Chapter XV: Gone Forever (Part 1) - Tenth Year
Celestia’s sun illuminated Bowen’s room to announce another brand new day, as the little human boy opened his eyes and smiled knowing what day it was.
No matter how many times it usually happened, Bowen always liked to start this special day of his by excitedly jumping on his bed and chanting, “It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here!”
He then jumped down from his bed with a somersault as Shining’s teachings were really starting to pay off, and then ran directly to the shower. After he finished hosing himself, Bowen put on his clothes, and as he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw that his t-shirt’s chest was still blank, meaning he and his mother were starting to believe his species don’t get cutie marks so they decided the day he’d discover his talent, they’d design him a cooler cutie mark and add it to all his t-shirts.
He then proceeded to exit the room, but before opening the door, he remembered every morning on his previous birthdays. An evil yet inocent grin crossed his face, he carefully counted to three and opened the door and made a quick jump back inside the room.
“Got you, Mommy!” he said, knowing she’d be there waiting with a crushing hug ready.
But there was nopony there. It was strange, since it had been the same the last nine birthdays as usual. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, but before he could act…
“Got you!”
He felt the crushing hug that he loved so much given by his favorite pony in all Equestria: his mother, Princess Celestia.
“Mommy? But how?” Bowen asked, as he still felt her forelegs crushing him against her chest.
Celestia giggled, and then replied, “Well, a mother is always a step ahead, sweetie.”
“Yes, I can see that now,” Bowen said, and then returned the hug by nuzzling his cheek on her neck.
“So, how is my birthday boy today?” Celestia asked, after standing up with her son on her hoof.
“I’m better than ever, Mommy. I’m finally 10 years old, and you know what that means, right?” Bowen replied excitedly.
Celestia sighed, and then answered, “Yes, sweetie. I know, and I promise we will discuss about that with all the family members present, but for now… COME HERE!”
They then hugged again and stayed that way for minutes, as they loved each other so much and didn’t mind if time would stop in that very moment, because both in their hearts knew neither of them could live without each other anymore. Celestia then smothered her son’s face with many multiple kisses, and then she started to tickle his sides, before blowing some raspberries on his belly.
They then hugged and shared a quick loving cuddle.
“I… I know I say this a lot but… I love you, Mommy!” Bowen said, while burying himself underneath Celestia’s chest fur.
“You can say it all the times as you want, sweetie, even the more the better, and I love you too,” Celestia replied, before she kissed him on the forehead, and continued the hug while she rubbed his back with her hoof.
After the sweet tender moment they both shared, they made their way to the dining hall to have breakfast, with Celestia happily walking around every other hall with her son on her back and holding onto her neck and everlasting flowing mane, as always, many guards and servants congratulated the boy, exactly one second after opening the door, Bowen was pulled inside by a warm light blue aura, until two hooves covered with yellowish gold shoes were already waiting for him. Bowen as well extended his arms to hug back the owner of that aura, which was none other than Cadance, but she was now more beautifuler than before.
She then said, “Happy birthday, my sweet and cute little cousin! Oh, you are growing up too fast! I can’t let that happen! I just cannot! As the Princess of Love, I order you to stop doing it!”
“Hehehehe, I love you too, Cadance,” Bowen said, as he nuzzled with his cousin’s chest fur.
Cadance then kept nuzzling her cousin, before she kissed him on the forehead, until they heard another voice.
“Bowen! It’s so good you to see you again!” the voice said.
Bowen’s eyes widened when he heard that voice, but he already knew who it was, so he turned around and saw her.
“Flying Hope?!” he happily replied as Cadance released him to let him hug his older filly friend and her mom.
“Oh my, you’ve really grown up, young colt,” Sweet Rose said, as she returned the hug and rubbed his shoulders with her hoof. He meant those words, by this moment Bowen was almost as tall as her, she and everypony started to believe that someday, he maybe nearly as tall as his mother, until Bowen’s happy moment didn’t end there until he then heard another cute voice he also recognized.
“Happy birthday, Bowen!”
He turned around again and saw his dear friend Twilight and her family coming, including her friend Moon Dancer. Twilight was already in front of him hugging him, before none of them noticed Flying Hope glaring at them.
“And who is she?” Flying asked, while she pointed at Twilight with her hoof.
“Oh yeah. Sorry, I must’ve forgot. Flying Hope, this is Twilight Sparkle, my mom’s most faithful student and these two are her parents Twilight Velvet and Night Light, and this is her big brother, Shining Armor, who’s also my personal bodyguard and skills trainer, and that filly is her best friend, Moon Dancer. Twilight, everypony, this is Flying Hope, my very first best friend.”
“HIS BEST FRIEND!” she added, and gaining some giggles from the adults, realizing that she was so cute when she was jealous.
“It’s uhh… good to meet your acquaintance,” Moon Dancer said in reply. Flying Hope nodded in reply.
Bowen was a little confused by his friend’s weird attitude, but he then let it go when he noticed something on Twilight’s back that he suddenly recognized.
“Oh yeah! You brought Spike along!” He said, and then lifted the baby dragon up with his hands to hold him.
“Yes, he’s been behaving very good lately, so I thought in bringing him here today,” Twilight said.
“Cool,” Bowen said, until he ticked Spike’s belly with his fingers, until Flying Hope then joined in before nuzzling his cheek and kissing it.
Bowen somehow loved to play with Spike so more often much, since he was originally given to Twilight by Princess Celestia, and she liked to bring him over to the palace for the three of them to play together, and he loved those moments so much. Even though the little dragon was still so little, it was obvious he liked Bowen so much. While playing with the baby dragon, Bowen suddenly felt something landing in his head, it was his best pet friend Philomena. She was looking at him with a frown, until he smiled at her and said, “Easy, pretty. You will always be my favorite too, and you know that.”
Philomena’s eyes shined with a sparkle after she heard that, and then nuzzled her owner’s head cooing like a dove. Bowen then welcomed Twilight’s family too. Twilight Velvet also gave him a tight hug since she already considered him part of the Sparkle family, like a second brother or a cousin to Twilight and maybe something more in the future. Shining Armor and Night Light then hugged him too, but not so tight. In his mind, Bowen was really thankfull for that. With all the introductions done, all of them proceded to have a nice breakfast. Bowen was so happy that all of his family were with him in this very special day.
When all of them finished eating, as promised, Princess Celestia stood up and levitated her son next to her, and everypony turned to see what she wanted to say.
Celestia then spoke, “My fellow little ponies, we are very happy to see you all together here today in the joyous occasion to commemorate the 10th birthday of my son, and I promise you, we will have a good time this afternoon in his birthday party.”
Everypony then cheered.
She then continued her speech, “But right now, I want to take this time to make an official announcement, which is one some of you knew already since long ago. As you can all see, I promised that after his 10th birthday, I would think about showing my precious son to the rest of Equestria!”
Everypony who knew about that promise only nodded, as Celestia then turned to her son and gave him the warm motherliness of smiles while looking down at him against her side.
“Bowen… my son, throughout my life, for the last ten years, I’ve had you all to myself. Since the day I found you and took you in, I loved you and protected you as any mother could, and you can still be sure I will keep doing it forever…”
Everypony, including the guards and maids, started to share some tears of happiness and heartfelt pride as Celestia’s words touched their hearts.
“You know I will always be there for you, and you will be safe inside this palace and by my side, but we both know I can’t keep you inside four walls forever. You also need to know and see what is beyond this place out there. To be honest with you, I’m still very afraid of seeing you hurt or threatened by anypony who will not see you as we all do… and as I do, but I’m also very certain, that with the help of everypony here present today, and with your kind, compassionate, and honorable personality towards others, Equestria will be able to see how special you are, therefore…”
Bowen was so excited, because there they were, the words he was waiting since long ago.
“Tomorrow, I will officially introduce you to all Equestria, and soon everypony everywhere will know who Bowen Mockingjay is, their Young Prince and my son!”
“Yay!” Bowen cheered and then hugged his mom like he never did before, until Celestia hugged him back.
Cadance was so proud of her aunt’s kind words towards her cousin but she was also prepared, in her heart, she said to herself:
“Ohh, Celestia protect him from anypony who dares to hurt my cousin!”
Much to her sudden grief, Celestia then left to attend her royal duties as soon as posible with Cadance by her side, while Bowen stayed with Twilight and her folks, and also Flying Hope and Sweet Rose so they can watch over the boy.
When they reached the throne room, they found Blueblood.
“Where were you, Blueblood? You missed your cousin’s special birthday breakfast,” Celestia asked with a stoically stern face.
“I had better things to do rather than that,” Blueblood said.
“Is that so? Very well, then I believe we will not see you in his birthday party?” Cadance asked sternly.
“Have I ever gone to one?” Blueblood asked.
Celestia then sighed, “No. No you haven’t, but the invitation is always open, Blueblood.”
Both alicorns resumed their way, Cadance somehow decided to not say anything, since this was a special day and she didn’t want to ruin it, but before they entered the room, Blueblood said, “Are you really that serious?! About showing that… thing to all Equestria tomorrow?!”
Cadance was the one who then answered, “That thing has a name. It’s Prince Bowen Mockingjay, our dear little cousin, remember? I’m warning you, choose your words wisely or you will end up like the last time you made him cry.”
“I highly suggest that!” Blueblood said.
Celestia nodded Cadance, telling her to go do her royal duties, and then turned to Blueblood with a look of frustration, “My dear nephew, come with me.” She walked through to the hallway but to a corner that was all clear as Blueblood had a shocked look on his face, and he turned toward the child playing with his friends, letting out a huff of jealousy, and then followed behind Celestia.
She then closed the doors behind her, turning to her nephew, and looked at him disapprovingly. “Blueblood, can you explain to me why would you say something to upset my precious son?” She stood tall as she looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.
Blueblood pointed at the door with a hoof, “You call that wretched creature precious, Aunt Tia?! He is nothing but an abomination and a threat to all of…” He was silenced as Celestia stomped a hoof on the floor next to him.
“Silence, nephew!” She looked at him, now with anger in her eyes. “I will not have you berate such a child as sweet and innocent like Bowen since the last couple times you’ve done so. Do you understand me?”
Blueblood then asked, “Why am I the bad pony here? I’m just thinking in what is best for the royal family! What do you think everypony will think when they see him? When they see you raised that… that creature as your son, this will bring shame to our family!”
Celestia, fighting her wishes to punish her nephew for the final time by imprisoning him, only said, “We have had different opinions about what brings shame to the family, Blueblood, but know this, I will not turn back now. My son deserves a better future than rather be hidden inside here, because tomorrow everypony will have the honorable blessing to know him and that’s final!”
Celestia then turned, opened the throne room doors, and trotted back in, closing them, before Cadance entered, until she whispered something to her brother, “Blueblood, I know you better than anypony so let me be very clear with you. If you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to ruin my sweet cousin’s big day tomorrow, there will be severe consequences.”
Blueblood let out one more huff before turning to trot away from the throne room. His brows furrowed in anger, “Why are they all so stubborn? I am the only one here with the proper brains?”
He then immediately proceeded to leave the palace to one destination and whispered to himself, “Ugh… I need a drink…”
As always, the party was amazing. There were lots of games, lots of food and a fountain of punch, some pegasus guards even made a incredible flying routine. Bowen was somehow speechless, even though they weren’t the Wonderbolts, but still that was amazing. Every adult was somehow charmed seeing how both Twilight and Flying were fighting to see who would dance with Bowen, but in the end he just danced with both of them, but still, that didn’t leave them satisfied. After cake and presents, the party ended, but Celestia invited everypony to stay in the palace that night. After all, the next day was the DAY, and then everypony said their good nights and went to sleep.
Bowen somehow tried his best, but he just couldn’t sleep. He was too excited, so he decided to get up and go over to the balcony to watch the night. It was beautifull as his mother really outdone herself as always. He also watched the moon, as it was beautiful too, and he always liked that pony form on it, the mare in the moon, as he giggled to himself. He was too focused watching it that he didn’t noticed his mother already by his side.
“Beautifull, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes, Mommy, it’s beautiful… MOMMY!” Bowen exclaimed while jumping from being startled by her presence.
Celestia then giggled, “You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, sweetie. Can’t sleep?”
“No, I can’t. I’m just too excited, tomorrow I will finally meet everypony, but I’m also a little… scared,” Bowen replied.
Celestia smiled warmly at her son and then crouched to his level, “Get on. I think I can give you a little spoiler tonight.”
Bowen got onto his mother’s back until she started to fly. He loved those moments, but this one was different because their tours were always around the castle. This one however, was his mother was flying above the city of Canterlot. Bowen was somehow speechless, as he looked at the town below, it was so huge, those houses, those lights, some ponies and guards walking on the… he believed they were called streets. She made sure to fly a little too high for nopony down below to notice her, in Celestia noticed her son marveled eyes and said, “What do you think, sweetie? It’s a beautifull city, isn’t it?”
Bowen nodded, “Mmhmm, it’s way better than what I ever imagined.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I don’t want to see you disappointed,” Celestia said.
“Mom, any city you rule has to be awesome as this. After all, you are an awesome ruler, and everypony here loves you,” Bowen said.
Celestia smiled warmly, “Thank you, dear. Now let me tell you something. All those ponies you are looking at now, I know many of them, and I know they are good ponies, but I can’t negate there are greedy nobles, lots of them, but almost every citizen in Canterlot is very nice, so you don’t need to worry. I promise that they will accept you and they will love you, but remember, the one who love you the most is me.”
Bowen giggled, ”Thanks, Mommy. And you don’t need to remind me that, I already know.”
Celestia then nuzzled her son’s cheek, then without thinking she said, “Please, don’t go anywhere away from me.”
“Don’t worry, Mommy, I won’t. I will always be with you, Bowen said, hugging her neck.
Celestia was happy, but she didn’t know why she said that. She knew Bowen will always be with her. Maybe it was for the mood, but after she shook the feeling off and returned with her son to the palace, she landed on the balcony near his bedroom, carefully removed him off her back, and placed him back in the bed.
“Did you have a fun birthday this year, my son?” she asked.
“Yes, Mommy. It was excellent.” Bowen said
“Well, I think it is time for my gift that I have for you this year,” she said.
“Really?” Bowen asked.
“Yes, it is right here,” she replied, until she handed Bowen a book with her magic. He opened it to see plenty of pictures of him when he was younger. Then, he saw there were plenty of empty pages. “It’s a photo album. I have already started with a few pictures of the past 9 years of your childhood memories. But now you can start to fill it with all the photos you want. It’s all yours, my son.”
"Thanks, mommy, I can always use this to remember my time with you,” he said, until Celestia tucked him back underneath the blankets.
“Mommy, do you really think the ponies out there will like me?” Bowen asked.
“I’m sure, honey. You have a personality that no pony can ever hate. You are very gentle and vigorous. You are just like me.” Celestia said, while stroking her son’s hair with her hoof.
“Mommy, do you think I’ll make a great prince too?” Bowen asked.
Celestia then placed a hoof on his cheek, “I do, my son. You will be the best prince Equestria has ever seen. There is no doubt about that in my mind.”
“Thank you, Mommy. I love you,” Bowen said as he hugged her head.
Celestia felt a lone tear escape her eyes. Again, it wasn’t one of sadness, but only happiness. “I love you too, Bowen.”
She then released her hug and then lowered him down on the bed gently, “Now get some sleep. You need to be on your best tomorrow”
“Yes, Mommy,” Bowen said.
After she kissed him on the forehead, but before exiting the room, she turned around and said, “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Mommy,” Bowen replied, before he fell asleep exhaustingly.
She smiled and closed the door and then started walking to her own room, but after some steps, she noticed something.
“Why would I ask him that? He’d never abandon me. Is something going on in my mind? No, I must’ve been imagining things. I must be really tired.”
She then remembered what she told him some minutes ago, until she started to feel scared and even shared a single tear, but she managed to shake the feeling away again.
“Come on, Celestia, snap out of it! He is here with you in the palace, and nothing bad will ever happen to him.”
She then resumed her way to her bedroom for a good night’s sleep so that she would be ready for her son’s ceremony tomorrow, but what she somehow didn’t notice, in fact nopony noticed, not even the guards in every section of the castle, is that outside the palace walls, a group of shadows were preparing to do something that night.
Oh no! What do these figures want?! Are they here to kill the princess, steal her crown, or something else worse?! 
Find out what happens next soon!
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Awesome chapter you have here I like how flying hope gave that jealous there like she's in love with the main character and you got me wondering what do those Shadows want
awesome chapter.
I have a question.
11010464
What?
awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter
Before I start this I have a question does the human hate twilight for spilling his chocolate milk when they were kids?
11010501
No. It was actually Blueblood Bowen was angry at for drinking his chocolate milk.
11010502
Ah well good to see that meme again I was just wondering because a lot of the stories that have I have read where anon is a prince he hates twilight for some insane reason
11010467
When are you restarting the Sunset Sister story?
11010537
Don’t know
Can't wait for next chapter
11010538
I hope it's not canceled
Do I detect a love rivalry between Twilight and Flying Hope?
11010617
Man, I hope so. That's easily something I could see happening, and it would go over poor Bowens head too.
Nothing like a good old catfight to stir up some drama among kids
Yay new chapter
Can't wait for the next chapter