//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Night and Day's Youth // by Excellen //------------------------------// Celestia was sitting up in her room, studying some spells. “Celestia! Come down here and help your mother bake the cupcakes!" Cupcakes? Why would her mother be making cupcakes? She let out a loud sigh. She hated cooking. If she wasn't destined to raise the sun, she knew what her cutie Mark wouldn't be. Every time she tried to make something, it ended up looking like a like a small bomb went off in the kitchen. She yelled back down to her father, "Do you really think that's a good idea? You know how I am with cooking." He replied, "You mother needs all the help she can get right now." Ok, ill be down in a second." She wasn't kidding, as a small pink ball of magic appeared in the kitchen, then burst to show Celestia in it. Her mother applauded her. "What great execution! You are becoming very proficient with magic my dear. Unicorns aren’t able to do that until they are much older, some of them not being able to do it at all. By next year, I bet you could cast any spell we threw at you.” Celestia beamed with pride. Although she was terrible at cooking, she guessed being good at magic compensated for that. She opened and closed her wings slowly, a habit she had recently started doing. “Hey mom, when am I going to learn how to fly?” “I’m glad you’ve been thinking about flying. Even though learning magic is fine, you need to learn how to use the Pegasus and Earth pony magic you have. You see, all ponies have some magic in them. Unicorns are the most obvious, with their magic spells, which are expressed through their horn. Pegasus magic is quite different; it makes them very light and able to control the weather. Earth pony magic is not very noticeable, but it isn’t any less powerful than any of the others. They have a connection to the earth, that’s why they are so strong and can grow crops and trees so well.” “You have already discovered your unicorn magic, but have yet to discover the other two. In time, you will be able to fly faster than any Pegasus, stronger than any earth pony, and more powerful than any unicorn. Celestia slowly nodded, absorbing the information she had received. "Celestia, be a dear and grab me the flour from the cabinet, will you?" Celestia quickly ran over to the cabinet in which they kept the flour. it was actually a fairly long distance, considering how large the royal kitchen is. She was breathing hard by the time she made it back to the spot her mother was at. "Celestia, there's no need to rush. After all, we have until tomorrow." Celestia asked, "Whats going on tomorrow? Why are we making cupcakes?” "It's only your sister's first birthday!" A barely audible gasp escaped her mouth. "Whats wrong, dear?" her mother asked. "I completely forgot!" she said, starting to panic. She ran out of the room, her mind set on finding the greatest present ever for her sister. An idea hit her, and she stopped halfway back to her room. She turned around, heading back to the kitchen. "Hey mom, are there any small rooms that are empty in the castle? Her mother stopped, and thought for a bit before saying, "Yes, there should be one on the second floor. May I ask wh-" Before she could finish, her daughter was gone. She could hear the sound of hooves running up stairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia walked into the room. If this was going to turn out how she wanted, she was going to have to not take any breaks. With her mind set on this, she closed the door, and started her ingenious plan. She picked up her tool of choice, a thick paintbrush, dipped it in some dark blue paint, and started coating the all of the walls with it. It was a mindless task, just going back and forth down the walls. A little while later, the walls were done. She went back into her room, grabbing all the toys she could find, (except for her super special ones) and started moving them into the room. Celestia thought, “this is going to be a great playroom.”