//------------------------------// // Flying Free // Story: To Be a Princess... // by akajulester //------------------------------// After the disaster of a magic lesson with Clover, Celestia feared her magic. She almost stopped using it entirely, trying to use her hooves to pick up her quills, parchment, and eating utensils. Tia only stopped after Pansy encouraged her to use her magic slowly and sporadically. She began by only using her magic to write and eat. Sometimes, she would look enviously at Luna during magic lessons as she mastered her snow cloud, while Celestia was stuck doing simpler spells. This was actually not the work of Clover, or Star Swirl, but of Celestia herself. She had insisted on doing these spells out of fear of her own power. Now, she began to regret her choice. Even though Star Swirl had explained to her that a magic surge did not happen often, and that one so powerful such as hers were extremely rare, she was still shaken by her experience. Tia paused her spell for a minute as she glanced over at Luna again. Her younger sister was receiving praise yet again from Clover, who was impressed with her snowpony. The snow creature moved of its own accord, though it was clearly the work of a foal. The body was shaped oddly, its movings sluggish and awkward. But it was still impressive for Luna, who was only ten years of age. Tia felt jealousy course through her veins, clouding her mind as she gazed upon the pitiful snowball that she had amassed. It was small, and starting to melt in the firey grip of her magic. With a small, evil grin, she squinted and stuck out her tongue, hurling the watery snow with all of her strength. Splat! It hit its mark perfectly. Luna cried out in shock as the cold, wet snow hit her in the ear, a sensitive spot for the filly. Celestia's ill-found happiness soon faded, however, as Luna suddenly faced her. Her eyes were filled with hurt and confusion, her mind searching for an answer to what she asked. "Why?" Clover noticed Tia's guilty face, and marched up to her. Tia shrank slightly, averting her eyes, as soon as she saw the stern expression. She looked past Clover, and at Luna's hurt face. "Tia," Clover began, "explain to me why you have hit your sister, Luna, with a snowball that I wished to examine?" Her no-nonsense voice ensured Celestia that she would not be allowed to utter a lie. Celestia hesitated slightly. "I-I wa-was jealous." "Is that a proper excuse for attacking a pony, with any kind of weapon?" "No, ma'am." "Look me in the eyes, missie." Celestia raised her eyes to Clover's stern ones. Clover continued. "You may rule our new land some day, Tia, with Luna at your side. I do not care if you are an alicorn, or a princess. Apologize, immediately." Luna shied away slightly as Tia approached her. Before Tia could utter a single word, Clover interrupted. "A sincere apology." Tia took in a deep breath. "Luna? I am sorry, little sister. It was wrong of me to take out my jealousy on you." She smiled apologetically, kneeling down to Luna's eye level. "I guess that I am still afraid of my magic, Lulu. Can thou forgive us?" She added a slightly archaic sentence to the end, knowing that Luna missed her old speech. She did not care that Clover muttered something about proper grammar under her breath. Luna gazed up hesitantly. There was silence until Luna spoke. "Life is about taking risks. Make a snowpony, NOW!" She erupted into giggles as she saw Tia's smile fail slightly. "And I won't forgive you until you do," she added. Tia stuck her tongue out, and cautiously lit up her horn. Her golden aura returned, as snow began to form in front of her. Tia must have still been nervous, as the snow suddenly expanded. It exploded with a loud POOF! Tia coughed, waving away the powdered snow in the air. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Clover's classroom had been turned into a winter wonderland. Not an inch of the room was left uncovered, and the bucket filed with water in the corner turned into a bucket of ice. Clover was covered with snow, and she shook herself to rid of the cold whiteness. She shivered, and her own horn lit up with a green glow. Suddenly, with a slight flash, a warm scarf and jacket appeared on herself. The two fillies did not care about the cold, as Luna began to romp around in the snow. Their alicorn blood protected them from extreme temperature (to a certain degree), so they had nothing to worry about. Celestia began to collect snow, shaping it into a snowpony. Her work was better than Luna's, as she did not make the head as big, nor the legs different lengths. When she had finished, Tia stood back and admire her work, but her proud smile soon turned into a frown. Sure, she had made the snowpony, but it would not move around like Luna's. Speaking of which, Luna's snowpony had just dug itself out of a pile of snow, and it slowly ambled over to the new one. Tia glanced at Luna hesitantly, and Luna gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. Tia lit up her horn, and a ring of gold appeared around her snowpony. The ring flashed three times, and whirled rapidly around the snowpony. Suddenly, there was an even brighter flash of gold light, and then nothing. Tia waited with bated breath, until something extraordinary happened. It moved. It actually moved! Tia let out a whoop of joy, as Luna watched in wonder as the two snowponies examined each other. Clover was clearly impressed, and she wrote down something on a roll of parchment with her red quill. Tia's snowpony moved far better than Luna's did, but it was even more impressive that a filly of thirteen had been able to animate a life-sized object without any trouble. Calm yourself, Clover thought. She is an alicorn, one who has been handed down the authority to raise the sun. She glanced over to Luna, who still bore a blank flank. Clover had a feeling that she would be the one to rule over the moon, but Luna did not want to attempt this. She had said something about it being Astro's job. Secretly, Celestia would raise the moon at night, after noticing that her father was not doing his job. She was becoming more worried everyday, and she searched the night sky at night for the star. ////\\\\ Two large alicorns sat on a balcony under a blanket of stars, the full moon shedding a pale light upon the castle and forest. The female alicorn lifted a wing, and two younger alicorns peeked their heads out. "Do you see the night sky, my little fillies," Solara asked them. After they nodded, she continued. "Even though the day is for playing and working, always remember that the night is here to watch over us when we sleep. Do you see the moon? She is our guardian. She allows us ponies to look upon her face, unlike her sister, the sun." Before Solara could continue, Luna started to tease Celestia. "We are named after the moon! Mama said that thou will be the one to rule over daylight when thou hast gotten older! We always KNEW that we--" Luna was cut off by Astro picking her up in his dark blue magic, levitating her over to him. She giggled and shrieked as he tumbled her into his lap. "Never assume that thou are more important, Luna. To do so is to forget what thou and thou sister are here for." He lifted her head to the stars. "Doest thou see the North Star?" He lifted her head towards the north, so that she could see the North Star: Polaris. "It guides ponies, especially ones at sea. Whenever thou art lost at night, all thou needest to do is to find it. That is why thou are named after the moon. Thou will be the guiding light in the darkness for those who are lost." "But do not think that you are named after nothing, Tia," Solara said to Celestia. "Your sister may be like the North Star, but you will be a helping light during the day. The sun can also be used to tell where East and West are. Though it burns our eyes when we look at her, that is because she must work hard to create light bright enough to sustain us during the day. You will be a shining light to help shed light in the day, where darkness attempts to leave its allotted time and place." Solara smiled as she placed the two fillies next to each other, wrapping a wing around them once more. "Always remember, that in order to have harmony, there must be a balance in the world. There must always be bad behaviors along with the good. Nopony, or any living creature, is perfect. Celestia, you will bring light and happiness to your subjects when you lead your kingdom-" Solara turned to little Luna. "-and you, my Luna, will bring darkness at night so that ponies may sleep and regain their strength. Never become jealous of either's position. Even though it may seem like ponies hate the sun because it blinds, or always spend the night sleeping, always remember that the farmers need sunlight to grow their crops, and that there will always be stargazers in the night." The two sisters snuggled close to each other, looking at the countless stars in the sky. Astro smiled at his daughters, as he draped his right wing over Solara and the girls. "We will always be a family, my fillies. Never forget that. Even after arguments and fights, sadness and misery, Mother and I will always be with you." He lit up his horn. "But whenever you find yourself alone, seeking guidance, look up to the stars." A ball of light appeared at the tip of his horn. It was extrmely bright, but it became dimmer as it ascended into the sky. Celestia and Luna waited, until there was a sudden twinkle of light next to the moon. A star that had not been there before had appeared, almost as bright as Sirius. Solara smirked at her husband. "You always were the show-off, Astro." ////\\\\ Celestia's head sank to her chest as she shut her eyes tightly, for they were welling up with tears. I must be brave, she thought. I must be brave for Lulu, and believe in my parents. They are not gone, merely hiding. She sniffled slighly as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. She slowly lifted her head up to search for the bright star next to the moon. It still hung there in the sky. Celestia stood up slowly, and spread her wings. She took off from the balcony, soaring into the night sky. She rose quite high, until she was amongst the fluffy clouds that hung high above the town of Ponyville. She hovered close to the surface of a cloud, skimming her hooves against the coolness of it. It felt good to be flying again, without any limits or restrictions. She was not allowed to go too far from any of the Council members, and they had restricted her and Luna from going outside of the makeshift fortress and into the town. Celestia closed her eyes in complete bliss as she flew freely through the crisp night air. She did not care if she got in trouble for breaking the rules. After all, was that not what rules were for?