Alicorn Biology 101 – How to Fold your Wings
(This chapter takes place between chapters 2 and 4 of ‘Great Alicorn Hunt’, thus AFTER the Mane 6 ascension to Alicorns but BEFORE their official coronation).
For the recently ascended Mane 6 (now Alicorn 6, as said by Pinkie at some point) it took quite some time before they could fully start to assimilate and comprehend their new condition, to the point that in the first few days, whenever one of them would glance at their reflection in the mirror, they would check their new body features’, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity glancing at their wing and trying to spread them, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy touching the horns now growing from their forehead, while Applejack and Pinkie Pie did both.
As the smart reader may have already guessed, the sudden presence of new body features was not something anypony could get fast acclimated to, be they Earth Pony, Pegasus or unicorns, in the same way a human person waking up to suddenly find that during the night they had grown a third legs, an additional pair of arms and hands or a shiny bright eye in the middle of their forehead, even after the panic had worn off, would have issues into getting used to have to move their new body limbs in coordination with preexisting ones or to get uses to the new needs their physiology required them now.
Thus, while Her Highness Princess Celestia (duly assisted by her own sister Her Highness Princess Luna and, in a smaller part, by the recently-reformed Chaos Lord known as Discord) prepared the ground to assure the coronation of her brand new alicorn sisters as princesses of Equestria move forward with her long-postponed plan to search for more alicorns, her former student and her five friends were trying at best as they could to get used to the changes in their lives, to their bodies, and to their new social positions…
(…)
“So… we are now alicorns.” Rarity said, her gaze keeping moving onto the new swan-like wings on her side. It had been only a few hours since Princess Celestia and Luna had explained the whole story to them, yet the shock and surprise of their own transformation and the revelations the princesses had shared with them accompanied by the odd feeling the mare friends were experiencing, those who had been born without horn and wings, for suddenly to have them.
“Eeeyup.” Applejack replied, imitating her older brother.
“And due to this, we’re now supposed to become princesses, like Luna and Celestia.”
“Don’t forget Cadence,” Twilight replied, thinking back to her foalsitter. According to Princess Celestia, she had ascended barely a few minutes after being born, so she had grown up with wings and horns, and how to get used to manage both.
“And apparently they have some kind of plan to look out for other nascent.”
“Especially stallions!” Pinkie erupted in her usual cheerfulness, her wings flapping on both sides, “this is so awesome! Alicorn Hunting Search Party!”
“Alright, Pinkie, calm down now.” Applejack protested, "This sure is something."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded. "Can you imagine how lonely that must be? I mean, I love my alone time but that seem rough."
“Well, there sure are… alternatives,” Rarity replied, thinking back at the many suitors she had over the years. “Maybe we could keep one or more stallions at hooves’ length so, in the event…”
“Ah can’t believe what I am hearing!” Applejack turned head, feeling her own element in conflict with her head, as her brain refused to believe this was true. “Rarity, are you perhaps suggesting we get multiple lovers?”
“I-I don’t think I could ever be able to do something like that!” Fluttershy added, a hint of shock in her usual shy and reserved tone of voice. Just the idea of finding one coltfriend was enough to push the timid Pegasus to the edge of a panic attack, but multiple?
“I was only trying to think of some alternative,” the former unicorn fashionista hurried to clarify. “But yeah, either we manage to find some stallions who are worthy of ascend, or-”
“That’s not a concern for today,” Twilight intervened. “Look girls, we had a long day, and we are all stressed due to what we went through, last but not least the fact that apparently we are… Princesses as well.” The purple mare flapped her new wings, as to emphasize her words. “I suggest we all go to bed and try to sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow we could ask the Princesses for some answers-”
“Yeah, plus you got to train these!” rainbow dash nodded, opening her wing as well. “Since we all got wings now, you’ll need someone to train you how to use it, and I and Fluttershy are the ones better suited to do so., Isn’t that right, Flutts?”
“Uh, yeah?” The veterinarian of the group nodded with a weak smile. “I’m not sure how, but if there is some way to help, I’ll be gladly give you a hoof.”
“Then, we will give you some help with these,” Rarity moved her hoof to her forehead and pointed at her own horn. “Since Twilight and I are the ones who make use of magic regularly, we can try and teach you how to use your new horns. Think of the possibilities!”
“Mah, that surely would be so cool,” Applejack looked up, her eyes trying to get a glimpse of the horn now growing out of her forehead. “Applebuck season would have been much easier, if ah had a magic wishy-washy horn to speed up my work. Though, ah am still a bit conscious about it,” she looked to her side, to her new wing, and sighed. “Rarity, you and Twilight were born with horns, just as Fluttershy and Dash always had wings, but Pinkie and ah were both earth pony before today. We’ll have to get used to both at the same time, wouldn’t that be more…difficult?”
“Come on, cousin,” Pinkie quickly moved to the farm pony’s side, “if you could keep up with Dash back in the Iron Pony competition, you surely can learn how to use your wings. Besides, how hard can it be?”
(…)
“Ugh, come on!” The farmer pony, now princess, lamented as she moved on the bed it was given to her for the duration of the stay, realizing that her new wing had unfolded yet again. “You stupid wings, just stay put, Ah need to sleep!” The closed them once again and tried to get comfortable… only for her wings to bolt open again, pulling the blanket out of her.
“It’s useless! Ah can’t keep them under check! How can Dash and Fluttershy sleep at night?” They’ve been born with wings, her brain reminded her while she sat down on her bed, giving up on any further attempt to sleep. Since they always had wings, they also have the necessary control to keep them under check even unconsciously, the same way as Twilight or Rarity don’t accidentally cast a spell in their sleeps-
“Great, now Ah have two things to worry about,” the Alicorn of Honesty grunted as her eyes darted upward, to the horn now departing from her forehead. First things first, however: how can I get a good night of sleep if I can’t even get comfortable in bed due to these wings moving on their own?” Her first idea, to ask for help from the Princesses, didn’t last long: Luna was occupied, taking care of those ponies who were having horrible nightmares of self-inflicted punishment out of insecurities, and from what Twilight had told her, Celestia was too busy during the day to lose any more of her honest work’s sleep.
Suddenly, an idea popped on her mind: Fluttershy’s room was not too far from her own, and the former pegasus had always done her best to help her. Maybe, she could help her rein those wings of her, at least enough to allow her to sleep tonight. And unlike Dash, she wouldn’t be too smug about having to teach her.
Slowly, the Apple Farm pony got out of her bed, careful about where she put her hooves, and walked toward the door. As she glanced outside, it took her barely a few seconds to notice that two Royal Guards (both Pegasi, she didn’t fail to notice) were standing on both sides of the door, and as soon as she opened it, they turned toward her.
“P-princess Applejack!” One of the guards gasped, the aforementioned former farmer suppressing the need to roll her eyes (it would take quite some time before she got used to being called ‘Princess’). “Do you need something?”
“Anything at all, Your Highness, and we’ll provide.”
What the hey, why are these grown-up stallions acting like adolescent colts? “No, it’s nothing. I was just… having some trouble to sleep, so I decided to go and have a chat with one of my friends, Princess Fluttershy.” She said, a part of her mind noticing how her own words sounded strange.
The blush of the two guards, already visible, quickly worsened as soon as Fluttershy’s name was dropped. “U-Understood your highness! Please follow us!”
“There is no need for that! I can walk on my own, and I know where her room is!”
“We are sorry, your highness, but we can’t allow you to walk unaccompanied in the middle of the night, even if it just among the corridors of Canterlot’s castle. It would be quite a tragedy if one of Equestria’s newest princesses got hurt or… worse while we were tasked with protecting you.”
If you want to protect us so bad, why it took Twilight calling Celestia out for us to be provided with an armed escort during one of our quests? Applejack felt tempted to say. Yet, these two were just doing their job and following orders, and as much as she hated it, they concerns were quite credible, at least from their POV. Plus, what were they supposed to do in absence, keep guarding the empty room?
“Fine, just ‘escort’ me to Princess Fluttershy’s room.” The mare conceded, the two guards quickly rushing to her side and walking next to her, each stealing glances whenever they were sure she wasn’t looking at them. Was this perhaps related to that one rumor she heard a long time ago, that all Alicorns had some kind of ‘charm’ toward the other three species? She had never believed it to be true (just as some less…healthy rumors Dash had sometimes told her in private) but now, looking at the way her two guards kept acting around her, she began to suspect there may be something true in such words. Did they find her beautiful? Well, it had been quite some time since she last had a ‘serious’ date-
As she and her ‘bodyguards’ walked along the corridor, Applejack was baffled for a brief second as they met yet another door with another duo of Royal Guards standing on its sides, before she remembered the room was Pinkie’s. She too, like her, had to deal with learning to control wings and horns at the same time; maybe, she too could use some assistance from their common friend?
“Princess Applejack!” Pinkie’s room guards shouted as they saluted her, the other guards who were at her side chagrining in annoyance. “Is everything alright?”
“It is, just… having a walk, going to visit some friend of mine.” She replied, “How’s Pinkie?”
“Her Highness Princess Pinkamena (where they had managed to learn her actual name it was Applejack’s guess) is currently sleeping, your Highness. Do you want us to…wake her up?”
She is sleeping? “No, don’t wake her up. Just, can I look inside, just to check how is she? I was expecting her to have some issues with getting sleep, but I’m happy to hear she managed to get a good night’s rest without issues.”
“That depends on what you refer as ‘issues’” one of Pinkie’s guards commented, opening the door slowly and allowing Applejack to get a look inside, and see that Pinkie wasn’t sleeping in her bed. Rather, she was sleep-flying, her face and stomach all covered in blankets while her wings kept flapping under it, a good chunk of the room’s decoration and furniture was floating into intersected circles around her, under the effect of the magic coming from the sleeping mare’s horn.
That figures, Applejack though as she gazed upon the scene, only Pinkie could figure out both how to fly with her wings and how use her newfound unicorn magic at the same time and unconsciously, while she’s sleeping.
“How-just how-”
“That’s Her Highness Princess Pinkamena Dianne Pie for ya, buster,” Applejack answered, before her guard could even finish his sentence. “Alicorn of Laughter, and mah cousin.”
“I-I apologize, your highness! I wasn’t implying anything- I wouldn’t dare to disrespect your blood-”
Whoo-wee, they do look cute when flustered, the farmer princess toned as she closed the door to Pinkie’s room, the other guards saluting as they stood in their place while Applejack and her own escort continued along the hallway.
It didn’t take long for the trio to reach Fluttershy’s room. She too, like Applejack and Pinkie, had guards surveying her door, and from their body movement the former farmer pony could see they were extremely unnerved and jumpy. Somewhat, it reminded her of Apple Bloom, whenever she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders had done something they knew it was wrong.
“Halt!” One of the guards, noticing the figures approaching them, unleashed his weapon and held it against them, like he was expecting to face off a Changeling invasion all alone. “Not one step further! Identify yourselves, or I shall…uh…”
“You don’t recognize even your comrades and brothers in arms, Lone Spear?” One of the guards at Applejack’s side, clearly a friend of his, replied. “Princess Applejack wishes to come and visit Princess Fluttershy.”
“P-princess!” The other guard standing next to the door saluted, giving silent orders for Lone Spear to lower his weapon before he ended up doing something he may regret. “I-I apologize for my colleagues: it’s only, Her Highness said she didn’t want to be disturbed and-”
“She’s awake?” Applejack interjected. “Tell her Ah want to see her!”
The two guards looked at each other, as conscience conflict formed: the Princess said she didn’t’ want to be disturbed, and since she hadn’t specified what counted as ‘disturbance’, the duo (clearly looking for a chance to prove themselves in front of the divinely beautiful mare) had decided to use extreme prejudice in their definition and treat anything coming too close to the door (even small insects attracted by the light) as nuisance to send away as fast as silently as possible. That said, it was another Princess asking them to to ruin Her Highness’ sleep, thus-
“Huh, excuse me?”
The soldiers (both the ones guarding the door and the ones who had insisted to escort Applejack) almost jumped when they heard a low, shy voice speak suddenly, the door opening slightly as a pale yellow alicorn with a soft pink mane cascading over her shoulders leaning her face into the corridor, looking with dewy eyes. Applejack had to repress yet another snort as their reaction didn’t pass unnoticed to her.
“Flutts!”
“Applejack!” The veterinarian pony gasped with happiness as she embraced the other mare in a friendly hug. “What are you doing out this late? Did you need a glass of water?”
“Actually, Ah wanted to ask you for help, Flutts. You see, Ah was having some… issues while trying to sleep, and Ah think you may be the best suited one to ask counsel from.”
“Oh, I see.” The Alicorn of kindness replied, before turning to face the guards. “Could you please give me and my friend some space? This is… mare stuff.”
The overly cute expression that Fluttershy was making (once again, without even trying, just by being her usual self) and the soft implications she was using were more than enough explanations the four pegasus guards needed.
“Certainly!”
“Don’t worry about it, Your Highnesses!”
“We’ll move from the door as to give you proper privacy, don’t doubt it!”
Applejack smirked, as she walked inside, closing the door behind them before Fluttershy turned toward her.
“So, you were awake, uh?”
“Yes, I know a good night’s sleep is what I needed to prepare best for tomorrow, but I couldn’t do it!” Fluttershy said, her voice sounding like she was…embarrassed? “It all happened so fast: the spell, the magic, us becoming Alicorn Princesses, Celestia’s plan… it was so exciting I couldn’t sleep.”
“Well, Ah couldn’t sleep too, but for different reasons.” The former earth Pony pointed at her wings. “No matter how much I tried to get comfortable, these girlies wouldn’t stay put!”
“Your wings won’t stay folded?” Fluttershy asked, moving a hoof under her chin. “That’s… logical, I guess.”
“Logical?”
“I mean, you’ve had them for barely any time, you still haven’t learned to control them unconsciously. It took me some time before I got used to it, back when I was a filly, and I have seen other cases like that before, well, us.”
“You have seen other cases of Earth Pony and Unicorns having to get used to have wings?”
“No, nothing like that, but… whenever a Pegasus breaks one or both wings and needs to get proper rehabilitation to fly again, or when you’re too stressed or overworked, sometimes wings moving accidentally can still happen, especially when you’re trying to sleep or resting. I even taught a couple of fillies how to solve this problem permanently.”
“Then, could ya teach me, as well?”
“Sure! Now, first thing first, sit down and listen to me-”
“Come on, come on! Get in here!”
While inside Fluttershy’s room, the Alicorn of Kindness was busy teaching the Alicorn of Honesty how to properly control her wings and keep them folded as she tried to sleep, at the same time in her own room, the Alicorn of Loyalty was awake as well, trying to use her newly-gained horn (and thus the magic power she could now wield) to move items of her room at will. So far, however, the attempts had all proved to be colossal failures, with the brand new Alicorn either failing to move the objects at all or (in most of the cases) proving able to move them but not control their movements.
Just like now.
As the newly-ascended Alicorn focused on the last surviving jar in her room, she felt an odd sensation start from her horn and eventually spread through her head, as a light blue light surrounded the jar, making it levitate for a few seconds… before suddenly sending it zooming to the right, the small ceramic object smashing against the wall, its broken shards falling into the floor and mixing with the remains of the previous test subjects.
“Horseapples!” Rainbow cursed in response to her -nth failure. How did Rarity and Twilight look so natural when they did it? Sure, they had been practiced since they were fillies (and in Twilight’s case, she had benefit from being the student of Princess Celestia herself) but levitation was basic stuff that all unicorns, as fillies and colts, learnt how to use! How was it that, now that Dash was an alicorn, she still couldn’t do what five-years old kids could do?
Before she could start another experiment, however, the gentle sound of knocking on the door of her room led to the main member of Ponyville’s weather team to recoil in surprise.
“Who’s there?”
“Excuse me, Your Highness,” one of the guards who had stationed just outside of her room said from behind the door frame. “Princess Rarity and Princess Twilight Sparkle are here, requesting permission to see you. Should I tell you you’re busy?”
“No, no way!” Dash quickly replied, a part of her amazed by how her magic-expert friends had come to see her just as she was having trouble figuring out how to use her magic. “Let them in!”
“As you wish, Your Highness!”
This is going to take a while to get accustomed to it, won’t it? Rainbow rolled her eyes as she repressed a snort. It had been a few days already since she and her five friends had ‘ascended’ to Alicorns, yet she still had issues getting called by royal titles and whenever someone called her ‘Princess’. Half of the time they used that term, Rainbow still looked aside or behind, expecting Celestia and Luna (or possibly even Cadence) to appear.
The door opened with a slight creak, and in trotted Twilight and Rarity, both her friends showing their brand-new wings sets on their sides (Rarity’s looking a lot like swan wings, to her utter delight), but also sharing the same tired, sleepy expressions of someone who didn’t get enough sleep.
“Hey girls! Are you…okay?”
“No, Dash, I am definitively not okay!” Rarity immediately replied, her voice filled with irritation. “It’s late in the night, I need my beauty sleep and yet these wings refuse to stay folded and allow me to get comfortable! It doesn’t matter what I do, they keep unfolding against my will, and this is the worst thing ever!”
“Seriously?”
“Actually, we both share the issue, Dash.” Twilight confirmed. “I don’t know why, but neither my wings seem to obey me when I try to sleep. I was trying to figure out a solution from my books, but-”
“-but we thought it would be faster and better to simply ask you for help!” Rarity said, before noticing the mess Dash’s room currently was. “Dear Celestia, what happened in here? Rainbow, did you try to fly indoor again?”
“No, or rather, it wasn’t my wings I was testing.” Dash replied, pointing at the horn on her forehead. “Since I could now use magic, I thought I could try to use it to levitate a couple of objects, but-”
“You were trying to use a levitation spell?” Twilight asked surprised.
“Hey, that’s the most basic spell of them all, you both learned on how to use it back when you were fillies!” Dash protested, without even waiting for their response. “I just wanted to get a head start by doing some practice, to show you tomorrow morning, yet I couldn’t do even that! All I’ve achieved, with my experiments, is to smash anything I’ve tried to move.”
Twilight and Rarity both shared a glance, before smiling. “Sounds like we could help each other Dashie: if you give us a tip on how to control these unruly wings of ours, I bet twilight and I could help you with some basic lessons in unicorn magic. How does that sound?”
“That’s an offer I’m taking!” Dash grinned in turn. “Very well, let me see: how you control them?”
“Huh-uh!” Twilight nodded, giving another glance to her own wings set to check they were still folded. “Do you perhaps know what’s happening?”
“Of course I do, I used to go through the same things back when I was a filly, before me and Flutts even started going to flight school.” The Wonderbolt wannabe began to explain. “It’s called Involuntary Wing Movement, or IWM in short. It usually happens among Pegasus fillies, or whenever for one reason or another you don’t have full control over your wings, and thus they move on their own according to your emotions. Usually, the latter is much rarer than the former, so it is mostly a thing we learn to control by our tenth birthday.”
“Wow, that was… a usually smart answer coming from you Rainbow.” Twilight replied, only for the Cloudsdale former Pegasus to reply with a grimace.
If you’re saying I sounded like a total egghead, I guess I agree with that! Still, I guess that explains why you all are having such issue: you’re now using to have wings, unlike me and Flutts.”
“Do you have an idea about how to deal with this dreary situation?” Rarity interjected, her voice once again shifting into her ‘drama queen’ personality. “How did you learn how to control them?”
“Simple, try to focus on a relaxing though. Something nice and warm, that makes you feel relaxed just by thinking about it.”
Both Twilight and Rarity nodded, their eyes closed as they thought back to some of their warmest memories, Rarity thinking back to the first day her parents introduced her to Sweetie Belle, the small foal giggling with an happy expression as soon as Rarity’s eyes met hers, while Twilight thought back to the days she was a small filly and Cadance took over as her foalsitter (an event that later would start the love story between her and Shining), the wings moving slower as each mare focused on their happy memories, before folding completely on their flanks.
“There! It wasn’t that hard, right? Anytime you have issues with your wings, just try to think of something warm and relaxing, and it should help you keep them under control. That said, in a few months you should get used to them, so it may not be necessary anymore.”
“I-I guess we should thank you, Dash-”
“Now, it’s your turn!” Dash interrupted, before Twilight could ever finish her own sentence. “Tell me, how do I do magic?”
“Well, let’s start with the basic concepts and how to use the levitation spell. First, you need to imagine how you want the object in your mind to move-”
“But I did, I did it already countless times!” The former Pegasus pointed to the debris piled in one corner of the room.
“I guess you simply wished for them to move, without give it proper mental instructions about speed, did you?” The lavender unicorn replied, earning a surprised look from Dash. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. When you use a levitating spell to move an object, you need to have a full clear image about it in your head, as well as how you want it to move and how fast.”
“She’s right, this is something I personally learned with my work as a fashionista.” Rarity cheered. “You need to figure out exactly how you want a certain object to move, as well as what kind of movements you want to imprint on it with your magic, and to do that, you require concentration, focus and patience.”
“Well, those are… not three of my strongest suits.” Dash nodded, her right hoof moving to her head and scratching her mane while Twilight and Rarity exchanged a nonplussed glance.
“Agreed.”
“So, do you have any recommendation?”
“Maybe.” Twilight spoke again, an idea forming in her mind. “Do you remember Tank, your tortoise?”
“Yeah, of course I remember him! I wonder if I left him enough to eat-”
“Try again,” Twilight took one of the few surviving glasses left in the room and magically levitated it in front of Rainbow Dash. “However, this time, try to imagine it as Tank, flying with its own propeller. Try to picture the speed Tank usually had while flying and imagine the glass moving at the same speed.”
“But that’s very, very slow!”
“A perfect chance to refine your raw magical aptitude, don’t you agree?” Rarity cooed. “Slow and steady, we can focus on make it go faster and controlling more items at the same time once you can fully move one object at once.”
Dash nodded, focusing on her latest attempt, her horn beginning to glow anew while rarity and Twilight observed with curiosity, the surviving glass beginning to levitate, the former Pegasus focusing not to lose her concentration as she managed to raise and move the object, slow and steady, slow and steady, the glass moving at tortoise speed mid-air, reaching the other end of the room before coming back-
PLOP! Just as Dash was going to compliment herself, a sudden flash of light happened and the glasses disappeared, replaced in its place by a crystal statue of a very familiar tortoise equipped with flying gear, the surprise making Dash’s magic vanish and forcing rarity to grab the former glass before it could smash upon the ground.
“What the-”
“That was… a Transformation Spell!” Twilight gasped, unable to believe her own eyes. “Rainbow Dash, did you just manage to successfully perform a Transformation Spell all on your own, without previous hint?”
“I-I guess so?” She replied, unsure if feeling smug or weirded out by the unexpected turn of events. “To tell the truth, I was just doing what you told me, keeping the image of Tank in my mind and using it to focalize the speed of the glass…”
“And I guess your magic thought you wanted the glass to turn into Tank.” Rarity rolled her eyes with an amused smirk. “Not bad, I must admit, I have never seen a glass statue before with such attention for detail and so lifelike body reproduction. I guess you really do care for your pet, don’t you Dash?”
“Of course I do! Just as you do with your cat!”
And so, as the two former pegasus of the group managed to calm down and assist their friend into controlling their new wings barely enough so they could all sleep and rest, this first small crisis was solved, and Dash received some precious tips from Twilight and rarity on how to control her new horn magic.
On the next day, a little after Celestia had raised the sun, all six mares would once again gather and tried to test their new powers and abilities, under the watchful eyes of the Alicorn Princess of the Sun and a group of trained soldiers of the Sun guard (the Alicorn Princess of the Moon not being present due to her own ‘sleeping issues’). And while the nighttime smattering had given Rainbow Dash a better understanding over her own alicorn magic and re-boosted her own confidence, the event of that next session would prove that it would take quite some time before the former weather pony (as well as her five friends and companion) could fully manage, let alone control, their new over-boosted alicorn powers and abilities…
Author's Note
I apologize for eventual typos, but since I am not a regular English mother tongue writer, I am in need of someone who can act as thus story beta readers/editor. Should you want to propose yourself for the role, or contact me to suggest new ideas/suggestions, please write to me in the comments, AFTER leaving me your feedback so I can continue to improve and develop!
