//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Vision // Story: The Gift of Life // by hell00001 //------------------------------// The Gift of Life Chapter 4 Three years later… “Ugh, I’m so bored” Celestia complained as she was scooting back and forth across her and Luna’s room. Luna looked over at her sister from a pyramid of blocks she was building using her magic, and said, “I don’t know what we should do, ‘Tia. Rainy days are not really that fun.” Both Celestia and Luna turned to look outside for the fourth time in ten minutes. The rain outside was bashing loudly against the windows, and flooding over the eaves of the roof to create mini waterfalls all along their view of the Eastern District. It was nearly impossible to make out the relatively empty central market square through the dense sheets of rain. Celestia let out another groan. “Well, we need to find something to do or I think I’m going to die.” Celestia said as she rolled over onto her back and swayed her legs in the air. Luna went back to stacking blocks with her magic, and Celestia saw that her face was scrunched up in a cute expression hinting that she was thinking. Celestia could usually come up with ideas on what the two of them could do, but today all of her plans had been useless due to the rain. She crisscrossed her hooves back and forth in the air out of frustration, and then rolled back onto her hooves and looked at her sister. Luna had barely grown over the last three years. She was still slightly smaller than Celestia, however, as fillies did not start to hit their growth spurts until around eight or nine years old. Her sister’s magical abilities had grown significantly during those three years, though. She was almost as proficient in levitation magic and energy creation as Celestia was, although she still had difficulty controlling more complicated spells. Luna ran out of blocks, and sat on her haunches looking over at her sister with a very similar bored expression. Celestia frowned, and started to walk around the out edges of their room, bobbing her head back and forth as her eyes dashed around the room. "Ugh, going outside is completely out of the question," Celestia said, glaring out of the window at the rain pattering outside, "Mother and Daddy are too occupied with the Day Court to have time for us at the moment, and Meadow Free and Regality are gone for vacation. I never knew how difficult it is to find something fun to do!" Celestia stomped around the room some more, but she stopped in her tracks when she passed by her and her sister's closet. She looked up as a wicked smile crept across her face. “What is it ‘Tia?” Luna asked, watching her sister pace around the room the entire time. “I just thought of what we should do!” Celestia exclaimed. “It’s not charades again is it? I’m not very good at that game…” Luna said, looking down at her hooves. “No, no. You know that large door over in Mother and Father’s study?” “That door is off-limits, ‘Tia.” Celestia groaned, and asked, “But why is it off-limits? Don’t you want to find out?” “Yes, but…” “But you think we should ask Mother or Father?" Celestia asked, waving her hoof dismissively. "You know they won’t give us an answer. They will just say we are too young to understand what is down there. You know it’s true.” “So you are suggesting that we explore what is behind the door?” “That is exactly what I’m suggesting, Luna.” “But ‘Tia," Luna began, striding up to Celestia, "Mother and Father don’t let anyone past that door for a reason! We should just ask them.” “No, Luna. We can’t just ask them. Come on, aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know what Mom and Dad are keeping secret from us?” “Well, I do but…” “But nothing! Let’s go!” Celestia grabbed one of Luna's hooves, and gave a few tugs in the direction of the door. After giving a little bit of resistance, Luna finally relented and allowed her sister to pull her towards their door and out into the hallway. After letting the door shut behind them, Celestia smiled a reassuring smile over at her sister, and then started trotting off down the hallway, meekly being followed by Luna. ~~~ The two princesses stood staring at the two doors in front of them that led to their parents’ study. The doors were made of the finest cherry blossom wood, and had ornate decorations of vines, birds and stars decorated all over it. The names of King Sol and Queen Galactica were carved intricately onto each of the doors. Celestia looked over at her sister, and saw that her entire body was shaking ever so slightly.. “C’mon Luna. We won’t get in trouble. What’s the worst that could happen?” Celestia asked her sister with a big grin. Luna heaved a sigh, and stepped forward with Celestia as they braced their shoulders against one of the doors. “Okay, on the count of three, we’ll open the door.” Celestia said. Luna nodded. “One… Two… Thre-!” The two fillies stumbled inside as the door to their parent’s study opened for them. They groaned, and Celestia looked up to see that it was one of the maids who had opened the door for them. She was a pale, old mare with red hair that was tied back in a bun. She was carrying a feather duster in her mouth. She looked back down at the two fillies surprised, and the feather duster dropped onto the floor. “H-hello princesses," she said, helping Celestia and Luna to their hooves, "is there anything I can do for you?” “Oh, uh, no… We were…” Celestia’s stuttered, her eyes glancing everywhere around her except at the maid in front of her. “…Looking for a book on magic!" Luna quickly chimed in. "We were going to borrow one so we could, maybe, learn a new spell together, since it is a rainy day.” Celestia nodded her head quickly, and added, “Yes! A book on magic.” Both sisters held giant grins. The maid raised her eyebrow, and slowly bent down to pick up the feather duster. “Okay then, you two behave in there, I just dusted.” The maid said skillfully with the duster in her mouth as she left. Once the door was closed, the two sisters let out a sigh of relief. Celestia looked over at Luna and smiled. “That was a very good save back there, sister." she said, patting Luna's back with her wing. "I didn’t know you had it in you.” Luna looked at her sister with a guilty expression, and said, “I didn’t know what to do! I was scared of getting in trouble. I shouldn’t have done that, ‘Tia.” “Oh don’t worry, Luna.” Celestia told her sister as she extended her hooves out and gave Luna a hug. After a few moments the two fillies broke from the hug, and turned to the far wall of the study. There was a large and plain wooden door hidden behind a few stacks of papers and books. Celestia slowly started to advance to the door with Luna trailing very closely behind her sister, almost using Celestia’s tail for cover. Upon reaching the door, Celestia started pushing the stacks of books and paper out of the way, leaving enough room for the two fillies to make their way to the door. Celestia used her magic to push the door open. As the door creaked open, the two sisters were staring down a dark stairwell that descended into the castle’s depths. The scent of musty air filled Celestia’s nostrils, and she noticeably cringed for a moment. Light dust particles could be seen floating out of the stairwell in the rays of light that started to pierce down to try to reach past the door. Celestia looked back at Luna. “Are you ready, Luna?” she asked. “N-no…” “Alright, let’s go.” Celestia started to descend the staircase with Luna following very closely behind her. She could feel her tail being used as an eye shield by Luna, and Celestia smiled a little and rolled her eyes as they continued their descent all the way to the bottom. It was very dark, as no sunlight could reach past the eerie darkness that filled the room the two sisters had entered. Celestia tried squinting through the darkness to no avail, so instead she powered up her horn, building up enough energy to illuminate the space around the Luna and herself with a dull light. Dust particles floated around Celestia as she walked forward towards the center of the room. She had spotted a few candles on the far side of the room, and was making her way towards them with Luna in tow behind her. The walk to the candles seemed to last longer than it should have, and upon reaching the far end of the room, Celestia looked behind her. The distance to walk from one side of the room to the other had doubled in size, and now justified the amount of time it had taken to cross the floor. Celestia’s hairs stood on end, and she could hear a whimper from behind her. “Don’t worry, Luna," Celestia said in a low whisper, "We’ll just explore for a few more minutes and leave, okay?” Celestia could feel a nod of ascent from her tail, and then proceeded to light the candles. As she touched the energy from her horn to the wick of the candle, the entire room suddenly lit up with a menacing red glow from a succession of candles all lighting up simultaneously along the walls. Celestia yelped, and jumped back, almost tripping over Luna in the process. As she turned to leave, her eyes caught sight of something on a table in the corner of the room. Celestia stopped herself, and started to walk slowly over to the table, gazing at a pair of orbs. One orb was glowing with a swirling mass of green energy that was twisting to and fro whiles the other orb was glowing with a much calmer and serene mass of orange energy. “Um, ‘Tia? I think we should leave now.” Luna quietly whimpered from behind Celestia. Luna was still hiding behind her as the pair approached the table. Celestia ignored her, and walked up to the table, lifting herself up and placing her hoofs on top of the wooden slab. She shifted her gaze between each of the glowing orbs. “Luna, what do you think they are?” Celestia asked. “I don’t know, ‘Tia, but we should leave. I’m getting scared.” Luna replied as Celestia felt her sister hide her face behind her own tail. Celestia turned towards Luna. “Oh come on, Luna. Take a look at these orbs. They are so beautiful.” Luna hesitated for a moment, but she finally came out from behind Celestia and lifted her hooves onto the table as well. Celestia turned her gaze back to the orbs, and then stopped when her eyes were being held on the orange orb. She felt a sense of connection and magic with the orb as she couldn’t pull her eyes away. She could feel energy washing over her body, embedding itself in every inch of her being. Suddenly she felt as if the very essence of herself was pulled from her body… ~~~ Celestia could see Everfree Castle in the distance. The sky was beautiful and the sun was shining across the land for all to see. Birds were chirping from the forest as they wove their musical notes into songs that blissfully filled the still air. She saw that there were pegasi that were entering and exiting the city at regular intervals, carrying supplies for the market and the castle to and fro. She gazed up along the Tower of the Stars until her eyes rested on the top where she could see the flag of Equestria hanging limply. Suddenly, the sky darkened. In the direction towards the nation of Eternal Valley, Celestia saw the sky turn red and black. Thunder clouds formed in the distance and unleashed powerful volleys of lightning against the earth. The sky over Eternal Valley twisted and turned with malice as the thunder clouds started to make their way towards the city of Everfree. Celestia felt the hairs of her coat stand on end. There was a crack that ran up the length of the Tower of the Stars. It ran along the entire length of the spire until the weight from the building was too great, causing it to come crumbling down on top of the castle. This collapse was soon followed by others, with entire sections of the city exploding or collapsing into heaps of smoldering debris. Celestia watched in horror as her precious home died right before her eyes. A flag made from the hide of a dark blue pony rose over the rubble of Everfree Castle. Celestia saw a black alicorn mare rise over the entire city of Everfree, along with the moon ascending and blocking out the sun. The alicorn had a mane and tail that flowed freely and beautifully on its own. She was adorned in some light armor, and she had wings that looked similar to that of a crow’s. She opened her eyes to reveal turquoise irises in the shape of a snake’s. She heard the deep rumble of a wicked, male chuckle. “I can see you” ~~~ Celestia screamed as she felt herself being yanked back violently from the swirling orange orb that lay upon the table. She stared horrified at the object that had just stolen her mind, while tears welled up in her eyes. What had she just seen? Why was Everfree destroyed? Where did that flag come from? Who was that mare? What had seen her? What did all of this mean? Celestia had not even noticed that she had started crying until she heard the soft humming of her mother as she held her daughter protectively in her hooves. She looked up at her mother and saw that her eyes were closed while a smile was placed upon her face. She hummed a lullaby quiet enough so that Celestia couldn’t make out which one it was, but loud enough that it started to soothe the frightened filly. She continued to cry for a few more minutes, however, until her mother had finished the song and opened her eyes. Celestia looked up at her mother and gave a small whimper. “Mother I… I-I’m so sorry," Ceelstia said, "I was just curious and wanted to know what was down here. I brought Luna along against her-“ Queen Galactica quieted Celestia by holding a hoof up to her daughter’s lips. She then drifted her gaze over to the right. Celestia followed her gaze until her eyes were resting on Luna, who was huddled up next to their father, protected by one of his massive wings that extended over her body. “What you did is partly our fault, Celestia," Galactica said, "We knew you were curious about what we were hiding down here beneath our study, yet we didn’t think that it would extend beyond constant questions about the door. We felt as though you would wait until we deemed you were ready to understand what it is we are keeping hidden. We should have known better. You have always been the adventurous type, and it was only a matter of time before you decided to take gaining the knowledge of our secret into your own hooves.” Galactica looked over at Sol for a moment. Celestia saw a whole conversation being held just by looking one another in the eyes. At last Sol finally nodded his head, and looked down at Luna who was nestled up next to him. Celestia took some time to look at Luna and saw that she was staring at Celestia with a pained expression. “I could feel when you interacted with the orb over there.” Galactica said, and gestured her head over towards the two orbs that were sitting on the table. Celestia didn’t look. “You see, I have a faint connection with the orb, and so it allows me to know when the power within it has been tampered with. However, there is nopony in Equestria that can harness the power of the orb unless they know how to wield the magic inside of it. The magic of both orbs are unique and unlike any other magic anypony will have ever experienced.” Celestia stared at her mother as she continued on. “The orb you tapped into contains magic from the sun itself. The orb next to it contains magic from the moon. There is only one way that you were able to connect with the orange orb: you have successfully established you connection to the sun. Celestia, that means that you can now raise and set the sun on your own now!” Galactica finished, gazing at Celestia with a smile. Celestia started to smile back at her mother, except for Galactica’s smile quickly dissolved. The light in her eyes were replaced with worry. “Celestia, when I burst into the room in response to the orb alerting me, you were screaming and convulsing violently while your gaze was fixed upon the orange orb. I know that the orbs grant insight to whomever can control them. Is that what happened to you? What did you see?” Galactica asked. “I…” Celestia paused. Should she tell her parents what it is that she saw? Her mother is being constantly bombarded with the daily court sessions for Equestria’s citizens, and was already becoming worn down with the constant bickering of the province of Germaney and how it wanted to secede from the rest of the nation. Her father was busy dealing with both the griffons to the north and the deer who lived across the massive body of water called the Eternal Sea. He was trying to establish more trading routes as well as potential allies. They both were too busy to have time to deal with something that might not even be in the near future. Perhaps when times were not so tense, would she tell her parents of what she saw. “I-I didn’t see anything, Mother," Celestia lied as she looked up at her Galactica. "It was just me connecting to the orb. Something must have happened that caused it to react the way it did.” Galactica looked at her daughter for a few moments with a stern eye. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Yes, I am sure,” Celestia replied with an uneasy smile. “Well, alright then. In that case, we now must talk about your punishment.” “Punishment! But why?” Celestia groaned, and looked up at her mother with very large eyes. “Oh, Celestia, don’t do that," Galactica said sternly. Celestia looked over at her father, but he only shook his head and looked away. She glanced back at Galactica skiddishly. "You know full well you were not allowed down here. It is only fair that you be reprimanded for your actions.” “What about Luna?"Celestia asked. "She won’t be punished will she? I pressured her into coming.” “Well, no. She is free to go.” Upon hearing that, Luna’s ears perked up, and she sat up under her father’s wing. “But I helped us get into your study!" Luna protested, stomping a hoof on the ground. "I lied to one of the maids who was finished cleaning.” “Luna! Celestia shouted, staring at her sister. "You could have gotten out of this free, you know. Why did you say you helped?” “I thought that if you were in trouble I should be in trouble too.” Luna replied, wincing. “Oh, come on, Luna.” Celestia said as she placed a hoof against her forehead. Luna pouted at her sister. “Well, looks like I’m punishing you both then,” Galactica said with a chuckle. “You two are required to help out in the Royal Kitchens for the next week. You will get up at the times the cooks wake up, and you are allowed to leave when the first shift of cooks are officially finished for the day. Does that sound fair, Sol?” Sol looked over at his Galactica, and said, “I believe it is a fair punishment.” Celestia and Luna both looked at each other, and slowly grew smiles on their faces. Together the fist bumped each other and squeed in excitement. The Royal Kitchens was home to the Royal Cookie Jar.