Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 0:12 - The Elder Sister

Chapter 0:12 – The Elder Sister
Year ¿1237? of the 2^nd Age

“Why do you have to leave?” Luna asked plaintively. “You could do the ritual here.”

“It’s far too dangerous,” Celestia said with a shake of her head, her long, unbound rose-colored mane drifting across her shoulders as she did so. “The book warns that nopony is to be near while the ritual is performed, or they might be harmed. No, even if you leave, I can’t do it here. Imagine what the townsponies would do if they saw me destroy the hutch.”

“The book,” Luna huffed disdainfully in the teenage way that was little changed even in Discord’s utterly chaotic world. “I don’t understand why it’s so important that you become an alicorn.”

“You and I are special, Luna,” Celestia said. “We’re sorceresses.”

“Witches,” Luna said, looking back through the door of their hutch.

Ever since being banished from Pasturknack, the duo had been on the move, seldom able to stay in one place for long. Manerthan had proven itself no more welcoming than any of the other towns and villages they’d visited along the way, though few of the other towns had tried to kill them for being sorceresses. It was especially hypocritical that this treatment came from a city where many worshipped Discord, trying to obtain his favor and be spared from the chaos—to little effect, as far as Celestia could tell. The Mad God wasn’t going to be swayed by the pleas of a few ponies, even if they tried to kill the “false gods” who could also alter the land.

They’d continued to travel across Equestria, seeking knowledge about the sorceresses before Discord’s time, and for a place where they could live without fear of being thrown out or attacked. They’d never really found it, but Culpaneigh was working for the moment. The hutch that the two sisters shared was outside of town, but the townsponies weren’t concerned with driving them any farther away than that, and they were free to come into the town on market day. Neither sorceress was foolish enough to think that they were liked by the ponies of the town, though. They were regarded suspiciously and only tolerated because they kept to themselves and didn’t pose a noticeable threat.

“That’s why,” Celestia said, voice hardening as she gestured in the direction of Culpaneigh. “They despise us, but sorceresses should be respected and adored, not hated.” Or at least feared more than they are loathed. “Discord took that from us with his chaos magic. In us, ponies see only more of what terrifies them in the world: uncertainty. We must be strong enough that nopony would turn us away, that we can be seen as distinct from Discord’s power.”

“Does it have to be today?” Luna argued weakly. “What if you’re gone and Raider comes looking for healing again?”

“Then you will have to ease the pain in his leg,” Celestia replied. “I will return, Luna, I promise.”

The younger of the pair didn’t like the idea of her sister leaving, but there were no other complaints she could voice, so she didn’t. Celestia had struck right at the heart of her fears; the two of them had only each other in this world, and the alicornification ritual was dangerous. But Celestia had promised to return, and she would always keep her promises to her sister, wouldn’t she?

Celestia left the hutch, filled saddlebags strapped securely to her hindquarters so that they wouldn’t float away, and struck off in the opposite direction from Culpaneigh. She’d already chosen a spot for her ascension, a place isolated enough that nopony was likely to stumble across her and witness the ritual; yet close enough that she’d be able to make her way back home if something went wrong (provided it didn’t go so terribly wrong that she was no longer alive). The alicornification ritual was extremely dangerous, according to the tattered volume in Celestia’s saddlebags that she and Luna had found in the Crescent Canyon, and many sorceresses and sorcerers had died or severely mutilated themselves trying to perform it. She wouldn’t do so, though; her path was the same as the alicorns to precede her: Yliiena the First and Nostracom the Wise. Her aging was already slowed so that the extraordinary lifespan and vitality brought by alicornification wouldn’t overwhelm her. She’d spent the last seven years studying sorcery, seeking out any scrap of knowledge she could find in order to improve her abilities, all to prepare her for this one moment. She was ready. If only she could believe it more.

She reached her destination in no time, an angular onyx island floating in a greasy pink lake at the bottom of a depression. Wishing to conserve her energy for the ritual, Celestia hopped along other floating stones in the lake until she reached the center instead of teleporting across. Once there, she unpacked her saddlebags and began to arrange the contents in a magic circle. According to the book, each alicorn had to design their own circle for alicornification, though there were a few constants. Nostracom the Wise had been the one to figure that out, after all the failures before him to replicate the feat Yliiena the First had accomplished. As she arranged things, Celestia wondered what they would call her one day. The previous two alicorns both had titles, so it was only fitting to assume she’d have one attributed to herself.

Celestia could delay the inevitable no longer. Standing in the center of the magic circle she’d constructed, she began the ritual, bending the power of sorcery to her will. A magical flame lit within her and slowly spread outwards, suffusing the spells she was weaving with golden light, making the invisible visible. The skulls of small creatures that Celestia had placed around the circle popped with the heat that she couldn’t feel, a phantom warmth caused by the interaction of her spells. The ritual enchantments spun around her, and then began to slow.

Something was pushing against her, keeping her from completing the ritual. She poured more energy into her spells, but they continued to diminish. Celestia was in a panic. She had to complete this ritual. She couldn’t return to Luna in failure.

No!

Celestia lashed out with all the power she could muster, and the barrier that had stood in her way shattered as the stone around her hooves did the same. She struggled to maintain her footing as the onyx below her shifted and heated, and the spells surrounding her whirled into a typhoon of power. Golden and orange and red, the magic seemed to be a whirlwind of flame, and Celestia screamed as the power closed in around her and penetrated her body.

A well of molten energy filled Celestia, and she could feel it attempting to burst her open and escape, but she wouldn’t allow that to happen. She kept a firm grip on the spell she’d created, forcing it to do as she willed it. Her insides churned and boiled as her organs were rearranged for no discernable reason. Her back ached and two new wings tore themselves free of the flesh, spraying blood and feathers as they grew from nothing into majestic ivory wings larger than those of the average pegasus. Her forehead throbbed as a new bone formed there as well, a horn forcing its way through the skin that had never had to leave space for it before. For a moment, she felt the transformation would break her; but then she was through the other side, magnificent wings upon her back, a long and imperious horn jutting from her head. The magic dissipated, and Celestia lowered to the ground from where she’d been levitating.

She was shocked to discover that she was not standing upon shattered onyx, but on healthy grass-covered soil. The onyx island had been transformed, as had the greasy pink lake. A lush, green isle now rested peacefully in a lake of clear water. In a circle around Celestia, reaching partway up the depression the lake was within, the effect was the same. Her alicornification ritual had pushed back the chaos of Discord, if only in a small area. She had the power to oppose the Mad God. She, Celestia, the first alicorn in over thirteen centuries, without any formal tutelage, had achieved what so many had tried and failed to achieve. She was an alicorn, and nothing could stand against her.

Comments

[TasermonsPartner]

Her forehead throbbed as a new bone formed there as well, a horn forcing its way through the skin that had never had to leave space for it before.

Huh, does...this mean that she and Luna were earth ponies originally? Or that she had a horn and the spell just made it longer?

This also brings up interesting implications for Twilight's inevitable ascension. In the show, it was shown that she had to accomplish a great deed in order to ascend, but will she have to use the spell here on her own, or is Celestia able to cast the spell onto her and others?

[FireOfTheNorth]

10963496
Yes, prior to their ascension, Celestia and Luna were earth ponies.