her sides. She said, "I actually wanted to explain this to you and Cadance at the same time. It's actually why I invited you both to Canterlot this weekend. But considering the circumstances, I'd think it... unwise to make you wait two more days."
She stopped to take a sip of tea and then gazed into the fire for a while. Twilight knew she was thinking about how to best approach what she wanted to say. It had always been like this when they were still teacher and student. All of a sudden, Twilight was overcome with a heavy sense of nostalgia.
"You might have noticed," Celestia continued finally, "that alicorns differ from regular ponies not only in their physical appearance. For one, we also incorporate all magical capabilities of the three races that are combined in our bodies."
Twilight nodded.
"There are also some abilities that are unique to the alicorn race and are... much less known. One such thing is the power to sense any form of magic around us."
"Sense?" asked Twilight quickly. "How exactly does this work?" She was getting excited. What had happened earlier while Celestia was gone must've been exactly what she was talking about now.
"It works by opening yourself up to the magical energies around you - almost as if you were about to cast a spell, but instead of doing that, you just content yourself with watching." She motioned to Twilight's horn. "It is not a spell or an application of magic. It is a sixth sense, if you will, ingrained into our being. Hence you should be able to do it, even with that inhibitor on your horn."
Twilight's gaze wandered up towards her forehead, going cross-eyed in the process. She tried to concentrate as she would while performing magic - yet without actually having a particular spell in mind.
Celestia shook her head softly. "Don't try to use your horn. You won't need it for this."
Twilight looked back down and nodded slowly. Trying to open up all of herself to her surroundings was difficult and unfamiliar, but after a few moments, Twilight had a feeling she could sense something. At the end of each of her hooves as well as around her wings were - for lack of a better word - concentrated orbs of magic. Another orb, drastically bigger, was just over her forehead where her horn sat. It looked almost as if it was constantly getting larger, being fed from somewhere within her head.
Once she concentrated on more of her surroundings than just her body, Twilight realized that not only herself but the entire world was full of magic. All around her there were tiny swirls, mighty rivers and deep pools. All of it was flowing every which way imaginable. There was no order to this dance, no purpose, yet it was beautiful in a way she couldn't have described.
Staring open-mouthed, Twilight realized she didn't use her eyes or any of her other conventional senses to pick up these things. Rather it was exactly like her mentor had said - a kind of new, sixth sense. It was different, unused, unfamiliar - and yet so natural.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Celestia's voice barely registered with Twilight. Unable to say anything, she just nodded.
After a few moments, she found enough of her voice to ask, "If all of this is... magic, then... why is there so much of it around my head? I kind of look like a walking street lamp."
Her mentor giggled and pointed a hoof at Twilight's head. "You tell me... you were always very good at observation and deduction."
The lavender alicorn closed her eyes to concentrate on the thick ball of magic swirling over her. "It... almost looks like it's leaking out of my horn..." she said. "But then that means," she directed her attention to her wings and hooves, suddenly panicked, "my entire body is leaking!"
Celestia giggled again. "Not quite," she said. "it is only your horn, wings and hooves that have excessive magic that they cannot hold in."
Twilight opened her eyes and shot a questioning glance to her.
"You see, my dear former student, alicorns have a very high magic... metabolism, if you will, causing us to produce magic in our bodies a lot faster than the other races. And when that magic is not used, for example for spellcasting..."
"It spills out?"
"Exactly."
"But... but..." Twilight hesitated, thinking hard. "But why only through my horn, then? Why have I only been casting spells? Shouldn't I have... I don't know... randomly started napping or applebucking or whatever it is pegasi and earth ponies do with their magic?"
This time, Celestia let out a full laugh before answering. "Your question is your answer already, Twilight. You are not as accustomed to your pegasus or earth pony side. I guess your body simply seeks out the easiest way to rid itself of excessive magic - which is your unicorn abilities. And," she continued with a raised hoof, "as you've just said - you are leaking magic everywhere, including your hooves and wings. I bet it wouldn't have been long until your pegasus and earth pony magic made itself known, too."
"Okay. But... why only now?" Twilight asked, "I've been an alicorn for over four years now. Shouldn't it have happened way earlier?"
"That is curious. But in the exact opposite way. I expected it to take way longer than four years, actually. It makes sense, if you think of Cadance for example. She has been alicorn a lot longer than you, and this hasn't yet happened to her."
"Why?"
Celestia hummed for some moments, eyes closed. Twilight knew she was contemplating her answers again.
"First off, magically speaking, you are a lot more adept than Cadance. That is not to say you are her better, but simply that her expertise lies in other domains. Secondly, and I think this is the far more important point, when we gave you our combined magic during Tirek's attack, it may have jump-started your magic metabolism. I have been noticing a higher energy output through your horn since then. That is also why I wanted to talk to you and Cadance about this at the same time, even though by my original reckoning it would not have been the right time for you yet."
"How... how did you know yours, Luna's and Cadance's magic might have increased my magic output like that?" asked Twilight.
"I guessed. But my guesses have usually been good," said Celestia happily, and they sat in silence for what seemed like a long time.
A scroll appeared in the air next to Celestia. "I've sent you this spell with a letter two days ago and then, after you said you needed another copy, again yesterday. Have you had a chance to look at it?"
Twilight gasped, remembering what had happened to the letter. "I... err... accidentally set the first one on fire," she explained. "And then, in the events of the last days, I completely forgot about it."
Celestia just nodded, as if she had already expected this. "You should read through it right away. It contains a spell that will be very helpful in dealing with your current situation."
Twilight accepted the scroll and opened it up. Just as she remembered, the spell appeared to be quite complicated. While she was busy perusing the symbols, the elder alicorn spoke again.
"Like I said, I actually wanted to give this spell to you and Cadance at the same time. That's one of the reasons why I called you to Canterlot this weekend. It would have been the next step on your journey towards true alicornhood. But, as it is wont to do, destiny had different plans."
"This spell...," Twilight said, frowning, "is the biggest mess I have ever seen. This part here is entirely redundant! And there's at least four different places where this rune sequence gets repeated. Here are some light manipulation parts and there's several anti-gravity charms built into it. What does it all actually do? I can't even tell, because it's so much chaos. The energy required to even cast it would be-" She trailed off.
"It would be enormous," said Celestia.
"Well, yes! I mean... who even wrote this spell?" asked Twilight.
"I did."
Open-mouthed, Twilight just stared for a while. "You? But...? Why would you write a spell like this? Is there even anypony who uses it?"
"Hmm... Luna and I use it every day, actually."
"You... bwaah?" was Twilight's intelligent response.
"Why don't you go through it step by step? Take your time to work through the complicated parts. It will become clear, I promise."
At that moment, a servant brought another full tea pot. Celestia busied herself by pouring them more tea. Twilight was about to ask more questions, but stopped. If her mentor said it would become clear in time, then she'd believe that. And thus she started tackling the spell anew.
Almost an hour passed, filled only with the silent cracking of the logs in the fireplace and the rustling of the scroll in Twilight's magic. The two princesses sat quietly, one contentedly sipping tea, the other studying. Several times, the younger princess's eyes would widen in surprise or confusion. Then, finally, she laid the scroll down, mouth open.
"I think I understand," she said.
"Oh?" Celestia took another sip of tea, a tender smile gracing her lips.
"Yes. It's your... it's the..." Twilight trailed off again, not able to speak the spell's identity. "It's an energy-waster," she said instead.
Silence reigned for a while until Celestia bade her to continue with a short nod.
"That's why there's so many redundancies and convoluted, unneeded parts. You added them on purpose. Then there's also this one part here, where it actually bases some fundamental components of the spell on the caster's unique magical signature."
"Oh yes," said Celestia, "I'm quite proud of that part."
They fell silent again, the unspoken truth of what the spell did lying heavily in the air between them. Then a golden aura slowly removed the magic nullifier on Twilight's forehead. The smaller alicorn flinched slightly, but to her immense relief no disastrous spell formed from her newly freed horn.
Eyes questioning, she gazed towards her mentor. Celestia was smiling her usual calm smile and was waiting. Twilight knew what the unspoken request was.
Slowly, almost bashfully, the lavender horn started to cast the first deliberate spell in two days. Forming rune after rune in her mind and connecting them according to the scroll she had already memorized, Twilight built the spell. After triple-checking everything and taking a deep breath, she released the magic.
Nothing happened for a while. Then, starting at the top of her head and continuing down her back, the strands of hair making up her mane slowly disappeared. They were replaced by swirling ethereal strands coloured in the reds and oranges of twilight. The colours were vibrant yet almost faded enough to see through. Flowing freely in an unseen wind, the newly formed mane glinted and sparkled. All of it was covered in an undertone of dark-as-the-night blue. The twinkle of stars could be seen flashing up along it intermittently.
"Oh Twilight," said Celestia, small tears in her eyes, "it's beautiful."
Silently conjuring up a mirror, she handed it to her student. Twilight looked at her reflection for a while, speechless. Thoughts flickered through her head. Disbelief, uncertainty, confusion and slight hysteria were all there. But foremost of all was the thought that, impossibly, unthinkably, her mentor was right. She looked beautiful.
Twilight had never been one to take stock in appearances aside from basic body care and maybe getting groomed for special occasions once or twice a year. At least not in the way for example Rarity did. But looking at her reflection now, she simply had to admit it. The way the transparent strands seemed to float in a non-existent wind around her was mesmerizing. She could not stop watching. Then, realizing she had been staring at her own reflection for quite some time, she blushed a deep crimson. To even further her embarrassment, she noticed that it actually went quite well with the colours of her new hair.
Celestia cleared her throat in a business-like manner. "You're pent-up energy should be receding very quickly now. Only five minutes should be enough to burn the surplus of the last month or so. You will have to cast this spell more and more often in the coming years. In about four or five hundred years you should be able to sustain it indefinitely."
Twilight just stared at her. She couldn't speak. Really, what could one say after being told that? Before she could ponder what her life would be like five hundred years in the future, her mentor continued.
"You should be able to include your tail next time, though. Then you wouldn't have to cast it as long. It's also good practice." Celestia fell silent and simply looked her student, as if expecting an answer or reaction.
Twilight's thoughts buzzed around, jumping from one question to the next. About the spell itself, how Celestia had come up with the idea of transforming her hair of all things, when she was gonna tell Cadance, who else knew about it and not least of all about the casual way Celestia talked of the don't-want-to-even-think-about-how-distant future. When she opened her mouth though, she was surprised at the actual question that came out.
"Can I see your real mane?"
For a moment, Celestia merely blinked. Then she opened her mouth to say something and shut it again. Finally, she said, "I actually don't see why not."
For a moment, she concentrated and then flashed her horn once. The effect was immediate. Where before there was a long flowing mane of pink, blue and green, now a simple curtain of brightly pink hair could be seen, single strands standing off slightly. The hair, and it was actual hair, lay against Celestia neck, undisturbed and very much influenced by gravity. Her tail was similarly altered. It looked very, very wrong in Twilight's opinion and it made her mentor look a lot younger.
"I can't leave it like this for long, unfortunately. The last time I've let my hair down, so to speak, was at least a century or two ago, and then it only took a few minutes for something bad-"
But Celestia wasn't able to finish that sentence, since her sister chose that exact moment to throw open the double doors to the room. They crashed noisily against the wall on each side.
"SISTER! We have hurried hither as swiftly as we could, but we were held up by Blueblood, the old varlet. We should have effaced his house centuries ago! The nerve! He sayeth-"
But what Blueblood had said would be forever lost, since Luna trailed off mid-sentence, one hoof raised to the air in a posture of grand declaration, blinking.
"Sister? What...? Why art thou wearing thine hair open like this!" she asserted.
Celestia exhaled and narrowed her eyes at the blue alicorn. "Luna, calm yourself. Nothing is amiss, Twilight wanted to see and I decided to show her. Also, you are relapsing again."
"Oh," said Luna and lowered her hoof, blushing. "The language. I'm... sorry, I was a bit... tense." Then she gazed over to where Twilight was lying in front of the fireplace. She gasped. "Dear Twilight Sparkle! It... Your mane! It is magnificent!"
This exclamation caused the youngest princess to blush madly once more and raise her wings as if trying to hide her mane behind them.
"I just finished instructing Twilight about the spell," said Celestia. She floated the discarded magic inhibitor over towards her sister. "Thank you for your help in finding this. We don't need it anymore now."
Luna accepted the item in her magic and with a silent flash, it was gone.
"So I am 'late to the party' again, as ponies put it these days? Fie! I always seem to miss out on important things since returning from the moon."
Both Celestia and Twilight said nothing on this. Luna walked over to where the younger alicorn lay and started to inspect her floating mane.
"You seem to have a very good grasp on this spell already, Twilight. Sister always messes it up, I say. Too many colours that don't blend well together. Yours is much more similar too mine - that is to say better."
Twilight, who had just barely caught the end of what Luna said, perked up. "Wait? You can control how the mane looks?"
Luna came back over towards her front and looked at her curiously. "Why yes, of course! Didn't Tia tell you about this? There's several section of the spell dedicated to personalizing, actually. Most of those are of course based on my designs, but-"
But Twilight didn't hear the rest of Luna's explanation. Accidentily, she had looked over to her former mentor and noticed the dreamy, absent look on her face. In the moment their eyes met, Twilight saw a sudden surprise and befuddlement in the other's gaze - followed shortly by resignation and amusement. At the same time, a flash from the top of Celestia's horn blinded Twilight. While she blinked away the stars in her vision she just managed to catch sight of the gigantic, cream-topped cake that abruptly appeared mid-air between them, fell down to the floor with a splash and covered all three alicorns, as well as the entire room, in a blanked of cream.
Once Luna and Twilight had resurfaced and wiped most of the pastry from their eyes, they turned to see a happily humming Celestia scoop up a large piece.
"Mmh... marzipan."
Shining Armor was lying on warm, smooth sand when he came to. Opening his eyes, they were immediately assaulted by glaring sunlight. Blinking, he got to his feet. Before him, as far as he could see, a blue ocean stretched towards the horizon. The sun was high above him, blazing down and heating the sand of the beach such that it was uncomfortably hot against his hooves. Open-mouthed he stared, mind not comprehending what his senses were telling him.
After a while he noticed that something - or rather someone - was jumping around him, a trail of words coming from the little pony's mouth. Behind the small filly was another pony, older, about his age. After a while he recognized her.
"Starlight, is that you? And... wait. Amber!?!"
"Yep. To both," Starlight answered, though it was difficult to hear over Amber's continuous chatter.
"Why... what... how..." stammered Shining.
"Let me guess," said Starlight. "You and Cadance had a fight or something?"
"Errr... how did you..."
"Aaaaaaand, she probably got kinda mad, and then there was a flash and you woke up here?"
Shining looked at her frowning. "Errr, yes. That's pretty much what happened. But how..."
Starlight grinned. "Don't worry, I know exactly what you're going through. I'll explain later. Come on, you definitely look like you could use a vacation."
