The Gift of Life

by hell00001

Chapter 6: It's all a Hoax

The Gift of Life Chapter 6

Three weeks later…

Celestia was roaming through the statue gardens during the early morning. She took her time to breathe in the crisp, fresh air as she weaved herself in between the many statues dedicated to historical ponies over the years. She passed next to a statue dedicated to Arion and stopped, staring up at the enormous statue that had been crafted with extreme precision. She observed the cuts made to show his rippling and lean muscles, his long flowing mane, and the regal armor worn by an Equestrian General.

Arion had been the High General for the Equestrian military over two hundred years ago during the time of the great Pony and Hippalectryon War. The war lasted for three years, and was fought over the southern boundaries of Equestria, devastating the landscape for many decades to come. Crops would not grow, and many of the ponies that lived in those regions became refugees, having to move to cities that were already overcrowded. Celestia remembered that the Hippalectryons were a mysterious race that combined the body of a horse and the body of a rooster together. At the end of war, the entire race had mysteriously vanished, leaving behind all of their cities and their holdings to the Equestrians as they moved south across the sea.

Arion had never lost a battle himself during the whole length of the war. He led the forces he commanded to victory after victory, pushing the Hippalectryons back to their lands and their capital city of Stableside. Arion himself captured the commander of their army. Many ponies believed he was immortal by the time the war had ended.

Celestia was snapped out of her stupor by whistling. She turned towards the sound and saw that one of the unicorn guards was making his rounds on the castle grounds through the statue gardens. He was walking her way, and when he saw Celestia he quickly stopped and gave her a salute.

“Good morning, Princess.” the guard said.

“Good morning," Celestia replied. "Please, you don’t have to salute.”

“I apologize.” The guard said with a bow. He then turned and resumed his patrol, walking down an aisle of statues.

Celestia rolled her eyes, and then looked up at the head of Arion. She peeked back over at the guard and saw that he was still walking down the row. She looked back up, and then jumped into the air, flapping her wings and landing on top of the statue. She quickly balanced herself and watched as the guard was moving through the statue garden. Celestia then turned and gazed at the next statue in the row. She jumped.

The princess continued jumping from statue to statue, making sure that she didn’t lose her balance. She was quickly gaining on the guard. He suddenly stopped, and turned as the sound from Celestia’s metal shoes became louder and louder as she approached. The guard’s mouth dropped open when he saw the princess was hopping from statue to statue over him. He turned and watched, his teeth visibly grinding together in his mouth..

“Princess Celestia!" the guard shouted. "You should come down from there!”

Celestia looked down at the guard as she soared over him, and then continued on her way down the row of statues. The guard quickly gave chase to the princess, galloping after her as she was hopping from statue to statue quickly and gracefully.

“Princess! Please come down! Your mother and father would not want you to be hurt!”

Celestia spotted a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and suddenly slipped, falling back to the ground and landing with a thud on her side. She cried out in pain and started gently massaging her front leg. The guard came rushing over to Celestia, dropping his spear and kneeling down to take a look at Celestia’s injury.

“I warned you about hopping on those statues, Princess," the guard said. "Oh ponyfeathers, you’re injured. Your parents are not going to like this.”

He turned looked at Celestia. Celestia’s eyes shifted from his, to behind him, and then back to him.

“Please, go get someone to help. I’ll be fine.” She said, whimpering a little and tears forming in her eyes.

“Okay Princess. Sit tight. I’ll get Meadow Free. She shouldn’t be too far from here.”

“Please don’t be long!”

The guard got up, turned around, only to fall flat on his face as he took a step forward. Celestia’s expression turned from a face filled with pain to a small grin, to a smile, and then to laughter as the guard groaned from the impact. Luna peeked her head out from behind one of the statues and giggled a little before running off down the rows of statues. Celestia quickly got up and followed after her sister.

~~~

Celestia and Luna ran through the statue garden then up over a bridge that crossed a shallow creek to the cherry blossom orchard. Both of the fillies stopped once they reached the Equestrian Fountain to catch their breath. Celestia looked over at her sister and smiled.

“That was wonderfully executed, Luna!" Celestia said. Luna looked up at her and smiled. "The way you placed that fishing line was excellent. Good job little sister.”

“Thank you, ’Tia," Luna replied, "but it was your whole idea! You were the one who did a good job here.”

Celestia brought her sister close and gave her a hug. Luna happily welcomed the embrace and hugged her sister back, giving her wings a little flutter in approval. Celestia, their parents, Regality, and Meadow Free were the only ponies that Luna was truly willing to interact with. She was still just as shy as when she was a new born foal as she is now when it comes to meeting new ponies. Sometimes her shyness will even go as far as refusing to talk to somepony. Celestia broke the embrace and looked at Luna.

“So, who should we prank next?” Celestia asked.

Luna sat on her haunches and held a hoof up to her chin as she thought. Celestia sat down as well, but instead of thinking she began to listen to the sounds of the water crashing in the fountain. It was a constant and unchanging sound that beat within the cherry blossom orchards of the Everfree Gardens. She enjoyed every minute she could listen to the water’s steady rhythm, and took this time as her sister thought to hear its music.

Her enjoyment was ended shortly, however, as Luna suddenly bounced in place and smiled at her.

“We should pull a prank on Father!” Luna shouted in glee.

“Luna, you’re a genius!" Celestia exclaimed. "Father is going to have a meeting with the Lord Regent from the Night Guard Nation. We could prank him in front of one of his friends!”

“Do you have an idea how we should do this?” Luna asked.

“In fact I do. You know how Father likes to have tea when he at his meetings?”

“No, I didn’t know that," Luna said, scraping one of her hooves against the grass.

“Well, he does. Anyways, I was thinking that we grab some of the poison joke from here in the gardens and use some of the nectar in it to pour into his tea. One flower should have enough nectar to make him grow horns or make his coat all fluffy or something.”

Luna’s eyes lit up and she started to prance around Celestia.

“This is going to be so great! Father will never know what hit him!” she exclaimed.

~~~

The two princesses were cantering through Everfree Castle’s halls on their way towards the Royal Kitchens with a bag full of poison joke that they had carefully picked. Instead of risking exposure to the pranking plant, the two princesses used their magic to pick a few of the flowers and placed them into a bag. The bag was sealed tightly just in case any of the flowers managed to slip out of the bag and onto Celestia and Luna.

As they rounded the last corner to the kitchens, the doors suddenly opened and a dark brown pony was pushing a cart in the direction towards the dining hall where King Sol chose to hold the majority of his meetings. Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a brief moment, and then sped after the pony and his cart. Once they caught up to the pony Celestia spread her wings and prodded the pony’s back leg with her nose. He stopped and looked behind him.

“Excuse me, sir, but would it be alright if Luna and I take Father’s tea to him, today?” Celestia asked. She crossed one front hoof over the other and stared at the pony with big eyes.

“Well, alright, princess. Your father is in the dining hall as usual.” the dark pony said as he stepped back from the cart. He gave both Celestia and Luna a bow before turning and proceeding back into the kitchens. Celestia looked at her little sister with a smile.

“That was too easy" she said. "Come on, let’s coat his cup with the poison joke.”

Luna took out one of the flowers, and allowed Celestia’s magic to take hold of it. The older sister held the flower over her father’s cup, and began to squeeze the nectar out. A tiny drop fell out of the plant and landed in the middle of the cup. She quickly put the flower back in the bag and told Luna to drop it off in a nearby by trash bin that they come along.

Once Luna had successfully disposed the bag the two princesses began to move the cart down the corridor towards the dining hall. They didn’t run into any ponies on their way to the hall, and walked on in relative silence, keeping down their snickering from thoughts of pranking their royal father. They couldn’t wait to see what effects the poison joke would have on him, nor could they wait to see the look on his face.

As they reached the dining hall, one of the guards standing watch opened a massive door to allow the two princesses through along with the cart they were pushing along. They could hear voices at the end of the end of the room, and looked to see that their father was talking to not only the Lord Regent of the Night Guard Nation--Lord Regent Outcry if Celestia remembered correctly--but also to another Night Guard that was garbed in the famed Night Guard Ceremonial Armor.

Lord Regent Outcry was very large, even for a Night Guard pony. When he was standing on all four hooves he was almost as tall as King Sol, and was just as wide, rippling with muscle. Other than that, Outcry looked like any other Night Guard. He had a dark grey coat, black, bat-like wings, a long, black tail, and yellow eyes that looked like they belonged to a snake. He wore that standard armor of a Night Guard--dark purple and polished steel body armor and helm.

The other Night Guard was much smaller in height and in muscle mass. He, too, had a dark grey coat, black bat-like wings, a long black tail, and yellow eyes that looked as if they belonged to a snake. The only difference was that this Night Guard had an eye patch over his left eye, and was wracked with body scars. He stood at full attention next to the Lord Regent as the two leaders spoke.

“…and as a token of good faith," Lord Regent Outcry said, "along with a pledge of loyalty to Equestria, and its citizens that the Night Guard Nation shall remain allies forever as long as both you, King Sol, and your lovely wife Queen Galactica sit upon your nation’s throne I present to you my finest warrior, Static." He gestured towards. "He was taken from one of the fighting pits in our capital city and trained for the roll of being a leader and a soldier. I trust you will put him to good use.”

“I accept your generous offer, Outcry," King Sol said with a smile. "There recently has been a spot open for a roll as a general for the Royal Earth Pony Battalion. I will be arranging his promo-“ He stopped as he heard the door to the dining hall close and saw a cart roll up towards the three ponies. Celestia and Luna popped their heads from around the back of the cart and smiled at their father.

“Girls! I didn’t know you were going to be bringing me my tea today.” Sol exclaimed.

“Yes, Daddy!" Celestia exclaimed. "We saw the cart and figured it was heading towards your meeting. We wanted to deliver it to you ourselves.”

Luna was staring at the two Night Guards in the room, her eyes transfixed on the more haggard one in particular. His eyes darted to meet hers and she squeaked, quickly hiding behind her sister.

“That was very thoughtful of both of you.” Sol said, and he looked over at Lord Regent Outcry and asked, “Would it be okay if my daughters sat in on this meeting?”

“Of course, I don’t mind at all.” Outcry said with a wave of his hoof.

Sol turned back to look at his daughters, and asked, “So, how would you girls like to sit in on one of Daddy’s meetings?”

Both Celestia and Luna looked at each other with a smile on their faces. They then both nodded at their father in unison, who smiled and looked back at Outcry and Static.

“As I was saying…” He continued. Celestia listened closely to what her father had to say as she started pouring tea for all three ponies, while Luna snuggled up next to her father and stared at Outcry.

“…I will be arranging for Static’s inauguration into the Equestrian military, and also for his promotion, very soon. Our own General Felix is retiring from the Royal Earth Pony Battalion next week and we have been looking for a replacement without any luck. If Static really is all he is cut out to be like you say, then I have complete faith that he will make for a great general.”

“Permission to speak, sir.” said Static. His voice was calm and serene and deep.

King Sol levitated the cups of tea to the two Night Guards, who both accepted the tea graciously and used their two front hooves to hold the cup, before he took his cup giving pause before taking a sip.

“You do not require my permission to speak," Sol said calmly. "As far as I can see at this moment, you are as much an equal as I.”

“As you wish.” Static said with a bow. “As Lord Regent Outcry had already explained earlier, I did come from the illegal fighting pits located in Dusthaven. I have been trained in seven different forms of hoof to hoof combat, in the use of swords, halberds, and spears, and in the use of javelins. When I was taken in by the Night Guard military I went through extensive and intense tactical training for the use of ground troops. It is an honor for me to be promoted to General so that I may use these skills in order to protect Equestria.”

Celestia watched as her father continued to take sips of the tea with no effects of the poison joke. She was getting more and more worried that both her and Luna’s prank wasn’t going to work. She strode up behind Luna, and tapped her on her shoulder, motioning for her to come back with her. Luna got up and followed Celestia.

“The poison joke isn’t working," Celestia whispered, looking over at her father. "Look, nothing has changed! He isn’t affected at all by it!”

“Maybe it takes a while for the effects to take place, ‘Tia.” Luna whispered back.

“It shouldn’t be taking this long. I coated the bottom of his cup with a full drop of nectar. That should be powerful enough if he ingests it!”

They both glanced at their father as he continued to talk to Lord Regent Outcry and Static.

“I’m going to go and inspect that tea cup.” Celestia said.

“’Tia, wait a…” Luna started to say, but was cut short as Celestia got to her hooves and made her way over to where her father had just set down his cup. How could her father not be experiencing any side effects of drink nectar from poison joke? Did he use some kind of spell to protect himself against the flower? Or were alicorns immune to the nectar?

“Excuse me, Daddy?”Celestia asked as she sat down next to her father.

“Yes, Celestia?” He replied.

“Could I have some tea?”

“I thought you didn’t like tea?”

“That’s because I never tried it.”

Sol chuckled as he levitated the tea pot over to the cup and started to pour. “I see that you have become wise at such a young age. Very well, here you go.”

Celestia took the cup and slowly started to back pedal towards Luna. She sat down on her haunches and looked over at her sister.

“Let’s see if alicorns really are immune to poison joke.” She said.

Luna opened her mouth, but Celestia took a huge gulp of the tea. The elder sister was about to go and finish the rest of the tea in the cup when she suddenly stopped. Using her magic she slowly set the tea cup onto the floor. Luna looked at her sister with a face full of worry.

“Um, ‘Tia, are you alright?” she asked.

“That was perhaps the worst thing I have ever tasted.” Celestia managed to say before she started clawing at her tongue to get the taste off. She looked over and saw that the tea had come with a bowl of sugar cubes.

Celestia was about to move to grab the sugar cubes when suddenly she hiccupped. There was a bubble floating in front of her face that immediately popped when it touched her horn. She hiccupped again with two more bubbles appearing before her face. She looked at Luna and saw that her sister was smiling.

“’Tia, your hiccups are making bubbles.” she said, giggling as her sister hiccupped again. Celestia frowned and looked at her father.

Sol was looking back at her with a face full of amusement. Both the Lord Regent Outcry and Static had stopped their conversation as well to gaze at her. Celestia’s face turned a bright crimson, and she held her hooves up to cover her cheeks. She hiccupped again, allowing another bubble to escape from her mouth and float up above her.

“She is just the cutest thing, don’t you think Outcry?” Sol asked.

“I agree, Sol. Say, how does she do that trick anyways?” Outcry replied.

“Yeah Celestia, how are you doing that?” her father glanced at her, barely able to contain his chuckles.

Celestia hiccupped again, and she heard a squeal of laughter come from her sister. She peeked from behind her hooves and saw that even Static had a smile on his face. She could not take any more of this. There was only option that an eight year old princess of Equestria could do at this moment. Celestia got to her hooves and ran out of the room, sobbing the whole way.

Sol looked over at his friend and sighed, and said, “I guess I had better go talk to her. I am sorry, Outcry. Would we be able to continue this discussion at a later date?”

“Don’t worry about it, Sol. I think we have everything covered. Static and I shall retire to our rooms. Go comfort your daughter,” Outcry said.

“Thank you,” Sol said, and looked down at Luna. “Come on, Luna. Let’s go find your sister.”

~~~

When Celestia heard the door to her and Luna’s room open she curled into a tighter ball on her bed. She didn’t want to talk to anypony right now. She felt like she was content with just lying on her bed and soaking her pillow with more tears while other ponies laughed at her misfortunes. The poison joke nectar had been intended to be used on her father, not herself. What back fired? Why was he not affected?

She felt a nudge on her on back, and tightened further into a ball before letting out another sob. Maybe they would leave her alone if she ignored them for long enough.

“’Tia?”

It was Luna. She couldn’t ignore her sister. Celestia turned over to look at her sister, flinching as she saw her father standing behind Luna.

“’Tia, are you okay?” Luna asked, cocking her head and shuffling her wings against her body.

Celestia shook her head and then laid it down on her hooves. Luna made a pouty face, and then jumped up on the bed next to her sister, lying next to her and also putting her head on her hooves. Their father gave a brief smile, and then lay down on this stomach next to Celestia’s bed.

“Celestia, what is the matter?” Sol asked.

“My poison joke prank backfired.” Celestia mumbled, some bubbles escaping from her mouth. She shut her eyes and hid her face with her hooves.

“Do you know why the poison joke didn’t work on me?” Sol asked, but when he got no answer from his daughter he gave a sigh and continued. “There is a spell your mother and I know that is used to detect foreign substances within our drinks that could be potentially harmful to us. If we sense anything then we suppress the toxin so that we do not ingest it.”

Celestia looked up from her hooves. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sol’s face remained straight even when bubbles were coming from Celestia’s mouth, and he said, “Because I wanted to turn the little prank on you. I didn’t know you would take it so hard. Usually you are very good with jokes, Celestia.”

“I embarrassed myself in front of the Lord Regent from the Night Guard Nation! It was supposed to be used on you, not me. I bet he thinks I’m stupid now, right?”

Sol chuckled, and said “Celestia, he doesn’t think of anything of the sort. Don’t worry.” Sol laid his head on the bed in front of Celestia’s and gave his daughter a big smile. When Celestia refused to smile back he pushed his head forward and bumped noses with her. “Cheer up, Celestia. Where is my little Sunshine today?”

She giggled at the pet name her father sometimes gave her. She bumped noses back with him, and then blew bubbles in his face. Sol pulled his face back and snorted with a sudden gleam forming in his eye that she recognized. Celestia tried to run away, but she was too late as her father pulled her back to him and then started buzzing his lips on her tummy. She began laughing hysterically.

Celestia could hear giggling coming from the right of her and watched as Sol stopped tickling her and looked over at Luna.

“It’s your turn now!” Sol exclaimed, reaching over and tickling Luna now.

“I’ll save you, Luna!” Celestia yelled, jumping onto the back of her father and holding on tight. Sol let out a playful pained grunt and fell on to his back, landing on top of Celestia.

“Luna! Help! Daddy’s fat neck has trapped me!”

Luna peered over the bed at her father and her sister and then started back pedaling until she had plenty of room for a running start. She built up as much speed as she could, and then leapt from the bed, landing right on top of her father’s stomach. Sol let out a grunt and lifted his neck from the impact, allowing Celestia to escape, and then also jump on top of her father’s stomach.

“Tickle him!” she yelled.

Celestia and Luna both began buzzing their lips on Sol’s stomach, causing him to laugh loudly and convulse from the tingling sensation.

After a few more minutes of torturing their father, Celestia and Luna rolled onto their backs next to him, lying on top of his massive wings that lay sprawled out on the floor. Celestia giggled and then looked up at her father who happened to be looking down at her at the same time with a smile on his face.

“I love you Daddy, you always make me feel better.” she said.

“I love you too, Sunshine.” Sol said. He then looked over at his other daughter and said, “So, who wants to get off of Daddy’s wings so he can teach a new magic trick?”

~~~

Whenever I start writing a chapter I always have a set goal with how many words I want to write. Being that I am trying to keep the chapters shorter so that I can get out content faster to you guys I keep goals of a low word count, usually between 2,500 and 3,000 words. However, many times I can't even keep that goal since I get so carried away with writing which leads on to more days needed to get a chapter out. I hope you guys enjoy them anyways!

More character building, introductions, and history to come! Sorry everyone but there are still quite a few more chapters to go until the real action begins.

Get ready for Chapter 7: The New General and the Young Captain

Author's Note:

Whenever I start writing a chapter I always have a set goal with how many words I want to write. Being that I am trying to keep the chapters shorter so that I can get out content faster to you guys I keep goals of a low word count, usually between 2,500 and 3,000 words. However, many times I can't even keep that goal since I get so carried away with writing which leads on to more days needed to get a chapter out. I hope you guys enjoy them anyways!

More character building, introductions, and history to come! Sorry everyone but there are still quite a few more chapters to go until the real action begins.

Get ready for Chapter 7: The New General and the Young Captain

Comments

[Magnum the Critic]

Simply put; this story is fantastic

[hell00001]

1473892 Thank you!

[WrathOfGod519]

Well that was simply heartwarming.

[hell00001]

1574106 Thank you!

[The Princess Rarity]

“Luna! Help! Daddy’s fat neck has trapped me!”

Major lol!

[that_one_scorpio]

ER MER GERD!! TER MERCH KERTNESS