The lavender filly stood at the balcony and looked up at the starry sky. Today was the day. She was finally going to raise the Sun on her own. The Princess would be so impressed with her!
Twilight looked at the checklist next to her. She started her channelling warmups; going from zero to a hundred could damage her horn, after all. As she did, she sipped one of the phials of liquified mana she had brought to refill her rapidly draining mana reservoirs. Suddenly, she gave a start. Wait, did I forget the cloaking spell?
The lavender filly quickly checked her checklist to confirm that no, she didn’t forget her cloaking spell. Besides, if I had forgotten, the concentration of ambient magic here would have alerted every unicorn in Canterlot. Secure in her belief that she had taken all possible preparations, Twilight slowly searched the sky with her magic, trying to find that tell-tale signature left as the Sun made its way across the heavens every day. As she did, her eyes seemed to twinkle with the light of the stars dotting the sky.
Ah! There! Twilight stuck her tongue out as she traced the solar trail. Merely touching the celestial signature gave her a feeling of safety; of warmth. “Is this what it’s like for the Princess?” she whispered. She stopped to ponder this for a bit before resuming her celestial chase.
Feeling her reserves getting low again, the filly quickly chugged another mana potion. She felt the gentle cold of the liquid mana countering the sensation of warmth she felt. Eventually, Twilight found the Sun. Find the Sun, check!
Twilight touched the Sun.
If the trail was warm, this was boiling, comforting and harsh in equal measure. But no matter how much she tried, the Sun wouldn’t budge. She tried pushing and she tried pulling, but nothing worked. She focused until the Sun was her whole world, and nothing happened. However, taking her focus away from her mana levels was a mistake, as she quickly hit rock-bottom and all her spells died. “Oww…”
Suddenly, the room behind her lit up. “Twilight?” called a voice. Moments later, Princess Celestia, devoid of her usual regalia, strode out onto the balcony.
“My horn feels funny…” Twilight brought a hoof up to her horn, but as it got close, the breeze from the movement struck her horn. “Oww..” Twilight shivered.
“I’m sorry, Princess…” Twilight shivered as Princess Celestia applied another layer of cold horn balm onto her still-sensitive horn. They were laying on the Princess’s massive solar-themed bed. Amongst the Sun imagery was the occasional depiction of the Moon.
“It’s alright, my faithful student, but I’m afraid moving the Sun is far too difficult for you at your age. Far too difficult for any single pony besides me and… just me.” The alabaster alicorn frowned at one of the Moon designs on her bed. And Luna…
Before Celestia could get too lost in her thoughts, Twilight swiftly asked her a question. “So, how can you raise the Sun, Princess? I know it’s not just lots of mana. I’ve checked how much mana you have, and it’s a lot, but aren’t there physical limitations on how much mana a pony can channel at once?” Celestia looked down at her faithful student, who was eagerly awaiting her answer.
“Well, Twilight, that’s a bit hard to answer.”
No sooner had Celestia had stopped talking that Twilight had immediately piped up with an, "Okay, but I still want to hear it. Princess." Twilight added that last word after a pause as if she had forgotten about her mentor's title in her thirst for knowledge.
"Then, the first reason is that it's my special talent and Domain. It's far easier for me to raise the Sun compared to anyone else because I'm the Alicorn of the Sun." Celestia paused, waiting for Twilight to finish taking notes on a notepad that she had summoned from the other tower. She's already so good at magic.
After Twilight finished jotting down her mentor's words, she turned her eager gaze to the Princess, silently prompting her to continue. "The second reason is that I'm an Alicorn. Alicorns have the magic of all three pony races, and so, we can channel each type of magic through any of the focuses used by any of the three pony races. So, when I raise the Sun, I channel unicorn magic, and the power of my Domain, through my horn, wings and hooves."
After Twilight jotted down this latest piece of information, she appeared to raise her hoof before dropping it down again. The filly's ears dropped slightly. Seeing her faithful student's hesitance, Celestia asked, "Yes, Twilight?"
Twilight turned her head away from her mentor. "Princess, could-could I feel your hooves, wings and horn?" Seeing her teacher's confusion, Twilight clarified. "Magically." Please say yes…
Celestia quickly stopped her frown from showing on her face. That explains her hesitation. A botched magical examination could leave a pony without the use of their magic for weeks. Even for an Alicorn, it could restrict their magic for hours, which could prove disastrous if the condition persisted beyond daybreak. But a refusal now would hurt Twilight’s confidence in her abilities.
Making up her mind, Celestia moves Twilight’s head to face her with a hoof. “Are you sure that you can perform a magical examination correctly?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Absolutely, Princess!”
“In that case, you have my permission to proceed, Twilight.” Celestia lay belly-down on the bed, her hooves and wings outstretched. She closed her eyes and awaited the touch of her pupil’s magic.
While Twilight looked calm on the outside, inwardly, she was squealing. The Princess is actually letting me do this! Okay, Twilight, stay focused. She forced a wisp of her raw mana into a very diffused cloud and mentally nudged it towards the Princess’s hooves. The cloud moved from hoof to hoof, leaving a piece of itself behind as it did so. Oh, wow. These are almost as sensitive as my horn. After examining the Princess’s hooves for a while longer, Twilight moved the cloud to the Princess’s wings.
As she felt the cold, but not unpleasant touch of Twilight’s mana, mana so dissimilar to her warm, bright mana, Celestia squirmed. It feels like Luna’s… As she was reminiscing, she failed to notice Twilight moving on to her horn.
She felt a sharp pain in her horn. "C-careful, my horn is sensitive!" Celestia cried out and gave a start.
Twilight immediately dissipated her mana and started apologising profusely. “I’m so so sorry, Princess! I didn’t mean to! Please don’t banish me!” she stammered.
Celestia quickly calmed her protégé with an, “It’s alright, Twilight,” before sweeping the filly up in a hug in her wings. They cuddled for a while.
Eventually, the night’s exertions caught up with Twilight and her eyelids drooped. As she started letting out tiny snores, Celestia gently placed Twilight next to her and placed a wing over her. “Sleep well, Twilight.” The Alicorn yawned and went to sleep.
“Twilight,” called out Celestia. She used a hoof to boop Twilight on the snout, causing Twilight to open one eye. Seeing this, Celestia smiled.
“Huh? Princess?” Twilight yawned.
“Would you like to examine my magic as I raise the Su-” Celestia hadn’t even finished the question before Twilight was off the bed with none of her previous tiredness to be seen.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Twilight pranced around Celestia. “I would love that, Princess!” The filly used her magic to clean herself in an instant before following Celestia out to the balcony.
As Celestia started channelling her magic, Twilight used another cloud of her mana (one that was much more diffused, so as to avoid disturbing her mentor) to monitor the Alicorn’s flow of mana. This feels so warm, even more than last night. If the warmth of last night was a bonfire, this warmth was akin to the Sun itself.
Instead of burning her like she expected, this warmth felt like the warmth she felt when her parents cuddled her and told her that they loved her, except a hundred times stronger. She felt nearly overwhelmed by the intensity of the feelings, and she sank to the ground, not noticing that Celestia had already raised the Sun.
Seeing her student’s bliss, Celestia levitated the filly onto her back and walked back into her room.