//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Magical beginnings 
// Story: The Northern Crown 
// by CoronaBorealis 
//------------------------------//

Corona and Celestia sit down in their seat and looks up at Starswirl with big sparkling eyes, ones of curiosity and seeking adventure. Starswirl smiles when he sees their enthusiasm and he straightens his beard, "Now... Magic is when you physically manifest your own life energy, and each race has a way that they use magic."

"Wait sir! I thought Unicorns are the only ponies that used magic," Corona says tilting his head in confusion, not knowing other races could use magic.

"Why yes Corona, while other ponies may not be able to outwardly show their magic in flashy ways like unicorns can, they still possess magic that is imperative for the survival of our kind. The Pegasi have the magic of flight which allows them to tend to the weather and bring water to our crops across Equestria, and the Earth ponies have a magical connection with the very land itself, able to grow food at an astonishing rate that we unicorns or the pegasi would not be able to replicate," He says as he shows a picture of the three pony races and how they all work together for one another.

"And now that you are under my tutelage it is my duty to teach you the secrets of magic and turn you two into strong magic wielders," he says with a serious look as he stands in front of them. "I have taught many great mages in my time, but this is the first time I've been tasked with teaching members of the royal family, so the standards are going to be higher than they were for other students, Understand?" 

Corona and Celestia nod nervously, not quite old enough to understand the weight that was placed on their shoulders, now they only think about the idea of learning new magic. Starswirl nods slowly and he walks with them outside the classroom and to a secluded garden that he likes to teach in, "I prefer to teach outside if that is fine with you two," he says as he sets down his scrolls.

Celestia nods quickly "Yes sir! Outside is always better!" Corona soon repeats her "It's much better than a cold dark room!"

"Good... now to begin our lessons we need to first go over the fundamentals of magic before we learn any spells," he states as he opens two scrolls and lays them out in front of them, "Now... magic is not some power that we are given, it is a part of us, our very life force. Magic courses through our veins, but no one pony's magic is the same as another's, as an example my magic is significantly stronger than most ponies due to it being easier for me to manifest it physically, while other's magic is weaker by either not possessing it in as high a quantity, or they simply can't bring it out. Magic is also often linked with a pony's special talent, mine for example is developing new magic with fellow scholars."

Celestia looks up at him in wonder and Corona does the same while taking mental notes on what he says, Celestia looks down at her scroll and sees the diagram of the three pony races, "Wait a minute mister Starswirl, what about Mommy and Daddy? They have both horns and wings!"

Corona's ears perk up and he looks up at him as well "Oh that's right! My Mom and Dad are the same way! Why do they have horns and wings?"

"Yes your parents are very special individuals, you see they did something that has never been done in pony history, which is why they have lived longer than I have. From what your parents tell me they come from a line of ponies that are born with the strengths of two races instead of one, for example if you were born with the strength of the Unicorns and Pegasi, you might have wings and the high concentration of Unicorns, or have a Horn but the lightness of the pegasi, but don't possess the durability and connection to the earth that the earth ponies do. Or they could be born with wings but also have the durability and connection to the earth that earth ponies do," Starswirl says while pointing at the corresponding parts of a scroll that his statements apply to.

"But Mommy and Daddy have all three, how is that possible?" Celestia says looking at where he points on the scroll "Do they have all three?"

Starswirl nods slowly, "Very good Celestia, that is quite observant of you. The Kings and Queens have all managed to master the magic of all three Equestrian races, however there is a forth magic that belongs to the Crystal ponies."

Corona's ears perk when he mentions his kind and he looks up at Starswirl, "You mean love magic mister Starswirl?"

"That's right Corona, something you may not have known though is love magic is different from the other forms of magic, from the years of research we have put into our pursuits of magic, we have learned that love magic is like an amplifier for other magic," Starswirl says as he rolls the scroll down more to show the diagram of love magic, "Love magic will push the limits pony's have when ponies have something they love that they fight for, whether it be another pony, or their country. This is one of the most important lessons you will ever learn my students...." he says looking down at them with a serious look, "Those that have something to fight for are the only ones that will have the strength and resolve to push to new heights. Find something that you are willing to fight for, something that gives you the strength to fight through any pain or struggle."

Celestia and Corona look up at him in wonder as they listen to his words of wisdom, not knowing just how relevant those words would be one day. 

"It will be my job to help you two find what magical gift has been bestowed upon you two, whatever it may be," he says with a confident tone that instills an assuring feeling on the young prince and princess, they both nod in unison and grin  from ear to ear "Yes sir!"

"Good, now we will try to learn one of the most basic manifestations of magic, or "Spells" to put it simply, the levitation spell" he says as he rolls up the scrolls and puts them in his bag sitting on the ground.

Celestia jumps up to her hooves and beams from ear to ear, "Mommy does that all the time! What are we going to lift?! A bookshelf?! A tree?! Maybe you!" Corona jumps up as well and looks up at him wanting to know what they will be lifting.

Starswirl chuckles softly, "While I admire your enthusiasm, I'm afraid all of those things are well out of your skill level you two, for now you must start small" he says as he floats out two small glasses and lays them down in front of them. Corona and Celestia look down at the glasses with a look of confusion and slight disappointment.

"This is all?" Corona says while tilting his head curiously, Celestia nodding in agreement, "How is this going to make us great magic wielders?" she says while looking closely at the glass, wondering if there is something special about them.

"All great mages started small, such did every great pony start out as a little foal" he states wisely, "Besides, this may end up being harder than you imagine it will be" he says with a sly smirk.

"Oh yeah! Well we will lift these glasses in a few minutes flat! Right Corona!?" she proclaims confidently as she looks at her friend. Corona looks at her a little surprised from the sudden proclamation but he soon smiles confidently, "Yeah!"

"Well, I will leave this to you two for now, I am going to speak to some of my other students," he states while turning to leave the garden, "Good luck you two, you'll need it."

"Like we need it!" Celestia says as she stares at the glass in a pouncing position, her horn pointed at it as she tries to lift it, "Aaaaand lift!" she lifts her horn up with her eyes closed tight, "Did I do it Corona?" she asks quickly.

"It... didn't leave the ground Tia" Corona says bluntly to her as he looks at the unmoved glass.

Celestia's eyes open in surprise and she looks at it in disbelief, "What?! that's impossible! it's just a tiny glass!...."

"Here maybe I can do it" Corona says as he aims his horn at the glass, he closes his eyes tightly and concentrates on lifting the glass up, he grunts a little as he tries and soon his hooves shoot out and he falls, "oof."

Celestia giggles at the sight as she finds it amusing "Seems like we're in the same position, I wonder what we are doing wrong..."

"Maybe we need to concentrate harder!" Corona says as he close his eyes tighter and grunts again as he tries to lift up, saying "Lift the cup" repeatedly in his mind over and over. After a few moments he opens his eyes and sees that the cup is still on the ground, "Awww!" he sits down as he sweats a little, the effort he tried to put in making him sweat a little, he then looks at the glass and tilts his head a little, trying to figure out what he is doing that is wrong.

Celestia pays attention and after a few moments her ears perk up as an idea comes to her mind, "Hey Corona, maybe since we aren't lifting the cup at all with what we are doing, we should try doing the opposite!"

Corona looks back at her and tilts his head in confusion, "What do you mean Tia?"

"I mean maybe we shouldn't think about it as much, maybe we should try thinking less!" she says as she lays down with her hooves tucked under her, closing her eyes and breathing softly her horn sparks and it soon begins to glow which makes Corona look in awe. The aura starts to appear under the cup and it soon falls onto it's side, Corona gasps in excitement as he saw it fall.

"Tia you got it to fall with your magic! That means you were able to lift it a little," Corona proclaims with glee. Celestia pants as she tries to catch her breath as it took a lot more effort than she imagined it would, "Mister Starswirl wasn't kidding when he said that this was hard..."

"Yeah... let me try with my glass," Corona says while copying what Celestia does and begins trying himself to lift the cup.



*****



Starswirl makes his way back to the garden after his lecture for his older students, "Unless I'm mistaken... they should have at least been able to lift the glass slightly off the ground by now," he says to himself as he takes a step outside into the soft spring grass and sees his two young pupils, "How is it coming along my little ponies?" he says with a smile.

Celestia turns around with a big grin and lifts the cup up for him and she closes her eyes with her big smile, giggling cutely, 
"I did it Mister Starswirl!" she exclaims with joy.

Starswirl raises his brow in surprise when he sees how easily she managed to lift the cup up well off the ground, a hearty chuckle soon emits from his maw and he looks down at her, "Just what I'd expect of the young princess" he says with a prideful beam on his face. He then looks at Corona and sees a look of discouragement on his face staring at the glass, "Something wrong young prince?" he says as he stands next to him to look down at his cup.

Corona's head sinks and his ears go down, "I couldn't lift it at all... it only took Celestia ten tries..." he says in a soft voice as  he turns his head away from Starswirl. Celestia looks at her friend in concern and has a sad expression on her face, not realizing how down he was feeling.

"Well Corona if it.... wasn't for your idea I wouldn't have lifted the glass this soon..." she says softly to him as she walks up to him to put a hoof on his shoulder, the sparkle in his coat faded to a dull shade thanks to his emotions.

Corona looks at her and then back at his glass, "Thank you Tia.... but it was all you... don't  try to give me credit... especially when I can't even lift it myself."

Starswirl raises his brow as he sees the downed colt's sadness, "It takes some ponies longer to learn to learn certain things Corona, Celestia may just be born with better magic control than you, you mustn't let this get to you, you'll get it soon enough with enough persistence."

"Yes sir..." Corona says softly as he looks at the glass, he slowly stands up and starts to attempt to channel his magic into raising the glass, sweat goes down his face as he grits his teeth. After a few moments the tip of his horn begins to emit a few sparks before he lets out a heavy breath and falls down. His face turns red and feels an overwhelming sense of embarrassment that he isn't able to do such a simple task in front of his best friend and new teacher.

Starswirl puts a hoof on his shoulder, "Stand up Corona and keep trying, and as for you Celestia it is time for your second test," he says as he pulls out a canteen of water and he pours the water into the cup, "You may be able to lift the cup now, but your hold on the cup is unstable. You must learn how to hold a steady unwavering grip on the glass with your magic; In other words, you must hold the cup with your magic for two minutes straight without spilling a single drop of water." The water in the glass soon reaches the very top so if she shakes it even the slightest it will spill.

Celestia's eyes widen in surprise and she looks at Starswirl, "But that's impossible mister Starswirl!" she bluntly proclaims in protest to her new task.

Starswirl smiles and he pulls out three more glasses and fills each of them with water all the way to the top, controlling all three cups perfectly as well as the canteen, he then floats two of the cups to Celestia and Corona and even makes them rotate up and down while floating them, not spilling a single drop even when it is upside down, "I figured you two must be thirsty as well" he says while giving Celestia a coy smirk.

Celestia pouts and takes her glass with her hooves while sitting on her flank, "Show off" she says as she drinks the water from the cup. Corona quietly does the same and soon finishes his. When he finishes he feels his mind calm itself and he looks at the glass and he takes a deep breath and sighs, he lays on his hooves and focuses on his horn to try and channel his magic through it. After a few brief moments sparks emit from his horn once again and slowly it forms a silver aura around his horn, Corona winces when he feels the foreign sensation of his channeling magic but he then tries to focus on the cup now that his horn is visibly showing his magic. A light of silver starts to form on the glass and he cringes as his focus begins to waver as he feels the weight of the cup, being surprisingly harder to lift than he thought. Soon his magic fades away and he pants heavily, he opens his eyes and he sees that the cup has tilted over. Corona smiles a little when he sees that he managed to tilt the cup with his magic; he turns his head to tell Celestia but he sees she is trying to keep the cup steady and is doing surprisingly well. The sight of this makes Corona's ears go down and lets out a sigh, Celestia making this look easy despite him trying just as hard as her over the course of the day.

"I think that is enough for today my students, we can get back to this tomorrow," Starswirl says as he takes all of the glasses and stacks them up next to a tree, "I'm sure your parents will be excited to learn about the progress you made today," Starswirl says with a smile. Celestia immediately jumps to her hooves and grins from ear to ear at the idea, "Yeah! Daddy will be so excited to hear what I did!"

Corona stands up slowly, not showing the same enthusiasm Celestia did, "Right.... I'm sure mother will be excited to hear that I tilted a cup over...." he says while he walks to the door Starswirl came through. Celestia looks at him and soon runs to catch up with him, "See you tomorrow mister Starswirl!" she calls out to him as she leaves his sight.


Celestia quickly approaches Corona and matches his pace as she walks next to him, "Whats wrong Corona?... you seem really sad..." she voices with concern, not wanting to see her best friend in such a downed state.

"I-It's nothing Celestia... I just... wished I was able to do more today, you made it look so easy..." The statement brings a few long moments of silence as they walk through the halls, their small hooves clicking on the marble floor as they make their way back home.

"W-Well it wasn't easy... I struggled to do a few things here and there," she replies with a nervous tone. "Yes Celestia but you still managed to do it all in the single day! That usually takes ponies weeks to learn!" Corona snaps back a little harshly which surprises Celestia, making her stop in her place. Corona's eyes widen in surprise as he feels a heavy wave of regret for how he responded to his best friend, "I-I'm sorry..." he says to her and runs away from her, soon disappearing from her sight and leaving her alone with her surprise. "W-What was that....."



*****



Harmony rests on a floor pillow reading a book on a tower balcony, she looks up from her book and sees the sun setting on the horizon. She smiles and closes her eyes as she feels the warmth of the sun's light against her fur, but her peace is soon ended when she hears the door open and the small hooves of Corona trotting to his room, she turns her head to look at him and she sees a sad expression on his face which concerns her a bit. She stands up and walks back into the tower to follow Corona, she finds that his door is shut and she gently knocks on his door, "Is... everything okay Corona?..."

She puts her ear up to the door and hears the soft cries of her son, prompting her to open the door to poke her head in, "Corona what's wrong?..." 

"I-I'm fine mom..." he says as he rubs the tears from his eyes, only to soon be replaced by more soon after. Harmony lays down next to her sobbing son and nuzzles him to comfort him, "What happened Corona? you're normally more enthusiastic than this."

Corona sobs and rubs his eyes and nose, "I... wasn't able to do anything today... and... Celestia made it all look so easy... It only took her a few tries to float the cup... even kept most of the water in the cup in her second test... a-and all I could do was tilt it over by the end of the day..."

"Well... Celestia may just possess a natural gift for it son... At least you were able to do something right?" Harmony says trying to bring him comfort.

"It's not fair!... I tried just as hard as she did and I didn't do anything!..." he yells as he cries in her arm. Harmony's lips sink as she feels bad for him, knowing it must be hard to be outdone like that. "It just comes harder to some ponies Corona... but... maybe that means your gift is somewhere else," she says as she kisses his head.

His ears perk up and he sniffles while rubbing his nose again, he looks up at Harmony with eyes sparkling of tears, "S-Somewhere else?..."

Harmony smiles warmly and nods slowly, "Of course son, everypony has a special gift that they can share with the world, maybe Celestia's gift is being naturally gifted with magic."

Corona considers what she says and his tears start to fade away and he rubs the last of them off, "I...I guess that makes sense, but... what is my gift mother?..."

"Only time will reveal the answer to that question Corona, but no matter how well or poorly you do in the future, you'll always be my special little prince," she says as she nuzzles his back which makes him giggle from how ticklish he is. "You must keep your head high Corona, you will find your calling one day, and I'm sure it will feel incredible when you discover it."

Corona looks up at her in surprise at her inspirational words, her warm motherly voice bringing a warm soothing feeling to his soul, washing away the sorrow that permeated his soul just moments ago. "R-Right, thank you mother... that means a lot to me," he says with a now beaming smile on his face.

Harmony returns his smile and she nods, "Of course, I will always be here for you my little prince, now I believe it is time for you to get some rest, I'm sure it must have been an exhausting day under Starswirl's tutelage."

"Y-Yes ma'am... he makes simple looking things incredibly difficult..." Corona states while slipping under his covers, the sun now disappearing on the horizon and making room for the moon to take the stage that is the sky. The sweet tender voice of sleep calls to Corona and draws a yawn from his mouth as he begins to close his tired eyes, "Good night mother...."

Harmony gives him one last kiss on the head and lifts the covers to his neck, "Good night son... let your dreams wash away your troubles and bring clarity to your mind," she whispers to her son before leaving the room and closing the door, she stops and turns to look at him one last time, "You will be a great leader one day... as long as you give yourself room to grow.... you and Celestia," she states with confidence and closes the door to let him rest in peace.