//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Behind a Sunny Face // by Tayman //------------------------------// Chapter Two "It's that time again, isn't it... Celestia thought to herself, sighing and hanging her head as she stepped down off her golden throne, making her way down the red carpet that divided the room, her mane billowing out behind her as, its shining pastels complemented by the brilliant hues streaming in through the stained glass windows, reflecting upon the polished marble floor. Today was the ceremony for the new inductees to the Canterlot University for Arcane Studies. Every five years the unicorns in the university would graduate and be replaced by seven new inductees to study under the Solar Princess herself. The graduation ceremony had already occurred in the summer. It was a wonderful fall event; all of the greatest wizards across Equestria were trained by Celestia, and it was at this event where she would get to know some of the greatest young minds in all of Canterlot. How many does this one make? Two hundred? She shook her head and glared down at her reflection in the floor. NO, Celestia. Don't think about it. This is a joyous occasion, and you shall treat it as such! She held her head high and picked up the pace, quickly approaching the front of the throne room where two royal pegasi guards were standing on either side of the entrance. "Ah, good evening princess!" One exclaimed, both bowing their horns to the ground in front of her. "Heading to the ceremony, I presume?" Celestia winced as she heard the clacking of their horns against the hard floor. "Good evening yourselves, gentlemen. I am indeed headed to the ceremony. The princess can't be late for the event she's hosting, now can she?" She chuckled, before raising a hoof, stopping the guards as they began to walk in front of her. "No. I'll be attending the induction on my own. I won't be requiring an escort. You two simply stay here, understood?" She said, politely but firmly. "Erm-yes, of course Princess. Enjoy the festivities." The other guard stated, before they moved back into their original perfectly stationary positions. Celestia nodded, and exited the room to the left, making her way towards the castle ballroom located in eastern wing of the castle. It was still early, and not another soul walked in the seemingly endless corridor. The only sound was Celestia's hooves clopping on the ground as she walked. Out the windows she could see all sorts of ponies in the street below, chatting, shopping, or perhaps grabbing a bite to eat at one of the many cafes, the sun's rays causing the whole scene to sparkle. Another heavy sigh left the princess as she turned her head forward. The hallway was lined with unlit torches on each side, and between those were radiant, glowing suncrests, exactly matching the ones on her flank. She glanced back at her cutie mark, before sharply turning her head forward, sternly keeping her view straight ahead. Yet, it wasn't long before she was standing in front of the towering arched double doors that led to the ballroom, brightly painted red in contrast to another golden sun crest. Her eyes drifted upwards, and widened at the sight above. Protruding from the hall above was an upper body bust of the Sun Goddess, carved out of pure white limestone. Her legs were pointed up towards the sky along with her muzzle, wings fully flared out behind her, horn parallel with the ceiling. It was the exact same position she posed when she raised the sun at the Summer Sun Festival. Celestia stared up at the statue, unable to tear her gaze away. She looked so majestic, so pure, so regal..."That's me." She whispered. And slowly, she took a step forward and dropped to one knees, lowering her head until her unicorn horn clinked in front of her. "And this is what it feels like." She spoke in a droll monotone. Celestia closed her eyes, feeling her mind go blank. She tried to remove all sense of self from her psyche. She was no one; it was the statue who had to worry about everything. It had to raise the sun, not her. It was going to live forever, not the commoner bowing before her. For once, Celestia felt like nothing; insignificant before the majestic creature above. "Could it be only you? Just for a couple years? It'll only take a moment, I swear..." She sniffed. "I could go out and enjoy myself for a little bit, and you could take over...please?" She really didn't want to cry. Not now. Any other time, but not before the ceremony. Her eyes were closed, but the hot heavy tears built up behind her eyelids. She sniffled a couple more times, before standing up, and defiantly staring down the Celestia statue. "No. I refuse to act like this!" She stomped one hoof forcefully on the ground, rattling the corridor. "You are going to go in there, eat some lovely food, and meet some of the most wonderful ponies in Canterlot. You are going to enjoy yourself. This is not the time for self pity!" Her mane flared out behind her, billowing out like never before, her head raised high as she magically opened the ballroom doors and stepped inside. The regal red carpet extended from the hallway all the way to a long rectangular table towards the back of the room with eight seats, one for the princess and seven for the new students. Behind this was a small stage where the musicians would be playing, and Scattered about were smaller, circular tables for families and guests, all of them covered in gorgeous golden cloth. But she still couldn't escape her crest. Purple banners hung from the ceiling, all with the sun symbol plastered on them. Celestia stared up at them for a couple moments, before sighing lightly, leaving them be. Instead, she took her position next to the entrance and waited for the guests and students to arrive. Ten minutes later ponies started coming, and for a half an hour there were only formalities. "Hello your majesty," A blue coated stallion bowed down. "It's such an honor." "Of course. Thank you so much for coming." Celestia returned the bow, a sunny smile on her face. "Princess! I-I can't believe I'm finally meeting you!" A young filly squealed as she and her parents walked through, staring up at the large alicorn goddess that towered over her. Celestia beamed down at the small pony, but before she could say anything the mother cried out: "Liara! Treat the Princess with a little more respect!" She scolded, before bowing down. "I'm so sorry about that, your majesty." "Oh, not at all! I wish I could be young and full of wonder and curiosity again. She said matter-of-factly. "Life is too short to be spent on formalities." The princess leaned down and gently touched her horn against the young filly's forehead, just below her own horn. "Remember that, Liara." Liara let out an excited squeal and did a little hop. "I will, Princess! Thank you so much!" She dashed off towards one of the tables. The parents blushed slightly, and Celestia chuckled as they ran off after her. Dozens of people she had to greet, each one of them bowing down, not one of her calling her just by name. It was always "Princess" or "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty" or "Princess Celestia." Never just "Celestia." Formality after formality droned on, and her smile became less and less genuine with each greeting. No one could tell the difference, though. She had gone through these sessions tens of thousands of times over the past thousand years. To everyone else, her smile was always and pure. Why can't this just be over...this can be the worst part of these ceremonies... She thought to herself. Luckily, the stream of guests began to trickle down, the tables filling up, all seven students already in their places at the head table as the sound of idle chatter echoed throughout the room. "Good evening, your high-" Celestia grimaced on the inside, and interrupted: "Oh, please, just Celestia will do." She put on her best, most pure, benevolent smile she could, and bowed towards the gentlecolt. "Ah! Of course, your hi-I mean, Celestia." The colt stammered, giving another rushed bow before scurrying off towards a table. She just shook her head before closing the ballroom doors behind her, which rattled the room for a moment. The chatter quickly ceased, all eyes trained Celestia as she strolled down the red carpet. She stared straight ahead at her table, trying not to notice all the heads tilted down in her direction. But the students were doing the same thing, so she looked past them, focusing her sight on a meaningless section of the wall. This is a festive event. Only semi-formal. But it doesn't feel like one. She took her position at the middle of the table, overlooking dozens of ponies, all of their heads still bowed. The silence was deafening, but she was the only one who could break it. "Thank you all so much for attending this wonderful ceremony." Finally, every pony raised their heads, allowing smiles to return. "We are gathered here today to celebrate and welcome our newest students to the Canterlot Arcane University." She nodded to both sides, allowing a pause for applause, a roaring of clopping hooves flooding the room. She beamed down at her students, who were all smiling widely, cheeks tinged with crimson. "These bright minds will devote their time to developing their tremendous magical abilities in the Canterlot Archives and spend one day a week studying under me. They have all worked extremely hard to achieve the seven highest exam scores, and everypony should commend them for their accomplishments." More applause. "We shall formally begin the introduction ceremony in a short amount of time. In the meantime, please enjoy the food and music that has been prepared for you." Celestia returned to her seat as the string ensemble began to play behind her, the strings swelling throughout the room, joined with the chatter of all the ponies as several waiters walked out and began levitating food out to each table. As the platters were spread out in front of them, Twilight turned towards the young purple filly to her left. "So, are you nervous, Dazzle?" Dazzle gasped in a surprise and beamed up at the Princess. "Oh, not at all! I'm really looking forward to studying with you, Princess. I'm going to be just as good at you at magic when I'm done!" "That's great! Perhaps you want my job then?" Celestia winked down at her. "YOU can run the kingdom, and I'll go have fun in the library all day!" "Ooooh. That's doesn't sound like fun! I'll only get ALMOST as good as you, then!" The young filly giggled. "You'll be a great magician, Dazzle. I'm sure of it." The Princess nodded down towards her, before facing forward, sighing happily. She basked in the warm melodies flowing through her head, along with the jovial chatter. She gazed out across the ballroom, and saw everypony enjoying themselves. They all had wide smiles on their faces. They were being normal, acting as if Celestia wasn't there. She conversed with several other students, and reveled in their pure, cheerful words. I can't wait to teach you all...you're the only ones who know how to treat a princess. Just like the other hundreds I've taught... The thought popped in like an annoying mosquito, which Celestia immediately tried to swat away. She snorted lightly and shook her head rapidly a few times. Luckily, no one else noticed. She stood up, and stepped on the ground a couple times, the abrupt solid sound causing everypony to turn their heads towards her, the chatter dying down within seconds. As soon as it was completely silent, she hovered up and landed in front of the table. "Thank you. We will now start the Induction Oaths. New fillies and colts, would you please take your positions in front of me?" The seven young unicorns hopped off their chairs and made their way forward, standing in a horizontal line facing the crowd, some of them gulping a little from the dozens of eyes all fixated on them. "Repeat after me: As duly appointed students of Celestia's school, we swear an oath to bequeath diligence, conduct and loyally to our fellow pony in the good name of our academic goals as proud students of this royal academy." ""As duly appointed students of Celestia's school, we swear an oath to bequeath diligence, conduct and loyalty to our fellow pony in the good name of our academic goals as proud students of this royal academy." The students chanted. "I vow to use my magic to serve the common good of Equestria; to help, not hurt, until the day I die." And for me, until eternity. "I vow to use my magic to serve the common good; to help, not hurt, until the day I die." Celestia bowed down behind her students. "Then you are hereby full time students of Canterlot University. Congratulations, young fillies and colts. May your magic shine brightly upon Equestria." The seven unicorns beamed as an eruption of hooves and cheering stormed around them, lasting for over a minute as they were all showered with praise and admiration. You'll do well, young ponies. I'll make our moments together last as long as I can.