An Illuminating Tale
The late afternoon sun beamed in through the windows of the Golden Oaks Library with only a couple of hours left before sunset as Twilight Sparkle shuffled through her notes she had made for her three cutie mark crusading students. It had only been a few months since they started what the girls had called Twilight Time, and already the fillies were showing a great deal of improvement in their studies in trying to find their unique talents through more conventional, non-property-damaging means. Aside from a kerfuffle with the rest of their classmates, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle enjoyed their personal time with the newest princess to its fullest.
“Alright Apple Bloom, your concoction should be nearly done brewing now,” the ascended alicorn teacher applauded while admiring Apple Bloom’s progress. “Let’s try it out to see what you learned from watching Zecora’s infusion techniques.”
Apple Bloom nodded enthusiastically as she carefully grabbed an eyedropper with her teeth, holding it carefully in her mouth while cradling several ingredients in her forelegs. It was a careful balancing act of precision and skill that she needed to maintain when recreating the zebra’s unique potion processing. She stood over the miniature cauldron bubbling with a bright yellow brew and with a flourish of her hooves, she bounced the ingredients in one after the other before carefully biting down on the eyedropper to add little drops of aetheroot essence after each ingredient fell in. It was important to maintain the tonic’s golden glow, otherwise she’d have to start all over, again. Lowering the eyedropper to the nearby table, she grabbed a mixing stick with one hand and stirred the ingredients together.
“A mossy blackthorn, a velra root, add a helpin’ of baycorn, and cilantro ta boot!” the youngest Apple cackled, drawling her words into a creepy, cryptic rhyme.
“Apple Bloom, I didn’t think there was a verbal component to this particular infusion,” Twilight puzzled as she reread the Zecora’s notes.
Apple Bloom dropped her witch doctor act as she turned around brightly to her afternoon mentor. “I know, I was just tryin’ ta get into the mood. She’s always rhyming when she teaches me how ta brew stuff. It kinda helps me focus since I’ve heard it so much.”
“Ugh!” Scootaloo groaned from her own project as she tried to refit a wheel onto a broken wagon. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to start rhyming all the time like Zecora does,” Scootaloo groaned from her own project as she tried to refit a wheel onto her broken red wagon.
“That, my dear Scootaloo, I cannot guarantee. If my cutie mark is for brewin’, then more rhymin’ in my future I’ll uhh… see.”
“Wow, that was so bad that I think you actually physically hurt me.”
“Aww, c’mon it wasn’t that bad.”
“What do you think Sweetie Belle?”
The two turned to the intensely focused unicorn gritting her teeth with her face contorting from her attempt to focus. Her eyes were shut tighter than bear traps as she forced her horn to glow lime green. She winced her eyes open as sparks started to fly off her horn.
“No, no, no! Sweetie Belle, don’t try to force it!” Twilight scrambled to her hooves, approaching the filly at full-gallop.
“I… almost… got it…” Sweetie urged as she felt a hot sensation flow through the magic in front of her.
“Sweetie Belle, stop! You’re trying to form a ball of light, not—“ A blue ball of mystic flame burst in front of her, catching Twilight in the face as she failed to counter the spell in time. The two unicorns fell back from the tiny blue explosion as the new princess felt a familiar burning sensation across her muzzle. She coughed up a bit of soot as she tried to recompose herself. “cast conflagration…”
“Twilight!” Sweetie Belle shrieked as she approached the prone mare, lying on her back. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I mean, I did, but I didn’t think it’d explode if I tried to light it and… a-are you okay?”
Twilight brought herself to her hooves, seeing little sparkles bouncing around her head from the point-blank explosion. She shook it off as she patted Sweetie Belle on the head for reassurance. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, a little scorched, but nothing that I didn’t get when I was your age. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Sweetie Belle gave a hesitant toothy grin seeing everything was alright and that Twilight hadn’t noticed the blackened mess of a mane she was now sporting. The little filly hoped to Celestia the purple princess had a spell for mane restoration tucked away in one of her books for the damage she had caused that no conditioner could mend.
“That. Was. Awesome!” Scootaloo cheered. “Maybe we can get our cutie marks in firefighting!”
Sweetie Belle cocked her brow in confusion. “How would me starting a fire get me a firefighter cutie mark?”
“I know! Ya could get one in arson while me and Scoots get one in firefightin’.” Apple Bloom offered happily.
“This conversation ends now,” Twilight stated, stomping a hoof to punctuate her point. “Nopony is starting or stopping any fires in the library today.”
“Well what if there really was a fire that wasn’t ours?” Scootaloo replied wryly.
“That’s what the weather team is for. Now, I think our ‘Twilight Time’ is just about done for the day, my little ponies. Let’s see how you did.”
Twilight approached Scootaloo’s Wagon Wheel Refitting project first. With a motion from Twilight to proceed, Scootaloo began by quickly removing the broken axle from the cart and refastening a new iron rod in its place. She screwed the supports into the frame before refitting wheels onto her little red wagon. Scootaloo spun the wheels quickly to ensure the repairs had been complete before she flipped the wagon over, placing the wheels on the ground. Twilight lowered two large stacks of tomes weighing about the same as the other two fillies watching the spectacle of engineering before Scootaloo started pulling the wagon around the room. With a quick circuit through the library, the wagon appeared to be good as new, even if I was a little lopsided.
“Great job, Scootaloo! Keep this up and you’ll be fixing all sorts of things in no time!”
Even though the thought of a mechanic cutie marks didn’t really resonate with the grounded pegasus, wanting something cooler or more extreme, she still hoof-pumped after having done a good job. Being able to fix the results of your own crashes would surely help her get the cutie mark she always dreamed of.
“Alright Apple Bloom, you’re up next,” Twilight said trotting over to the alchemy station she’d set up for the little potion brewer.
Apple Bloom nodded, as she took a large ladleful of the yellow liquid, pursing her lips for a big swig. Feeling nothing down her throat, she noticed Twilight holding the liquid back, coughing “ahems” to herself while motioning towards the table.
Apple Bloom cocked her brow confused until she remembered the specialty paper they had prepared before the taste test. “Oh right… testing for toxicosity.”
“Toxicity,” Twilight corrected.
“Yeah, that.” Bloom dabbed a golden drop onto the wax paper, waiting to see if it changed color. Sure enough, the splatter on the paper turned from yellow to a bright green. She smiled as she remember the results in rhyme ‘For this brew, here is what you must do. If the drop goes to green from yellow, the potion is right for any fellow, but yellow to gray, you must throw it away.’ Apple Bloom and Twilight shared a smile as the little filly brought a helping to her mouth. She took a large swig, kicking the bitter liquid back. There was a pause as they waited for the potion to take effect.
“Alright, Apple Bloom, do you think you can read this?” Twilight offered a transcript of foreign characters to her potion-brewing pupil. Her student nodded as she approached the scroll reading from top to bottom.
Apple Bloom brightened for a moment only to sink as the characters made no sense to her. “hajimaranai,” Apple Bloom huffed in defeat. “saa, po-shon wa hatarakanai, kono tegami yomemasen kara…” Apple Bloom trailed as she heard her own voice. “eh?”
“Umm… Apple Bloom, you’re speaking in weirdo,” Scootaloo commented.
Sweetie Belle turned to the Apple Bloom and then back to their teacher. “Is that supposed to happen, Twilight?”
“na…nani korewa?! eh… nande… nande henna koto o ittararemasuka?!” Apple Bloom frantically questioned getting lost in her own translation. “towairaito-sensei, taskette!”
Twilight Sparkle flipped through her notes, trying to find where they had gone wrong. Pouring over the steps, she glanced back with a tepid laugh. “I may have mixed up steps five and six of the Language Comprehension Tonic,” she uttered, glancing to the side and clacking her hooves nervously together. “Umm… Apple Bloom, try reading this.” She hesitantly pulled up a large flashcard with the word “Book” written on it in big, bold lettering.
“hon,” Apple Bloom read aloud matter-of-factly grinning until she realized she did not say it correctly. “hon. HON! nnrgh… HONDAYONE!” she wailed, her voice cracking as she lost her temper. Apple Bloom frantically pulled at her mane babbling in Neighponese on the verge of tears.
“Oh ponyfeathers, Applejack is going to buck me clear across Ponyville for this!” Twilight grabbed the crying filly, rushing out the door, but not before turning back to the Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle with a nerve-wracked eye twitch. “Okay girls, ‘Twilight Time’ is over for the day. Be-safe-on-your-way-home-now-bye!” and with a purple flash, she and Apple Bloom were gone.
The two fillies sat in silence looking at each other and then door.
Sweetie Belle turned back to Scoots. “I think she forgot that Spike was at Sugarcube Corner.”
Scootaloo fastened her helmet while heading to the door with her scooter and wagon in tow. With the princess gone, she wasn’t going to waste any time in a boring, old library. The fledging stunt pony turned around to see Sweetie Belle continuing to pour herself into the basic spell book Twilight was having her research.
“C’mon Sweetie Belle, let’s lock up and head to the clubhouse or something. I’ve had enough books for one day.”
“You go on ahead Scoots, I want to try and see if I can get this spell right.”
“You’re not supposed to be trying anything without Twilight or your sister watching you,” Scootaloo argued. “I mean, explosions are cool and all, but she said spell casting could be super dangerous.”
Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder with a deadpan stare of acute disbelief “And last week’s Cutie Mark Crusader Skydivers (Yay!) wasn’t?”
Scootaloo readjusted her helmet glancing away from the completely right unicorn. “Well no, but we were all together on that one so we could always run and get help if things didn’t work out.”
“Which they usually don’t,” Sweetie scorned.
“Hey, skydivers was your idea!”
“So it was a stupid idea, sorry! You didn’t stop it then.”
“Yeah, well I’m stopping it now.”
“Look, I’m just gonna read about it okay? I won’t try anything until Twilight gets back, I promise,” Sweetie Belle appealed to her friend with puppy-dog eyes usually reserved for begging to adults. Scootaloo trotted to Sweetie Belle offering a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder seeing something was wrong.
“Yeesh, what’s got you so worked up? It’s just a stupid spell.”
“Exactly!” she squeaked. “It’s a stupid spell. A stupid BASIC spell and I can’t even do it! Sure, I’m getting levitation down okay, but a unicorn who can’t cast illumination is like… is like…” she trailed as she caught herself about to say something rather unfortunate.
Scootaloo fluttered her wings, returning the sentiment with a supportive, cocky grin. “A pegasus who can’t fly?”
“Umm… no?” Sweetie Belle squeaked in reply, denying the sentence Scootaloo had ended for her.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she buzzed her wings, getting back to her scooter readying for ignition. “Just don’t burn down the place before Twilight gets back. I bet she’d go ballistic if she came back to an exploded stump.” With a quickened buzz, the scooter bolted out the door with the wagon whizzing behind. Sweetie Belle sighed as she stood up to close the door her friend had left ajar.
Princess Celestia was riding in her royal chariot returning to Canterlot. She had paid a royal visit to Appleoosa to speak with the buffalo chieftain to iron out a disagreement between him and her ponies living there. Narrowly avoiding another half-baked skirmish between the two groups earlier than she had expected, she ordered her two royal drivers to make a little detour to Ponyville.
“Guards, you may set down over there. I will only be a few moments.”
“Umm… Princess Celestia, would you rather not be escorted to the library?” one of the pegasi offered.
“I’m sure I can handle myself for a bit, Lightwing,” she chuckled before taking off from the chariot, deciding to pop in for an unexpected visit to Equestria’s newest princess. Being a newly coroneted princess meant she would have to get used to the occasional, less than regal antics the two sisters liked to pull every so often. She never wielded the element of laughter, but the princess of the sun was always fond of surprises. She let herself fall to the high branches of the oak tree outside Twilight’s bedroom. Seeing the mare wasn’t upstairs, she teleported through the window into the loft above her study.
To her surprise, though the lights were on in the house, she saw no sign of Twilight. She softly cantered into the main room hoping to catch her former student by surprise, only to spy a little filly with her muzzle buried in a book. With a slight flutter, the princess landed softly next to the filly to see what she was so encapsulated by. Celestia quietly peered over the little unicorn’s head seeing she was intensely studying magic like a certain purple student of hers had not a decade earlier.
“I’m so bored, but I promised I wouldn’t… ugh!” the filly frustratingly vented slamming her head into the book. She rolled her head towards the door, casting her longing eyes towards it. “I wish Twilight would hurry up already.”
“As do I,” Celestia agreed with a solemn nod while joining the longing gaze. “I was hoping to catch Princess Twilight by surprise.”
Sweetie Belle’s ears sprung up upon hearing the voice so closely behind her. She turned her glance slowly as her eyes met the ancient magenta eyes of Princess Celestia looking back at her.
“Hello there, little one.”
With the most respectful loud, panicked shriek she could muster, Sweetie Belle sprang from her cushion, somersaulting onto the table, and nearly careening into the wooden horse head adorning the center. Celestia caught the floundering filly before damaging anything and calmly set her down at the side of the table.
“I’m sorry, my little pony. I didn’t mean to scare you so much,” Celestia apologized to the shuddering filly.
“Y-you’re P-Princess Ce-Celestia!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in a stammer.
“You are correct.”
“Oh my gosh! You’re the princess!” she bubbled bouncing up and down in unbridled excitement. “I mean, Twilight is a princess now too, but you’re THE princess of princesses! I mean you’re face is on every bit, not that I’m a greedy pony that only cares about money, but… oh my gosh, you’re the princess!”
Celestia smiled warmly endearing bouncing ball of white and purple. She patted Sweetie’s head to stop the little bundle of excited nerves from blasting into space. “Yes, it seems you have me at a disadvantage. I have gotten letters from you and your friends, but I don’t believe we’ve ever been introduced. You all were flower fillies at Princess Cadence’s wedding, yes?”
“Oh, shoot, I’m sorry, your highness!” Sweetie apologized after suddenly remembering how everypony is supposed to act in front of supremely important royalty ponies. If Rarity could see her now, she’d have Sweetie Belle on the end of a pike by the time she was done. She stayed her enthusiasm and lowered her head respectfully to the floor. “My name is Sweetie Belle of… umm…” she paused looking up from her spot on the floor, “do I say Ponyville or the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
The princess barely kept her composure upon seeing the filly’s adorable introduction. She only allowed a muted snigger to escape her lips. “Either is fine, dear Sweetie Belle, but there is no need to be so formal.”
“Huh, Why not? I thought everypony was supposed to treat you like, you know, a princess.”
“I do appreciate it, and it warms my heart to see you have been raised well, but let’s just say I get enough of the royal treatment at work, my dear little Sweetie Belle,” the princess offered with a million-bit smile and wink. She leaned back over to the book reading over the familiar steps of the spell. “So you are studying illumination with Twilight?”
“Yeah… I’m not very good at it though,” Sweetie muttered melancholically. “My last attempt kind of blew up in her face, literally.”
“I see,” the princess said as she looked over the downcast unicorn. She looked over the basic spell book, seeing the little notes the student had made around highlighted portions of the spell. Having helped countless fillies and colts before with their casting, she decided perhaps the bookworm approach wasn’t resonating with Sweetie Belle. “Did you know illumination is my favorite spell?” Celestia asked leadingly.
“Wha—Really? Why?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, knowing the clarification that was coming.
“I don’t know. I thought an all-powerful princess would be into super spell things like teleportation or…” she trailed trying to think of a cool spell that Twilight could cast, “sun stuff?”
“Well, yes I have studied and enjoyed many different spells over the years, but illumination is one very near and dear to my heart. Just because something is simple or basic doesn’t detract from its beauty.” Princess Celestia shut her eyes as she summoned a tiny flicker of light which sparked into a tiny golden orb the color of her magic. She lowered the little light in front of Sweetie Belle letting her get a better look at its glow.
“Like the discovery of fire, illumination was one of the first spells unicorns crafted. It’s the key foundation of many spells that take a luminous form,” she said while grabbing a nearby quill with her magic. “Spells such as levitation use a medium or object to cast through or around while illumination is magic in and of itself. Many first make the mistake of thinking it is a burning light, but it is just magic itself given a glowing form,” Celestia clarified as she placed the glowing orb into her hooves. “Would you like to hold it?”
She carefully lowered the little light into the filly’s grasp, who marveled at how unsubstantial it felt in her hooves. As a unicorn, Sweetie Belle could feel the powerful magic flowing around her hooves, but there was no perception of temperature. It was just a thing that was there. Sweetie Belle leaned in, giving the light a deeper look. She could see tiny motes flying around the light with intricate designs crafted onto its hollow surface, giving the ball a sense of ancient mystic power.
“Wow, it is pretty, Princess Celestia.”
“Thank you,” the princess smiled warmly as she raised the ancient ball of light into the air. “Light is very important to me, as you may have guessed.” She gave a wry smile motioning towards her own solar cutie mark, which garnered a giggle from the filly. “This one is a little more complicated than simple illumination. Luminous orb sculpting is an artistic form of spell craft that has fallen a bit out of style in recent years,” she went on briefly trying to recall if it was out of style or lost to the sands of time. Perhaps she should revive it if it was the latter. She summoned a brighter ball, intricately crafted adorned with runic etchings inlayed along lines of light encapsulating a center ball of energy. “This is my favorite among the ones I have crafted.”
Sweetie Belle’s mouth gaped in awe of the carefully made orb. Somehow, she was able to stare into its brilliant white light without being blinded by its luminosity. Admiring the interweaving rows circling the central light, she could make out a picture of two ponies standing below the sun in what looked like an open field. She followed the line as the next etching depicted the two ponies playing. The further she followed it, the more pictures appeared. “Is this a picture book?”
“Yes, except for the book part. Would you like to hear the story?”
Sweetie Belle didn’t answer out loud, but pulling up her cushion to sit on while gazing at the princess longingly with bated breath spoke delightful volumes of her desires to hear the princess’s tale.
“Very well, this is the tale of how ponies learned the magic of light.”
A long, long time ago, there were two sisters, Helia, a unicorn and her younger sister, Ceyla, a pegasus, who loved each other very much. The two fillies would play in flower-filled meadows just outside their house all day, and at night, they would go up to the top of their house and count the stars. Though they only had each other, their lives were filled with joy and love as they lived each passing day to the fullest.
One day, when they were playing in the fields, Ceyla wanted to play hide-and-seek, but she knew the meadow wasn’t a good place to try to hide.
“I know!” Ceyla said, “we can play in the forest!”
Now, the elder filly knew that the forest was filled with danger. It was a dark and scary place that she knew nopony should ever go to.
“No, sister,” said Helia. “The forest is a dangerous place and we should never go near it.”
“But the sun is still out,” the younger said to her elder. “We’ll be safe until night.”
“No, the forest is filled with darkness that can hide from the day. Let’s stay here and play. The grass is tall in the meadow, so we can hide among the flowers.”
“Okay, but I get to hide first.”
Helia shook her head and hid her face in her hooves before she started counting. 1, 2, 3…
Ceyla found a perfect patch of tall grass to hide in, but a bunny had already made his home there and did not want the little filly smushing it, so he chased her away. 4, 5, 6…
She then tried to find a cloud to hide behind, but the sky was clear that day and there was not a single cloud to be found. 7, 8, 9…
The pegasus then looked towards the house, but it was too far away, surely her sister would be done counting before she opened the door. 10, 11, 12…
Ceyla then spotted a lone tree at the edge of the forest. ‘Surely a tree at the edge would be safe,’ she thought as she quickly flew into its branches and waited. 13, 14, 15! Ready or not, here I come!
The unicorn opened her eyes to begin her playful search. She first poked her head through the tall grasses, but only found a bunny who had told her sister to go away.
Helia then looked to the sky, but there were no clouds for her sister to hide in. Surely she would see her sister if she was flying in the air. A clear sky is a bad hiding place, after all.
She then turned to their house and looked for her there. ‘Perhaps she had hidden in the cupboard,’ she thought. So she looked and looked and looked and looked, but there was no sign of her little sister.
The unicorn then went outside again, but it was no use. Helia had to admit Ceyla was a very good hide. The night was coming soon, so she called out to her sister.
“I give up, Ceyla. You win, come on out so we can have dinner before we count the stars!” But there was nopony else there.
She then called out to the meadow, the sky, and the house, but her sister did not answer. Helia was worried for there was only one other place her sister could have gone to, the forest.
She spotted a lonely tree at the edge of the forest and called up to it.
“Sister, please come out! You won the game!” But there still was no answer. She rustled the tree, but only a feather fell from her sister’s little hiding place. Seeing no sign of her little Ceyla, she knew the only other place to look was in the dark forest.
Night fell upon the forest as the unicorn went into the darkness looking for her sister.It was too dark to see her hooves in front of her, but she knew she had to keep looking for her beloved little sister.
However, she too was soon lost in the dark forest. She cried out for her sister, begging for her to call back to her, but there was still no reply. There was no light for her to find her way, only the looming darkness readying to gobble her up. Helia lost all hope of ever seeing her precious sister ever again.
“I wish I could see,” the unicorn cried. “I wish I could so I could find my little sister and we could go back to the house and count the stars!”
She looked up to the sky, seeing a little twinkle of starlight peeking through the leaves of the dark forest. It was from one of the little lights she counted with her sister. With only the tiny star above her, she began to sing a song her mother had once sang for her. It was a simple song, but it had always helped her sleep when she was scared..
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine…
Hearing her sing, more lights gathered around the opening in the forest, pitying the sad little unicorn who had so lovingly counted them with her little sister.
Light that shines is the light of love,
Hides the darkness from above,
Shines on me and it shines on you,
Shows you what the power of love can do…
As she sang, she felt warmth from the melody. The song gave her courage to face the darkness and to not lose hope. She sand louder as the light around her became brighter and she felt the strength in the song.
Shine my light both bright and clear,
Shine my light both far and near,
In every dark corner that I find,
Let my little light shine!
As she sang, one little light fell down to her through the trees, giving her the ability to see in the dark places. It bounced around as it followed her through the darkness while she sang. The song granted power to the star to chase away all the shadows and spread its loving glow everywhere they went.
All around the starry sky, I’m gonna let it shine,
The dark ain’t gonna make me cry, ‘cause I’m gonna let it shine,
The star with me will never die, I’m gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
As the shadows fell away from her, she saw Ceyla curled up against a root of a large tree. She was crying lost in the darkness, but when she saw the light of the star next to her sister, she stood up and galloped as fast as she could into the warm glow.
“I am sorry, Helia! I did not listen and I was taken by the shadows of the woods when I hid in a tree! It was so scary. I thought I would never see you again!”
The little pegasus cried in her elder sister’s arms. Helia hugged and kissed her little sister who was cold, wet, and scared. With the star at their side, the two sisters were able leave the forest with the help of the stars they both loved so much, thankful for the light the stars had given them..
From that day forward, both sisters learned from the stars how to make little lights of their own. They stayed away from the forest, but they were no longer scared of it because they knew if they were ever lost again, they could let their light shine to chase away the darkness.
“And that is the story of the first illumination spell. The End.”
Celestia wrapped up her story as she dispelled the intricate orb from the room. She looked upon Sweetie Belle, who had raised her hoof, to the princess’s surprise, to ask a question.
“If the younger sister was a pegasus, how did she learn how to cast a spell from a star? Can pegasi cast illumination too?”
Princess Celestia chuckled as nopony had asked her about that detail, not even the studious Twilight Sparkle, but to be fair, Sweetie Belle was a bit older than those she normally told the tale to. “Well, no, but that is not the true purpose of the story.” The young filly tilted her head curiously as Celestia summoned a tiny blip of light in front of her.
“Illumination should not be seen as a spell you force to work, rather it is a gift given to bring joy and love to those around you. The light knows you, and you know the light. The more heart you give to it,” she said as the light slowly bulged larger and brighter, “the more it will bless you in turn with its caring glow.” She dispelled the light once more as she looked to Sweetie Belle. “Now, you try,” the princess stated, clearing her throat.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
Celestia motioned beckoned the filly with her hoof, requesting Sweetie Belle to join in the song.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Sweetie Belle tried letting go of her magic and letting it flow into what she wanted to see as the two ponies sang together in harmony.
Light that shines is the light of love,
Hides the darkness from above,
Shines on me and it shines on you,
Shows you what the power of love can do!
It was exhausting, but soon a baby blue ball of magical energy formed in front of both mares. Sweetie Belle beamed excitedly as the princess shared a warm smile, proud of the filly’s progress while they started the third verse.
Shine my light both bright and clear,
Shine my light both far and near,
In every dark corner that I find,
Let my little light shine!
Sweetie Belle couldn’t contain her enthusiasm as she poured her magic into her own brilliant ball of light. Celestia took the initiative in the song.
So are you gonna let Discord huff it out? Celestis asked.
Nuh uh, ‘cuz I’m gonna let it shine! Sweetie Belle replied
How about a windigo’s freezing shout? The princess added.
No way, ‘cuz I’m gonna let it shine! The filly bubbled.
What if the Sombra fills you with doubt? The elder quipped.
Not today, ‘cuz I’m gonna let it shine! The younger retorted.
We’re gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Sweetie Belle yawned as she felt herself drained of her magic from too much casting. The melody she had in her head slowed down as she looked to her flank to see if she had earned a magic cutie mark, however her flank was still was blank despite her recent magical breakthrough. She let her light nearly flickered out until Princess Celestia caught it just before letting it fizzle to the ground.
“What’s wrong, my little pony?”
“Oh, nothing. I was kind of hoping…” Sweetie paused as she yawned, feeling her eyes grow heavy, “hoping that I’d get a cutie mark in magic if I figured it out.”
The princess chuckled as she draped a wing over the distraught filly she had taught today. She smiled as she lifted Sweetie’s head up to look at the little orb the filly had made before opening her mouth with a reprise.
I know you struggle to find yours every day,
It feels life’s problems are here to stay,
And though the answers seem so far away,
They’ll come if you give them time, and you’re gonna be just fine, because one day you are gonna shine…
The light went out as Sweetie Belle drifted off to sleep. Placing the filly on her back, she carefully trotted to the front door. Outside, she was met with the warm, mid-afternoon summer sun shining brightly down upon Ponyville. She breathed a content sigh as she basked in the warmth of her sun.
“Sister, I would have a word with you,” bellowed Celestia’s familiar younger sister.
“Luna, what a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to see you here,” Princess Celestia remarked quietly to the princess of the night. “Do try to be quiet, the little one is sleeping.”
Luna pursed her lips inquisitively as she looked upon the young filly nestled comfortably upon the princess’s alabaster back, taking special note of the unicorn’s horn. “I see, you must have been singing your childish song again,” Luna huffed with a knowing smirk.
“Yes, I was,” Celestia offered in defense, “and it was that very same song that saved you from Discord, if you recall.”
“Yes, yes, the sun responded to your song and gave light to the world, etcetera, etcetera,” she lauded as she bounced her head back and forth through the details. “And yes, I am eternally grateful for the heavens allowing us to control them after Discord nearly destroyed their motions, but I just have one issue with you singing it so flippantly, dear sister.”
Luna pointed a hoof towards the sky, pointing out the bright afternoon sun suspended high in the sky for all the enjoy. “Yes, and how is that a problem?” the sun alicorn asked, cocking a brow at her younger sister.
“It’s nothing really, except that it is supposed to be 7:29 with the sun supposedly setting in less than a minute. Oh, and Ponyville is scheduled for snowstorm later tonight.”
Princess Celestia, with her regal mask plastered across her face, glanced out of the corner of her eye towards a panicking town center of ponies who had lost all sense of time and season. The singed hair of Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn’t helping her calm anypony down as some thought the sun was revolting against the moon, bringing an early end to winter through global warming. For a moment, the Princess Celestia swore she heard a filly from Neighpon yelling at Twilight among the crowd. A silver pop of chaotic magic followed by the rustling of a popcorn bag brought Celestia back down to Equestria.
“I must say, Sunbutt,” Discord lauded while throwing a handful of snacks into his mouth and pointing to the looming sun, “for such a strong proponent of harmony, you can sure cause some havoc when you’re not ‘on the ball’ as it were.” He held his pinstriped bag of treats near the sun alicorn’s muzzle. Offering her a few snacks he’d brought to revel in Celestia’s unintentional chaos, he shook the bag a bit revealing a mish-mash of different candies, popcorn, nuts, and a few loose screws. “Want some?”
With a quick flourish of her hoof, Celestia lowered the sun to its proper place in the sky before taking to her wings to fly Sweetie Belle back to Carousel Boutique. She remained stoically silent, keeping her eyes trained on the building as the winter chill settled once again. The cold was no match for the princess’s brightly burning cheeks, any semblance of her calm composure destroyed by overwhelming embarrassment.
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*HEErrruUUrk!*
Oh, excuse me. That must have been my heart giving out, there.
Ooooh, that story was not good for my diabetes or my fragile heart. Dear oh dear. So sweet. So cute. Such a fun read.
Yea way to beat the system!
Sequel? What happened to Applebloom?
And what was the Neighponese that she said?
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And now I know what LD-50 means. Yay for learning new things!
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As far as a sequel... maybe if I think of a story behind it. It was mostly just a plausible framing device to get Twilight frantic enough to leave the house with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo behind.
As far as the Japa- err Neighponese is concerned... Whoops! I completely forgot to add the translations in the Author Notes. My bad! Thanks, you don't remember little things like that at 1 AM.
Apple Bloom brightened for a moment only to sink as the characters made no sense to her. “It's no use,” Apple Bloom huffed in defeat. “Well, the potion didn't work right, 'cause I can't read this here letter…” Apple Bloom trailed as she heard her own voice. “Huh?”
“Wha…what is this?! Huh… why… why am I saying weird stuff when I don't mean ta?!” Apple Bloom frantically questioned getting lost in her own translation. “Twilight, Help!"
“Book,” Apple Bloom read aloud matter-of-factly grinning until she realized she did not say it correctly. “Book. BOOK! Grr… IT'S BOOK, CONSARNIT!” she wailed, her voice cracking as she lost her temper. Apple Bloom frantically pulled at her mane babbling in Neighponese on the verge of tears.
Oh, and as and added bonus, the switched steps were "Read something in your native language" followed by, "Read something in the language you want to translate." E.G. Read English to set the base language, then read the Japanese to translate. Doing them out of order results in you translating your native language into the foreign one. The more you know! *Sparkle*
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Sent you GPS error PM. Other than those, and Sombra was something she wouldn't have sang about until after Caddy became an Empress of the Crystal Empire. Since He was stricken from the records, so he wouldn't exist in the earlier days of Unicorn magic. Other than that the tale was adorable, the song ... mehish, a little cute but meh, and the CMC antics were diabetes inducing d'awwness.
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Thanks for the corrections and the comment! A couple of those were rather embarrassing being a former assistant technical scriptwriter. As far as the song is concerned, I can see where you're coming from. There's a reason I'm not a songwriter, but I am glad you enjoyed the d'awws anyway.
Also, as far the Darkness in the early days of unicorn magic is concerned, just because it may have been a rampant spreading of darkness, that doesn't necessarily mean that it was Sombra doing it back then. Correlation does not imply causation.
Edit: Oh, and the little tidbits at the end where Celestia was listing things that could put the light out was more or less ad-lib. Since it's post Crystal Empire 2-parter, I figured it was fair game. I do my best to not have contradictions in my fiction. I do not want to be on the receiving end of Phoenix Wright or Franziska Von Karma objections.
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What I meant was the song of the youngers had Sombra. Not correlation causes causation.
, and it's all good.
A very heartwarming little tale. And thats all I will say.
If only this momentary escape would last a bit longer...
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Thank you both for your kind words. And T-MS, I hope my other works can give you that same feeling, my audience of one.
Ooof.
That made me quite a bit sadder than I would've thought.
Regardless, wonderful story! I loved the little song, as my mother sang something similar. I also enjoyed you making a nod to the story being real. It would make some sense.
Sweetie is best filly.
There's nothing more heartwarming than Storytime with Celestia. That was exactly what I needed to read tonight. Loved it!
I came here after reading another story you wrote and I loved the premise...up until the song part...Nothing against you, it just felt kind of corny is all. I'm used to reading Equestria as being fully apart from Earth and thus a popular children's hymn just feels weird.
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Ahh, but corniness was the point of this early fic. The thing I don't like about this old one is I feel like I wrote Sweetie Belle too young.
The highlight was definitely Celestia and her motherly character, although my humour loving side also enjoys the end with the messing up and would have wanted more to read about it, but that would go to a too drastic shift. I mean, it's tagged comedy, but the heartwarming part is what stood out for me and made me enjoy the story the most. Also I liked the explanation for Celestia and Luna now taking control of the sun and moon because Discord has messed their circles up. Overall, a nice, sweet story that was enjoyable to read.
At last… come on, 40 words for the first sentence? Who would ever start a fic or a comment with exactly 40 words in the first sentence?