Beyond My Years

by Pinktuxcat

Chapter 2

As it would happen, Princess Celestia herself heard of the oddity of the unicorn born to pure pegasi blood, and requested that my first stop be to the castle so she could converse with me on the matter. At this point, I was really freaked out. First I get sent away from everything I’ve ever known and everyone I’ve ever loved to a strange place I’ve never been, to learn about a skill I never knew I had, and now I have an audience with the Princess at her request! I was shaking in my horseshoes, to say the least.

As I walked through Canterlot Castle’s halls, I admired the craftsponyship of the various statues and stained glass windows all around me. Serious skill had been put into each delicate work of art. I briefly wondered if this was a talent other unicorns possessed, or if all unicorns’ special talents had to do only with magic. I figured that would be a good question for the princess to answer.

“Welcome, Sunshine Daydream, to Canterlot. It is an honor to meet such a rare pony, a unicorn born into a pure pegasi bloodline. Tell me, young one, do you know and utilize any of the magic you possess?”

“I-I… Um, well, I…” I stuttered, unceremoniously. Suddenly my brain snapped into gear. This was the princess!

“Your majesty!” I exclaimed, bowing low, my horn touching the red carpet that lined each and every hall of Canterlot Castle.

Princess Celestia laughed, a merry sound, like clinking of champagne glasses at a party. I would never forget how pleasant the sound was, as long as I lived.

“Come, my little pony, there is much to learn.”

“About what, Your Highness?”

“Your magic, your special talent, your heritage, and how rare it is for such a pony to be born out of a pure bloodline such as yours.”

I gasped. “So there are others like me? Other unicorns born to Pegasus parents?”

She frowned slightly. “No. You are the first of that kind. The most common is earth ponies born to either pegasi or unicorns of pure blood. It is quite common to be born lacking an innate skill in that respect. It is another thing entirely to be born with a different ability altogether.”

“So… how often are pegasi born to earth ponies and unicorns?” I asked.

“It is very rare, but Pegasus ponies can be born to unicorns. Their natural-born magic manifests not in the form of a horn, but in the form of wings. They also possess a kind of magic within their wings that isn’t natural to other pegasi, such as being able to create weather types with much more ease and on a greater scale than other pegasi. There was one pegasus born to unicorn blood two centuries ago that could create a hurricane with one circle over the sea. She would dip one wing in the water and make a wide circle, then at the place she started, she would shoot straight up and a massive spout would emerge at her wingtip. It was her special talent, and also a very good example of the kind of magic pegasi like that possessed. Other pegasi tried to replicate her storm systems, and it took ten fully grown pegasus ponies just to replicate one hurricane the size that she could make them in the same amount of time she could make them.

“It is rarer still for pegasi to be born to earth ponies, but the kind of magic they possess often is honed with nature, such as the breezes that used to be created to remove the autumn leaves from the trees before the Running Of The Leaves was begun. Another type is the ability to know which plants longed for water or sunshine more than others. They would create a small raincloud over some plants or create or destroy a cloud over others simply because they knew it was what the plant or tree needed or desired.

“The next rarest are unicorns born to pure blood earth ponies. Again, they possess magic honed with nature and their skills include spells that find the most fertile soil or water underground. With their natural abilities they can also use telekinesis, as all unicorns can but their special skills usually involved the earth.

“Until recently, I had never heard of a unicorn born to pure blooded pegasi before. I imagine it’s about as rare as pegasi born to unicorns, but there have been no other examples of this phenomenon until you. You are a very special filly, Sunshine Daydream.”

Through her entire speech I had considered one thing: my own special talent.

“Thank you, Princess. Do you… do you suppose my special talent will have to do with the weather even though I’m a unicorn, since I was born into a Pegasus family?”

Princess Celestia looked thoughtful.

“Hmm… It is possible. It would make sense given the other examples with an inversion of your situation. But it does not always happen that way. A pony’s special talent, the one that gives the pony their cutie mark, does not always have to do with their physiology. It is born within you, who you are truly meant to be, from the inside out. It may have to do with the weather, but it could be anything, my little pony. That is for you and you alone to discover for yourself.”

I mused on her words for a moment, before she spoke again, a bit more regally this time.

“I will show you to your room. Because you have no family living here in Canterlot, I have decided to take it upon myself to look after you, so you will be living here, in Canterlot Castle, for the time being. I expect you to be diligent in your studies and report to me any findings you have about your situation, even the most miniscule, should it have any effect on you, young one. I am most curious to find how your situation will play out for you.”

We had arrived at a simple wooden door that was to be my room.

“Of course, your Highness. I’m very grateful for this opportunity!”

Princess Celestia smiled. “You are very welcome, Sunshine. Enjoy your time in Canterlot. Study hard, discover who you are, and most importantly, make friends!”

She was gone in a flash. I opened the door to reveal my new room. The room was absolutely filled with bookshelves and books lined even the floor and covered every inch of the table in the center of the room. Was this Twilight Sparkle’s room when she lived here? It had to be. No other pony was as concerned with knowledge as she was. Twilight’s time in Canterlot had been only a few years before she moved to Ponyville but the amount of books in this room looked to be reading material for several decades! I had wondered briefly if the Princess hadn’t accidentally led me to the castle’s library, but why would the library be so small? And it certainly wouldn’t have a bed in the corner.

At any rate, my journey was about to begin and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of it!

Comments

[Celestias Paladin]

Huh... interesting...

[applesparkle]

I wannna read more
great story though