//------------------------------//
// Celebration 
// Story: Twipocalypse 
// by heidi666 
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	After Celestia and Luna had brought down the sun and raised the moon, they put together a celebration that evening in Canterlot the likes of which had never been seen before: across the whole city, streamers and lights adorned the streets, ponies were partying wildly, and fireworks were being cast by the more magically talented unicorns, all to celebrate Twilight's ascension. In the palace, a more refined affair was being conducted, though with no less excitement. The Great Hall had been quickly converted, and a banquet was taking place. Several dozen giant round tables took up the space of the hall, and the ponies were eating the castle's finest food merrily. At the head table, the only one on the raised platform, Twilight sat flanked by the two rulers with her family and friends around them.

She caught a glance of several other tables. One must have been for the ponies of great renown in the entertainment sphere, as she saw Spitfire with some other Wonderbolts, Sapphire Shores the famous singer, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, the unlikely musical duo who had rocked the entertainment scene with their fusion of classical and modern styles, and several other ponies of note. Another must have been reserved for the foreign dignitaries, as she saw several gryphons, zebras, goats and even a couple of minotaurs, as well as representatives of Prance,  Marecedonia, Germaneigh and the other kingdoms surrounding Equestria. Notable by their absence were representatives of the dragons, who were so hardy that they could probably survive even without the cycle of day and night. That, mixed with their arrogance and pride, probably went a long way to explaining their complete disinterest, beyond perhaps a passing curiosity, in all the other races.

Wearing an uncertain smile, Twilight was bombarded with compliments and questions from around her table.

Rainbow Dash called out, “Wow, your wings are so beautiful, Twilight! They're amazing!” joined by a timid nod from Fluttershy who was sat next to her.

"Does your horn feel any different? You feel your magic any stronger?” came Shining Armor's inquisitive tone.

Rarity chipped in with, “How much does that gold chain weigh, darling? It looks sooo heavy!”

“D'ya feel any stronger, Twi? Ya look much bigger than before.” drawled Applejack in her signature twang.

Finally, she responded. “I... I don't know, guys. To tell you the truth, I don't really feel any different except for my wings. I'm still getting used to the idea of having them,” she punctuated her last remark by giving her new wings an experimental stretch.

Celestia saved her from a further torrent of questions by weighing in. “It's only natural, Twilight. You have undergone a big change, and it will take you a very long time to get used to being an alicorn. Many things are different.”

Further small talk happened for the rest of the banquet, but Twilight started to feel slightly nervous again with all the ponies stealing what they thought were surreptitious at her, marvelling at her new horn, wings, or any of the things that were now different. She felt relieved when the final course, a delicious crème brûleé topped with crystallised orchid petals, was over, but soon her stomach plummeted as Celestia stood and proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlecolts. I hope you have enjoyed this day's events.” An appreciative murmur went through the hall as she continued, “Please let us have yet another round of applause for Princess Twilight, who will now give a speech.”

Twilight shot a look of desperation at her mentor amidst the rapturous applause of the room. Receiving only a smirk and a twinkle in the eye from Celestia, she got up and cast about herself uncertainly. Public speaking had never been her forte, and now she was expected to make a speech on her own to the fully packed Great Hall of Canterlot? Her throat tightened up and her nervousness began to mount as the applause died down and the ponies began looking at her expectantly. Looking down again, she saw her friends beaming at her with reassuring smiles. Her confidence began to return as she steadied herself and began her speech.

“Ponies of Equestria,” she started loudly. Luna sighed and chipped in, lighting her horn and lending Twilight some of her famed royal Canterlot voice, making her next phrase much more impressive as it echoed through the hall. “Thank you all for coming today. I can't tell you how awed I am by this... only a week ago I was still a humble librarian!” A few titters rippled through the guests. “I'm not very good with public speaking... so I can only say that I will do my utmost to live up to the expectations which you hold of me.” As she sat down, another round of applause filled the Great Hall.

Turning to Celestia, she whispered, “I'm feeling awfully drained all of a sudden, Princess.” The ruler of the day replied in a low voice, “It's only natural, Twilight. You should rest now. But before you do... we have a surprise for you. My sister and I have been working on this for quite a while, you know. We'd be awfully disappointed if you missed it.”

At Twilight's nod, Luna and Celestia rose from their seats and went out onto the huge balcony open to the air. Lighting their horns, they let off a series of synchronised fireworks that drew a stream of gasps of “Oooh” and “Wow!” from the assembled ponies back in the hall, who could observe everything through the towering stained-glass window. The best view of course was from the head table, where Twilight and her family and friends could see the fireworks directly from under the huge arch. Brilliant trails and explosions filled the air in all the colours of the rainbow, for which Dash back at the table gave a little smirk. Finally, the two rulers' horns glowed brighter together, and several fireworks shot up at the same time. For a few moments, nothing happened, then with a loud bang a gigantic image of Twilight as an alicorn appeared hanging in the night sky above Canterlot. Every pony in the city could see Twilight as she was now, and the collective gasps of admiration were so loud across the city that they were heard even at the palace.

Celestia and her sister turned back to walk into the hall, and were faced with a wall of sound – applause, Rainbow Dash shouting “Awesome!” and various whistles of appreciation. The most satisfying sight for the two sisters, however, was the smile of gratitude on Twilight's face as she clapped quietly. Luna came up to their table and said, “The events are over, and I'm sure you must be tired. All of you are welcome to stay at the castle tonight. Let me take you to your rooms.”