The Gift of Life

by hell00001

Chapter 10: I Believe You Can Fly

The Gift of Life Chapter 10

Six months later…

“Mmf, no, please stop. I won’t let...”

Celestia’s eyes slowly opened as she heard Luna's whimpers coming from the bed next to her. She looked over at the clock between their beds and groaned inwardly.

This is the second time this week Luna has woken me up with these nightmares, Celestia though as she gazed at her sister. The more and more she gets older, the more frequent these dreams show up. It's like everypony's reassurances that these characteristic filly traits are false. What's more is that these dreams happen more often than what they probably should.

Luna made the same sounds or whimper the same words every time she had a nightmare. She asked asking for whatever it was in her dream to stop doing whatever it is about to do or that she won’t let it do something. Sometimes she cried out or began sobbing as she slept, along with kicking and thrashing as if she was fighting something off. Celestia couldn’t imagine what was going on in Luna's dreams, but she was going to have to wake her up again.

Celestia rolled over in bed and pulled the covers away from her body. She slid out and lazily stumbled over to the other side of her sister’s bed where Luna was facing.

“Luna, come on," Celestia sad, "Time to wake up. You’re having another…”

Celestia stopped in her tracks when Luna suddenly shot straight up in bed and opened her eyes. Her horn lit up and she let out a blast of magic that shot out to the wall across the room, leaving behind a large scorch mark on the wall. Luna blinked.

“Luna, what in the hay was that!?” Celestia exclaimed.

“Oh, ‘Tia! I’m so sorry! My dream, I thought, I was trying to-“ Luna started to stutter.

Celestia shut her sister’s mouth with her magic and then slowly crawled onto the bed, lying down on her stomach next to Luna.

“Luna, are you okay?" she asked. "You were having another nightmare.”

“I… I’m okay, 'Tia. I swear I am okay. It's just a regular nightmare.”

"Luna, I've heard you use that excuse before," Celestia said, glancing over Luna. "I can't ignore it when you're now shooting off dangerous bolts of magical energy from your horn."

"Really, 'T-Tia," Luna said, putting on a false smile. "I'm okay."

“You are not okay, Luna."

“I’m sorry, ‘Tia! I didn’t mean too. It’s just…” Luna trailed off.

“It’s just… what?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happened in your dream?”

“I… Tia, it’s not important.”

“Tell me Luna, please. I know you have been having the same nightmare for months now. The things you cry out during the night, the way you toss around in your sleep, it’s all very similar for every bad dream you have.”

“O-okay, ‘Tia.” Luna leaned into Celestia, resting her head against the her sister'sneck. Celestia felt the dampness of her sister’s coat and the unsteady breathing against her side from Luna’s lungs.

“The dreams always start out the same," Luna began. "I am looking into a mirror at an older version of myself. My hair is long and flowing like Mother’s is, and I am much taller and more slender, even more so than our mother is. I just continue to stare back at my reflection, taking in the change that has befallen me.

“Then my reflection starts to change. The color of my coat slowly starts to darken until it becomes blacker than night itself, and my mane and tail start to lose their multicolored hue, now each looking like a cloud of stars in a blue gas. I grow even taller than before and my wings become larger and change shape to look more like I have the wings of a crow. And lastly my eyes change. Instead of being large and white with big round irises I now have eyes that are longer and are similar to a snake’s."

Luna paused, burying her face into Celestia's neck.

“The pony in the mirror starts talking to me, trying to tell me all of these horrible things. She tells me that Mommy and Daddy don’t love me, that you don’t care about me, and that I am the odd pony in the castle. She says that ponies will never come to appreciate me for who I am or what I can be.

“She then tells me that I should hurt all of you for not believing in me. She says she can help me do it, too. I get angry that she tries to tell me these things so I break the mirror. She doesn’t go away, though. She continues to whisper inside of my head as the space around me turns into an overhead view of Everfree. The city starts to crumble and fall to pieces. She says the only way to keep this from happening is to trust in her.”

Luna paused, tears now sliding down her cheeks from remembering all of her nightmares. She gently rubbed her face against her sister. Celestia didn’t notice, however. Her eyes were fixed dead ahead of her and her breath had been caught in her throat. Luna was having nightmares about the same pony that I had seen in my vision over three years ago.

“L-Luna, when did you start having these dreams?” Celestia asked.

“It was a little after we had found those orbs in Mommy’s and Daddy’s study, I think," Luna said. "‘Tia, you’ll always care about me, right? Right?”

Should I tell her sister about my vision I had those years ago? Celestia thought. Those orbs were related somehow, and it was obvious that both of those orbs had affected both my sister and I in some sort of manner. Whether it be good or bad. I'm not sure and I know that it would be best if I tell Luna about the vision I had before my sister’s nightmares had started.

Celestia looked down at her sister with sad eyes. She said, "You're too long to have experienced something as traumatic as this, Luna. You're just a young filly, and you should be filled with joy and happiness. Not..."

Celestia paused, watching as Luna's eyes darted around her face.

“Luna," Celestia continued, smiling down at Luna, "I will always care about you. I promise you that. I will always care about you no matter what.”

Luna returned the smile to her sister and snuggled her head back against her sister’s coat. She lowered her head to rest on top of Luna’s head and sighed.

Maybe I will tell Luna one day, Celestia thought, but not today.

~~~

“Hey Luna, want to learn how to fly?” Celestia asked her sister as they both ate their breakfast with Meadow Free and Regality. The two maids looked at each other for a brief moment, and then looked back at the two sisters as Luna slowly turned her head to Celestia.

“Um… I don’t know Celestia. I don’t think my wings are strong enough.” Luna said, looking back at her wings and giving them a flutter.

“Oh come on, you never know until you give it a try.”

“But I could fall.”

“Regality could help me teach you how to fly,” Celestia said, winking at Regality.

“I…”

“Luna, don’t you want to know how to fly?" Celestia asked, pouting. "You could come and soar through the air with me on those warm days to cool off. We could sit at the top of one of the massive towers and watch the stars at night.”

Luna looked down at her toast and gently nudged it with her fork she had held in her magic. She sighed and took a bite of the toast.

“Fine, you can help teach me. Can we go slowly, though?” Luna asked.

“Of course. We should get started right away after we finish eating.” Celestia said, scarfing down what was left of her own toast and then levitating her plates over to the sink. She rinsed them and then placed them in the larger portion of the sink that was already filled with warm water so the plates could soak.

Shortly thereafter Luna had finished her toast and cleaned her plate off like Celestia had, and together with Meadow Free and Regality, they left the smaller dining hall to head off into the Everfree Gardens. They all walked together in relative silence, only stopping once on their way to usher a greeting to Captain Firemane. He once again apologized to Celestia for not being able to give her the dance lessons that she had been promised, and she told him once again to not worry about it. She understood that he had been very busy for the longest time training the new recruits that were coming in from all over Equestria.

After leaving Captain Firemane, the four ponies only had to walk another minute until they were in the castle gardens. Celestia leapt into the air, spreading her growing wings and then hovering in the air above Meadow Free. Meadow Free tried to look up at the princess but when she lifted her head her face was met with the pink tail of the pale white filly. She attempted to pull away, but Celestia continued to brush her tail on the maid’s nose, tickling it and then finally forcing her to sneeze.

Celestia giggled at the Meadow Free's expense watching as she sniffed and the righted herself and glared at her princess.

“Oh, you’re going to get it now.” she said.

Before Celestia had any time to react, Meadow Free had jumped and tackled her out of the air. Celestia landed on the ground with a thud and gasped as the air was pushed out of her lungs. Before she had any time to recover, however, Meadow Free had already started to tickle her all over her stomach by buzzing her lips on her coat. She giggled and laughed hysterically as both Luna and Regality looked on with a grin.

When Meadow Free finally raised herself up, Celestia was still gasping for breath and giggling.

“And that, my friends, is how you subdue a Celestia.” the maid said as she stood confidently next to Celestia.

“Ha ha, that’s funny.” Celestia managed to pant out sarcastically. Meadow Free smirked.

Celestia slowly got up from off of the ground and walked over to her sister, gently nudging her in the side to lead her to a clear patch of grass next to the Equestrian Fountain. Regality followed closely behind the two while Meadow Free excused herself to go back into the castle and complete some other duties she had been assigned that day.

“Okay, Luna, first I need to ask, are you sure about wanting to learn how to fly today?" Celesita asked. "I know I pushed it on you earlier, but I need to know if you are ready for it.”

Luna nodded her head slowly and looked at Regality. The maid smiled back at her and then quickly spread her wings, showing off their bat-like appearance.

“Okay, so, first thing you are going to want to do is exercise your wings a little bit," Celestia instructed, "Stretch them, flap them a few times, and try to lift yourself high off of the air every time you take a hop. Just do everything that I do.”

Celestia began by spreading her wings out to their full length. They had grown much larger since she had first learned to fly when she was just a little bit older than Luna. They expanded to the full length of her body from the tip of her nose to the very back of her flank. Luna did the same, expanding her much smaller wings in the same fashion. Celestia noticed that Luna’s wings were just a little bit shorter than the length of her body.

Next, Celestia began to rotate and stretch her wings in all different directions, getting them limbered up so that they were nice and loose before she would start flying. After the wing stretches, Celestia began to flap her wings up and down slowly, catching enough air in her wings so that she would have to push them down with more force. Lastly, she began to trot around the fountain, taking a few hops here and there and using her wings to propel herself higher into the air. When she looked back she saw that Luna was following her exactly and could lift herself off of the ground with her wings.

Celestia started to turn the exercises into a game. She gently began to pick up speed around fountain and turned her trots into a full gallop. She always made sure that she was moving only fast enough so that Luna could keep up, if only barely. While galloping, she would still hop high into the air, using her wings to propel herself higher than normal, and every time she looked back she could see that Luna was doing the same.

She took one last hop into the air and didn’t return to the ground. She had flapped her wings more and more so that she rose higher and higher into the air. When she turned back she could see that her sister had done the same.

“Luna! You’re flying! Look!” Celestia exclaimed.

It took a moment Luna to realize that she had even been flying higher into the air. She suddenly stopped her ascent, along with flapping her wings, causing her to lose altitude at an exponential rate. She screamed out and tried flapping her wings again, but she could not get enough air to slow her fall.

“Regality!” Celestia shouted down to the maid.

Regality had already noticed Luna’s descent, however, and was moving in to intercept Luna before she could hit the ground. She took off into the air and shot straight towards the younger princess, grabbing Luna in her hooves and then making an expert landing next to where Celestia had landed only a second before.

“’Tia, ‘Tia, I flew!” Luna squeed happily.

Celestia let out a sigh of relief, and ran over and hugged her sister.

“I’m glad you took falling through the air so well, Luna," Celestia said. "Would you like to try again?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. Let’s skip the exercises this time since your wings should be warmed up enough…”

~~~

After two more hours and watching Luna fall through the air a few more times, Celestia was rejoicing with glee as both her and her sister were soaring through the cherry blossom orchards. It was the later winter months in Equestria, so the leaves and flowers from the trees had completely fallen from the branches, allowing the two fillies to wind their way between the trees. Celestia made sure to take an easier path through the trees, but she still sped along as fast as she could and was surprised when she looked back to see her sister following close behind.

She banked up and broke the tree tops of the cherry blossoms, and then headed back towards Regality who lay basking in the sun to keep herself warm in the cool winter air. Both princesses touched down gracefully next to the fountain and then trotted over to the maid. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be dozing off when Luna rubbed her nose up against the Regality's neck.

“Oh, you two are back. How did you like your flight?” Regality asked.

“It was great, Regality! Do you think you could fly with me and Celestia?” Luna asked, nuzzling her face more against Regality’s grey coat.

“I wish I could, but I need to go and help Meadow Free with errands she still needs to do.”

“Aw, okay.” Luna said, hanging her heard.

“But once I’m done with these errands I promise you a full flight around the whole castle," Regality said, smiling, "How does that sound?”

“You really would? You have a deal!”

Regality gave Luna an affectionate nuzzle, and then trotted back into the castle to hurry off and help Meadow Free. Both Celestia and Luna sat down beside the Equestrian Fountain and stared out across the gardens and then to Western District of Everfree.

“So, what should we do now, ‘Tia?” Luna asked.

“Hm… Hey!" Celestia exclaimed. "Day court started a little while, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, follow my lead and make sure you keep your wings flapping.”

Celestia took off into the air with Luna closely following behind her. They climbed higher and higher into the air and approached a very large window that overlooked the Western District of Everfree. They carefully landed on the ledge that sat next to the window and slowly they scooted closer to the window to peek inside.

“’Tia, why are we outside of the court room?” Luna asked.

“Here’s the plan," Celestia said, smirking. "We’re going to fly directly behind the throne chairs and distract the audience as much as we can. Make funny faces, soar through the air, show them your flank, do anything you can think of that will get their attention.”

“What if we get caught?” Luna asked nervously.

“Then run for it.”

Luna gulped and huddled up as close to Celestia as she could. There was a gust of wind that ruffled the feathers of their wings and billowed their hair through the air. After a few more moments of pause, Celestia lifted off of the ledge and flew straight behind the throne chairs with Luna flying up next to her. She could see that the court room was full of ponies, and there was one particular grey stallion in a formal business attire talking to their parents.

Celestia started making faces towards the audience with Luna quickly following suit. She stuck her tongue out and wagged it, made her eyes larger, waved her hooves around, along with an assortment of other silly mannerisms that started to cause some of the ponies to look on with surprise while others started to snicker.

“Alright, Luna, show them your flank!” Celestia exclaimed.

Both she and her sister turned around and bent over in the air, giving the ponies in the court room a full view. Celestia turned around to look back through the window and saw that both of their parents had caught onto their shenanigans. They were staring at both of their daughters with a pair of stoic faces.

“Uh oh. Luna, run!” Celestia shouted.

There was poof of magic behind them, but Celestia took no time to hesitate. She sped off with Luna following closely behind her and headed off towards to the cherry blossom orchards where she hoped she could escape which ever parent had decided to follow them. Both fillies zipped and wound their way through the trees, taking extreme turns in hopes that they could lose their parental pursuer.

When Celestia looked behind her after a time she saw that neither of her parents were behind her. She slowed her pace to a slow glide and then descended to the ground with a graceful landing, followed shortly be her sister. Luna was panting heavily as she stumbled up next to her sister.

“Do you think we lost them?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I thin-“ Celestia started to say when there was a loud crash from the branches above her. When she looked up she was met with the powerful chest of her father and was pinned down onto the ground all in under a second. She coughed and tucked her legs up against her chest while she tightly folded her wings together.

“Uh, hi Daddy.” Celestia said sheepishly.

“What do you think you two are doing?” Sol asked, raising an eye brow.

“Um…”

“Well?”

“I’m sorry, Daddy.” Celestia whispered, lowering her eyes so she wouldn’t meet her father’s any longer.

“You should be sorry," Sol said sternly, "You rudely interrupted the Day Court by distracting the many ponies that had come to talk to us for the day, and then you go ahead and show off your flank to the entire court. How do you think that looked for a princess of Equestria to show off her flank to all of the ponies in that hall?”

“I…”

“It was buckin’ hilarious is what it was.” King Sol said. He got off of Celestia and then rolled off onto his side, giving off a hearty laugh that echoed off of the trunks of the trees. Celestia slowly got to her hooves, chuckling nervously, while she saw from the corner of her eye that Luna was slowly rising from a patch of grass she had tried hiding in.

“You’re not… mad at us?” Celestia asked.

“Oh no, what you did back there was very funny," Sol replied. "You should have seen the horrified looks on some of the noble pony’s faces. I bet they never knew they had a princess who was capable of doing such an act, let alone two princesses.

“However, I am going to need to set an example of you two in order to appease those stingy nobles. Come on, let’s hurry and walk back to the castle so I can get back to my duties. When we reach the edge of the cherry blossoms I want you two to hang your heads and act like you had just received a severe punishment. Alright?”

Luna zipped over to Celestia and both fillies gave a salute to their father.

“Yes sir!” they shouted in unison.

“Good," Sol said, grinning, "in the meantime, how about you tell me about your adventures today? I see that you were able to teach your little sister how to fly?”

Celestia smiled and gave her father a tight hug around the neck, having to rear high onto her back hooves.

Author's Note:

A nice and short chapter for you guys. I hope you all enjoyed it, especially the nightmare (teehee). I would have tried to add more to the nightmare section of this chapter but I am just too busy with tests and homework this week to pump out a 5,000+ word chapter. I know I said things would start to pick up after the last chapter but there is still one character that I want to build upon. Next chapter may get a little philosophical depending on how I want to structure it.

So, get ready for Chapter 11: I Can Hear Life's Heart Beat

Comments

[The Princess Rarity]

Awwwwwwwwwwww!