"I don't know why I feel this way... I'm normally not nervous about anything... but this test has been getting to me..." Celestia says as she looks down at her hooves, sitting next to her father as they wait outside the maternity ward for Virgo to be done. Because they have been through this situation before they are both significantly more composed than when Celestia was born, but he can't help but feel a minor margin of nervousness as he waits.
"It's something that everypony goes through Celestia, sometimes it can be rather surprising what gets to you," Helios says to his daughter, finding comfort for himself in giving her his wisdom.
Celestia looks up at him with a look of uncertainty, "I just don't know if I'm ready for what comes tomorrow... I know me and Corona practiced a lot today but..."
"Then you have nothing to worry about, practicing your magic just shows how much you care about excelling in it, you must have faith in your abilities my daughter." Helios looks down at her and a smile soon forms on his face and he lifts his front hoof and gives her a big grin, "And besides, you are my daughter after all! And your daddy is a pretty awesome stallion!"
Celestia giggles and brings a hoof to her mouth as she does, "I don't know daddy, you always seem goofy to me."
Helios's head sinks and he groans, "Awww come on.... I'm not at least a little cool?..."
Celestia scoots closer to him and hugs his hoof, "You're the coolest daddy ever" she says with a warm tone which makes Helios lower his head more to nuzzle her which makes her laugh a little as it tickles her a little, "Ahhh!"
Helios chuckles softly at her adorable reaction and soon lifts his head back up to look at the door, enjoying the warm moment with his daughter as it has nearly alleviated him of all of his nervousness. After about a minute or two Celestia looks back up at him as a question comes to mind.
"Daddy?... what do you do to face all of the challenges you take on?... Mommy tells me of the battles you fought... What gives you the strength to be a leader?"
Helios listens to her question and feels a little surprised as it is a rather smart question to ask for her age. After thinking over for it a little he has a serious look on his face, "Its true... I've lived for hundreds of years and seen many hard times and fought to protect our land... And for the longest time there was one thing that kept me strong, and... that was your mother." When Celestia looks up at him she sees his serious look has turned into a happy smile and his eyes are watering up. "I would always think about the warmth of her when she embraced me everytime I came home from battle... The love she always gives me makes any fight or pain worth enduring. And the same thing can apply to you Celestia," he says looking down at her.
"I-It can?" she says as she looks at him in wonder, "I... I guess I never thought of it like that..."
"You're true strength comes out when you have something to fight for, that motivation is what brings out your inner strength, power that you can not tap into on your own. When you someone you hold dear... the magic within you will rise and allow you to prevent any harm from coming to them, you will surprise yourself what amazing things you can do. And while your mother terrifies me sometimes and... has hit me over the head for being stupid more times than can be count," he says with a big grin on his face as he looks at the door, "That mare has always brought out the best in me, and is one of the most amazing ponies I will ever know. And I will continue to fight for her to the day it is time for me to pass on to the next world."
Celestia's whole body shudders a little at his words, never seeing such wisdom come from her normally goofy father, "I... can be that strong?"
Helios nods slowly and pets her head, "Listen to your heart Celestia... and it will tell you who gives you your strength, and when you find out who they are... hold them close and never let them go, because like with me and your mother, they will bring out the very best of you." He kisses her head and lays down so he can hold her in his hooves, "And besides... now I have two more to fight for."
Celestia curls up in his hooves and closes her eyes as she enjoys the warmth of her father, when she hears him she looks up at him, "Really? Who are they?"
"Why you and your sibling of course," he states with a grin and tears of happiness run down his cheeks.
Celestia giggles softly and hugs him quickly and nuzzles him, "Awww daddy.... you're such a big softie..." she feels a sense of worth when she hears that she is one of his motivations.
After a few warm and quiet minutes the door soon opens and they both look at it to see the doctor come out, "It was a complete success" she says with a big smile, "They are ready to see you now."
Celestia gulps nervously but Helios soon stands up and she looks up at him as he does, "Come on Celestia, lets go see your mother" he uses magic to lift her up and place her on his back and they both walk into the room and they both see Virgo laying down resting on her side, Celestia looks at her with wide eyes and she sees a little ball of light blue fluff snuggled up to her. Celestia's eyes widen even more when she sees the younger foal and her father soon lets her get down onto the bed with her mother and he sits down next to her on the floor.
"Be gentle now Celestia.... Say hello to your baby sister, Luna..." she says as she moves so Luna is revealed a little more. Celestia carefully walks towards her and sits near her baby sister, after a few brief moments she sees her slowly lift her tiny head and scrunch her muzzle. She looks around curiously and her eyes soon fall on Celestia, she tilts her head curiously and coos at her.
Celestia's mouth opens a little in surprise when she sees her looking at her and soon she moves to pick her up. When her hoof nears Luna's muzzle she sniffs it and after she does she lifts her wobbly front hooves to hug it, the adorable sight nearly brings her to tears and she gently picks up her sister and holds her carefully. "S-She's so small..."
"You were once the same sweet heart," Virgo says as she rests her head against her pillow.
Celestia looks down at her and Luna giggles at her and paws at her muzzle with her little hoof, Celestia feels a need to be protective of her. Her father's words ring in her ears and when she sees her little sister, she can feel exactly what he was talking about, feeling like she now has the strength to take on her test tomorrow when she sees her little sister. "Daddy..."
Helios looks at his little filly, "Yes Celestia?" he asks in a curious tone.
Celestia smiles from ear to ear and looks at her father, "I think I know who I am fighting for" she states with a proud confidence, her eyelashes sparkling from her tears.
Helios looks at her for a few brief moments and a smile soon spreads to his face as well, "Very good.... never let go of that."
*****
Celestia feels herself shaking a little and her heart beats quickly as she sits on a bench, the big event only an hour away, ponies gather from all provinces of Equestria and even some from the Crystal Empire to see the next generation of magic wielders, but especially wanting to see the magic of the two heirs to the royal thrones. Most can only imagine how incredible their magic must be considering who their parents are. The crystal spectators are also elated to see the young prince of their rulers and the magic that he will show them all, both being the pride of their respective nation. What they do not know is the level of pressure that it puts upon the young heirs.
Corona wipes the sweat off of his brow and his breaths are shaking. Celestia sees the stress in his face and she feels bad for her friend, she slowly makes her way to her friend and puts a hoof on his shoulder. "Corona?... are you ok?..."
"I'm... not ready for this... but... I can't not participate because of all of the ponies that came to see me... You are so much better than me in every way Celestia... I know you are going to be amazing out there.... I'm not able to do the incredible spells that you can, I'm not.... worthy of my crown," he says with a soft and depressed voice, his ears are down as he looks at the ground. "Even Topaz is better than me..."
"Well..." Celestia moves to sit down close next to her friend, "Maybe it's because you don't believe in yourself, you spend most of your time praising how amazing other ponies are, but you never take time to realize your own self worth," she softly speaks to him in an effort to reassure him, not liking to see him in this saddened state.
"I know Celestia... I try to believe in myself I really do, I just.... don't feel like I have a reason to believe in myself.... I haven't done anything incredible like you have and... I'll just embarrass my parents crown..."
Celestia lifts his chin with her hoof and looks him in his eyes, "You can do it Corona... Please have faith in yourself," she says with words of confidence, believing without a doubt that he can shine too on this day.
Corona looks in her eyes with a look of disbelief at first but when he sees her unwavering look of confidence in him he slowly nods and gulps nervously, "R-Right.... if you can believe in me maybe... I can believe in myself."
Celestia smiles happily and helps her friend up to his hooves and she walks to the door with confidence, Corona sees her leading the way and he gets a sense of confidence that is stronger than her normal level of confidence. "Celestia?...."
She stops and turns her head to look back at him, "Yes Corona?"
"What is it that... is giving you this confidence?..." Corona asks as he walks up to her but stops behind her to her side.
Celestia turns her head back to the door after he asks and she smiles, "I met my little sister... and I want to be her hero," she proclaims in a strong tone as she opens the door to leave, "And when I think of her face... I tell myself that I can't fail, for her sake."
Corona looks at her in wonder and opens his mouth to reply but can't find any words to follow up such an amazing proclamation, after a moment he nods slowly and follows her out to go to the Canterlot coliseum.
*****
The Canterlot horns are blown as the coliseum is filled with spectators and the nobility from the two countries are taken to higher spectating booths with the royal booth having the best view, the cheers of ponies makes the stones that form the structure vibrate. The kings and queens are soon led to their seats and once they are they all wave their hooves in unison to silence the stadium. Once everypony takes their seats they all look down at the stadium floor in anticipation as Starswirl soon walks onto the floor to reach the center of the stadium.
He quickly reaches the center and he clears his throat, "Greetings to all that have journeyed from afar to see the bright and blooming future of pony kind! And I assure you that your journey was not in vain for we have many talented young ponies that have trained very hard to show everypony what they are capable of!" he says with great confidence." The echoing acoustics of the stadium help his voice to reach everyone and he also uses a spell to elevate his voice's volume. His strong words of confidence make the spectators roar in approval and the nobles smile in anticipation. "It is my honor to once again host this wonderful event Equestria holds every hundred moons to give young ponies a chance to shine their brightest! And as we always do we will start with the younger foals and then move to the yearlings. And of course... The nation's pride and joy, Princess Celestia and Prince Corona Borealis have been under my tutelage and it has been my privilege to help the two young heirs to the throne bring out the incredible latent magic within them. With that being said on behalf of King Diamond, King Solaris, Queen Harmony and Queen Virgo we hope everypony enjoys today's festival!" Starswirl concludes as the ponies all roar in excitement as he leaves the stage as an announcer begins to call for young ponies to come to the stage to display their unique talents and abilities.
Corona hears the speech from the sidelines and he takes a deep and sighs as he tries to relax himself, "He sure is raising their expectations for us..." he says in a nervous tone.
Even with her confidence from before Celestia can't help but feel a little nervous as well, "Yeah... But that gives us all the more reason for us to not fail them, right?..." she says to Corona in an attempts to not only give him confidence but herself as well.
"Yeah... that is a good point, I'm just... not sure what spells I am supposed to do to impress the nobility and our subjects," Corona states to her as he looks out at the other foals as they go up, pegasi showing off feats of agility and weather control, the earth pony foals showing feats of strength, and the unicorn showing either the strongest spells they know or unique spells they have created, one pony even managed to make the stone floor into glass which erupted cheers from the crowd.
Celestia looks in awe at all the new spells and abilities but Corona gulps in nervousness as he feels even more outclassed than he already did, but he looks at Celestia and sees and sees how she is looking at the other ponies demonstrating their skills, and after one more foal the announcer looks down at his list and he grins.
"And now we will be given the privilege of seeing our beloved princess, Princess Celestia!" he calls out with his words causing a great roar from the crowd.
Corona looks at her and he puts a hoof on her shoulder and smiles, "Good luck... you'll do great."
His words of confidence brings a feeling of comfort and strength to her that she needed as a final boost, "Right... thank you Corona." She hugs him and soon lets him go so that she can walk out to the arena stage, when the spectators see their princess they all cheer in support of her and Celestia feels a bit small as she walks up onto the stage and is surrounded by ponies as they watch in anticipation. Helios and Virgo look down at her in pride and are sitting up in their seats a little as they are eager to see the progress she has undoubtedly made with Starswirl teaching her.
Celestia takes a deep breath and slowly breaths it out to calm herself and focus on her spells, she focuses her magic into her horn and wind blows through her and she soon emits a burst of light and when the light dies down there are five of her, she opens her eyes and sees that her spell was a success and she grins from ear to ear. The ponies in the crowd cheer in awe and the nobility move a little closer to the edge of their seats to get a better look, feeling surprised that a young foal, even though shes the princess, was able to master such a complicated spell at her age. Helios smirks as he looks at them with a sly smile, "Weren't expecting that were you."
Virgo giggles softly when she sees her husband acting so boastful about their daughter. She soon uses magic to lift up the young princess Luna so that she can see her older sister perform her magic. Luna looks in wonder at the stage as she sees her sister shine brightly as she positions her multiple forms away from each other, each clone channels magic and soon beams of magic towards each other, but instead of colliding into each other at the center and exploding in the center, they mold into each other and form a condensed large ball of magic which shows incredible magic control that even catches Starswirl off guard. Celestia and her clones are all closing their eyes tightly as they feel the struggle of condensing such a large amount of magic taking their complete concentration. When they feel that they can't hold the ball together anymore they begin to release the magic from the ball and it flows out across the coliseum seats, giving them all an incredible light show for them all which leaves them in complete shock and awe. When the light dies down they all see it is now only her and her clones have vanished, she pants heavily as she catches her breath and she feels the sweat go down her face which she wipes with her hoof. She hears the roaring cheers of her subjects and they all stomp their hooves on the floor for her on the amazing spell she displayed for them, as she finishes catching her breath. She takes a deep breath and lets it out as she tries to summon the magic she needs for her last spell, her magic sparks and she grits her teeth as she feels the strain on her body and magic. She cringes as she feels her magic deteriorating and she feels all of the eyes of the spectators on her and she feels her heart racing as the pressure weighs down on her. She looks up at where her parents are and her eyes catch her baby sister looking down at her with her big blue eyes, the moment she sees her her mind begins to clear itself as she feels her magic beginning to soar now that it is free from the confines of her thoughts. Her aura begins to glow around her entire body as her eyes glow bright white and her body begins to release a light as bright as the sun which causes everypony to shield their eyes instinctively. After the light slowly fades away to a more tolerable level the spectators and nobility look back at their princess and their eyes widen in shock. The royal four rub their eyes as they recover their eyesight and when they see her they are also in shock, Luna giggles and reaches towards her sister in her mother's lap.
Overflowing magic blows across the stage and fills the coliseum with a gorgeous sun light energy and flame, Celestia's eyes still glowing bright white but her mane have changed into a mane that looks like a flowing sunset enhanced by the very sun itself, her tail receiving the same treatment as it flows in the gusting wind.
"Look at the sky!" a pony calls out in the crowd which prompts the crowd to all look up and they see that all of the magic she is channeling is moving the sun all on her own, something that makes even Starswirl's jaw drop in complete shock, the rest of the crowd being equally as speechless as she moves it across the sky. After a few long moments her front legs soon give out as she pants heavily and she stops controlling the sun, but the magic continues to flow around her and spark around her body like lightning. After she collects herself she slowly rises and lifts her head with confidence and poise raising a pair of wings that she hasn't noticed she has yet. The spectators and even the nobility bow in shock and respect as they all feel overwhelmed from the fact that they just witnessed the birth of a new alicorn.
Celestia turns her head back and sees the big wings of white feathers with orange amber feather tips. Realizing what she has just done she quickly turns to look up at her parents and when she does she sees a look of pride and love in their eyes as they are both at the verge of tears, and by that of course Helios is balling his eyes out.
She quickly turns her eyes to Corona and runs down to him and hugs him tightly, "Corona did you see what I did! I'm just like mommy and daddy now!"
Corona nods with a happy grin, "That was incredible Tia! You lifted the whole sun by yourself! nopony has ever pulled off such a feat! And..." he glances over her shoulder as he sees something on her flank, "Look!"
Celestia feels confused at first but she soon turns her head to look at what he is pointing, she sees an elegant mark of a sun on her flank, with one flare of the sun running down her outer thigh. Seeing that her cutie mark finally appeared she grins from ear to ear and squeals even louder and runs past Corona and grabs his hoof, making him zip with her, "Come on Corona we have to show them my cutie mark now!"
*****
Corona and Celestia soon arrive in the royal booths and she jumps in front of her parents with a big grin and eyes of pride, "Did you see what I did! I'm like you two now!" she says while she tries to flap her new wings but isn't quite able to move them very well yet.
Helios quickly scoops her up and is crying in an almost drama queen like fashion as he hugs his little filly, "Oh my little filly is becoming a mare right in front of meeee!" he shouts with streams of tears shooting out of his eyes.
Virgo feels equally as proud as her husband is but when he starts to get too loud she frowns and gives him a quick smack on the head with her hoof, causing him to drop Celestia into his lap and grab his head with a yelp in pain, "Owww!"
The exchange between them causes the rest of them to laugh in amusement.
Diamond then smirks slyly at Helios, "Still as big a pushover as always eh?"
Helios looks over at him with a scowl, "Sh-Shut up!..." he says as he rubs his head. He then turns to look at Virgo and his pupils shrink in fear as his ears go back in fear when he sees the angry look she has, feeling like he has shrunk to the size of a foal and is about to be punished by his mother. She moves closer to him and he yelps again as he closes his eyes in fear for the wrath she is about to unleash upon him, only to feel a gentle kiss on the spot on his head that she smacked, "Behave yourself darling, there are times to be flamboyantly expressive but in front of the nobility is not one of those times."
Helios gulps and shakes a little as he opens his eyes, feeling like he just dodged a hurricane, "R-Right!... Sorry... h-heh..."
Virgo smiles in approval and moves back to sit up in her throne with the proper posture befitting a queen, she then looks at Celestia and floats her up to her lap and kisses her head, "I'm very proud of you my little shining star, had it not been for us being here needing to maintain proper manners I probably would have responded the same way your father did," she says with a happy grin on her face.
Celestia smiles and nods in understanding and quickly hugs her mother, "Thank you mommy!... that means a lot to me I made both of you proud."
Helios chuckles and sits himself back up as well, "Celestia we will always be proud of you, you have always been our pride and joy from the day you were born, which means you will always have our love and support!" he says as he confidently lifts his hoof and gives her a big grin.
Celestia jumps up onto her hooves and lifts her hoof the same way he did, "Yeah! And mommy and daddy will always be the most awesomest ponies in the world!" As she proclaims that she feels something little crawling at her hooves and she sees her baby sister babbling adorably at her and reaching up for her. Celestia giggles softly and sits on her flank and gently picks Luna up and nuzzles her, "Did you see me out there little sister? I did that all for you."
Luna hugs her and nestles into her sister's soft fur and yawns as she lays in a way that's comfortable to her and falls asleep. Celestia finds the sight to be the most precious thing she's ever seen and it almost brings her to tears, feeling that she was successful in making her little sister proud and she nuzzles her lovingly, "Thank you Luna... it was all for you..."
Corona finds the sight to be heart warming and walks over to his parents to leave the sisters be to have their moment. Corona looks up at his mother and father and they smile down at him.
"Good luck out there son, I'm sure you will do great, you are a student of Starswirl's after all," he says with a confident smile, believing his son will be able to put on just as great a performance as Celestia did.
"Of course you will, you're my little gem after all" Harmony says as she gently pets his head with her hoof, "Today is your day to shine Corona, make us proud!" she proclaims with a warm and confident voice.
Corona smiles happily at them when he sees they believe in him he grins from ear to ear, "I'll do my best to make you proud!" he states happily as he runs to leave the booth to go back to the waiting area, but as he runs down the halls his pace gets slower and slower as he comes to a stop. Thinking about the incredible magic Celestia just displayed and how she lifted the sun across the sky and even became an alicorn which hasn't happened since their parents did a few hundred years ago. His face soon turns into that of shock when he realizes the weight of his situation and he feels he is in a dark void on the stage with the sounds of laughing ponies surrounding him. "I-I'm supposed to... follow that up?..."