By 10:30 AM, one would think Discord had broken loose for the amount of chaos and running around that was occurring in the court room. Rather than being used for, well, court- it played the role of dressing room for six new Alicorns as they prepared for the coronation ceremony which would be occurring just an hour-and-a-half from now out in the gardens surrounding the castle. Guests were already arriving, and Applejack would have given her hat to get out of all the primping and fussing and go out and talk to her family instead.
Luna had seemed to have hired the whole castle staff to doll them up and get them looking, well, regal. Twilight had found out just thirty minutes ago that the ponies Luna had called to her last night were to make their regalia; The horseshoes, the crowns- Although Luna and Celestia both wore a necklace as part of their regalia, it had been decided that the Elements would play that role for them. Twilight had wondered if a necklace would be made for her in place of a crown due to her Element having taken the form of a tiara. It was usually around this point in her loop of thoughts that her maid (Such a strange thing to think, her maid) would accidentally pull on her mane a bit too hard as she carefully braided in the blue and gold ribbons she held.
Rarity was enjoying the attention, it was like one big spa day before the biggest fashion show of her life, to put it in a way that Sweetie Belle could understand. Even Fluttershy seemed to not mind the bustle, perhaps due to her brief stint as a model; This chaos could hardly match the kind before an important runway show, except this time she didn’t have to do anything except… What does one do during a coronation anyway? Accept graciously, I suppose. Fluttershy guessed. That still sounds much nicer than having to try and do a catwalk in front of hundreds of ponies just waiting for you to make a mistake… Fluttershy shuddered slightly at the memory and her maid promptly apologized, thinking that she had gotten a chill off the open window.
‘Oh no, it’s fine.. I’m just… Nervous.”
“Quite understandable, but don’t worry, Princess Luna will make sure nothing goes wrong.” Sweet Tea said quickly, patting Fluttershy gently on the back, before resuming her careful braiding in of the cherry blossoms and tiny forget-me-nots into Fluttershy’s mane and tail.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, (Or hoof, as one might say) seemed to be ruffled by all the attention, and was quite glad when her maid, Bright Shine, decided that her mane was colourful enough to not need anymore attention than a good brushing. Just as Bright Shine was finishing, Rainbow suddenly jumped as something occurred to her for the first time, startling the poor maid pretty badly.
“Oh no.”
“What is it?” Bright asked quickly, naturally worried due to where her role lay.
“I just realized, I’m not gonna be able to join the Wonderbolts anymore if I’m a Princess.” RD was almost... whining.
“Rainbow, you can’t be serious.” Rarity accosted in disbelief, “You’re going to be a Queen, you could rename or disband the Wonderbolts if you so please! You could name them the Rainbowdashers, or…”
“The Rainbow-wonders! Or the Dash-bolts! Or-“
“I get the idea Pinkie.” Dash laughed, cutting off her bouncing friend, whose maid had long given up trying to tame her mane.
“They’ll also be performing in your honor this afternoon,” one of the servants said with a mischievous grin.
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the look on Rainbow’s face at that news; First came the wide-eyes and the jaw drop, then a fangirl squeal and a happy prance that made even the solemn butler smirk.
Spike came into the room, carefully holding a tray of drinks for everypony. As he ran about delivering them, he got smile after smile that matched his own beaming grin. There was no doubt, Spike had been simply ecstatic since last night.
“Hat stays off please, Miss Applejack.” Dust Feather said softly, trying to stay determined under the look she was getting from AJ.
“Ah know Ah can’t wear it during the ceremony, but can’t Ah wear it just for now?”
“If it weren’t for the scourge of hat hair, yes.” Dust replied, trying to make a joke of it to ease AJ’s disappointment.
“Consarnet.” AJ grumbled, sweeping her hat off and handing it gently to Spike as he dashed over to assist.
Black Opal rubbed the top of Spike’s head as he came back over to Twilight. ‘I can see why Miss Sparkle calls you her number one assistant.”
“Just glad I can help.” Spike grinned back.
Both Spike and Sweetie Belle had done their best that morning to be as of much use as possible, whether it was running items back and forth or delivering messages. Sweetie Belle had been buzzed since last night, much to Rarity’s exasperated amusement, and had apparently been given a tour of the whole castle last night in an attempt to wind her down so they could sleep.
At the moment, Spike was playing waiter, while Sweetie Belle directed various ponies who were still unfamiliar with the castle to where they needed to go. In fact, she was bringing in an older stallion right now, who was carrying in a large box with a hint of pride.
The maids went over to him quickly, excited and relieved, before returning to their various “positions” with a small box held by their side with magic.
“Your horseshoes are done!” Black declared happily, before looking up at the clock. “Oh, and just in time too! Here you are Miss Sparkle, these ones are yours…”
With a fluent motion Black Opal pulled out four beautiful pale gold slippers, the front two decorated by a large amethyst six-point star that perfectly matched Twi’s cutie mark in shape and size. Twilight carefully put them on, before turning to look at herself in the mirror. They fit perfectly, and although part of her didn’t want to admit it, they looked gorgeous against her purple fur.
One by one her friends got theirs as well; Fluttershy’s were a white gold decorated with tiny amethyst and pink flowers that matched her Element. Rainbow’s were a solid rich gold, simple and suited for the blunt daredevil. Rarity’s were similar in colour to RD’s, but had several tiny diamonds inlaid into the gold that glittered with every step. Applejack’s were a brilliant bronze with gold edging and laces that held up tiny autumn leaves to shine against her orange fur. Pinkie’s, however, were almost identical to Luna’s, and were a cheerful blue that matched her cutie mark and Element.
A few minutes after receiving the first of their regalia, their maids finished their fussing, and the girls were set and ready… Well, in appearance anyway. With little else to do, the girls chatted about whatever came to mind… And naturally, that meant starting with their regalia.
“I like’em.” Rainbow grinned. “They kinda look like they could be part of an epic set of armor, don’t you think?”
“Ah didn’t expect to like mine, and ah don’t like fancy-schmancy stuff, but...” Applejack smiled, as she admired the laces in the mirror.
“They look so pretty and autumn-y AJ!” Pinkie squealed cheerfully, bouncing by Twilight’s side. ‘Do you like yours Rarity?”
“LIKE them?! I LOVE them! You know what they say, diamonds are a girls best friend.” Rarity replied mischievously, holding up her hoof to see the tiny glittering jewels better.
‘What about you Twilight? Oh oh, and I really like yours Fluttershy, they looks so pretty against your fur!”
“Th-thank you Pinkie Pie.”
“And yes Pinkie, I do like mine. They just… Feel weird, I guess.”
“Like they don’t fit?”
“Like I shouldn’t be wearing them…” Twilight muttered in return, and AJ walked over to her with an understanding smile.
“It’s okay Twilight…” She said softly, pulling her friend into a hug. “Everything’ll be okay.”
“I know Applejack, everything’s just happening so fast.”
‘Tell me about it.” Fluttershy said unexpectedly; But she was smiling almost playfully, and Twilight was soon returning her grin.
The conversation soon turned to sillier things, each girl trying to make the others laugh. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie Pie had the most luck, and soon nerves melted under the warmth of friendship. The chatting and jesting only ended when Luna quietly stepped into the courtroom. Her hoofsteps were barely audible, and yet they brought a sudden silence to the room.
She looked at each one of them, her aura of calm no different than it had been the night before. “It is time.”
~~~
For those who have not seen the amazing gardens that have been simply dubbed “The Canterlot Castle Gardens” allow me to describe them.
Outside of the castle, running along the walls and filling the air with scent of flowers and the songs of animals, is the largest cultivated garden in all of Equestria. It is the home to many animals otherwise unseen within the borders of the Princess’s domain, and is the dream of every botanist or animal lover to visit. These gardens are completely surrounded by a beautiful wrought iron gate that is covered in rare rose vines, separating them from the courtyards behind the castle while still being pleasant to the eye.
And it is in these courtyards that the stage for the Coronation ceremony has been set up. Upon the stage, the mane six are lined up, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and finally, Pinkie Pie. Down and around the stage in the seats that had been painstakingly set up, hundreds of ponies have gathered, nobles and family alike.
As Luna steps up onto the stage, holding a red silken pillow with her magic, the cushion weighed down by three newly forged head pieces along with Celestia’s old crown and necklace, the crowd falls silent in respect.
Without a word, Luna gently lifted up Celestia’s old necklace, and settled it upon Twilight’s shoulders. Twilight, in realization of what it was that she was now wearing, opened her mouth to protest, when Luna told her something silently through the magic that they know shared. Sister wished for you to have this, Twilight. She has wished it from the beginning. She knows with great confidence that you can carry it with great pride and grace upon your shoulders.
Twilight’s mouth clamped shut as her eyes filled with tears, and her wings clenched tightly to her sides as she struggled to hold her composure. With a gentle nod, Luna walked on to Fluttershy, and gave her Celestia’s old crown. The amethyst which glittered upon the center of it perfectly matched the ones that adorned her horseshoes. Fluttershy thanked the two so softly that no-one was even sure it was heard, but Luna smiled at her sweetly before moving on.
One of the new headpieces, a pair of gold laurels, lifted itself from the pillow in the gentle sway of Luna’s magic and settled themselves upon Rainbow Dash’s brilliant mane. It was about this point that Fluttershy noticed Twilight’s composure beginning to break, as silent tears made tracks down her violet fur.
A bronze tiara, its shape reminiscent of the rim of a certain cowgirl hat, was given to Applejack, who immediately straightened up with new pride and determination. As the two exchanged silent words, Rarity noticed the single piece left upon the pillow, a light gold wire and jewel headpiece that glittered solemnly in the afternoon sun. With a silent whisper through magic to Pinkie, she drew her attention to what she had realized.
Oh, I hope it’s for you then Rarity, it would look so nice with your mane! Mine’s so crazy, I don’t really need a crown. Pinkie replied promptly, causing Rarity’s cheeks to pinken at the compliment.
Sure enough, as Luna reached the two, the final piece was given to Rarity, settling brightly against her white fur. Rarity bowed her head in silent gratitude, and Luna stepped over to stand in front of Pinkie.
Although to Pinkie Pie, it had simply been a friend’s duty; her efforts to cheer the Royal Sisters up, sending “Get Well” gifts, and stopping by the palace to try and bring a smile with her antics- To Luna it meant more than that, and they had not been forgotten.
And now, as the two stood eye to eye, Pinkie searching for the formal words to say that it was perfectly alright that Luna didn’t have a crown for her, them being a rush order and all… Luna, with a shimmer of soft blue magic, lifted the soft onyx tiara from her own head, and settled it onto Pinkie’s unruly and brilliant pink curls.
For perhaps the first time in her life, Pinkie Pie was perfectly and completely speechless. It was a long, quiet moment, before she was able to find her voice to whisper out a heartfelt and tearful 'Thank you.’
No. Thank you. Luna replied softly, a warm smile upon her lips, before turning to the crowd.
“With the powers of the Equestrian Royal Court, and of the powers my parents gave me and My Elder Sister Princess Celestia; We crown these six, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity Belle, and Pinkamena Diane Pie, the Bearers of The Elements of Harmony, your new rulers and Queens!”
Tsrif!
And 6 Queens makes less sense than two princesses in my head, but, then again, I am insane
... STILL no freaking out about immortality? Really? They STILL haven't thought about that bit? I'm not sure if I'm disappoint or not...
Too much doom and gloom- Time for some cheese!
(Wow, someone else beat me to first comment. o.o)
Awww so many tear herders in this story... Continue.
I didn't think they ALL swung that way....
But yes it does seem really odd to have a princess conferring a queenship on the new rulers.
1321442
I could be misreading your comment, but I'll say this now anyway.
The only shipping I do among the mane 6 is friendship.
Sorry if that annoyed you -- it was only meant in humor.
1321466
Not at all! Just wanted to clear up any confusion
This was posted before your reply....
You have to admit the line "your new rulers and Queens!" just sets up a joke like that. Despite the solemnity of the situation I would guess at least some of the audience would be holding in chuckles from that one.
1321495
I'm afraid I don't see the joke.
It appears I may still yet be naive.
Ok -- how many Male Alicorns do you know of?
w00t!!! MORE!
Nice. Though it escalates quickly... way too quickly, but oh well...
Oh, and it is Belle... not Bell... Sweetie Belle, Rarity Belle! Could you fix that? It's probably auto spell-check or something.
1321587
*Evil Grin*
1321601
That it was.
Curses, I actually felt a little sad at Twilight's reaction.
1321616
Ahh, thanks for that. Now I can read without constantly having a Bell Hammer landing on my head. Seriously, I can't explain that, but I was capable of seeing this issue while simply looking at any random part of the story that contained that name. It was like a freaking spotlight... Bell! Ouch! Bell! YOWWW!! BELL! MAKE IT STOP!!!!!
And you know... I have read so many fics, but I actually can't recall ever seeing Rarity Belle as a name... peculiar...
Pinkamena Dianne Pie, Queen of the Night, Ruler of Dreams and Nightmares, Raiser of the Moon.
I completely approve of the new dark queen.
1321856 ... What the hell kind of logic is that? Yeah, that might be true, but they haven't even begun to think about immortality at ALL, and THAT is what my problem is. They can't think about how to deal with the problem if they haven't addressed it yet, and that's the problem. It's like they're oblivious to the fact that they'll outlive their family.
1321869
It's not that they're oblivious to it, more that it hasn't crossed their mind yet.
To equate it, these are young woman, college kids practically. Most people, and I imagine ponies, are not thinking about death or family funerals or any of that at that age.
heck, most of my friends at that age aren't thinking past next week.
1321965 This.
So true...
1321362 Yup
1321392
1321542 Drag Queens. With no male Alicorns, calling them rulers and Queens is not really necessary which opens the interpretation that they are a different type of queen.
1321392 does this mean I win the internet?
1321392
1321430 Who isn't?
1321736 Why should her name even be Rarity Belle? Sweetie Belle is just a two-part name. I mean, AJ isn't Applejack Bloom, just because her sister is called Apple Bloom.
1322967
Nope, it really is "Rejal"
1323735
One of my favourite Fanfic authors made her full name "Rarity Belle" and I liked it, as it would translate out to "Rare Beauty"
It's just personal taste.
1324099
This is a nice fic, it has joined my list of favorites and I can't wait to read more. Have you considered my proposal to join my Alicorn Rainbow group? It is only peripheral but there aren't many fics that deal with this at all.
1321430
never mind you found it
1326583
I have a tendency to capitalize words that I feel require minor emphasis that spoken tone would inflict in RL, if that's what's making your brain hurt.
My tendency to capitalize Luna's "Sister" is to echo the respect she would say it with.
First they started off with two princesses, then they get 6 Queens.
Seems legit
So many feels!
1326975
It's is FANONically believed the Cakes to be Pinkie's Aunt/Uncle, as well as that Cloudsdale is generally in charge of Equestria's weather, and it's various weather teams.
And I've already said that the capitalization is deliberate for emphasis, so by all means, STOP POINTING THEM OUT.
I'll fix the other two errors, I dropped a word accidentally in the 'Fixed first" bit.
1326869
lol
Am I the only one who noticed Equestria is officially screwed?
1321495
Do you mean this kind of Queen?
1334953
I was wondering how long it would take someone to notice that XD
Good use of semicolon, but you don't capitalize after one
Fluttershy's Cutie Mark, and, by extension, the symbol of her Element, is three butterflies, not flowers
Should start with a ", not a '; period should be a comma; while the semicolon is used correctly, I think the position would be better filled by a period; and unexpectedly is right. Whew.
This should be italicized and/or have quotes around it to differentiate it from the narration
if sweetie belle is there....will the other two crusaders show up? since applebloom is applejack's sister
1339687
I am quite aware that Fluttershy's cutie mark is butterflies, I just said they were the SAME COLOR as her cutie mark/Element, which if you had been paying attention instead of nitpicking you would have noticed. Also, go look at the cover art and take a wild guess at why I incorporated flowers.
Finally, If you are going to keep playing editor, will you stop commenting and just mail them to me? It's embarrassing you pointing out "mistakes" that aren't even there, and my actual editor is getting flustered that you're making it look like she's doing a bad job before she even has a chance to get to the chapter due to our crazy schedules.
1345734 Ah, sorry, I'll do that
1321869
I agree with the author they are all young adults. Must of us also knows that we will outlive our parents. That we will see them grow old and die, even if they are still relatively young.
It's not pleasant to think about, death never is.
The fact that they are now immortal, does mean that they will watch everyone, not just these older them them die, but that is not really a problem that they have to deal with for the first couple of decades. Why would you want to take the sorrows in advance, that doesn't make them smaller. There is no reason to morn a friend that have not yet died and with all likelihood will live for years, even if he is going to die within decades.
Also, and this is kind of important, you can't use "immortal" and "eternal" as synonymous.
Immortal means absence of senescence, biological decay. To be immortal means that you will never grow old, it does not mean that you cannot die, just that you don't have an expiration date. Technologically speaking the human race are properly only a hundred years or two away from obtaining this kind of biological immortality.
A second concept is Infinity. Infinity is when something last an indefinable length on a dimension, that can be time. Gabriel's Horn is an example of something that has an infinite length and surface area, but a finite volume.
Infinity infinity is something with no endpoint.
A third concept is indestructible .
Indestructibility is a more radical version of immortality. Here the body not only does not decay, it also becomes impossible practically impossibly to destroy. Nothing known in the universe is indestructible. Therefore for a fiction that wants to an infinite existence, giving an "indestructible" body is not enough, as logic dictates that any body must be destructible, therefore to make a being indestructible and thereby infinite you need to introduce another substance as matter is in its very nature finite.
That other substance is spirit. Spirit is the hypothetical eternal part of a being, the substance that the "soul" is build from.
Many philosophers believe that you cannot have a world of pure matter, as there would then be no room for thoughts, nor a world of pure spirit, as there would be no room for change. Spirit is in its essence eternal, and therefore also indestructible.
Eternity the last concept and the most important one to understand is a timeless existence. It does not mean to exist forever, it means to exist outside of time, to simply be.
A being cannot be eternal, as the very definition of being is thought and thoughts require change.
Now to put the tail on the donkey I can say that time, like space is a concept indicating relations among objects and forces. But it is also something that is in itself "timely" and thereby not eternal.
The existence of time is a paradox in a way.
It dictates a beginning and thereby and end, as everything in time is finite.
On the other hand, it dictates that there cannot be and end, as the drawing of any border requires there to be something on the other side.
This is a conundrum, but something I have a very cleaver solution to. In order for time to make sense in a cosmological world picture, you need to take the overall picture of time into the paradigm of eternity thereby making it unchanging an fixed. You can do this by making time a circle.
Anything and everything can exist in any way we want, as long as long as everything is ultimately destroyed in a big crush that leaves nothing behind, then it can start over and the circle becomes complete. It is imperative that the big crush destroy anything and everything not eternal as it would otherwise not be a complete circle.
And the ultimate circle of time must be complete and perfect, else you could always draw another circle outside of it, and logic dictates that there must be a biggest circle.
Infinity is therefore (outside of a mathematical construct) an illusion, as as everything must end. This includes not only time but also space. there is only a finite amount of possibilities out there. the total number may dwarf a googolplex by a googolplex in a googolplex, but it is still a real number.
Eternity can be "acquired" by completely eliminating everything material and timely with your existence to a point where you become one, and fully join the background spirit as an undifferentiated whole, a raindrop in an ocean.
And by that you should be able to see that death merely becomes the destruction of the form the material and the will, but not the spirit powering that will.
Anyway I forgot where I was going with this. But to
1321965 like your story hope to see an update soon.
SIR!!! OUR SHEILDS ARE FAILING!!! WE CAN'T REPEL AWESOMENESS OF THIS MAGNITUDE!!!
Fluttershy Posey and Applejack Apple...
1353868 Activate the backup shields!
ponybot.net/pix/2457.gif
So much D'awwwwwwwww
and at that moment, evil ponies with black hearts scheme and begin to plan how to bring this new six queen government down to install a dictatorship of pain and suffering that will last until the end of time.
Also, why only Sweetie get castle invite? I mean... what about YOUR sister, AJ? or your number one fan, RD?
1321362 Sice santiy iis a point of view defined by the observer and you are the only know observer in your own head you are as sane as you think you are
HOLY CRAP! somepony tried to tame pinkies mane?! What did they use a whip Back Back foul beast I can see it now!javascript:smilie('');
Pinkies mane Roar! javascript:smilie('');
Oh no it ate the Whip!!!javascript:smilie('');
lol
1323553 Congrtulations on my 1 millionth bit!
Oh, wow. What do I win?
Absolutely nothing!