//------------------------------// // Princess Celestia: // Story: Afterlife // by Star Sparkle //------------------------------// At the door I knocked and the calm voice of Princess Celestia spoke ‘’Come in.‘’ The door opened with a familiar golden glow and inside the Princess rested on a couch, with a thin table between her and another couch. The room itself was in some ways humble, barely anything was golden, but they were their optimal condition, there was a fireplace and some book shelves with books and other things she must have inherit from her ancestors, it was very different from the throne room, it had more similarities to Velvet and Night Light’s house than anyplace I had seen in Canterlot so far. I bowed to Princess Celestia, but to my surprise the Princess said ‘’Please Star, there is no need for those formalities.‘’ ‘’Oh, um… Okay.‘’ I said, a little unsure on how to start a conversation with the Princess and as I looked at her, she didn’t have her crown on, neither that or the other things she wore the last time I was here. As I looked Princess Celestia said ‘’Make yourself comfortable, I do believe we have a lot to talk about.‘’ I nodded and walked over to the other couch, I jumped on it and Princess Celestia said ‘’Tell me, how are things in Ponyville?‘’ ‘’In Ponyville?... I guess it’s going great, way better than I expected. And those times I push my memories of my past away, then it was more natural for me to either have fun or just relax. Although, there are still bad times.‘’ ‘’Can I assume that one of those, bad times, was when you got your magical burst?‘’ ‘’Yes and also the reason why I got the magical burst.‘’ ‘’Yes, I was curious to what set it off.‘’ ‘’Earlier that day, I was at Fluttershy’s and a huge bear roared into my face and I got more scared than I would like… It was only later that day and my thoughts came back to those fears, then the magical burst happened.‘’ ‘’What have Twilight told you about it?‘’ ‘’That our magic is tied to our emotions and when we don’t have practice, then our magic can control us.‘’ ‘’Very true. That also reminds me, you told me about the spells you did.‘’ ‘’Yes?‘’ ‘’From what you had written and what I felt that day, I don’t think you did an ageing spell on Spike or Alicorn transformation spells on yourself and your friends.‘’ ‘’Even though I made them into Alicorns and Spike grew older.‘’ ‘’Yes, it might have looked like those spells. But what you did was that you gave them all much of your own magic. You see, Earth ponies, pegasus and unicorns have on average the same amount of magical potential, but can’t use it the same way, while Alicorns and dragons have much more magic inside.‘’ ‘’Oh… Wait, does that mean I have the power of eight Alicorns inside of me?‘’ ‘’No, not necessarily. But you're gifted, but what your potential is, that is for you to find with much study and practice.‘’ ‘’Well, I guess I’m going the right way, as I have learned a little bit magic so far.‘’ ‘’Oh, what kinds of spells?‘’ ‘’I can make a light on my horn and levitate something light, like a quill.‘’ ‘’Then I guess you did hold your promise.‘’ The Princess said, I gave a small smile as I remembered I said that to her, before I went to Ponyville. After a short time Princess Celestia asked ‘’But how’s your back, after that tree branch hit you?‘’ ‘’It was all better the day after.‘’ ‘’That’s good to hear. You also mentioned in the book, the doctor said he believed you had never been hurt in your entire life.‘’ ‘’Yes, which I know is a lie.‘’ ‘’No doubt, but I do believe it was the first time since you got your new body.‘’ ‘’Oh, yeah… Maybe, but that was the last thing on my mind.‘’ ‘’I understand.‘’ The Princess paused as she looked to find a way to word her next question ‘’I didn’t feel it was right time to ask you, the last time we saw each other, but I do hope that you’ll give me an insight, to why you think you survived and why you became a young filly.‘’ ‘’I’m not sure why I survived, maybe because I wanted to, but I don’t think that’s the reason, so I don’t know, sorry.‘’ I answered a bit clumsy. ‘’That’s okay, what about the body you got?‘’ ‘’Well, I don’t know why I became a child…‘’ I didn’t knew if I should let her know, was it even embarrassing anymore, I mean, I wasn’t my old self now and I wore a dress after all, so I said ‘’I think that I know why I became a female.‘’ ‘’Oh, you do?‘’ ‘’It’s a bit embarrassing.‘’ ‘’What we talk about here, will not be spoken by me to others.‘’ I sighed ‘’Back in my world and for many years, I had felt I was born as the wrong gender.‘’ ‘’I see, but there’s nothing to feel ashamed about and if you were, wouldn't you also be ashamed of being yourself and seeing you now in a very beautiful dress, I believe you’re connecting with your inner filly.‘’ The princess said as she gave me a smile. ‘’I guess, but still, being oneself is difficult back in my world, at least for me it was. But do you think that’s why I became a female?‘’ ‘’It’s possible that the spell saw your desire and made the body according to that. That just leaves the child part left.‘’ ‘’That, I don’t know.‘’ I said, but thought ‘Maybe because I like it?’ But decided not to say anything. We sat for a short while before Princess Celestia said ‘’I don’t think we’ll find out why you became a child today, but we can discuss those incidents, where you lost control and acted like a younger filly.‘’ ‘’Oh, those.‘’ I became embarrassed as I thought back on them ‘’Maybe that would be for the best.‘’ ‘’I’m glad. Do you maybe have more insight into why you began to act like a foal that day you didn’t want to eat broccoli?‘’ ‘’I still don’t know why, but I just wanted the cookies, without eating the broccoli.‘’ ‘’I see, does it sound like something you would have done before the spell?‘’ ‘’Well, I never really like broccoli, but I have not behaved like I did that day since, well, since I can’t even remember when.‘’ ‘’Though it might be something a foal would maybe be in favor off, getting the sweats without the vegetables.‘’ ‘’What do you mean, Princess?‘’ ‘’I’m not sure, maybe when you’re in favor of it, you’ll begin to act like a foal. Have there been other times it happened?‘’ ‘’Let me think… Well, Twilight have said that when I had fallen asleep I would always find something to hug or suck on, so she gave me a pink bunny plush, whom I have in my saddlebag, but ever since I got her, I have always woken up with her right ear in my mouth.‘’ ‘’I see… May I see her?‘’ I nodded and opened my saddlebag before Princess Celestia levitated Flurry over to her and closed her eyes. The Princess sat still for a few seconds before she opened her eyes, levitated Flurry back to me and said ‘’I don’t sense a magical connection between you and her, so it’s you who care for her.‘’ I looked down, as I remembered back to the parasprite infestation ‘’Don’t feel ashamed of liking her, many older ponies still hold onto their plushies.‘’ ‘’Oh no, it not that, it’s.‘’ I sighed ‘’It’s when a swarm of parasprites invaded Ponyville, they ate everything from buildings to books-‘’ Then I remembered, that was the day Princess Celestia was meant to visit Ponyville. I looked at her and saw she looked calm, as she repeated ‘’An infestation you say.‘’ ‘’Um…‘’ ‘’I hope Ponyville is alright again.‘’ ‘’I knew you knew about it?‘’ ‘’I am the Princess of Equestria, so yes I knew from the moment I saw the parasprites and the state of Ponyville, hence the landing outside of Ponyville. But you were saying, about the parasprites.‘’ ‘’Um… Oh, yes. One decided that it wanted to eat Flurry and I lost it. I was about to, to kill it… But when I looked into its eyes, they were full of fear and I broke down, I released it and held Flurry as I just cried.‘’ ‘’Oh, I’m sorry for what happened Star.‘’ As her horn glowed golden, I became weightless and Flurry and I levitated over to her. She hugged us with her hoof and wing, but when her wing touched me, my vision became blurry, it wasn’t cold or warm, it was the perfect temperature and it was soft, a feather felt as soft as a weightless pillow, it was truly something else. After some time there was a few knocks and I pulled a bit away from the Princess as she said ‘’Yes?‘’ ‘’It’s ms. Dawn your highness, I have what you asked for.‘’ ‘’You may enter.‘’ The door opened and ms. Dawn entered with a silver tray with a lid on, a very familiar sight, she sat it down on the small coffee table, bowed and asked ‘’Is there anything else I can do for you, your highness?‘’ ‘’That will be all, but I do believe that after dinner, Star would like to be escorted around the castle.‘’ ‘’Of course, your highness.‘’ She stood up, walked out the room and closed the door. Then it hit me, I had never seen anyone react to the Princess, besides Twilight. My thoughts were interrupted when Princess Celestia took the lid of the tray and revealed a cake with pink frosting, two plates, two empty cups and a teapot, as Princess Celestia said ‘’I hope you have an appetite, I can highly recommend the cake.‘’ ‘’Thanks, umm… Do you want me to go back to the other couch?‘’ ‘’You’ll decide, but you’re welcome to stay.‘’ ‘’Then I’ll stay.‘’ I said, but was unable to stop myself as I smiled. Princess Celestia smiled and poured the tea into the cups and got two pieces of cake on the plates, as her magic worked she said ‘’Now, have there been other times when you did something that you believe was the fault of the spell?‘’ ‘’Actually, yesterday as I was practicing my magic, I wanted to levitate a vase but I lost control and broke it, I feared Velvet and Night Light would be mad at me, but I remembered I saw it in the Canterlot marketplace and I went to buy it before they found out, or so I thought, apparently they heard the vase break and hoped I would tell the truth, but I didn’t, I knew I should have, but, I don’t know.‘’ ‘’Hmm… Difficult to say how much the spell was influencing you. How did they take it?‘’ ‘’They aren’t mad at me, telling me that they would never be mad at me for something so small and as my… Parents, they have to raise me…‘’ ‘’I see… How do you feel about the fact that they adopted you?‘’ ‘’It’s okay, it’s just a bit weird I guess, but I know they aren’t trying to replace my human parents and besides I a… Was an adult.‘’ ‘’Just remember, we can all always learn something more, no matter how old we get, not even after a thousand years can we learn everything we should.‘’ ‘’I guess you’re right. I just remembered, there was also another thing that happened last night.‘’ ‘’Yes?‘’ ‘’Last night I decided to sleep without Flurry, but woke up during the night because I didn’t have her, after I had gotten her and was back in bed, I still couldn’t sleep, so I took Flurry’s right ear in my mouth and I could finally fall asleep… Princess Celestia, is it a flaw in the spell, that is making me do this.‘’ I asked, she levitated a cup of tea over to me and was quiet for a moment. As I drank my tea and ate a bit of the delicious chocolate cake with little pieces of chocolate in it. Only when I was about done with my tea Princess Celestia said ‘’I believe so and of what you have told me and what my magic can tell me, if I try to alter your behavior to what you want, we could risk you losing your memories or worse, erasing them all together.‘’ I got a little bit disappointed, as when Twilight told me that the Princess would know what to do, I believed her, Princess Celestia then continued ‘’Do not despair, as I do believe you may have found a way, without magic. If you can’t sleep without Flurry, then I would recommend you’ll sleep with her and care for her, day and night.‘’ ‘’But, I… You’re right.‘’ I looked at Flurry ‘’The more I resist her, the more I need her.‘’ I hugged her and as the Princess’s wing came over me she pulled me in, while she levitated my teacup and plate. As we sat there Princess Celestia said ‘’Do let me know if it become worse, then I’ll look into it.‘’ I nodded and silence fell upon the room. After a while Princess Celestia said ‘’You said before you bought a vase here in Canterlot. Did you get any change?‘’ ‘’No, I didn’t?‘’ ‘’That’s good, some might use fake bits.‘’ ‘’Fake money? You have that here in Equestria?‘’ ‘’Yes unfortunately, Would you then like to learn how to spot real from fake?‘’ ‘’Yes, thank you Princess.‘’ I said with a smile. Princess Celestia smiled and levitated ten coins over to us from a shelf, she placed nine of them on the coffee table and levitated only one over, she placed in on her hoof and said ‘’Since you have learned how to levitate, then this should be easy.‘’ ‘’Alright, what do I do?‘’ ‘’Focus your magic, like you want to levitate the coin, but only feel it.‘’ I nodded and closed my eyes, calmly my emotions flew through me and I felt my magic and focused on the coin. I felt the coin as Princess Celestia said ‘’Good, can you feel it.‘’ I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful pink glow and muttered ‘’Ye-yeah, it’s still very hyp-no-‘’ Princess Celestia wing came between me and the coin and I shook my head in confusion ‘’Sorry Princess.‘’ ‘’It’s okay. Those things happen. Let’s try now, without you looking at the coin.‘’ I nodded and took one last look at the coin and closed my eyes and felt my magic and now the coin as Princess Celestia asked ‘’Do you feel the coin?‘’ ‘’Yes.‘’ ‘’How does it feel?‘’ ‘’I- I don’t know how to describe it.‘’ ‘’Let it go and open your eyes.‘’ I did so and a golden flash later, there were two coins in Princess Celestia magic, she smiled and said ‘’Try and feel this one.‘’ As she levitated it over to me, I closed my eyes and felt the coin ‘’It’s, the same.‘’ ‘’Very good, now try the other one.‘’ I opened my eyes and looked at the other coin, as I closed my eyes, my magic came to me and I felt the coin, it was rough, maybe like a cactus, with spikes and said ‘’It feels wrong, it’s rough, with spikes.‘’ ‘’Very good, now try the first one again.‘’ I opened my eyes, looked at the first coin, closed my eyes again and felt the coin, it wasn’t long before I felt the difference, this one was smooth, very smooth and said ‘’It’s very smooth.‘’ ‘’Perfect, now let it go and open your eyes.‘’ I did and Princess Celestia continued ‘’The one you felt as smooth, that was the coin, that’s in use in Equestria. The rough one was a copy of a real coin.‘’ ‘’Can’t you make a coin that’s, well, smooth?‘’ ‘’I can? Yes. But the spell is not one that’s easy to make, even the most powerful pony can’t make a replica without the spell.‘’ ‘’How come?‘’ ‘’The spell was made eight-hundred years ago and have been improved each time a flaw was found.‘’ ‘’So the spell is not only one spell but multiple?‘’ ‘’Yes and if my memories serves me correct, I do believe it’s fifty-one spells.‘’ ‘’Wow, that’s quite a few spells.‘’ ‘’Hehe, just a couple-‘’ The Princess was interrupted as her horn glowed and a golden mist came and was made into a scroll, the Princess levitated it in her magic as she said ‘’Must be from Twilight.‘’ ‘’Is that um… That friendship letter?‘’ ‘’I believe so, let’s see what she’ve learned.‘’ I nodded and Princess Celestia read ‘’Dearest Princess Celestia. I am happy to report that one of your youngest subjects has learned a valuable lesson about friendship. Sometimes, the thing you think will cause you to lose friends and feel left out, can actually be the thing that helps you make your closet friends and make you realize just how special you are. Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.‘’ ‘’So that’s a friendship letter?‘’ ‘’It is, have Twilight not told you?‘’ ‘’Oh, she told me. But for me it’s still, new world, new rules.‘’ The Princess chuckled at that before she took another sip of her tea and it looked like she was in deep thought before she asked ‘’Have Twilight also told you about a certain event, one that’s coming in a few months?‘’ ‘’Not from what I can remember? What is it?‘’ ‘’An event here in Canterlot, called the Grand Galloping Gala.‘’ ‘’She hasn’t, what is it?‘’ ‘’It’s a celebration of when the Canterlot castle was made and every year there is a gala to celebrate.‘’ ‘’Oh, sound umm… Fancy.‘’ ‘’I can be, but the reason why I brought it up, was that every year, I do a small firework to start the gala, but some years I have know a talented unicorn, who would then start the gala with me.‘’ ‘’Is Twilight doing that this year?‘’ ‘’She’s not, she’s however invited, as well as Spike and all their friends. I was however hoping that you would wish to be the unicorn, who would start the gala with me.‘’ ‘’Me…? A-are you sure?‘’ ‘’I am. It will however mean that you’ll need to practice and also attend the gala.‘’ I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say, how long time did I have, what would I need to learn, but while I sat with the thoughts didn’t help so I asked ‘’How long time do I have to learn the fireworks?‘’ ‘’About two months, but I’m sure you’ll learn it before then. But I should warn you, many who’ll attend will somehow find out you’ll start the gala with me.‘’ ‘’I understand, but if they come to the gala, then they can’t be bad ponies.‘’ ‘’True, but some might have young colts, who would maybe come as well.‘’ ‘’So, in other words, I would get ponies who would want to impress me? And get close to me?‘’ ‘’To put it mildly, yes.‘’ ‘’Well, the gala could be fun. So I accept, it will be my honor to start the gala with you, Princess.‘’ ‘’Very good.‘’ The Princess levitated a book from the shelf over to us and said ‘’First you’ll need an understanding of the spell, so your homework for your next visit is to have read this book.‘’ The book went in my saddlebag as Princess Celestia said ‘’It’s time for dinner soon, but I think we have time for a quick magic lesson.‘’ ‘’What do you have in mind Princess?‘’ ‘’First something that’ll help me to make a portal for you, else I would like to see your progress on your levitation, maybe we’ll get you to a point, where you’ll be able to write for yourself.‘’ ‘’Oh yeah, umm… When um… The portal, ready?‘’ ‘’Difficult so say, it’s quite complicated, but I need your help to make the portal.‘’ ‘’What can I do?‘’ A clear crystal came from a shelf and levitated towards us, the Princess levitated it over to me and said ‘’Focus on the crystal, feel it.‘’ I closed my eyes and felt my emotions grab the crystal as the Princess said ‘’Good, while you focus try to remember your world, it might tickle a bit.‘’ I nodded and as I focused on the crystal, I remembered back, on the good days, but also on the bad days, as I began to focus more on my memories the Princess said ‘’Focus, you’re almost there.‘’ I got my focus back on the crystal as I remembered. Such a nice day for a drive, I took my 458 keys, unlocked the car, sat in, got the roof down, started the V8 and drove. Maybe an hour passed by, before I was driving behind a tractor ‘Screw this.’ I looked and no other cars, so I shifted down to first and overtook, only for everything to go black. ‘’Star!‘’ Princess Celestia yelled. I opened my eyes and felt it as she shook me ‘’I’m fine, I’m fine.‘’ ‘’What happened? All of a sudden you didn’t answer me.‘’ ‘’I guess I got to deep into my past.‘’ I said as I felt tears, as they ran down my face, the Princess sat me down on the couch and I hugged Flurry. After a few moments Princess Celestia softly asked ‘’Do you feel better now?‘’ ‘’Yeah, it’s also a thing that happens when I think back on… You know.‘’ She got her wing behind me as she said ‘’I do. But don’t worry, you filled the crystal.‘’ While she levitated the crystal down to me, it had a pink line of light inside of it, one that felt very familiar as I asked ‘’Do you have what you need?‘’ ‘’Yes, but it’ll still take time. But I’ll let you know, if I make any progress.‘’ I nodded, and she levitated a cup of tea over to me and smiled as she took her own cup. After I had sipped the last sip of my tea there was a knock on the door and Princess Celestia answered ‘’Yes?‘’ The door opened and a pony I didn’t recognized bowed and said ‘’Dinner is soon to be served, your highness.‘’ ‘’Thank you.‘’ The pony stood up, left the room and closed the door after her, where Princess Celestia said ‘’Let us go Star.‘’ I nodded and she continued ‘’But first let’s get Flurry and your saddlebag back to your room. Unless you wish for Flurry to go with you.‘’ ‘’No, it’s okay.‘’ The Princess nodded and got Flurry into my saddlebag and placed it on her back before we left her room. After our little detour to my room, we arrived in a tall, grand, yet humble dining room, a table not fit for more than eight ponies, but only three cushions were there, one of which were raised a bit and next to one of the cushions, the third cushion was a little bit further away and where I would suspect the third pony would sit.