"I hope they like each other...." says a nervous Harmony as she walks through the castle halls by herself, her hooves clicking gracefully on the marble floor, keeping good posture as she walks so Corona doesn't fall off her back. "I'm being silly.... why wouldn't they like each other, Corona is a gentle foal and loves meeting new ponies, well... at least when i'm around." She turns her head to look back at him and sees Corona looking up at her with a confused look. Harmony smiles sheepishly and stops, "Your right... silly mommy is talking to herself again."
Corona giggles and wobbles up to her neck and hugs it cutely, babbling foal nonsense as if he is trying to talk to her, the sight makes Harmony giggle and continue walking. She looks outside the window and sees that it is a beautiful sunny day, the pegasi crossing the sky carrying the clouds with them to clear the rest of the sky, the day already feeling a little warmer than the week prior. She turns down a corner after admiring the view and starts to climb the tower in which Virgo and Helios sleep as that is where she told her to meet her, her wings open up a little to make sure Corona doesn't fall off her back who seems to be in his own world, a brave young explorer discovering the uncharted lands of his mother's bridge perhaps.
She chuckles softly and soon knocks on the double door of the royal couple's chambers, after waiting for a few moments she hears hoofsteps on the other side of the door and soon the door opens, revealing her best friend in Virgo. "Glad you made it Harmony, me and the foal have been feeling lonely since Helios had to go off with Diamond for the defense meeting."
"Right... it has been the same with me and Corona" she says as she walks inside, Corona looks up and sees Virgo and he babbles cutely at her as he reaches for her, but he soon loses his balance and falls on his front, the sight making Virgo giggle softly as she lifts him up with magic and brings her up to her face.
"Well aren't you the most precious colt in the land" she says as she looks at him with a happy look. Corona giggles when she lifts him up and he holds her muzzle, his horn soon has a glowing silver aura and the aura surrounds Virgo as he lifts her up off the ground. Virgo's pupils shrink as she gets lifted up "Ahhh! Harmony is this normal!?" she says in a panicking tone as she flails her hooves.
Harmony laughs at her reaction, after enjoying it for a few moments she walks up to them and gently touches Corona, "Time to come down little one" she says in a soft motherly voice, Corona's little ears perk up when she calls to him, her voice causes his magic to calm down and he falls into her hoof and drops Virgo with a thud "Owww....."
"Apologies for that, and to answer your question yes, Unicorn foals have unstable magic remember?" she says as she puts Corona back on her. She reaches down to help her stand back up and gives her a hug.
"Right... I keep forgetting about that, this whole mother business has made me glance over quite a few simple things, and to think i'll start having to deal with that soon as well..."
Harmony nods slowly, "I know what you mean... I have been through many different events from droughts to internal crises, but none of that even comes close to the feelings I've been experiencing over the past two weeks, I've been a nervous wreck worrying about Corona's well being... wondering whether I fed him enough or if I forgot to put him to bed."
"Speaking of sleep, my little one should just about be done with her nap." she says as she leads Harmony to a pair of pillows big enough for them to lay on. "Let me go get my little angel, I can't wait for you to meet her!" Virgo squeals with a big grin as she trots off to the nursery her and Helios had built in their chambers.
Harmony cant help but grin as well at the sight of her enthusiasm, when she disappears behind the door she lays down on the pillow with Corona and she nuzzles him, "Hear that Corona? you're going to meet your first friend!" Corona laughs and pokes her nose, not knowing what she is saying but finds her voice comforting, he then rolls over onto his front and looks around the room curiously from her back, never seeing this room before. Soon they both hear the door of the nursery open up and out walks Virgo with a proud smile planted on her maw. She walks up to them and calmly lays down on her own.
"Harmony, meet my daughter Celestia" she says as she lifts up her precious filly with magic and moves her to her front hooves so Harmony can see the adorable snow white filly, her mane are a lovely light pink that fades slowly into lighter shades of pink, when she opens her eyes Harmony sees they are a beautiful magenta. The sight of the adorable filly makes Harmony's pupils widen and almost cry, "She's absolutely precious..." she says as she feels Corona pressing up on her neck, obviously wanting her attention and wondering what is going on. Harmony giggles softly and gently lifts Corona up and lays him down in her front hooves, Celestia looks at Corona with wide curious eyes and when Corona sees her he does the same.
Corona's mouth opens a little as he reaches his hooves forward on the pillow to try and walk towards Celestia to investigate the new pony he's never seen. Celestia has her head perked up like a meerkat, staring at Corona as he waddles towards her. He moves his muzzle close to her head and sniffs her, Celestia backs up a little and raises her hoof. Corona stops and tilts his head in confusion, when he stops she feels curious of him as well, waddling towards him and sniffing him. She then smiles and laughs while patting her hooves on the ground. Corona giggles along with her and he looks around and sees one of her stuffed animals, his horn glows and he floats it over to him and holds it in front of her, offering it as a gift even though it was already her's.
Celestia giggles and takes the stuffed pony and squeezes it, she laughs and decides to return the favor by floating her mother's crown down and putting it on Corona, only he was small enough to squeeze into the crown. Corona pops his head above the tiara and he giggles as he puts the tip of it in his mouth.
"Well it looks like I need a new crown" Virgo says with a laugh as she watches the two play, feeling a sense of relief that they are getting along, feeling like their fears of them not liking each other were for naught.
"It would seem so! I hope she doesn't steal my crown!" Harmony says with a giggle as she nuzzles Corona in his new tiara, he laughs as she nuzzles him as he feels ticklish, he then picks up the tiara and floats it onto his mother's head, putting the crown on top of her's which falls on the side of her face, making her laugh softly as she floats it back to Virgo's head.
*****
Diamond trots slowly round a corner to see Helios standing outside the door of the meeting chambers, Helios looks over at him and nods slowly, letting Diamond know that their military officers are ready for the meeting to commence. Diamond stands in front of him and nods in confirmation "Right..." both are dressed in formal royal regalia due to the importance of the meeting, Helios opens the door and they walk into the big room, in the center is a large circular table with many of their highest ranking officers sitting in their seats, as soon as they see their King's walk into the room they all stand up instantly and salute in unison.
"At ease everyone, you may be seated" Diamond says and they all comply to his order and sit down while maintaining focus on them.
"We have requested an audience with you to discuss very important matters that must be kept from the public" Iron Shield says, standing up with good posture as he fills the room with his voice, his helmet resting on the table along with his fellow officers. "We have seen movement on the northern borders of the Crystal Empire and on our southwest border on our own border with the desolate desert lands, we are not sure the Yaks or Zebras are making a move or not, but considering how close together these events unfurled, I do believe that we should treat this as a potential coordinated strike between the two tribes on us."
Most at the table with the exception of Diamond and Helios as they wait for everyone to speak to state what is on their mind. After a few moments a dark grey mare with sky blue eyes stands up, on the table in front of her is the cover worn by the commanding general of Equestria's military.
"That is an intelligent evaluation of the enemy Captain Iron Shield, but we must not forget that we have been able to fend off our attackers for generations, ever since the brilliant leadership that was my grandfather commander Hurricane our defensive capabilities have only grown stronger in fending off any would be oppressors, and I will be damned to Tartarus if I let that reputation crumble at my hooves," she states with confidence but also maintains a level of poise with her words.
Iron Shield nods slowly but also looks concerned, "Yes... the leadership of your family has never led us astray, but with all due respect General Typhoon, we must never underestimate the enemy for that could be the undoing of our military."
Helios nods slowly in agreement, "Yes I must agree with Iron Shield on this, we have little knowledge on what lies beyond our borders, only that the tribes we have encountered desire to steal our magic, and have been trying to do so for generations."
Typhoon nods her head in concurrence "Yes that we can agree on, and considering the desolation of the desert they live in, I can see why they would want to invade our territory, I suggest we send troops to those borders in a show of strength, in doing so we may avoid a conflict and casualties at the same time by making our enemies run away in fear."
Most officers at the table concur with their commander's proposition, but Iron Shield shakes his head, "I disagree with this General... sending more troops to the borders may be seen as a form of unprovoked aggression, they may even think we will intend to invade their land, prompting them to raise their armies for a coordinated strike against us. While I do agree with you that we should be mindful of their increased presence, I suggest strengthening our defenses at our key locations, such as our cities and garrisons. Without knowing their true intentions we simply can not make any aggressive moves as that may prove to be disastrous."
Typhoon slams her hoof down on the table causing it to shake which startles quite a few ponies in the room, but Iron keeps his composed expression, "It is that lack of action that will lead to our downfall Captain Shield!" she snaps back at him in an aggressive tone, "Our job is to protect the ponies of our land! And to accomplish that mission we absolutely should not let them just march right up to our city's doorstep and attack! that would lead to hundreds of civilian casualties!" she stats while shooting him a glare.
Iron Shield sighs and sits back down, knowing this will be a losing fight since her word holds more weight than his does. After a few moments of discussion about the two possibilities between the crystal and equestrian officers Diamond raises his hoof and they all silence immediately.
"You both speak truth in you words, but unfortunately Iron Shield... I am to side with Typhoon in this matter, we should not allow the possible battleground to be in a place that could bring harm to the civilians," Helios states and the officers nod slowly.
Iron sighs and slightly lowers his head, "Yes your highness."
"We have those that are precious to us that we must protect, and now with the birth of my son Corona and Princess Celestia, we also must protect the next generation of the royal families if our union is to come to fruition in the near future, the crown must endure when our time to pass comes, whenever that may be," Diamond stats with concern.
The doors to the meeting room open slowly and the sound of bells ringing can be heard as head mage Starswirl trots into the room, "You are absolutely right King Diamond, but there is much more potential in your legacy as well as King Helios' than you could even fathom." he says as he walks over to his seat and sits down. While not a military officer, Starswirl is held in high regard amongst not only magic scholars, but also the military due to his contribution in offensive and defensive spell innovations.
"What are you referring to Starswirl?" Diamond says out of confusion, not expecting him to bring up his son and the princess for the meeting.
"I am elevated at the thought of how much magic the prince and princess possess. Princess Celestia radiates with more magic than any foal I've ever seen. While magical outbursts are common in foals, it normally takes more than a month for those outbursts to begin, this is the first time I have witnessed a foal lift up an entire pony as a newborn filly."
"Really?... I haven't seen her do such a thing yet," Helios says in slight disbelief as he looks at Starswirl, Diamond also turns his attention to him and clears his throat.
"The way you say that you said that made it sound like you've seen some sort of anomaly with my son as well, I hope it was not a bad one," he says in a voice of concern, remembering his reaction when he first held Corona.
"I can assure you that it was not a negative outburst," Helios replies with a calm voice as he puts a hoof on his friend's shoulder.
"He's right my king, quite the contrary in fact," Starswirl uses magic and pulls out the several books he was studying and puts them down on the table, the officers move closer to the edge of the table, while Typhoon looks over his shoulder since he sits next to her, she sees that they are all books related to remedies and potions, she tilts her head in confusion "Potion making?... what does that have to do with Prince Corona?"
"Patience my dear, I was getting to that" he says as he flips the books to their respective pages and shows all the notes he has taken on the different potions, showing particular interest in healing potions. He also pulls out a much bigger book that contains all known studies of magic made in Canterlot's magic institution, he turns the big cover of the book and flips through the pages, "When I first held the young prince he touched my horn and did something to me that caught me completely off guard. For awhile I couldn't figure out what it was, but I knew I had experienced that feeling before, the warming sensation reminded me of my mother and a select few cherished memories I shared with her and my father."
The officers listen to him closely but also take the different books to read through his notes and what he was reading, Typhoon maintains her focus on the large book, Diamond also listens intently and is feeling a sense of surprise from what he says, and as he mentions it he remembers Starswirl cried for a few brief moments when holding Corona.
"I spent the next couple weeks practically pulling my hair out trying to figure out what I felt, then I finally remembered it. Years ago me and a few fellow mages were working on creating new spells involving a pony's mind, we were specifically trying to create a spell that tampered with a pony's sanity to immobilize them so no lethal force was needed to incapacitate them. Unfortunately due to an error we made we accidentally inflicted the unstable spell on myself, driving me into a paralyzing state of insanity, and despite us not wishing to inflict it on ourselves, we at least knew we found the spell we were looking for."
Helios nods slowly, "Yes I believe I remember that debacle, you were in that state for weeks and we couldn't wake up no matter what or remedy was tried on you."
Starswirl grins and looks at Helios, "I'm glad you remember that, and it was a lovely potion maker by the name of Abilene who brought a remedy that finally cured me of my ailments. It was that potion that game me that warm feeling, that filled my mind with those happy memories of my family and friends in my youth, pushing away all the nightmares I was having and finally bringing me back to consciousness."
"So.... you're saying that Corona brought you to that state that the potion did?" Diamond says as he keeps his gaze firmly on Starswirl.
"Yes but it is far more than that, Prince Corona is the key we have been missing to unlocking the magic we mages have worked tirelessly to unravel the secrets of to finally be able to use, if what I believe is true, the young Prince will be an invaluable asset for the future of our lands as well as our ability to defend against any would be oppressors."
Typhoon starts to put the pieces together and then sees the page that Starswirl finally stops on, a Chart that categorizes all forms of known magic into different purity levels, and at the bottom, where the magic is at it's most pure form he points to, the ponies look down at the book and eyes widen at the sight.
"That's right my friends" he says with a big smile as he looks over at Helios, "Do you remember the scar that the accident gave me?"
Helios nods again "Of course, it was a big scar on your chest under your fur, you were lucky you were able to grow that fur back."
Starswirl's smile grows bigger as he pulls his cloak down and spreads the fur on his chest to reveal that the scar is gone. Helios' eyes widen as well as Diamond's and everypony else's in the room.
Diamond is especially shocked as he stares at how the scar is gone, "T-then that means that he...."
"He is the one that will finally unlock the secrets of healing magic, the purest form of magic in the entire world. And the reason why that is so is healing magic is a part of life energy itself, it may even be the very essence of life for all we know," he says with a look of pure excitement, Helios not seeing a look on his face like that in a very long time.
Typhoon looks at him in disbelief "Y-You really think he could hold the secrets to healing magic?...."
Iron Hoof picks up on Starswirl's enthusiasm and feels happy at the prospect of even the possibility of unlocking magic, "That would be a tremendous asset to have for our military and edge against other forces! Why if he can discover the secrets behind healing magic then he would be able to teach other's!"
"Yes Captain Iron that is why I am enthusiastic about this, I will do my best to teach the prince and princess all I know about magic, so that both of them can unlock entire new facets of magic that we couldn't begin to fathom the depth of." Starswirl turns to look at Diamond and Helios and bows his head, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing me to be their teacher."
"No pony else would be more capable of doing it than you Starswirl, we are certain that under your tutelage their magical talents will be significantly magnified," Helios says with a look of confidence in Starswirl.
"Thank you your highness, now... to everypony in this room. The news of the prince and princesses' magical capabilities are not to leave this room under any circumstances, if word were to get out about their gifts, I fear for the safety of the princesses' life, and I have no doubt that our enemy may try to abduct the young prince, possibly even make him their slave to try and take the secrets of healing magic for themselves," Starswirl says with a sudden serious tone and the room silences, all realizing the trouble this information would cause in the wrong hooves.
Diamond nods in agreement, still processing the information he was just given from Starswirl, not expecting the news of his son's capabilities, Helios feeling the same about Celestia. After a few moments of contemplation Diamond stands up and everypony else follows suit, "Now does anything else need to be tended to in this meeting?" he says as he looks at each of his officers, none of them replying, once he's gone through them all he looks at Helios and nods.
"Very well then, General Typhoon you will be in charge of our border defenses, Iron hoof will be the commanding officer of the northern border defenses, and I will oversee preparations for our southern defense before relieving that duty to you General," Helios says with a composed and commanding voice.
Typhoon salutes him and so do the rest, all shouting "YES KING HELIOS" in unison before putting on their covers and and turning to leave the room, Diamond and Helios soon following suit to return to their wives and foals. After they all leave and the room turns silent Typhoon looks at Starswirl and puts a hoof on his shoulder, "Do you really believe that the prince and princess possess that much potential?" she says with a voice of uncertainty.
Starswirl meets her gaze and nods slowly, showing no doubt in his convictions, "Yes,they will be worthy heirs to the thrones their parents hold, and as much as I want to believe everypony in the Crystal Empire and Equestria are just as enthusiastic about the unification of our nations as the Kings and Queens are, I do not believe we will be able to accomplish something like this without the young prince and princess."
Typhoon pauses as she processes his words and after a few brief moments she nods slowly, "I trust in your wisdom Starswirl."
Starswirl smiles at the compliment and pats her shoulder with his hoof before walking to the door, Typhoon watching him as he leaves, "Do not worry so much General, good times are in our foreseeable future, with heirs to the throne finally being born, it's only a matter of time before they lead us into a new age of prosperity the likes of which we have never seen," he stats with confidence as he looks back at her with a warm and comforting smile before leaving her view.
Typhoon looks down at her hooves after watching him leaves and after a few quiet moments a warm smile crosses her maw and feels his words are the truth, wanting more than anything to enjoy an era of peace, not one of hardship and conflict like she is used to.