The Gift of Life Chapter 2
It was a beautiful day out in the Everfree Gardens. The massive willow trees that filled the statuary were blowing gracefully in the wind, while flowers from cherry blossom trees fell delicately onto the grass near the Equestrian Fountain. Many species of bird such as song sparrows and macaws were flying from tree to tree, singing their beautiful songs of courtship and gentle conversation. An eagle sat perched at the top of the great fountain that sat in the very middle of the gardens, and was watching a family of alicorns spend an afternoon on a picnic blanket. One of the smaller alicorns caught its gaze, and it left its perch to fly off into the deep blue sky.
Celestia watched as the magnificent creature departed from the castle gardens. The way it spread its massive wings and took flight made made Celestia pout in longing. She looked back at her wings and gave them a little flutter, shuddering when the air from her wings brushed against her coat. Celestia looked back at the eagle, and as the last trace of the eagle finally vanished into the horizon, she turned back to her parents and saw that her father was gazing at her.
“She sure was a majestic bird, wouldn’t you agree?” Sol asked.
Celestia’s eyes drifted away from her father’s back to the point where she last saw the eagle. She slowly nodded her head, and turned back to her father.
“You would like to be able to fly as well, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes!" Celestia shouted, "I want to be able to jump into the air and take off around the castle. I want to experience falling through the air only to save myself at the last second before I hit the ground! I wish my wings would be ready faster, Daddy.” Celestia pouted a little as she looked at her father.
She heard her mother give a small chuckle, and her father smiled at her, and said, “Patience is a trait we all must learn, Celestia. One day you will be able to fly, and you will find it is worth the wait. Waiting a few years for your wings is only a small fraction of the price for being able to use them for as long as you live.”
Celestia forced a small smile at her father, but it waned when she looked back at her wings again. She still wanted to fly. She still wanted to feel the wind on her face from soaring through the air faster than she ever could gallop on land. She wanted to see the world from a birds eye few; to see all the ponies look like they were ants crawling across the landscape.
King Sol leaned his head close to Celestia’s, and the smile across his face had grown even wider, and he said, “But I could take you for a ride on my back. We could soar over Everfree and look down at all of the ponies. They look like ants!”
Celestia's eyes light up, and she started bouncing up and down.
“You would?" she asked, "You would, you would, you would!? Oh, please can you take me Daddy?”
She saw her father look over at her mother for an approving glance. Galactica merely shrugged, and mouthed ‘you be careful’ to him, before looking back at Luna, who was sticking her tongue out at her mother. Sol turned back to Celestia with his large grin still going strong.
“Only if you promise to give Daddy a kiss on the cheek.” he said.
Celestia bounded up to her father and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek, before hopping onto his back and securing her hooves around his thick neck as best she could. She could see his massive wings extending to their full length and lift into the air.
“Hold on tight!” Sol exclaimed, and he gave a single powerful flap of his wings and lifted both him and Celestia high into the air. Celestia looked down, and she saw the ground shrinking as the two alicorns quickly gained altitude. In a mere matter of seconds King Sol had risen to the top of the Tower of the Stars, the highest tower of Everfree Castle. The little filly squealed in excitement.
Sol circled around the tower a few times, letting himself glide around to give Celestia a magnificent view of the Castle and its gardens.
“Look! Can you see your mother and Luna over there?” Sol asked.
Celestia looked down towards the pink tops of the cherry blossoms, and she saw the figure of a pale orange alicorn and the tiny spot of a little blue filly crawling across the picnic blanket.
“I see them! I see them!” Celestia exclaimed.
Sol leaned into a dive towards the ground, tucking his wings close to his body and building up speed. Celestia gripped his neck tightly and shut her eyes, squealing louder as the two of them picked up speed. When Celestia thought they were going to hit the ground, she felt her father open his wings and catch enough air to send the two of them back up to fly over the trees. The little princess opened her eyes to gaze behind her, and she saw that the force from the wind behind her father was enough to leave a trail of cherry blossom flowers in their wake.
She was screaming in absolute delight while her father soared over the forest. He zipped over the tops of trees, and left ripples in one of the lakes when he flew close enough. Celestia lifted her face above her father's mane, squealing from the feeling of the wind blasting against her face and whipping her mane back and forth. After a few more minutes of the rush from the amount of speed her father was using, she felt him slow down to a glide as they started to near the city of Everfree.
Celestia's mouth was agape from the stunning beauty that could be seen from so far away. A massive and dense forest surrounded the entire city, shadowing over the smaller buildings that were built on the city limits. As the city grew closer to center the buildings became larger and larger, some becoming four or five stories tall. All of the roofs were made of clay tiles and shone a brilliant red in the sun light, like a beacon against the green that surrounded the city.
At the center of the city was the most beautiful building Celestia had ever seen. Everfree Castle was enormous and towered over all of the other buildings that surrounded it. Its white walls shined in the sunlight, and acted as a lighthouse for all traveling creatures that were looking for a place to stay, or were lost in the large Everfree Forest. Massive windows could be seen from all angles and at the keep in the center were the largest stain glass windows that anypony had ever seen.
Sol flew over the city slowly, gazing down at its citizens with a smile before he started to make his way back up to the top of the Tower of the Stars. As the two approached, for the first time Celestia noticed engravings carved on the side of the castle. Many looked like just vines or celestial bodies, but when Sol started to ascend The Tower of the Stars, Celestia noticed that there were drawings lining the whole tower from top to bottom.
“Daddy, why are there so many carvings of ponies on the Tower of the Stars?” she asked.
“Those carvings depict the story of your mother and I, and how we founded Equestria," Sol said, hovering in place next to a carving that had two aliorns standing over a gathering of ponies. "There is a drawing for every year since the first year when Equestria was founded.”
“So that means…”
“Yes, there are over seven thousand carvings on The Tower of the Stars. Every year a pegasus flies to the last carving and puts in a new one next to it.”
Celestia gave one last look of The Tower of the Stars before Sol flew over the clay tile roof at the top, and then made his descent back to Galactica and Luna.
King Sol landed on the ground gently and dropped to his stomach, allowing for Celestia to safely hop off of his back. Upon touching the ground again, Celestia stumbled and nearly fell over. She had never been flying before, and the weightlessness caused her to lose her sense balance for the time being. Once she steadied herself she quickly looked over at her mother and gave her a beaming smile.
Galatica gave Celestia a knowing smile and asked, “I take it you had fun?”
“Yes!" Celestia said excitedly. "Daddy took me all the way up to the top of the Tower of the Stars, and then just dived straight down…” Celestia made a whooshing sound and brought her hooves down. “…and then he zoomed past you two and over the tops of the cherry blossom trees. We had a trail of flowers behind us! It was so pretty! And then he took us around the forest and over lakes until we returned back to the city. And I saw Everfree mother! It is so beautiful. The castle really does look like a lighthou…”
The princess was cut short when she heard the sound of hoofsteps behind her on the grass. She turned, and saw a massive Zebra donned in in a heavy black chest plate with a cape and a helmet with a crest made from the horse hair of his own mane. He had gold bracelets around his legs, and piercing yellow eyes that frightened Celestia. She knew that on his flank was the picture of a spear.
King Sol spoke up. “Ah, High General Bright. It’s good to see you, my friend. What brings you out here?”
Bright spoke in a gentle but commanding voice, “It’s good to see you too, my friend. I am sorry to interrupt your day with your family, but the need is urgent. The National Socialist Pony Worker’s Party is continuing to give us trouble in the court for want of secession from the state. We need both you and the Queen present to restore order to the court.”
Celestia heard her father sigh, and gazed up at him. He looked at her back. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I need to go and help solve a problem in court with Mother. I’ll be back to play some more with you soon, I promise.”
He leaned down, and kissed Celestia on the forehead, before departing with High General Bright. Celestia turned to her mother, who was setting Luna down next to her sister, and Galactica asked, “Do you think you could watch Luna until Meadow Free and Regality come?”
“Of course! Don’t worry Mother!” Celestia replied.
“That’s my little filly. I’ll be back with Daddy soon, don’t you worry.”
And with that, Queen Galactica departed, leaving Celestia alone with her sister. The little white filly turned and sat on her haunches to stare at the little blue ball that was curled up on the picnic blanket. Like Celestia, Luna didn’t have the flowing manes like their parents did, but instead had a light blue mane that only curled slightly at the tips. On her flank was a picture of a crescent moon to symbolize her future role in raising and lowering the moon alongside her sister's raising and lowering the sun.
Luna started to stir, and Celestia felt the heat of the sun strangely intensify. She had only known her sister for two days, and the only time she had been with her sister was when her parents were around. Celestia glanced around in every direction except directly at Luna, and she started to envision quizzical looks from other foals. Luna gave a large yawn, and Celestia watched as she rolled onto her back and looked up at her sister.
“Um… hi.” Celestia managed to squeak.
Without uttering a noise Luna rolled back onto her hooves and stared at her sister. When Celestia opened her mouth to speak, no words came out, and the blue filly cocked her heard and blinked. Celestia sighed and sat down on her stomach.
“Ugh," Celestia groaned, "I’m sorry, Luna. I’m not really used to playing with other foals. Even with foals my age. I always get shunned at parties and stuff because I’m so different. I think the ponies are afraid of me.”
Celestia watched as her sister turned around and started prodding around the ground for something. Instead of trying to figure out what it is, Celestia continued speaking, “But you’re not like them, are you? You’re an alicorn, like me. You will understand the awkwardness that I have to go through when I try to play with other ponies. I feel like such an outsider just because of having wings and a horn. I bet you don’t even know what I’m saying, huh?”
Luna turned around with a dandelion in her mouth. She carefully got onto her tiny hooves, and slowly waddled over to where Celestia was laying and placed the flower at her hooves, before sitting back down and staring at her sister. Celestia looked at the dandelion, stunned, and then turned to look at Luna.
“Is this dandelion for me?” Celestia asked.
Luna didn’t respond, and instead cocked her head again and buzzed her lips. Celestia felt joy overcoming her. Her sister liked her. She had given her a dandelion. Even if the flower was technically a weed, it was still a show of appreciation towards her and Celestia wasn’t going to let it just pass by. Celestia got to her hooves, and leaned down to kiss her little sister on the forehead.
“Hey, I have an idea. A friend of mine told me that this was fun.” Celestia said as she turned and started using her magic to tie two corners of the picnic blanket around her neck. She looked back at her sister and gave a bright smile.
“Alright Luna, hold on tight!”
Luna made a squeal, and with a jolt as Celestia darted forward, the two sisters were off towards the cherry blossom trees. Celestia was barreling straight towards a jagged path that was naturally grown from the rows of trees, Luna was laughing in delight behind her. The soft grass gave padding for Luna, so even if Celestia ran over a rock, the little filly couldn’t feel a thing.
Celestia rounded one of the trees quickly, allowing for Luna to drift across the grass, and jerked forward as she took off towards another row of trees. She galloped as fast as she could pull her sister, and soon they were at the other end of the cherry tree orchard. Celestia came to a stop and through gasps of air she asked “Ready to head back?”
“Dahaah!” Her little sister squealed.
Celestia smiled and wheeled about. She pawed at the ground and licked her lips before she took off again down between the cherry blossom trees. As she galloped past she could see flowers from the trees falling around them. Soon Celestia was slowing her pace until the two fillies were moving at a slow trot. She glanced back at her sister.
“I thought we should slow down and take a good look at the trees.” she said.
Luna made a little grunt and looked around her. Celestia could tell she was in awe from all of pretty flowers floating around the pair. A flower drifted down and landed on Luna’s nose. The filly princess looked at it for a second, crossing her eyes to see before she opened her mouth and chomped down on the flower when it fell off of her nose. Celestia giggled.
“Hey, I think I see Meadow Free and Regality. Come on, sister!” Celestia exclaimed as she spotted two ponies at the top of the hill next to the Equestrian Fountain.
Celestia broke into another gallop with Luna still sitting on the blanket. Soon the two fillies stopped at their maids hoofs and Celestia looked up with a smile.
“I took your advice Meadow Free!” Celestia said.
Meadow Free chuckled, “I can see that you did.” The mare lay down on her stomach and looked at Luna. “And how did this little filly like the ride?”
Luna threw her arms into the air and made a high pitched squeal, followed by a giggle, from excitement. Meadow Free laughed.
Another pony joined Meadow Free next to Luna. No, it wasn’t a pony, it was a Night Guard. Night Guards were a separate species from regular ponies that normally lived in Equestria. They all had dark coats that usually varied in shades of grey. They had thick and heavy hooves, and their entire race had yellow eyes similar to that of a snake. The pegasi variants of the Night Guards had bat-like wings while the unicorns had horns similar to that of the unicorn pony species. They all had black and straight manes and tails. They lived in a nation that was to the east of Equestria and bordered the Tramplevanian Alps.
This particular Night Guard was a pegasi, and she wore her hair tied back in a ponytail. She smiled, and said in a very quiet and soothing voice, “Aw, she is so pretty.” She nuzzled Luna’s cheek, and then turned to look at Celestia.
“Oh, hello there. My name is Regality. I will be your sister’s maid just like Meadow Free here is yours!” she said as she gave Celestia a big smile.
Celestia beamed and bounded up to her sister’s maid. “Hi! I’m Celestia. Well, I’m Princess Celestia, but I like being called just Celestia. It doesn’t seem right for a friend to call me that.”
“Oh ho, I’m a friend?” Regality asked.
“Of course. You have to be friends with Luna if you’re her maid, right?”
“Well, I guess you could say that.”
“Then that makes you my friend! Any friend of Luna’s is my friend too!”
Regality chuckled and leaned her head down to give Celestia a nudge on her cheek. “Well, I am honored to call you my friend as well.”
Celestia hopped away and untied the blanket from around her neck. She then turned and jumped onto Meadow Free’s back. “So, how are you getting along with Luna?” she asked.
“She is so fun," Celestia said, "When I was talking about my experiences with other foals she found a dandelion and gave it to me to feel all better!”
Meadow Free looked over at Luna and smiled. “How generous of her,” She said as Celestia started to nuzzle her face into Meadow Free’s mane.
“Meadow Free, do you think we could show Regality the cherry blossom trees?” Celestia asked.
“Of course, Celestia. Would you like to lead the way?”
The little white filly squealed, and quickly hopped off of her maid’s back and started racing down towards the orchard. She paused for a bit to let Regality and Meadow Free to catch up with Luna sitting on Regality’s back.
“Come on, you guys are so slow!” Celestia playfully whined before she took off again into the cherry blossom orchard.
Meadow Free and Regality chuckled and trotted after the little princess, while Luna was squealing with delight on Regality’s back.