//------------------------------//
// Consequences 
// Story: Royal Friendship 
// by Nova Star Sparkle 
//------------------------------//






*6*






The dead silence in the room lasted all of ten seconds until it was broken by the sound of my magic becoming alive. My horn flashed its bright characteristic raspberry color along its entire length. The sheer intensity of the first flash brightening up the entire room like the sun where to be directly into it. For me as an alicorn the brightness wasn’t an issue but the other mare’s likely would have to shield their eyes to not be permanently blinded. Instantly, before anybody in the room could even budge, my magic surrounded the bodies of the bowing mares within a millisecond.

The girls would probably have tried to flee or protest directly, but my divine alicorn magic kept them completely immobilized, helpless and quiet in place. They could do nothing more than what my magic allowed them to do and that was to look up at me as my magic steadily raised their heads. Whether they wanted to or not, they were forced to look up at me and directly into my eyes. Not at my chest, the tip of my horn or any other point on my body. No! Directly into my deep, determined violet eyes as their bodies were slowly lifted off the ground. Caught in my inevitable alicorn magic beyond escape.

With my alicorn magic preventing any of the mares from speaking or moving, my determined voice was the only thing that was audible other than the low hum of my magic.

"NO! How ever do any of you five dare?”

I took a short breath in and out, while entirely useless for me as I hadn’t the need of breathing, it still calmed my mind. My eyes still closed to concentrate my thoughts. “Never again dare to submit yourself to me when I have explicitly allowed you to treat me as a good friend instead of the alicorn princess that I normally am. Refrain from paying homage to me and apologizing for actions and words you had every right to utter just because you consider me a goddess."

I was about to switch my voice back to its friendly tone now that I had clearly voiced my opinion, but I abruptly froze. For as my now wide-open eyes saw what was happening in front of me, I was dumbstruck and a little furious. And it was at myself and what my magic had automatically done rather than at the other mares.

About half a meter from the ground, the five mares I had wanted to form a close friendship with floated helplessly trapped in the bright white glow of my pure alicorn magic. That in itself would not have been all that bad. After all, I had intuitively intended to help them up while I clarified the situation once and for all. But as it had unfortunately happened to me more than once in my long life, my magic had once again gone beyond that. Even as an alicorn and master of magic I was still not perfect and my emotions could take the better of me and my abilities when it came to the brink. Even after innumerable years alive, gifted with knowledge and control of magic like no other pony but an alicorn would ever have.

At it’s core an alicorn was just an ordinary pony with feelings and emotions – just gifted with over godly powers and knowledge. Because emotions and feelings where what made us what we all were - equine. Without them we would just be a hollow shell acting on nothing but simple reasoning without considering the effects of our actions. And that would be simply terrible and, considering a single alicorn’s strength certainly had brought the entire reality down to it’s knees by now. 

As the mares hovered motionless before me in alicorn-magic, what I saw in all their eyes and features was something I wished I had never seen. Not even among my worst enemies. Mortal fear and profound despair for the situation they were mercilessly caught in.

Rainbow and Applejack came off best, with only tiny, individual beginnings of tears showing at the edges of their eyes. Next came Pinkie, still trying convulsively to keep up her usual grin. Even in this hopeless situation. Truly impressive. The tears shimmering in her eyes, however, betrayed that she was in no way as cheerful as she pretended to be. Of the four, Rarity had been affected the worst and the fact that the unicorn mare had not fainted was surprising but not unwelcome to me. All their faces were mixed with various levels of fright and Rarity's makeup was heavily smeared by her tears by now. My tight grip of alicorn-magic might render their bodies completely physically motionless and unable to speak, but it didn’t restrict them from reflecting what they felt.

Yet what really broke my heart was the expression Fluttershy gave me. I had truly never seen such strong hopeless emotions in a being. And considering my life and existence was longer than any mortal could ever grasp that said something. The fact that I could meet her gaze at all without perishing was probably only due to the fact that I was an alicorn. My own immortality saved me from dying of guilt at the sight of her.

I quickly loosened my magic after noticing that the grip of my alicorn-magic was lying far too tightly on the poor mares due to my sudden frustration at myself. Even quite a bit tighter, in fact, than it had been at the beginning of my realization of my grave error. Again, I had gone about it completely the wrong way and had automatically let my magic act on my behalf. Funny in a crazy morbid way that it could still happen to someone like myself with the control, age and knowledge of my magic and body that I had.

As quickly as I could, my magic transformed into the warmest and safest feeling any of them had ever felt in their lives by the time I lowered them back to the ground as carefully as possible. Likewise, I sent every spell I knew to verify and heal injuries through the individual bodies of each of the other mares.

Oh, and there were a lot of them, you can take my word for it. I had not only read but personally approved of every available book on magic and associated in Equestria. Therefore, I had an arsenal of just under a million distinct spells that I had in the back of my mind and could cast without thinking. Not counting any alternative versions. Alicorns never forgot anything they had learned or seen and so it was very easy for me to remember all the overwhelming knowledge.

From this almost infinite amount of arcane knowledge I drew seven hundred seven and seventy scanning spells and four hundred twenty physical healing spells. As well as almost as much that would help against mental trauma just to be on the safe side. I even consulted Predilection, a spell that was usually entirely prohibited for our subjects to cast, for it contained some dangerous and forbidden rites. The spell made sure to force everyone to see what we want to see, not what there is to see.

Changing the way another sees the world is a dangerous and forbidden thing, as it was simply too dangerous for mortals to get astray in the process. But for an alicorn? Well, as an immortal being and with magic that was flawless to cast, I had no such problems and could act without worry. I used the spell to strip the mares of their mortal fear and replaced it with a sense of assurance. I owed them that at least.

Generally, I held no interest and position in mental magic, aside from distance, and highly forbade myself to wield it except in the most urgent of situations. I absolutely detested interfering with the natural free will of any cognitive being - especially our dear loved ponies. However, precisely such a situation had just occurred and justified my decision to do so.

From the superior and imposing alicorn on the other side of the room went out a lot. Godlike energies, tremendous strength and beauty the most noticeable. Yet anger, hatred or something comparable, however, belonged in no way to it.

From the lavender goddess still emanated the calm and secure aura that every alicorn generated permanently around themselves. The same aura that granted them their loyal trust of their subjects and calmed their moods and spirits in multiple ways. An aura, now that the fright of being on the brink of death was gone was realized by the mares to never have ceased to emit strongly from Princess Twilight the entire time today. Moreover, its intensity seemed to increase drastically with each passing second.

Within four seconds, all feelings of primal fright, shock and despair disappeared from the mare's present facing the alicorn mare. These vanishing feelings were replaced by pure confusion and the tightest embrace of warmth, shelter and safety.

With my head bowed in shame, I tried again. But this time without giving the five the suspicion that I was about to mercilessly squash them with my magic. My voice's normal assurance and authority as princess and alicorn having completely drained or been repressed from it. I willed it to be as obvious as possible that I was honestly guilty and to seem as harmless as possible.

"My dear loved subjects, I – Princess Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle; one of the three alicorn sisters; co-ruler of Equestria; embodiment of magic and harmony have failed you. I am deeply sorry for what just happened, it should not have been allowed to occur. I sincerely hope that you can forgive me for my grave error and almost critical outcome sometime in the future. It was never my intention to cause you such despair and fear. NEVER!"

"As an alicorn, I should represent security, trust and confidence, not insecurity, distrust and resignation. I should be a kind and sheltering princess watching over each of my ponies as if they were my own foals. Ensuring their lives are as perfect as they can be and they life in peace. As an alicorn my magic should never be used to cause harm and discomfort to others – especially our ponies, but it unfortunately did…" Tears now ran from the corners of my eyes and down my muzzle for the shame I felt upon myself. Soon dripping from the tip of my snout down on the wooden floor and beginning to form an ever increasing puddle below my front hooves.

„Princess it really is no…”, one of them started. Which one exactly eluding me through the sounds of my heartbroken sobbing. With every second I felt even more miserable and sincerely disbelieved they would forgive me for my actions. Why should they? Each of the mare’s had profound right to be furious at me.

“No, what I did is inexcusable and someone of my status and with these powers shouldn´t be able to fall as low as I just did,” I interrupted them instantly with my reacquired determined voice. There was no valid room for arguments or justification of my latest actions in any way. What happened was terrible, no argument. I would not let the mares try to justify something of mine that was not justifiable.

Now with all my usual amiability in my voice - perhaps even a little more to dispel any last doubts and reassure the mares once more, I continued. "Thank you Pinkie Pie. Truly thank you. Precisely as you have done, I roughly imagined it to go. If a bit less energetic,” I tried to giggle, but it sounded faked given my occasional sobs. “I don't want my royal status, being an alicorn or considered a goddess to come between us. Not between the six of us - NEVER," I added with extra emphasis as I looked up shortly with my bloodshot, tear streaked eyes into the faces of the other mare’s.

"I want to get to know you guys. Really get to know you as the ponies you are, not as what you pretend to be just to please me, as one of your princesses. It is of naught importance to me if you too see me as a goddess like many other of my subjects. Please try to forget it and treat me as a pony worthy of your true nature." After a little pause, I did add. "Scratch that, I myself don't want to treat you as 'normal' subjects or even subjects I rule about at all, but as true friends and allies. Just as I hope you will be able to see me someday."

There was dramatic silence all around us in the living room again and the five mares all looked at me equally with blank stares. After a few seconds, they looked at each other and seemed to be silently discussing what their answer would be. I myself was just as quiet as they were and did not speak a word. No matter how much time they might need to answer me, I would give them their time.

My sobs slowly subsided, but that didn’t help. Because the less sadness and shame I felt for my actions, the more these feelings were replaced by uncertainty. Uncertainty about whether all or at least some of the mares could forgive me for having almost unintentionally murdered them. Neither way I would face the consequences with dignity and bear it with my head held high – they still had the right to reject me.

Time seemed to stretch into infinity. It could have been minutes, hours or even days, but in reality it wasn't even a full minute before the first other mare in the room as me dared to say something.

“We will forgive you under one condition,” Applejack said as she moved her head back into my direction.

“Anything!,” I swiftly said while nodding my head. Suddenly my hopes soared high. ”I will grant you anything you want as an apologize.” Then I reconsidered. “Ehhhhm well kind of anything…,” I added sheepishly.

Applejack left of a tiny laugh before she continued. “Please don’t be sad anymore and stop sobbing as well as feel bad about what you have done princess. While it shouldn’t have happened it was just a tiny accident.”

“A ‘tiny’ accident that almost took all of your very lives. I almost killed you!”, energetically I replied to the earth pony.” Not fully believing what I was hearing from Applejack. Could it really be…?

“Yes, but an accident nonetheless”, the orange mare stated. “I don’t know much about alicorn’s but from the legends that are spun about you and your sisters an alicorn’s capabilities are tremendous and surpass everything on Equus – likely even further than that. So I would say it’s fine as no pony has seriously been harmed in the end. The moment your highness realized what your magic would or could cause you set out to fix it instantly.”

Applejack swirled her hoof around in the air. “While I was mighty scared for my dear life your magic has already easily done enough to compensate for any hurt you have done. The others are safe, I am safe and that´s all that matters for me. Whatever your magic did…it is enough for me to forgive you.” Applejack lowered her head before me, hat held in hoof before her chest.

The others also gave me likewise kind smiles and then mirrored what Applejack had started one by one.

I was speechless. Completely speechless. I genuinely hadn't expected so much selfless honesty, trust and kindness. Never even from one of them, and they all had forgiven me. My respect for the mares was even greater now.

“T -thanks,” was all I could press out from between my lips as I also bowed my head a small distance in gratitude. 

The next ten seconds were spend in silence. It was a rash voice then that broke it with something I hadn’t also expected to hear ever.

"Oh wow! Princess Twilight is much more easy-going and accommodating than I would have expected her to be for an alicorn. Apart from that...er little slip of yours Highness. Though I guess for once, in consideration of their power, that can be passed off as an alicorn's average emotional lapse." The last sentence was said with a dry laugh.

I gave Rainbow Dash an exceedingly skeptical look in reply as I looked up, and after a second the cyan Pegasus apparently realized herself what she had just uttered. She then fell into another deep bow before me and her legs trembled for the second time today within a quarter of an hour as well.

Oh great! This again? Inwardly I rolled my eyes. Just how could it be that these mares' behavior was able to shift completely by one hundred and eighty degrees within one second? 
 
One second they were acting like friends towards me and suddenly they were once again seeing me as their alicorn ruler.
 
Should I bring this up? – meh, better not directly. Wouldn´t go right anyway. Better let it run it´s course. I have enough confidence in them that they will sort it out themselves after what I have seen of their trust.

"Uh uh, no criticism your esteemed Highness,” Rainbow Dash began to stutter at first. “Not that you misunderstand me, please allow an explanation." Dash sounded pleading in her request and it was obvious too that she was already secretly ashamed and condemning herself for saying all that out loud in the first place.

"If you will do me the pleasure of rising first, and refrain from addressing me by any of my titles as I requested then with pleasure," I responded to her in my melodic sweet voice. Then I tilted my head. "But let it be known, I'm still very surprised that despite my magic nearly crushing you to dust minutes ago, you're still being so polite to me. Even now I don’t really understand why. I couldn’t blame you for annoyance and resentment at the moment. While you five said you forgave me for my magic going out of control… Each of you has every right to want to disrespect me."

I wondered for the reasons and my thoughts worked in overdrive but sooner than later I would get my answers.

No sooner said than done, Dash rose back to her full height onto her four hooves and was about to meet my eyes. But then she paused with her gaze on my chest and did not raise her head any further.

I said nothing to this usual behavior. It would be slightly too early to ask her - or any of the others - to refrain from doing so. Especially after said almost deadly event. First each of them should get used to the idea of leaving out my titles then we could work further from there. I was clearly aware that for everyone present it was a massive change from the norm they were used too and that none of them would ever have anticipated to be exposed to. Moreover, they were obviously still insecure towards me and my life-threatening behavior had certainly not made it any better for them.

Their words had said it was all forgiven and forgotten, but I was not so easily deceived. I could see it. Emotionally internally, the five girls were still strongly torn back and forth. They would continue to treat me for the time being as carefully as if they were walking on eggshells, but I could understand. It was after all partly also my fault.

My spells indeed had the effect of taking away their fear and replacing it with security no matter how strong the emotions may be, but I had already let the effect wear off again. I still did not allow myself to intervene more deeply in the lives of others than I had to. What they now felt was how their feelings truly were for me.

"I just really hadn't expected that such a legendary being as an alicorn of such status as yours could be so...so...normal." It was visibly hard for Rainbow Dash to find the right words before me. "I-I mean look at yourself." Dash lifted up her hoof and pointed up and down my body. 

"You are you. A truly impressive and fetching alicorn. Able to soothe your subjects and make them feel completely safe with your appearance and demeanor alone. A being so incredibly calm and strong nonetheless."

Rainbow paused to catch her breath for a second. "An immortal and all-powerful goddess who, with her two sisters in equal, has created; ruled and protected a truly successful and prosperous kingdom for thousands of years. The forces possessed by an alicorn surpass anything Equus could muster if united. You could litteraly take anything you wanted and nobody would be able to do anything about it. Yet the sole desire of an alicorn is to bestow peace and prosperity onto the world. Entirely without ulterior motive or expecting anything in return for the security that you provide. I don't think anyone else on Equus could even come close to accomplishing such a thing like your highness does each and every single day. Yet you make it seem like it's nothing and the most natural thing in the world."

Rainbow bowed her head down to that in respect, then continued to wave her hoof around in the air."Besides, I too can't be mad at ya. Yes, what you did was genuinely wrong and could have ended badly for all five of us. But AJ kind of has already said what I believe is actually the only thing that is important – no pony got hurt in the end.” The cyan pegasus than cracked me a mischievous smile. ”And if only half of all the tales about an alicorn's abilities are true, then it is within the realm of possibility for me Lady Sparkle. Besides, it would equally mean that an alicorn can also vanquish even death with its abilities."

"First of all, thank you for the praise and still firm faith in me. It really warms my hearth to hear that I haven´t lost your faith in me. Even with what I accidently have done," I chuckled kindly in reply. I then flashed them all a warm smile but mostly Dash. While still none of them met my eyes directly I knew they had indeed seen me smile and that was already enough.

"I heartily promise you by the honor of all my royal titles, that it will never come to something like that ever again.” I coughed. ”Normally I have complete control of my magic and can mastermind it even in the most difficult scenarios without even having to actively think about it or see what I am actually doing. I really don't know what went wrong this time.”

My gaze returned solely to Dash. “Besides, what you said is indeed the truth Rainbow Dash. Most of the legends about us alicorn´s and in extension also our abilities clearly correspond to reality. Only at some points maybe a little more embellished than true. Thus, yes, your last notion is as well."

I heard Rainbow Dash gasp audibly as I also confirmed her last utterance. Apparently the pegasus mare had intended it as a joke and was now very surprised at herself for hitting the bull's eye with such a crazy idea. It was also quite a slap in the face of logic that an alicorn itself could overpower even the death, I had to admit, and it made me smile in equal measure.

But as we always used to say in the Council of Immortals every century when we called all our fellows together again: "Those who wield the power we grant are enforced to use it with utmost caution, pay attention and decide wisely what they want to employ it for. The power to determine both life and death must never be carried lightly. It is a matter of the greatest respect and honor to be deemed worthy by an alicorn to possess such power. Those who do not prove themselves worthy of it lose their powers forever with no chance of regaining them and shall be shunned and exiled forever."

It sounded fairly harsh, but I only thought it was fair. For considering how powerful even the other immortals in our council were, there ought never to be even the attempt to abuse one's powers. We alicorns were known to be equitable, tranquil and always striving for lasting peace and harmony. But we had supreme authority and power of everyone in the universe, and we took the right to take back our gift should it be necessary.

Our gift itself was to bestow upon each immortal a special spell that only an alicorn could cast. It granted the capacity to tap into a small portion of the alicorn magic stored in the Astral Dimension, the alicorn's source of strength. Since alicorn magic was not known to abide by any laws, it was easily possible to save even the doomed. With a single small gesture, even the worst mortal wounds, diseases and harms could be scattered to the four winds. The magic did not even stop at beings having just died, regardless of consequences.

The only ones who could not be called back into the world of the living with it were those who had already been dead for so long or had been legitimately put to death. Such a power was too potent to be granted, the risk of temptation too grave. We alicorns alone reserved that right of decision for ourselves, and it was unanimously voted by all the members of the Council that it was to remain the same. Immortals in contrast to mortals had the small but subtle advantage that they did not only think ahead until next Tuesday, but for millennia or even millions of years to come.

Shaking my head, I gathered my thoughts in order to be able to answer Dash. That my mind had wandered was not noticed by anyone as only a fraction of a second had passed while I had been mentally absent. As an alicorn, my thinking was extremely rapid and efficient.

"But back to the subject," I began. "We have a great many ponies in the castle; throughout Canterlot and Equestria, who help us run our sprawling and thriving kingdom on a daily basis. So, my sisters and I are far from running the whole of Equestria with only the three of us. Even if we could probably do it," I added after a short pause. "Furthermore, an alicorn is in no way truly omnipotent. Yes we are incredibly strong and our powers go far beyond what the mortal mind can even comprehend, but even then we have limits. To be truly omnipotent, we ought not to have a single limitation or ending to our abilities.”

"At least theoretical ones," I added so quietly that no one but me heard it. I had never been able to delve deeply enough into my abilities to find any serious limitation in them. And having been so thirsty for knowledge, I had been dealing with them since I learned to read. Yet I still knew that my mana pool, for example, even as the alicorn of magic, wasn't absolutely infinite. It did have an end, only I'd never managed to consume enough mana for my magic to reach its limit in the time it needed to be recharged.

Even immersing myself into the furthest corners of my mana pool had brought me no results. I only had found out that at the bottom of my mana pool it extended into innumerable connections to my stars and my mana both flowed to and brought energy back to me from them. Added to this, my vast neural magic nervous system drew all the mana it needed directly from the astral dimension into my magic core to power my abilities and dear stars. The same sub-dimension of our universe from which had sprung the primordial energy for its creation.

Now I had to smirk again, knowing that what I was going to tell them next was some highly guarded information. Information that virtually no pony had ever known in Equestria's long history and I looked forward to the girls' reaction. In the distant past, my sisters and I had tried to share it with our subjects once before, but they hadn't been forthcoming. So overwhelmed, in fact, that we found ourselves in need of a planet-wide oblivion spell to avert the evolving blight. The only ever known planet wide oblivion spell we alicorns ever had to use on our dear ponies. Or well, at least it would be the only spell known if the purpose of the magic wasn't to make sure that NO ONE under the influence could remember it.

I adjusted the pitch of my voice so that it still had the same friendly tone, but it also conveyed how serious I was. "And last but not least, something that no pony has had the pleasure of hearing in centuries. So I kindly ask you not to share it with anyone unless I give you specific permission. Can you promise me that?" I awaited confirmation from all the mares before continuing. "No matter what stories and legends you may have heard about my sisters and me. However true they all may be. Even an alicorn is and remains a pony in its core. An eternally living pony with divine qualities and powers yes, but a pony nonetheless. We have created our subjects according to our own physical appearances. Even some of our simpler powers we were able to replicate on them and to this day a few still display them."

"The extraordinary swiftness, endurance and elegance of some pegasi in their flying and maneuvers as one example. Alternatively, gigantic strength of some earth ponies, as well as the rare ability to understand animals better than would be usual. The impressive creativity of some unicorns or indeed even the ability to accomplish some things that shouldn't be a possibility."

With that, I glanced around the room, explicitly at one of the mares as I spoke. They still refused to look me directly in the eyes, even though Pinkie and Rarity already held their gaze a little higher than the rest of the three - thus almost at the level of my muzzle. A small step forward so far in not treating me as an alicorn and princess but as a friend, though nevertheless a step in the right direction now that they were no longer stubbornly staring at my chest.

"The fact that an alicorn appears as graceful and attractive as we do is simply an aspect of the fact that my sisters and I combine all the extraordinary aspects of a pony that one could have. We are, after all, obviously the source. I hope that's understandable so far?" I tilted my head to the side a little questioningly, waiting.

Receiving no rejoinders, I cleared my throat. "Let's start by taking your good friend Rarity as an example. I am almost three millennia old physically alone and have seen and met hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ponies in my lifetime. To say nothing of how long we have watched over our ponies and the home we have created for them from our heavenly home. But I find it hard to decide if I've ever seen a pony that came closer to the natural beauty of an alicorn than she did."

I skillfully ignored Rarity who was now frantically trying to hide behind Pinkie in the same way Fluttershy liked to do when she was feeling uncomfortable. The off-white unicorn mare also hid her blushing cheeks behind her purple mane, so I wouldn't see how utterly embarrassed she was that I was speaking so highly of her. Towards me she still felt not particularly important and very small, just like the others, which was not due to her height. Obviously, it didn't escape me that my words had quite caught her and while continuing steadfastly, I winked at her good heartedly. At least Rarity didn't try to bury herself behind her mane any more, but her cheeks were still heavily flushed.

"We can spin this further to prove that each pony is individual, but will always have something in common with an alicorn. Therefore definitely 'worthy' to dwell in its company and be recognized for his worth, to take up your point." Sharing the last with them was still of utmost importance to me and so I would continue until I brought the point across. No matter how long it might take.

I completely shifted my face to the younger mares and lowered my gaze on them more energetically. "Dash, you yourself are one of the most talented and fastest pegasi when it comes to flying, tricks and agility. While Applejack here has raw stamina and strength like I haven't seen often. Fluttershy for her part has the natural empathy of an alicorn in her blood and also the gift of being able to talk to wildlife. Something I myself have never even seen before in another pony that isn´t an alicorn. And well Pinkie for her part... that even I can't fully explain to you. I'm sorry. But the sheer joy and energy I feel from her is very much in line with what I can sometimes say about myself too."


The mares' snouts were now wordlessly wide open and it made me grin and I barely suppressed a chuckle. Apparently they actually hadn't quite understood what I had been trying to point out earlier and just blindly agreed in my favor. It also seemed that my specific look to them while I was speaking had also escaped their notice. Of course, I could technically hold that against them now - but why should I? I was pretty sure I even knew the exact reason why they had done it and just agreed with me. They still couldn't quite stop trying to either agree with me in every possible situation or not disappoint me. At least they weren't shamelessly lying as some others had tried to do. I could see that. The fact that an alicorn could not be fooled - at least not so incredibly lightly, none of them had any way of knowing. I myself would probably try the same in their position, that honest I had to be.

"You see, there is at least a small part alicorn in all ponies. I reckon there's no denying that now." I snapped my muzzle shut and waited to see if I got a question, objection or comment. After several seconds of silence I decided to continue.

"To get back to the topic I'm here for in the first place. Out of all ponies currently living in Equestria, you more than anypony else embody more than just small parts of the six things that truly define an alicorn."

My horn lit up and pulled the elements of harmony, the gemstones that served as physical representatives, one by one to my side from the pocket dimension each alicorn natively possessed through their magic as I spoke.

Strength, loyalty, generosity, joy, kindness and magic," I enumerated. Then, however, I swiftly corrected myself. "Excuse me five, for magic is and will forever be me. I couldn't give up that particular aspect like the others, even if I wanted to, as it is inevitably soul-bound to my being. It is, after all, an eternal part of my alicorn essence or as the scientists like to call it, soul. Could be a bit difficult...", I joked. "But anyway, I think you see my point now and I hope I can get to know you better in the near future."

Then I did something I doubt anyone in the room would have expected in the face of the way I was still being seen by them. I pleaded as I sheepishly rubbed my right front hoof against my other leg.

"I beg you, please consider giving it a try and getting to know me better. I would really love it if we could become friends. Good friends even, as all my powers a goddess like me has do me no good if I lack the most important thing in life - true friends." I didn't hide any of my genuine emotions and it was clear to see how much I longed for it.

I then tilted my head deeply downwards. Much further than the norms and laws would theoretically allow me to in front of my subjects. But I didn't care at the moment, for I wanted to show that I was genuinely serious about what I was saying. The fact, that I wanted to form a true and close friendship with them. Not a platonic relationship like I had with some of our servants. Hard Rock for example. The older stallion himself had served me as a faithful advisor and manager of my day - or more appropriately night - schedule for almost five decades now. His father and grandmother before him had also loyally provided me with their services for many years, not as direct advisors but in high positions nonetheless.

Besides - who was to judge me, an alicorn princess; a loyal and fair ruler ranked by her subjects even above Equestrian law; a true goddess with the sheer power of a universe in her body anyway? An alicorn was untouchable and absolved from all laws and punishments our pony kingdom had without equivocation or objection. Only on the rigorous condition that we did something that really could not be justified in any way as good will, was an alicorn to be drawn to righteousness for it. However, such a thing had not even remotely happened before and I strongly doubted that it would ever come to that. I knew both my sisters and myself very well, what we believed in and what we were standing for in the universe.

As I raised my head again, I saw pure surprise in all the other's eyes. They were well aware of what I had just done and couldn't quite believe that it had really just happened in front of them. Who would believe that a being considered so divine would ever ask for a favor? For the general public, that story was too far-fetched to be believed.

Blessed with a sudden idea, I made a new request upon the five. Interested to see if they would comply and actually do it for me. In any case, it would be quite a big step forward in my attempt to form a friendship with them. Moreover, to convince them that they could treat me naturally without restraint. Why not, at least it's worth a try. Sooner rather than later.

"Look me in the eyes! Not just at my chest or neck but directly into them and nowhere else," I stated with as much gravity and force as I could without coming around as commanding. Now all I could do was wait and see how it would go.





* End of Chapter Six *