Canterlot
Afternoon
I clear my throat as Circe and Sunset continue casting spells on the newly ascended alicorn to make sure everything worked as intended.
"'Tallest'?"
"What?" She glances in my direction. "Tallest actual alicorn, not an… Apokoliptian who got turned into one by Starswirl's mirror."
"So 'second tallest alicorn', then?"
"You don't count."
"Sure thing, shorty." She gives me a mild glare, but there's no bite to it. "So what does this mean for your human form?"
"Ah, actually? I was thinking of just boom tubing back. I mean, hands are great and all, but I've been a pony for a lot longer than I was a human. Picking things up with my magic still feels more natural than using my hands."
"Okay." I nod. "You can do that. As long as you don't mind getting mobbed whenever you go anywhere due to being an adorable little pony."
"Ah, 'regal, big pony'."
"Haven't you measured yourself yet? You're bigger than all ponies who aren't me-"
"So all the pony-ponies."
"-but in absolute terms you're not all that big. You're not even horse-size yet." She frowns and looks to Circe for confirmation. "Not only are you the wrong shape for the environment, you're an ultra-cute version of something people think of as a riding animal. Little girls will be coming up to you to feed you sugar cubes." Her eyes unfocus slightly as she sees the disadvantage. "And I can identify as 'pony' if I want. Respect my species-identity."
"Your species-identity is 'ass'."
"Whow, go easy on the specieism, there. You're an alicorn now; you have to set an example."
She huffs and turns to her mentor. "Circe, how did I do?"
"Yes, Sunset, you're quite tall."
"I meant the spell."
"As far as I can tell, everything is as you intended." She leans up slightly to nuzzle her. "Well done."
"Thank you." Sunset bows her head slightly. "For all the help you've given me, and… For everything."
"That's quite alright, Sunset."
"And…" She looks at me. "Thank you, Grayven. Without you, this… I wouldn't-."
"Have got here, I know."
"Have got here for a few more years. But… Yeah. And you could be right about being a pony while on Earth. I'm still going to try it, but I guess all the attention could be a bit aggravating."
Circe raises her eyebrows. "And what about all of the attention your human form gets you?"
"Ah. It's not that much? Misa helps me out-."
"I believe what Circe is referring to is how your human form will change to reflect your new pony form. The animated mane, larger size… Assuming that your growth is proportionate you won't be all that much shorter than me."
"Ooooh."
"And while I'm no judge of equine beauty, I'm going to hazard a guess that-."
Sunset's gaze grows a little vacant. "I'm going to be some sort of amazonian supermodel."
I smile. "The Amazons do like strapping young women. I don't think that they really have models-."
"No, it's okay. I can just stay in the mountain-." She frowns, looking at me. "I can make myself one of those illusion charms you use." Rats. "But… Maybe I'll… Try it, first. As a pony, and… As a human."
Circe smiles. "And what will you do with your time now?"
"Do? I've got two completely new forms of pony magic to master, plus whatever I get by combining them, plus relearning everything I can do as a human to take this change into account. I'm not exactly going to be underemployed."
"But you won't miss having an overarching goal?"
"No, this was always just one step on the journey. Yes, it's an important one that proves that my approach is correct and gives me all the time in the universe to work on the rest, but it was never my end goal. I wasn't going to turn myself into an alicorn and just retire." She takes a deep breath. "But seeing as my magic is working just fine…"
She extends her wings and lightly flaps, rising off the floor with barely a whisper of wind. Then she spreads her wings and just.. floats there.
"Huh. That was easy."
I frown. "How are you-?"
Rainbow Dash darts in, staring at her. Then she flits around to examine Sunset's wings, then from another angle. Then she drifts back slightly and puts her right hoof to her chin.
"Huh. You're making air currents to stay up." She twists her head around. "Hey, Twilight, how come you can't do that?"
Twilight's eyes widen slightly at being put on the spot like that. "I… Er… Probably can."
Sunset nods. "You should be able to. Your special talent is magic, after all. The same as mine."
Twilight sort of goldfishes for a moment before Sunset shakes her head.
"I'm just messing with you. I studied pegasus magic for years when I was living here. And I'm guessing you didn't."
"I.. studied the applications, and the history of-."
"Of course you did." Sunset pauses for a moment then lands, sighing. "No, sorry. I shouldn't use the fact that I know something you don't to make you feel bad." Twilight looks slightly mollified. "But you should learn this."
Rainbow Dash nods. "Maybe if somepony wasn't slacking off on her flying lessons, she wouldn't get shown up like this."
"And trust me-" Sunset flexes her right wing, creating a small spark of electricity which she tosses to her left and then tosses to.. just in front of her, where it forms a small, crackling ball. She smiles. "-if you like magic this is every bit as interesting as unicorn magic."
Twilight smiles. "I suppose it can't hurt." She looks Sunset over. "But I don't understand how you're so big. I know I've gotten taller since my ascension, but… We tested your magic and you were only about as strong as me."
"Oh, that's simple. You're going to keep growing until you get to roughly my size. But the spell you used was designed to be as safe as possible because Starswirl didn't understand exactly how the process worked and he didn't want to risk killing Celestia or Luna. So you only grow slowly. Since I knew exactly what I was doing I decided to skip the wait and empower myself fully from the start." She thinks for a moment. "Actually, Luna? I can't make you any bigger, but now that you're back on Equestria you're probably going to start growing again."
For a fraction of a second Luna looks incredibly pleased with herself, then schools her expression.
"That will be an interesting experience."
"But right now-."
Celestia steps forwards. "Sunset-."
"Y.. eah…" Sunset nods. "We probably need to.. talk."
"I spoke with Grayven, concerning... You. I will try to avoid offending you if you will agree to have patience if I fail."
Sunset nods again and trots forward. "Yeah. Okay. And then we can…"
…
…
Pinkie twitches, then resolutely shakes her head.
…
…
The door bursts open as Party Popper storms in, guards hanging from her barrel!
"HAVE A PARTY!"
She collapses to the ground panting. I regard her impassively.
"What? I was at the other end of the palace. Even if you cue me in I can only gallop so fast."
