Frozen in a Nightmare

by Nerdz

Chapter Three: Coronation Day

Two stallions trotted down the corridors of the palace. One was dressed in the armor of a Solar guard, the other in that of a Lunar guard. The Lunar guard glanced at his friend.

"So...what exactly are we doing again?" The Solar guard rolled his eyes.

"My dad asked us to go wake up Princess Celestia."

"I tell ya, Sword, I still can't believe Captain Lightyear is your dad!"

"Believe it, Shield. Anyway..." he trailed off. The two guards, Solar Sword and Midnight Shield, presently stopped in front of the elder princess's bed chambers. The mare had risen at around five that morning, as usual, stepping out onto her balcony to raise the Sun, before returning to the room. Now, at seven fifteen, she had yet to be seen. The loud snores muffled by closed doors quickly told the young stallions that their Solar Princess had again fallen victim to sleep. They stood outside the door a moment, before Midnight Shield elbowed his friend in the ribs.

"You ever seen the Princess up close?" he whispered, suddenly very shy.

"'Course I have!" the other stallion answered, an uncharacteristic blush creeping onto his face "And I must say, she's gorgeous!" Clearing his throat, he lifted a hoof to knock on the door.

---

"Your Highness?" the voice caused Celestia to abruptly sit up, jerking her awake. Her aura mane was surprisingly quite tangled, her eyes crusted with sleep. The remains of a trail of drool cascaded down her cheek, staining her satin pillow. Nopony would expect the normally impeccably groomed Solar Heir to ever look like such a wreck. The look was punctuated with a loud noise as she woke, something that could be described as a cross between a snore and a snort.

"Yes?" she asked, pulling a strand of her mane from her mouth.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" a second voice called from the corridor.

"No no, you didn't!" the princess quickly spoke, sitting up with a stretch and a yawn "I've been up for a while..." her voice trailed off as she fell back asleep sitting up, her head falling to her chest. She again snorted, jerking her head up. "Who is it!?" she cried out. The first voice decided to answer.

"Still us, ma'am. You need to get ready; the gates will open soon."

"Of course....hmm, ready for what exactly?" She mumbled, continuing to doze off. Again, the second voice spoke.

"Um, you and your sister's coronation?"

"Hmm, our...conabation..." suddenly, her eyes shot open, landing on the dress in the corner of the room. Today was the day she became the High Solar Princess of Equestria. Today, she would gain full power over the day. From this day forward, she could make laws, host balls, attend various events. The day where she would get to send time with her sister all day. The start of the end of her loneliness. This was possibly the most important day of her life, and she had overslept.

"Coronation day!" she leaped from her bed and flashed her horn. When the light dimmed, she was fully dressed. "It's coronation day!" She rammed the door open, the two guards leaping to the side to avoid being trampled. She ran down the halls, stopping at her sister's door. Unaware that Luna wasn't in her room, she knocked on the door. "Luna, c'mon, it's coronation day!" She again ran down the halls, breaking into song as she ran.

"The window's open, and so is that door! I didn't think that'd happen anymore!" she lifted a plate from the table, pausing briefly at the dining room. She smiled at her reflection. "Who'd thought we own ten-thousand china plates!" she set in back down, heading for the ballroom where Pegasi maids polished the diamond chandelier. "For years, I'd walk these vacant halls. Why have a ballroom if there's no balls. Oh, finally they're opening up the gates!" The young mare cantered down a hallway decorated with finely chiseled statues.

"There'll be actual, real-live ponies. It's gonna be really strange. But, oh, how I'm so ready for a change!" Ramming a door open, the princess trotted down the stairs into a greenhouse. "For the first time in forever, there's music and there's light! For the first time in forever, I'll dance throughout the night! I don't know if I'm elated or spastic, but I'm somewhere in that zone, 'cause, for the first time in forever," The mare reached a hoof out to pet a small gosling as it's family stepped out from the small lake "I'm not gonna be alone." she paused her singing for a moment "I can't wait to meet everypony!" the girl giggled as the gosling nuzzled her hoof. She grinned at the thought that presently entered her mind. "Maybe I'll finally make some friends!"

She again began to sing as she entered the castle, heading down vast corridors towards the Royal Gallery. "Tonight, imagine me, gown and all, excitedly stepping from behind a wall. A picture of sophisticated grace. They all suddenly see me standing there; the friendly Princess, tall and fair. I won't be able to wipe the smile from my face! We'll laugh and talk all evening. Hmm, sounds totally bazaar! Absolutely nothing like the life I've lead so far!" Celestia smiled, shoving the gallery doors open, running around and posing in front of the various paintings.

"For the first time in forever, there's magic, and there's fun. For the first time in forever," she smiled at a painting of her and Luna, the one she'd always called her favorite "I might find a friend in someone. And, I know that it's totally crazy to dream I'd make some friends at this dance," she paused in front of a painting of several laughing mares "But for the first time in forever, at least I'll have a chance."

---

Princess Luna walked up to the foyer window. She had gone there to mentally prepare herself for the coronation, which, in tradition, would last all day and well into the night, with the entire kingdom in attendance. She used her magic the smooth a few wrinkled out of her gown. Taking in a shaky breath, the Lunar Princess began to sing softly.

"Don't let them in. Don't let them see." she stepped over in front of a portrait of her father on his coronation day. He stood stoically, an orb-like object decorated like a full Moon resting on his horn. "Be the good mare you've always had to be." Luna flared her own horn, gently pulling of her horn cover, before glancing down at a similar object on the table below the painting. "Conceal," she slipped her own horn into the hole at the base of the object "don't feel." She turned around "Put on a show!" Glancing up, she saw that inky, star-etched patches of black was rapidly spreading across the orb. "But make one wrong move, and they'll all know." Quickly, she set the orb back on the table, then lifted her horn cover.

"But it's only for today." unbeknownst to her, Celestia was standing at a window, watching as ponies gathered outside the palace gates, saying the exact same thing. Luna pulled the cover over her horn. "It's an agony to wait..." again, Celestia unknowingly mimicked her littler sister, only her grin grew as the crowd did, while Luna's expression only got more serious. The younger princess walked towards the door, flinging it open with her magic. "Tell the guards to open up the gates!" she cried out as she was escorted to the doors of the palace chapel.

---

"The gates!" Celestia squealed as the massive doors opened before running down extensive hallways towards the chapel. She began to sing as loud as she could, unknowing that her sister was singing her own thoughts of the event at the same time, only in a whisper.

"For the first time in forever,"

"Don't let them in, don't let them see."

"I'm getting what I've been dreaming of!"

"Be the good mare you've always had to be."

"A chance to change my lonely world,"

"Conceal..."

"and find a friend in someone!"

"Conceal, don't feel; don't let them know!" Luna stopped singing as she came to the chapel doors.

"And I know that it ends tomorrow, so it's gotta be today! But for the first time in forever...for the first time in forever," grinning, the mare spread her wings and flew the rest of the way to the chapel "nothing's in my way!" she skidded to a stop directly beside her sister with a grunt. She quickly smoothed out her dress, then, glancing at her sister, straightened her posture and tucked in her wings.

The doors opened slowly, and the girls walked along the carpet that let to the podium where the reverend stood waiting. Above them, a choir of Pegasi gently flapped, singing ancient songs in a language long forgotten, only stopping when the princesses stood before the reverend. The guards, Solar Sword and Midnight Shield, stepped forward, each carrying a silk pillow. Sword's pillow carried a gold orb carved to look like the Sun, while the iron one that Shield carried was fashioned to look like the full Moon. Celestia bent her head down, sliding her horn into a hole at the base of the Solar Orb. Luna bent down to do the same, but the sound of the reverend clearing his throat stopped her.

"Your Majesty," he whispered "the horn cover..."

"Y-yes..of course." Luna whispered back. Her horn flared as she pulled the piece of fabric from it. Setting it on the pillow, she then donned the Lunar Orb. Both mares spread their wings as they turned to face the crowd of ponies as they stood. Behind them, the reverend spoke in ancient Equestrian. Luna's eyes widened slightly as she felt her horn light itself. Glancing up, she saw, to her horror, that a star-donned patch of inky black was spreading inside the orb and a few trails of it were making there way across the bottom.

"I give you Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria!" Thankfully, the reverend finished his speech. By the time Celestia had turned around, Luna was already pulling her horn cover back on. The younger mare quickly composed herself, and the two stallions backed away. The sisters turned around as the room erupted in applause. Celestia responded by waving wildly at the crowd, while Luna forced a smile.

"There's that," she said to herself, "Now if I can just survive the after party..."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait everypony! This chapter was based off of the scenes within "For the First Time in Forever", and the coronation scene, and contains a parodized version of the aforementioned song.