I “woke up” with a start. I opened up one eye and took a quick peak around. The room was very sharp, unlike any I had “dreamed” before. From what I saw by a quick look around, I was in a circular chamber, probably inside the Canterlot palace, judging by the regal décor. I was lying on a bed, which looked like a giant pillow. The surrounding walls contained many bookshelves filled to the brim with many tomes. There was also a dresser with a large mirror on one wall. Would that mean I’m a female pony? Or is this standard equipment in a palace’s room? I would have to check later. There also were three pairs of double doors. I guessed one was the entrance - one was open and led to what appeared to be a giant bathroom. That proved my assumption of being in the Royal Palace.
I then turned my gaze to the last pair of doors, these ones had framed colored glass on them and probably lead to a balcony. These doors interested me most, I would even go as far as saying they were calling out to me. I quickly tried to rise from the bed and unlike most people assume, it didn’t prove difficult. I guess the dream magic makes it feel natural.
Now that I was up, I was planning to look at myself, but the increasing urge to go to the balcony got the better of me. I quickly trotted to the doors and opened them up with magic. Huh, I realized I had a horn and knew how to use it. Even if the experience of magic was known to my borrowed body, it still felt unreal to be touching the door knobs without using actual limbs.
I exited into the dark balcony and breathed in the fresh Equestrian air. My form knew what to do next as I stretched all my six limbs. Six, you ask? Well, I noticed I also have wings. Great, now everybody will rant over me being “overpowered”, why couldn’t I land in a background pony’s body like last time?
My form instinctively rose to its hind legs as my horn flared to life. I suddenly felt a very powerful presence, as the sun rose in the east. It was unlike everything I’ve experienced before during my experiments with Dream magic. It felt… raw, invigorating and I relished its touch. But like with everything, it came to a sudden end.
My form lowered to all fours and I turned around to enter my room. I approached the mirror in order to take a look at myself. What I saw shocked me, although I should have been prepared for this occurrence, if I had properly read the previous clues.
Staring at me from the mirror was the regal form of Princess Celestia. The act of surprise flared my reflections pristine white wings, but the body’s inner nature quickly corrected its posture and erased the expression of shock from its nuzzle, replacing it with a polished smile. The alicorn in the mirror wasn’t wearing any regalia, but the mane was flaring in non-existent wind. I quickly turned around and noticed the golden tiara, torc and shoes on the nightstand. I approached them, weighting each piece of solid gold in my hooves before putting them on.
I hastily turned to check my look in the mirror, but by doing it too fast, I hit one bookshelf with my wing, tipping it over. The bookshelf fell on me and I was quickly covered in books. I guess the noise was loud enough because after the dust settled a pair of Royal Guards, dressed in their typical armor barged in. They quickly examined the room before turning to me.
‘Are you okay, Princess? We heard a noise so we came in.’ – Asked one of them.
My form reflexively knew how to answer as I quickly looked around to make a valid excuse.
‘Yes, my little ponies. There was a rough wind after I raised the sun and it knocked the bookshelf over. Would you be kind enough to ask for a cleaning crew as well as a fixing crew to secure the furniture in here?’ – I quickly replied, using the body’s diplomatic voice.
‘At once, Princess!’ – They replied together as they hastily exited, each going in different direction to finish the task quicker. I guess the staff really is well trained in the palace.
As I thought that, my stomach grumbled, reminding me that it was time for a breakfast. I quickly walked out, relying on my borrowed forms knowledge of the castle. Suddenly, as I was walking down another set of stairs, there was a swirl of green magic and a scroll materialized in front of me. I quickly caught it with my magic and unfurled it.
My dearest teacher,
My continuing studies of pony magic have lead me to discover that
we are on the prese thre brisomething really bad is about to happen. For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she is about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night. Something must be done to make sure this horrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response.Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.
I instantly realized the implications of this letter. First, I arrived precisely at the day Twilight was supposed to go to Ponyville and two; I could change history. I went over the pros and cons of changing the content of the reply but I came to the conclusion that in order for Twilight to awaken the Elements of Harmony, she needs to have the crazy adventures I already saw.
I summoned a scroll and a quill and quickly wrote the appropriate response and with a burst of green magic from my horn I sent it back to Twilight. I could already see her unbelieving expression as Spike would read the letter to the purple unicorn.
With that out of the way, I quickly navigated to the Royal Dining Room. The cooks and waiter ponies were already running around, absorbed in their preparations for this day’s breakfast.
I announced my arrival with a discreet cough and several waiters arrived to my side. I was feeling adventurous so without waiting for them I asked for the usual. They run off to the kitchens to pass the word. While waiting for food I took a look around the Dining Room. Suddenly, while looking at the tapestries, my form saddened. After a second I realized why. The tapestries only contained Celestia’s coat of arms. There was no sign of Luna’s Moon. I quickly changed to my normal expression, internally being glad that the Night Princess would be back tomorrow.
The food arrived and to my surprise there was quite a lot of it. I guess alicorns have an appetite. Or perhaps it’s Celestia that likes to indulge herself in eating. The breakfast consisted of several French toast, smeared with butter, some kind of cereal, alfalfa leaves (yuck) and a nice smelling tea, which my form’s instincts told me was chamomile.
To my surprise that wasn’t all. After a second or so, the waiter ponies arrived with a big piece of a layered cake and with a wink set it on the table. I quickly nodded to them with a smile and switched my attention to the food.
After tasting bits and pieces of everything, and discovering that to my borrowed body alfalfa tasted good, I quickly obliterated the cake. Sated, I arose and thanked the serving crew for an excellent meal, just like usual.
Now, after I finished, my hoofservant arrived, my mind telling me her name, Scrolls. She quickly read me the list of today’s tasks, while we walked to the throne room. The list wasn’t too big as I, or rather Celestia, was scheduled to be preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. One of the most important tasks, though, was the usual holding of the Royal Court.
Normally cases are handled by a separate Court, consisting of highest ranking officials in my court. Sometimes, a case was too complicated or required my voice to be approved. Cases like these ended at Celestia’s Royal Court.
I thanked Scrolls and passed through the giant double doors of the Court, opened to me by two Royal guards, that stood on both sides of the doors, their magic alight. I walked up to the throne and tried to sit comfortably, my form telling me that this was not going to be too interesting.
The scribes quickly called in the first applicants and the court officially begun. I tried to be active but quickly got bored and left my form to do everything instinctively. Time flew by as I pondered what I could and couldn’t do while being Celestia and I was brought back out of the back of my mind by the royal bell, announcing it was dinnertime.
I quickly excused the rest of the applicants, telling them to come back the day after tomorrow, when I open the court again after the Summer Sun Celebration ends. After a hasty dinner, consisting of some soups, salads and even more greenery, I returned back to my chambers.
I decided to have a relaxing bath. What I didn’t expect that the bathrooms in my chambers could easily be called a spa. There was a giant hot tub, filled with what I confirmed as hot water, even if I didn’t see any heating devices. I guess I can attribute it to solar magic. After removing my regalia, I slipped into the tub, looking around carefully. The bathroom, unlike my sleeping chamber, was square and appeared too large to fit in the tower. My form quickly answered me by classifying this as spatial magic.
The room was covered in white tiles, with pure gold etchings, depicting various ponies. On each of the walls, there were colored glass windows, portraying special events. To my surprise, one of them depicted Luna raising her moon. I guessed Celestia didn’t want to get rid of all traces after all.
I began to wonder about Luna. How and why did she change and was there another way for Celestia to handle the situation a thousand years ago? But the heat quickly got to me and I slipped into a peaceful sleep.
I awoke, figuratively poked by the Sun, quickly drying myself as I made way to lower the sun and bring out the moon. After switching the celestial bodies, I quickly used my magic to merge myself to the sun, knowing that the next time I awoke, I would finally be seeing Celestia’s beloved sister, Luna.