//------------------------------// // Chapter: Three. The (Short) Ceremony. // Story: I'm the Princess of Equestria!? // by OtakuBrony47 //------------------------------// As we walk down the hallway to go to the castle courtyard, I can't help but feel my stomach tightening. I have no idea what to do? If I try to use magic out there, I'm going to be discovered. And I don't know if I can fake an illness to get out of this. According to my Sister millions of people show up to see me raise it. I already know what its like to be a disappointed to my mother. I don't want to be a disappointment to an entire kingdom. "Sister, are you alright?" I heard my sister's voice whispering to. I responded with a nod, telling her I was just nervous. She smiled at me. "Worry not sister. You raise the sun everyday, but the ceremony is only annually. You've done it before, no need to panic." Hearing that made me feel a little better, but not much. If I don't know how to use this horn magic that I'm suppose to have, then I'm f***ed. I try to calm down, taking deep breathes. I'm sure everything will be okay. If my knowledge of movies is correct, all I got to do is concentrate, then my powers should activate. Or I'll make myself look like a fool before being imprisoned. Either way, I got nothing to loose at this point. I soon made my way down a stairwell, and into the castle's main hall. Not gonna lie, this placed looked pretty sweet. Marble floors, carpet, velvet curtains; a glass chandelier. I almost felt like Cinderella. As we walked to the front door we stopped. Reginald asked me and the rest of my court to wait here, while he sees to the last minute preparations and gets the crowd ready. I guess that bought me time to try using my horn magic. Or course, I can't really practice with my court here with me. I decide to go to the corner of a wall. "Good, they didn't see me" I assumed. I took of my crown from my head and held it in my hands. This should make a great small item to practice with. I take a deep breathe in, and breathe out. Then I concentrate. I stare at the crown for a while, thinking: "Come on you sonofabitch! Levitate!". Nothing happened. Maybe if I close my eyes. I begin to grunt as I try to concentrate harder. Finally I heard a spark. I slowly opened my eyes. The crown was surrounded by a glowing aura for a while, before it faded away. "Okay, I got an aura." I declared. "Let me try again." However, before I could, I felt a hand place on my shoulder. "Sister?" a voice called out. Needless to say it was my sister. Princess...uh, Luma, I think. "Is everything okay?" she asked. I nodded in response, telling her it was just the butterflies in stomach. She smiled, taking the crown from and using her fingers to comb my hair, before placing the crown back on my head. "You'll do fine sister. Remember, I'm here for you." She wraps her arms around my body to give me hug. For a moment I'm a bit surprised, then I felt a warm calming sensation. Maybe I can do this. I have nothing to fear. Everything will be alright. After a hug, she held my hands and stared into my eyes. "Just remember, I'm right by your side, sister. The Two of Us, together again. She continued, "If you get nervous, just remember little sister is here for you." What did she mean by, Together Again? No! No! Just, get that out of your head. Besides I doubt it. I smile and give her hug in return. I figured it may help me a bit more. Finally, Reginald came back inside the castle and told me the crowd was waiting ready for me. I take a deep breathe in, and breathe out. I guess its time to get this over with. I walked out of the castle into the courtyard. I was soon welcomed by cheers and applauses. I looked at all who here outside the castle in the front courtyard. There had to be like 40,000 people (or whatever this spices call themselves) out there. The butterflies in my stomach returned. My stomach tightened, and my throat became dry. I try to breathe in and out to calm down. Reginald and a few castle soldiers lead me down the steps to a stage by the courtyard. I am now in full display. I smile nervously and wave at the audience. They applaud me, shouting "We love you princess!" My sister stands beside me, while the niece and nephew, I guess, watch from back of the stage. Finally the crowd got quieter as Reginald took center stage to introduce me and the event. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, Mares and Stalions" he began. Wow, these people are really anal about being anthropomorphic horse creatures. " Welcome to the Summer Sun Celebration." The crowd cheered. As he went on speaking, I close my eyes and try to find my happy place. I begin to tell myself, "I can do it." I don't want to know what will happen if I fail, but I guess I'll see soon enough. Reginald begins. "And now, the moment you've been waiting for!" Reginald signaled to my sister, Luna (uh, I almost got it right). "Princess Luna, if you'd please." Luna nodded. She extended her wings and began to flap them. Then she slowly went up into the air. As I see this I begin to loose hope. Not only must I use my magic, but I need to FLY as well. Up in the air, Luna raise her arms up and moon, and with a glow of her horn, she lowered her arms down, slowly lowering the already setting moon. The sun slowly turned from dark blue to an orangey purple. My sister comes back down and smiles at me. "Your turn. Good luck." She winks at me. I look at the crowd and slowly inhale and exhale. "Princess Celestia" says Reginald, "Now you." I clutch my chest and continued breathing. I slowly close my eyes, and extend my wings. I gently flap them. I hope for the worst. This is probably it. I probably look like an idiot. However, to my surprise, I slowly open my eyes and found I actually flew a few feet off the ground. I slowly smile. However, I soon find myself being take back down by gravity. Everyone gasped. I picked myself of the floor, my sister and Reginald came to me to see if I was okay. "Sister, are you alright?" asked Luna. I nodded. Reginald asked me If I was sure I was capable of doing this. I didn't respond. I slowly got completely back up, and took a deep breathe in, and a deep breathe out. "Are you going to try again?" Luna asks. I responded with a yes. I extend my wings, and slowly flap them, this time, I didn't fly. Everyone in the audience looked concern. "What's wrong princess?" asked a woman. "Is the princess okay?" asked another woman. "Get on with it!" shouted an old man. "Hey buddy, the princess may be ill or injured!" shouted a younger sounding male. Luna slowly walked up behind me. "Tia," she says, "What's wrong?" I looked at her with sad eyes. She stared back at me with concern. However, before I could respond, I heard a deep, almost ghostlike voice whispering in my ear. I widely open my eyes. My wings twitched, and a cold feeling ran down my spine at the demonic inflection in this voice. "Yessss. What issss wrong, Princessss?" Just then, everything turn black and white, and everyone including my court became deftly still. Almost like, like if they had been frozen in place. except for me. I began to panic. I waved my hands in front of my sister. She did not react. She was still like a statue, just like everything else. Just then a black mist surrounded me. "Tell me Princessss. What's got you in a tizzy. " The voice laughs. "Show yourself!" I demanded. "Ha, ha, if you inssssisssst" he responded. The black mist began to take shape. I slowly stepped back as a small tornado formed, shielding my face a harm wind began to blow. Suddenly, everything calmed down. And the voice called out to me. "Here I am." I looked up and saw a silhouette, just behind a wall of black mist. "Gazzzze upon me, Princessss." I was terrified as it walked closer to me. I fell to the floor as I tried to back away. I looked around, there's no place to go. I guess this is it. "Who are you!?" I asked fearfully. "I am everything, and nothing. I am many, and I am few. But mosssst all. I am the architect of your Desssstiny!" he replies. "My destiny. What are you talking about?" The silhouette finally got close to me. The black mist slowly faded. And when I looked up, it was a man in black trench coat and hat. His face was covered with a black scarf to match as well. I was paralyzed in fear. There was only one explanation for this. This man was a soul collector. And this princess, that I'm suppose to be, was probably some kind of demon worshiper. And this man is an undertaker, here to collect is debt. Me. "Oh no!" cried. "Are you here for my soul?" I asked. The man laughed. He grabbed his scarf and hat and took them off. I flinched at the idea of seeing his face, but when I slowly looked up, I saw that this man was actually not an angel of death, but a goat man. An odd looking goat man. He had one goat horn, but his other horn was a deer's antler. I also noticed his tail. A red scaly, dragon like tail. A goat with a dragon's tail. What? With the snap of his fingers, his trench coat turned into a simple brown suit and tie. It was then that I noticed one of his hands was some type of bird's claw. While the other looked like some form of animal's paw, but with opposable thumbs. I would hold it pass this crazy place anymore. The goat man stood over me laughing. "Oh man!" he cried, "You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!" He continued laughing. "Are you here for my soul?" he teased. "HAHAHAHAHA! Comedy Gold!" "Ha. Ha. Ha. That was so funny" I replied angrily. "So, back to my question: Who Are You?" I asked. "All in due time my Princess" he replied. "All your questions will be answered..." "How did you-" I was interrupted. "Shhh...Like I said..." restated the goat man. "....All. In due. Time..."