Starlight sat there with her head, unable to comprehend what she was just told. She must have heard Twilight wrong. There was no way that Twilight had meant what she said. Perhaps she was delusional after hearing the long explanation from Twilight. Could she have been hearing things maybe? Was Twilight playing a prank on her?
“I-I’m sorry, I think I misheard you.” Starlight said still sitting there like a deer in headlights. “Did you just say Princess of Magic? As in, the one who claims dominion over all magic, one who can do anything with magic as long as they will it? That kind of Princess of Magic?” Starlight wanted clarification. Maybe it was just something minor, like an increased pool of magical energy, or maybe just she more easily learned and created spells.
“Yes Starlight, that kind of Princess of Magic.” Twilight responded confidently. “I’m so sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, but, as I told you, Celestia thought she knew better and tried to hide it from you until she thought you were ready. She apparently wanted to try and ease you into it, but with the Summer Sun Celebration going on tonight, you had to know.” Twilight made sure to emphasize Celestia’s name with venom in her voice.
Starlight continued to sit there and go over everything in her head. She looked up at Twilight with fear in her eyes. She wasn’t ready! She had only become Twilight’s student last year, and now she was a princess? It was almost too much for her. She started hyperventilating. Twilight saw this and knew what was happening. Starlight was having a panic attack.
“Starlight calm down. You’re going to make yourself pass out!” Twilight said in a motherly tone. “Just relax. Everything will be ok.” Thankfully, after a few minutes, Starlight did manage to calm down. Even thought she was physically calm however, her mind was still running a mile a minute, trying to figure out why they made her a princess, and so soon.
“Twilight, why me? Why now? What could have I possibly done to warrant this? I haven’t done anything big since I got here! Even when you were all captured, it was Discord, Trixie and Thorax that did everything! Why?!?” Starlight knew she was an Alicorn at this point, and accepted it, but being told she was the Princess of Magic had set off a chain reaction in her mind. She needed to know why it happened to her and not anyone else.
Twilight sighed, not in frustration, but because she was getting a little tired of all of Starlight’s questions. She knew they needed to be answered though, otherwise Starlight would be lost with her newfound power and title. “We chose you because you alone have the highest level of magical ability in the land. Even when we brought Starswirl back, I could feel how much your magical energy dwarfed his. Heck, you finished a spell that allowed you to go back in time and stay there! It wasn’t a short 15 second burst like Starswirl’s spell. You even made a spell that made you and Sunburst foals! Not even Princess Celestia or Luna can do that without help, yet you did it without anypony else nearby.” Hearing this put Starlight slightly at ease. True, she had come up with and created many new spells, but never really thought too highly of it.
“As for why now, as well as why, you are basically the living embodiment of magic. You held more magic than the rest of us princesses held, as a Unicorn. Honestly, had you not come with me willingly, I don’t think I could have beaten you when you went back in time. You’re the most powerful living pony, period. It seemed right to make you a princess. After I talked to the princesses, they agreed with me, though, Celestia’s methods in dealing with your ascension were and are skewed.” Again, Twilight spoke Celestia’s name with nothing but contempt; only this time, it did not go unnoticed by Starlight, who raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Twilight, as flattered as I am after hearing all that, I heard the way you talked about the princess, and that’s rather unlike you, talking about them negatively. I know you explained most of it to me, but what really happened? What’s going on with Celestia?” Starlight hoped that it wasn’t anything too serious.
Twilight looked down and sighed. Again. For the millionth time that day. “I know it’s not like me Starlight, but to keep things short, Celestia and I are not really on speaking terms right now. With her wanting to try and keep things from you, and it only hurting you, it made me angry. So, I did what I thought was right, and came here to explain everything before things got worse.” Starlight blinked. Twilight didn’t agree with the princess on something? That was new. VERY new.
“Are you and the princess going to be alright? I mean, she was your teacher at one point, and I know for a fact you still looked up to her.” Starlight was a little worried about Twilight because it felt as if she was completely different pony than she had talked to the day before.
“Eventually, but right now, I think it’s best I let her and myself think over things. Hopefully she’ll see her methods were wrong. She’s can kind of stubborn.” Twilight giggled. If only Starlight knew what she knew, especially when it came to Celestia and cake.
“You know, everything is staring make sense” Starlight said, finally putting all the pieces together from before.
“What do you mean Starlight?” What Starlight said confused Twilight. What did she mean?
“Well, for one, when I stamped my hoof in anger a few times earlier, it felt almost like a miniature earthquake. I can only assume that with my ascension, I got the magics from Earth Ponies and Pegasi, and with me being an Alicorn, all the abilities associated with them have been heightened greatly because of me being the Princess of Magic. I mean, even just trying to teleport here was a disaster. I ended up at the furthest ends of Equestria before I finally got home. I guess I need to start practicing magic again huh?”
Twilight just laughed. “Yes, I guess you do.”
Starlight and Twilight walked out of Starlight’s bedroom laughing and giggling like little schoolfillies. Hearing this, Spike, whom had been sitting outside of Starlight’s room in case he was needed, spoke up. “Um, you guys alright? When you went in you both looked really upset, you especially Twilight, but now you guys look like you’re the happiest you’ve been since ever!”
Starlight just giggled and responded with a “Yes Spike, were okay, just some things we had to talk about.”
Spike looked relieved. “Phew, thank goodness. Anyways, come on, we have to go make sure everything is all set for-” Spike froze. “Uhhhhh.” Starlight and Twilight looked at each other confused, then back at Spike. They waved their hooves in front of Spikes face to no avail. They shrugged and started to walk past him only to hear Spike speak up. “wings”
This caused them to turn around, once again, confused. “Spike you’re going to have to speak up, we can’t hear you.” Said Twilight.
“Wings. Wings. WINGS?!?! STARLIGHT YOU HAVE WINGS? SINCE WHEN?” Spike yelled at the top of his lungs. Both Twilight and Starlight, shook their heads trying to get the ringing out of their ears.
“First of all, Ow. Second, yes Spike, I have wings. And I got them this morning.” Starlight said this as she finally got the ringing in her ears to stop. Spike promptly fainted once it was explained.
Starlight and Twilight looked at each other once again. “Well that just happened. Before we go out and start helping you control your magic, we should probably put him in bed. When he faints like that he usually stays out for hours. He’ll probably miss the celebration this year.” Twilight frowned. She wanted Spike to be there when the announced Starlight as the newest princess. Even though the coronation ceremony would be tomorrow, she wanted Spike to see the announcement.
After bringing him upstairs and putting him in bed, they went out back to Twilights personal backyard space. It was moderately sized and best of all, had a dome around it for privacy. “Alright Starlight, ready to beg-” Twilight paused. She pointed at Starlight with a hoof. She just stared at Twilight with a quizzical look on her face.
Starlight waved a hoof in front of Twilights face. “Equestria to Twilight, are you there?” What could have possibly surprised Twilight enough to get to stop mid-sentence. Them Starlight followed Twilight’s hoof and looked down. She gasped. Plants were growing at her hooves, and she wasn’t even doing anything. “Uhhhhhh” was all she could manage to get out. Even though in the back of her mind she was thinking ‘Applejack would love this’.
Twilight finally regained her composure and spoke up. “I knew you had increased magical reserves because of your ascension, but to be attuned to magic in such a way that allows you to manipulate the land like that, just, I have no words!” She looked back up at Starlight and came to a conclusion.
Starlight didn’t like the look that Twilight was giving her and said only one thing. “Uh oh.”
Twilight then responded with words that made Starlight groan. “We’re going to be here a while. Especially if we want to get that under control.” Starlight was not looking forward to this.
2 HOURS UNTIL THE CELEBRATION
Starlight sat there panting. She had never been so out of breath, nor had she ever pushed her magic so far. She could hardly believe this. She was able to control spells for much longer than she ever thought conceivable. 3 hours. That is how long she had spent maintaining a shield spell while Twilight did nothing but fire volley after volley of offensive spells. And that was AFTER the 3 hours they had spent learning to control Starlight’s Earth Pony and Pegasi magic. Starlight knew she could have maintained it longer, but with this power being so new, she was impressed with herself. She looked over at Twilight who looked like she was going to keel over. There was no way Twilight could keep going like she had been. Starlight had Twilight beat in everything magically related. She may have not been looking forward to pushing herself in such a way before, but now, she had to admit, it was kind of fun.
Twilight wanted to keep going, she knew she was nearly at her limit, but she wanted to see how far she could push Starlight. She was about to fire another volley, but then she heard what sounded like a doorbell echo though the open backyard door. She froze. Oh no. Nopony was supposed to see Starlight yet! She had to go and deal with the pony at the door, so she told Starlight to go and hide for the time being.
Twilight took a walk through her castle to the front door, wondering who could be there. ‘I don’t have any visits scheduled today. The princesses are helping the townsponies set up for the Summer Sun Celebration. My friends are all busy doing their part for the celebration. Who could I possibly be?’ When she opened the door, Twilight got her answer in the form of a large white pony who had a pink, blue, and green flowing mane. The pony had an overly large smile adorned on her face. Twilight just gave the pony a blank stare, knowing all too well who it was, and she was not looking forward to this conversation. Twilight just groaned and facehooved herself before looking back up at the aforementioned pony. Twilight spoke with contempt in every word. “Hello, princess”
Celestia was nervous. She was never nervous. She just gulped and looked down at the pony who was her pupil and finally responded with the same unusually large smile she had on her face since she had gotten to the door. “Hello Twilight. I’m so sorry to disturb you. Are you busy at the moment?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, yes I am. Starlight and I are working on maintaining control over her newly obtained and heightened magical energy. We were just about to continue when you showed up. To what do I owe this pleasure of a visit?” Twilight spoke with venom in every word, knowing that it would affect the princess, and after seeing the princess flinch, she knew it had hit her.
“O-Oh. I’m sorry, I’ll just be on my way then.” The princess spoke with sadness in every word. The way Twilight had spoken wounded her.
Twilight held a blank stare and said two words. “Goodbye Princess.” She started to close the door only to have Celestia tackle Twilight in a hug. Not expecting this, Twilight did what any pony would do, and tried to pry herself out of the princess’s hooves. “PRINCESS! What are you doing!? Let me go!”
Celestia was a became a blubbering mess the second she pulled Twilight into her hug. The only thing Twilight could hear through the tears were garbled words of ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again. She struggled for a good 10 minutes before starlight Twilight started to feel bad, but then remembered what was going on and she yelled.
“ENOUGH”
The princess let go of Twilight, still a blubbering mess of tears and the constant ‘I’m Sorry’. Twilight sighed. She knew that if she didn’t deal with this now that it could possibly ruing the celebration. “Celestia. Get a hold of yourself. Calm down. Relax. When you can finally do that, you can come and find me in the backyard with Starlight. Until then. Stay here and mope. I can’t deal with you if all you’re going to do is cry. I’ll talk to you once you’ve calmed down a bit.” Twilight walked back down the hall to her backyard to continue her session with Starlight. “Alright Starlight, you can come back out now, it was just the princess.”
Starlight came out of her hiding place and inquired as to which princess it was. “Who was it Twilight? Luna? Celestia?”
“It was Celestia. She’s a blubbering mess right now. I’ll talk to her later when she’s calmed down.” Truthfully, Twilight wanted to talk to her now, but with all the emotions being jumbled in Celestia’s head, she didn’t want to say anything that could be misinterpreted.
“Are you sure that’s wise Twilight? I mean, if I hadn’t come out of my room to see you where would you be now?” This caused Twilight to rethink what she had said to Celestia. She was about to turn back and go apologize only to find that Celestia was walking into her backyard, seemingly much more composed that a few minutes ago.
Celestia spoke up immediately upon entering. “Twilight, I want to apologize for my actions against you, and to you as well Starlight. It was not my place to decide what was best for you. I guess I just wanted to feel included. Seeing you ascend as Twilight did, I think it made me realize how much Twilight had grown up, and I guess I wasn’t ready for it. I tried to control a situation where I should have just let Twilight handle things. I am truly sorry, to both of you.” Celestia hung her head, hoping her apology had gotten through to both of them. Starlight was the first to take action and wrapped the princess in a hug.
“It’s okay princess, you had our best interests at heart, just next time, let us handle it.” Starlight poked the princess with her hoof and smirked. Celestia smiled and looked at Twilight who nodded her head, then spoke up herself.
“I agree with Starlight, so I’ll say it again, let us handle it next time.” Twilight smiled and hugged her former teacher. The three remained in an embrace until Starlight said something that scared all of them.
“How long until the celebration?”
1 HOUR UNTIL THE CELEBRATION
Twilight ran around the castle looking for the things she needed for the celebration. Her anxiety over this celebration had kicked itself into high gear and make Twilight start freaking out. “Oh, my Celestia, I should have been out there helping! I have to make sure everything is perfect! I need to go inspect everything, get everything ready for the reveal of the new princess! What am I going to do?!?”
“Twilight calm down. The more you think about it the more it’s going to get in your head and the more its going to slow you down. Relax and do it slowly. Don’t you have a checklist for stuff like this?” Starlight was trying her best to diffuse the situation and calm Twilight down. They didn’t need a frazzled princess hosting the celebration.
“You’re right Starlight, I need to go find my checklist and be on my way! I’ll come back for you when the Celebration is about to start! Be sure to get ready! Come with me princess”
Celestia just yelped as she was yanked out the door by a slightly rushing Twilight. Starlight just sighed. There would be no convincing Twilight to slow down. She might as well go get ready. She took a short walk back to her room, so she could decide what to wear until she’s revealed as the newest princess.
As much as she wanted to try and find something that would let her wings breathe, she wanted to mingle and talk with her friends before the celebration. She groaned. Whatever she chose to wear would be an annoyance until her reveal. She decided to just go with it and chose a nice light blue dress that Rarity had made for her a few months back. It looked a lot like the so called ‘princess dress’ Rarity had made for her Canterlot themed line of dresses that had been discontinued a few years ago.
Starlight exited her room and left the castle. She ran into a few friends along the way and talked with them shortly before continuing on her way. Twilight was up on the stage directing the guards to their positions and spotted Starlight walking her way. “You look amazing! Wait, where are the, you know.” Starlight just made a motion that told Twilight they were hidden by the dress. Twilight wiped her brow as if to say ‘phew’. She looked up and saw where the sun and moon were positioned. It was nearly time. “Starlight! Come with me! Lets go get you into a better dress for the reveal! Come on!” Twilight said in a slow whisper. As they headed behind the stage to the underground rooms, they saw Celestia and Luna on their way to begin the ceremony.
The Celebration was about to begin.