//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Solar Child // by Bakmah Genesis //------------------------------// Solar Child Chapter Three Written by Bakmah Genesis Edited by BubbleBoom Day Court. It was a held during the weekdays from seven in the morning till five in the afternoon. It gave citizens, nobles, and ambassadors the chance to talk to the Princess of the Sun and raise their concerns and demands. A process held for over a thousand years. Prince Blueblood the Fourth had taken the floor. The moment he arrived in the room, Celestia knew she was in for three hours of the pampered and narcissistic prince talking about his equally spoiled son. The Infamous Bachelor was able to create a foal three years ago in his mid fifties. Of course, this lead to him bragging about how his son was more regal than her young highness. Celestia at least had the dignity to not name her child after herself. As the prince went into another story about his son, Quill interrupted the tale with a slight cough. “Yes, well, as much as I want to listen to another story about your highness’ nephew, we need to move on with the Day Court or we will be behind on our schedule… again.” The pampered blue unicorn huffed, turning around and leaving the throne room. There was a collective sigh of relief as he disappeared behind the door. “I swear, that poor colt is pampered to death by his father and will end up no better than him.” said Quill as she began to shuffle through her lists once again, trying to remember where they left off. “No better than the last three generations and all those before him. The Blueblood line has been cursed for centuries.” Celestia rubbed her temples. Looking up at the sun, she could see that only an hour was left before she had to close the Day Court for the night. “Pray tell, who is next, dear Quill?” “Nothing to be done with the time we have left.” said the mare, looking at the mass of paper that surrounded her. “I think we will be forced to close up early tonight. Everything is large negotiations over land, building permits. Everything that will take a good two to three hours, and we already went over on our hours this week.” Quill set down the papers, letting out an exhausted sigh. “I think you should consider banning your nephew from entering the throne room during court hours.” “Trust me, I’m tempted.” Celestia sighed as she stood up from her throne. “Fine then. Close down the court, and alert the ponies who still need to speak to me that they will need to wait till tomorrow. We will provide them housing in our guest rooms for the night.” “Are we going to open early?” asked Quill, attempting to fit all of the papers around her into saddlebags. “No. We will open normally.” Celestia walked towards the door in the side of the throne room, opting to take the alternate path back towards the living quarters of the castle. After a long day, she just wanted to relax before she had to raise the moon. The passageway took her back into her bedroom. The moment she opened the door, a small, purple blur attached itself to her foreleg, Cadence giggling from her spot on the bed. “I think she missed you, Auntie.” “Did she now?” asked Celestia, picking up the filly and lifting her up to eye level. Twilight giggled, her deep purple eyes sparkling as they stared back at her mother. “I see now. I think I have the perfect solution for that.” Celestia grinned before leaning into the filly’s belly, the young alicorn bursting into a fit of giggles while she was assaulted by a wave of raspberries. “M-mommie! S-stop! I give up!” squeaked the filly, flailing in her mother’s magical grasp. Celestia ended her assault, smirking as she levitated her onto the bed. “Oh, so has the little she-devil given up?” Twilight shook her head, launching herself from the bed. She let out a high pitched war cry, her wings fluttering. Before she knew it, a pair of small hooves began their tickle assault on her belly, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles. Celestia let out a grunt, falling to the ground. “I-I surrender! I surrender!” gasped Celestia between fits of giggles. Twilight sat up with a victorious grin. “You darn she-devil, you will pay for this.” Celestia chuckled as she picked up the filly, nuzzling her affectionately. “Did you give Cadence any trouble while I was gone?” “No?” said the filly innocently, pawing the ground. Celestia raised an eyebrow, looking over at her niece. “She decided to taste test some of the cakes down in the kitchen. If you call eating the entire thing taste testing.” The two princesses giggled as the young filly huffed in defiance. “She takes after her mother in that respect.” said Quill as she entered the room. She smiled, leaning down to Twilight. “Well hello there, your highness. Is the royal princess ready for her bath?” “But Miss Quill, I don’t want to take a bath. It messes up my wings.” said the filly with a pout. “Then maybe big sister Cadence will teach you how to preen when you get done.” said Cadence with a grin. Twilight eyed the alicorn carefully, still pouting as she thought about the prospect of being taught by her older sibling. “Do I get cake?” asked Twilight. Cadence hummed thoughtfully. “My special homemade cookies. Final offer.” The filly brightened up, grinning as her wings buzzed rapidly behind her. “Deal!” “Good, now let Quill wash you up, alright?” The filly sighed as she accepted her doom, following the older mare into the bathroom. Once the two disappeared behind the door, Celestia let out a soft chuckle. “You know, six years ago I was not expecting any of this.” said the sun goddess, lying in the bed next to Cadence. The pink alicorn raised an eyebrow.“What do you mean? Having Twilight?” Celestia shook her head. She let out a sigh, rolling her back. She stared at the ceiling above her. The paintings on her ceiling were updated yearly, displaying major events that have happened over the years. Shortly after her birth, both Twilights were added to the mural. “After the speech, I had the nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen to Twilight. Remember for the first year she would never leave my sight? I would bathe her, everything. I was terrified that something would happen. I still am.” Celestia sighed. “Anyways, where is Aurora?” “One of the maids took her into her room to get bathed.” Cadence sighed. “You do know that ponies are afraid of her, right? Ever since her abilities started to show.” “You would too if you didn’t know who she was, how she acted.” Celestia stared off into the distance. “But she is more scared than they are. She knows she is different, she knows other ponies can’t do what she does, and she doesn’t fully know how to control it. It’s how Luna and I felt for years. We could control the sun and moon, we had wings and a horn, we were different, and we were well aware of it.” “Auntie, I think we should at least help her with this. Shouldering the sun and moon didn’t mean that slipping up would kill ponies instantly.” Celestia winced. It was true, the consequences of her mistreating her abilities were not as great as her daughter’s. “I’ll go talk to her. You just keep your promise to Twilley and possibly get a headstart on those cookies.” The goddess chuckled as she stood, making her way towards Aurora’s room. She tried to figure out a way to approach the upcoming conversation. Before she had time, Celestia found herself standing outside her youngest daughter's room. She stared at the pink door, she let out a loud sigh as she opened the door into her daughter's bedroom. A pink filly with a pale mane sat on the edge of her bed, a bored expression on her face as one of the maids brushed her hair. She was smaller than her older sister but seemed oddly calmer. Her ears perked as she heard the door open. The filly grinned as she prepared to hop off the bed but was quickly held by blue aura as the maid finished up her mane. "Not yet, Lady Aurora. You can play with the princess once your mane is done." The filly gave her a big pout, crossing her hooves as she waited for the maid to finish. Finally, the magic aura disappeared. The little filly grinned as she leaped from the bed, attaching herself to her mother's legs. The older alicorn chuckled. "Have you been behaving, my dear child?" asked Celestial, nuzzling the filly. Aurora giggled. Glancing over to the maid, Celestia noticed the young mare let out a sigh. “We caught her trying to prank the guards. She also tried to skip out on her…’lessons’ today.” Celestia frowned as she looked down at her daughter. Aurora grinned up at her sheepishly. “You may leave us now. I have something I need to speak to my daughter about privately.” The maid nodded politely before leaving the two alone. Celestia sighed as she sat herself on the bed. Aurora sat down in front of her, scruffing her hooves on the floor as she avoided eye contact. After a few minutes, Celestia took a deep breath before looking down at the filly. “Aurora Solar, do you know why I ask of you to attend your classes? Do you understand the importance?” “Because I’m a freak, and you need to control me.” said Aurora with a scowl. Celestia blinked. “Who told you that?” asked the alicorn softly. She knew that word had gotten around of Aurora’s abilities, the staff had to take an oath to not disclose the full details with the outside world, but she did not know that there had been a negative effect this early. “The guards and maids talk about it all the time. I’m a freak and everyone is scared of me.” “No. You are like your mother.” said Celestia, causing Aurora to look up in confusion. “When Luna and I got our abilities, when we became alicorns, we were feared. Ponies did not know how to react when they saw us. We were neither earth pony, unicorn, nor pegasi. We could move the celestial bodies that controlled the night and day. We were the most powerful beings in existence, and nopony knew how to react. “Same goes for you.” said Celestia with a nod. “You, Aurora, are the embodiment of death. The end of our journey. You are here to enforce that end. But, you also can stop it. You are now in the position that myself and my sister were in thousands of years ago. You need to learn to control it, to master it so you can better use this power to help ponies.” “But I don’t want to learn to use my power. I just want to be normal.” Aurora stamped her hoof. “I want to be like my sister! She doesn’t have to worry about anything! She just plays with Cadence all day!” The filly yelped as she found herself covered in a golden aura. She was lifted and brought close to her mother. Celestia wrapped her hooves around the filly protectively, shielding her from the horrors of the world. “Quiet, my dear. It will be fine, I promise. There is no need for you to worry.”