Two thousand years ago in Bethlehem...oh pony feathers, barely five seconds in and already I mess up.
Let me start again...ahem!
Two thousand years ago in Equestria, long before the reigns of Celestia and Luna were a possibility, there lived two Alicorns who bore all the powers beyond anypony's imagination, they were the original founders and the first born leaders of the world. They were known as King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia.
With their powers combined, they had whatever it took to create and rule the world of Equestria which they named after the birth of time. When Cosmos and Galaxia took the reign, they set to make it a world of where harmony, peace, love and friendship would be existent as often as possible.
"Look Cosmos, isn't our vision of the world coming to light in front of us?" Galaxia asked as they began to work designing the castle by the big mountain in the centre of the world they would call Canterlot.
"Yes my dear Galaxia." Cosmos replied with a smile, "This world will always stand tall with all the powers of good roaming the lands as they show off the beauty of the day and the night...like how radiant you are today."
Galaxia smiled back at him, "You were born to be a charmer, but I am proud to be with you as my loyal husband."
However, it wasn't always fine and dandy when settling the world when the creation was done. As time went by, it was no longer a world of just ponies, other animal forms arrived into the world featuring griffins, dragons and in some cases, zebras.
Of course, bringing them all together in harmony was not simple, it took time with a few rough moments dealt with, such as the one evening when the ponies themselves did not live in actual harmony with there being friction between the earth ponies, pegasuses and unicorns and it took all their might to bring them together which became Heart's Warming Eve.
However, negotiations with the other animal lifeforms took much longer, especially when a war broke out between the ponies and the griffins, but eventually, an treaty was made between all lifeforms and so for a long while, Equestria began to live peacefully with the main centre of the world focused on the castle in Canterlot where the King and Queen ruled for Five Centuries which during that time, many cities around the land were founded, with Cloudsdale and Canterlot being the most popular places.
The roles were perfectly suited to them, Galaxia took charge of raising and lowering the sun whilst Cosmos took pride in the responsibility of doing the same with the moon so they could bring forth day and night for their subjects in order to have the circle of life travel forever.
During that time, the King and Queen had grown more proud of their marriage, but they knew that they couldn't rule Equestria forever and would have to pass on the leadership. So agreeing to a special night in the castle, they kinda...got busy...if you catch my meaning.
When it was confirmed that Queen Galaxia was pregnant with Cosmos's foal, they shared an emotional moment of love and happiness, believing that their foal would one day be given the leadership to rule Equestria and to help raise and lower the sun.
"Galaxia my darling, are you well?" Cosmos asked the day after their announcement to Equestria.
"Of course and I know you'll be with me when our dear and loving foal arrives." she replied back before sharing a kiss with him.
The months then passed along by with order and peace, along with increased but reasonable discipline issued throughout the world...until the one blessed day when Galaxia went into labour with Cosmos by her side and were rushed to the finest hospital in Canterlot, hoping the delivery of the first born princess would be a success.
The process took a while as Cosmos waited outside the room, along with several other ponies who all had different issues, but hey, this is about the princesses, not some random background ponies who can pop up from nowhere...I'm watching you, Pinkie.
Shortly, a door opened and out came a doctor, no it wasn't Doctor Whooves, just a normal doctor and walked over to Cosmos with a gentle smile.
"Our royal king, you may see your wife now and your new born foal." he said calmly.
Cosmos then followed the doctor into one of the patient rooms to see his wife Galaxia looking a little messed up in her mane, but she smiled when Cosmos walked in to see her.
"Cosmos, my darling...it's a filly." she said in an almost tired manner as he walked over towards her side to see the newborn foal she was holding.
"It is what we both wanted...she is a beautiful one, my love." he replied as he kissed her.
"What should we call her?"
Cosmos didn't need to ponder over it, he already had one in mind, "We shall call her Celestia and she'll be the Princess who will bring forth the sun as it will be her upcoming duty."
"A wonderful name my dear husband..."
They then got close and held their newborn filly Celestia with their focus away from the outside world, knowing the times ahead would be all they wanted to be...most of the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a clear and bright morning over in Equestria with no raincloud in sight, until it was pointed out that the machines at Cloudsdale had broken down and needed to be repaired before any light clouds could be made to move across the blue sky.
Over in the Canterlot Castle, Celestia or Tia as she was called in her early years was sleeping away in her little cot that screamed royalty designed all over it. She had just about all of what she needed in order to keep her protected from her nightmares, thanks to her father's magic of the night.
Cosmos who had to work all through the night joined his wife in their bed with their baby sleeping area in the corner of the room, whilst Galaxia woke up and began to start her day with Tia by her side. She kissed her husband before she got out of bed and walked over to Tia who had just woken up and blew a raspberry right off the bat.
"Well, good morning my sweet Tia." Galaxia said to her, "Did you sleep well?"
Tia of course couldn't reply as it was far too early for her to say a word yet, so she replied in her baby talk.
"I am pleased, your father and I love you very much and we'll always be there for you."
Tia then held her hooves out with a concerned look or sorts and moved her backlegs in the air.
"Looks like somepony wants to have...what do they call it, dear?" she asked her husband.
"Upsies, according to one of our subjects...zzzzz." Cosmos replied before going back to sleep.
"My darling, you've been working a lot...come on Tia, it's time for you to look around our family's kingdom."
Galaxia then picked up and cradled Tia into her hooves before noticing a weird smell around her.
"Somepony needs a diaper change...let's get you out of here before your father notices your royal stench!"
Galaxia took Tia out of their bedroom and down the hallway to one of the changing rooms beside the huge bathroom, she disposed of the dirty diaper and placed a clean one on Tia, with a sprinkle of baby powder she was all clean again. The Queen took her out of the changing room and walked into the throne room to start her normal day of ruling over the lands in the daytime with Tia being carried and moved around by the Queen's magic.
Tia was cheering and giggling away, enjoying being moved around and floating up for a while.
"You are so adorable, Tia...I love you, my sweet filly." she sighed as she brought her closer to her hooves and held her as Tia cuddled her Mother before she sat on her throne chair and beginning to write a few notes on a scroll.
The days flew on by since then before the days turned into weeks and then into months as Tia began to grow up and learning more of her surroundings, whilst her mother and father carried on with their royal leadership but never hesitate to show their love to Tia.
When she was in her filly hood, she began to take her first lessons about learning and using magic, which is where the original magician of the world who learnt all the magic through books came in. He was known as Starswirl The Bearded and because of Tia being apart of the family, she was home-schooled by the magician, but her first day wasn't exactly perfect as they got underway with the first session in the study room.
"Okay Celestia, as I must call you, what can you tell me about unicorn magic?" Starswirl asked.
"Oh, oh, oh, it's magic...you know." she replied.
"Yes, but when do unicorns and alicorns start using their magic?"
"When they have magic surges that come and go?"
"That is correct cause it only happens when baby unicorns and alicorns have them, although the magic surges disappear completely as you age in time and therefore must learn to start using magic with proper care and attention if needed." he then walked over to a table to show a few items on display. "Now, why don't try using your magic to raise these objects, starting with the lightest."
Tia looked closer to see a brush, a small mirror and a bucket full of water.
"Now, to use your magic, try to get your horn to glow so it's ready."
Tia did so as she focused and soon, she had a gold coloured aura around her horn.
"Good, now you're ready to use magic, try to lift the brush first."
Tia concentrated by looking at the brush and then began to lift it with her magic, very slowly.
"Very good Tia, now put the brush down and move on to this mirror...and try not to break it if you want to spare yourself seven years of bad luck." Starswirl advised.
Tia then put the brush down and then focused her magic on carrying up the mirror and placing it gently on another table.
"You're doing very well, Tia, you're learning quick. I'm sure you'll become a powerful alicorn with magic soon...now for the third part of this session. Try to lift up that bucket of water from that table, above my head and over to the other side of my desk."
Tia did exactly that, but just as she had the bucket above Starswirl's head...
"Ah-choo!" she sneezed, causing her to lose focus.
The bucket went smack on his head, covered in water...he was not only seeing stars literally, he was also soaked and looking displeased.
"Umm, oops..." Tia said, trying to play innocent.
"Bless you, Tia...and not to worry, nopony is perfect on their first day." he replied as he took off the bucket and his hat in total embarrassment.
Eventually though as the weeks went on, she became more confident in using magic and the King and Queen could only watch with pride, seeing their daughter growing up with magic quite quickly.
It was then on one fateful night where it was almost time for the sun to be raised, but Galaxia thought it would be time for Tia to take over the duty of raising the Sun for the first time. The family were on the clear hills far away from the castle, as they looked on the horizon of where the moon was about to be lowered to make way for the sun.
"What are we doing out here, mother?" Tia asked.
"I'm going to teach you how to raise the sun and once you do that, you'll be able to lower the sun to make way for the moon." Galaxia replied.
"But why me, mother?"
"It's because your father and I although we love you so much and take pride at how we rule, we can''t keep on ruling Equestria forever and that one day, you'll be the next ruler of peace and harmony."
"Me the next ruler?"
"They say that the leadership of the kingdom comes first and families second, but showing this with no regard to feelings would only lead to sadness, anger, hate and darkness. We can never allow that to happen." Galaxia explained.
"Is that why you show much love to me and all the other ponies?"
"Yes my dear child, it is important to stand firm and rule over the kingdom with discipline but within reason."
Tia looked back at the night view, thinking that at her age would she be ready to take on a role that important.
"Now, it is time for you to learn to raise the sun and take your first step towards your destiny." Cosmos said.
"Umm, okay..." Tia replied who wasn't sure.
She then got into position as her mother stood behind her for guidance and support.
"Just relax and remember what I and Starswirl taught you, Tia, you must concentrate." Galaxia encouraged.
Tia then lit up her horn and began to use her magic to start raising the sun as her Father lowered the moon at the same time, it took a strain on Tia at first to get it going and it looked like she would not be able to do so.
"No, I won't stop Mother." Tia panted, "I don't know if I really can, but I will try again."
"You can do this Tia, we believe in you, just believe in your power." Cosmos assured.
Tia then tried again and focused even harder with her magic, suddenly, the sun began to rise beyond the horizon but Tia kept going and before they knew it, the sun was now up in the sky and showed off a clear day.
"I did it...look, Mother, Father...I did it...just like I said I would..." Tia panted before she fell backwards in exhaustion.
The parents picked her up and held her together, before they noticed a small bright light appearing on both sides of Tia's flank, it showed an image of the sun, the parents could only share a moment of silence with happiness.
"I am so proud of her, my darling...she is precious." Galaxia said.
"Yes my dear, this was her first time, but someday, she will get used to her new role." Cosmos replied, before he pondered about something, "But we do need another alicorn who can watch over the night and have the burden of raising the moon."
"I agree, but where can we find another pony so powerful to have that responsibility?"
"We don't need to search, don't forget, I am the master of love."
"My dear!" Galaxia giggled, "Not in front of our daughter, she's sleeping."
"My apologies my love, let's go home and carry the conversation further."
Galaxia nodded in agreement as they put sleeping Tia on Cosmos's back and her firmly secure before they flew up and returned to the castle.
After debating it a bit more, they agreed that another foal would be the solution to have a powerful alicorn who can bring forth the night with the moon, but this time in advance, they had a name ready and agreed on for their second foal....they hoped it to be another filly.
With no more time wasted, the power of love took over them and shared a night of complete romance...
And here is where the main part of the story begins...now can somepony get me a drink around here before I pass out and not telling the reader what happens next? I mean seriously...ahem! Umm, apologies reader, I suffer from severe fourth wall breaking habits, which is what Pinkie Pie calls it.
The procedure on thier second born foal wasn't as bad this time since Cosmos and Galaxia had gone through this before, however the moans and screams were just as loud for poor Cosmos and Tia as well, since she had to still be with them for the time being.
Inside the hospital, Cosmos and Tia were in the waiting room, hoping that Galaxia would be able to cope with the same process as before. They couldn't twiddle their thumbs as they had hooves, not hands obviously, but as Cosmos looked up at the ceiling, Tia looked around the hospital to notice that not everything was as a normal hospital would be.
The first thing she noticed was there was an innocent lion walking from the ward room to another hallway, not tempting to eat anypony since it had a cone around it's head.
"ROAR! How can I get back to eating with this cone around me?" The lion moaned at the unicorn nurses, "I look like a victrola."
"What a great idea, then we wouldn't have to listen to you complain." one of them replied before using her magic to change the lion's expression and started playing some old jazz music which made the mares dance around the lion.
Tia looked back with a confused expression, he turned her head to another part of her view to see a depressed pony coming out of a room with a doctor.
"So in summary, it's nothing serious." The doctor said to him, " just lay off the chilli and you'll be fine."
Then, a pony beside them laughed.
"Don't you laugh, moron, I've been in the taxi with you!" the depressed pony retorted.
Both of them then left the hospital as the doctor went to the reception office.
As if that wasn't odd enough, she saw a lifeform never seen before, but it was singing "Like A Surgeon" over and over again down the hallway...wait, how did that even get here...I bet Pinkie went back in time and wanted to try something new.
"Father..." Tia asked Cosmos, "...why is this hospital behaving differently?"
"Well you see Tia...umm, in this world, not everything is straightforward..." he replied sheepishly, " ...and sometimes, you just gotta take the strange sides with normality and accept it when you rule the kingdom."
"Will I have my own guards when I become a princess?"
"Well Tia, you're not a Princess yet, but when you enter that doorway to your destiny, you will have the finest protection around Canterlot Castle."
"Just like you and Mother do right now?"
"Yes, as it is their duty to protect you always."
"What about my younger sister?"
"Well, we'll talk to you about that when she's older."
Just then, a doctor came towards them.
"Cosmos, your wife is stable and ready to see you with your second foal." he said with a smile.
"Alright...come on Tia, it's time to see your little sister."
Cosmos and Tia then followed the doctor into the same ward room as before to find her wife a lot more relaxed this time and holding their newborn foal in her hooves.
"Tia, meet your little sister...Luna." Galaxia replied softly as she shared a kiss with Cosmos.
"Ewwww..." Celestia commented.
The parents giggled as they looked at Luna.
"Can I call her something better?" Tia asked with a goofy smile.
"Sure, what do you wanna call her?" Galaxia asked.
"Umm...Woona." she said with a hint of pride.
"Alright, then from today, she'll be Woona to you." Cosmos replied with a wink, "I'm sure you both will learn as two loving sisters very soon."
"Now how about a family hug?"
"Yay!"
Soon, Woona made few baby noises...probably agreeing to the idea.
The family got close into a group hug as they closed their eyes and smiled down as they held Woona close to them.
Sometime later, they were out of hospital and back at the castle, but with Woona now in their lives, they needed to make a bigger room for both of the soon to be princesses, so an empty room next door to their bedroom was changed and refurnished into a shared bedroom for both of them to sleep in.
Tia who was still in her filly years looked at Woona who was sleeping away during the day and smiled at her.
"You're gonna be a princess soon, just like I will be and then we'll be in charge of Equestria." she spoke to her quietly.
"Alright Tia, leave her alone, it's time for your magic session." Starswirl said as he looked into the princesses's bedroom.
Tia then walked away and out of the room, closing the door behind her leaving Woona to sleep peacefully.
Of course, a long time had passed since her birth and soon Woona was now in her filly years and was able to speak as normal, like her sister who had grown in size slightly and approaching towards entering her teen years.
However, Woona wasn't exactly an innocent sister as Tia was, she was often sometime a bit defiant by doing silly things and getting away with a few naughty things. But one day, Woona got her first taste of being a little rebel when she quietly sneaked into the kitchen and looked above to see a cookie jar on the table.
Tia then found her in the kitchen, seeing Woona trying to fly...but she couldn't yet.
"Woona, what are you doing?" Tia asked. "You know you can't fly yet."
"I can and I will, Tia." Woona said defiantly, "I want a cookie and I'm gonna get it from jar."
She tried to fly upwards but she couldn't even jump high, let alone flap her wings for long enough.
"I wouldn't do it, sister, Mother and Father wouldn't be pleased if they found out you tried stealing food."
"But they don't need to know, if we be quiet....ooof!" Woona landed down on the floor and sighed, "Oh who am I kidding, I can't get up there."
"But I can..." Tia intervened, "...hmm, I tell you what, if I fly up there and get that cookie jar, we share a few, okay?"
"Yeah! That would be cool, thanks, sister!"
Tia then flew up and grabbed the cookie jar with her magic and brought it down by Woona. They opened up the lid and inside the jar was indeed full of cookies with no room for more...and now, it was going to be the opposite.
"Well sister, I still feel this is wrong, but those cookies do look tasty." Tia said with a hint of worry.
"Don't be such a scaredy bunny, nopony will ever find out." Woona assured with her big smile.
Tia sighed and shrugged before they got to taking a couple of cookies out of the jar and ate a cookie each.
"Mmm...delicious cookies." Woona said as she munched away her second cookie.
"No Woona, don't eat anymore or we won't be hungry enough for dinner later." Tia said worryingly.
"Alright, fine...but they are so yummy." Woona sighed as Tia placed the cookie jar back on the table.
Suddenly, they began hearing hoofsteps coming their way which startled them slightly.
"Oh no! It's one of our parents...quick, let's get out of here!" Tia whispered, trying not to yell as she then jumped and flew out of the kitchen window.
Woona felt nervous as she tired to run and fly away, but she couldn't fly, so she tried to sneak into one of the cupboards when the kitchen door opened.
It was Cosmos who must've been looking for the children, he was about to walk out until he spotted a few crumbs on the floor and seeing the cookie jar on table above the crumbs.
"Hmm, that is strange. Who's been eating these cookies at this time of day, it's almost dinnertime." he said curiously.
He then used some kind of magic and looked around the kitchen, before he opened a cupboard door on his right to see Woona hiding behind a cereal box....uh oh, caught red-hoofed in a way.
"Woona, kindly get out of the cupboard please?" her father asked firmly but gently.
Woona did as she was told and walked out of the cupboard with her face down, looking at her father's hooves.
"Now, what do you to have say for yourself?"
Woona didn't reply, she knew she was in trouble, seeing the crumbs on the floor.
"Come on now, these cookies couldn't have been eating themselves."
"Is that possible?" Woona asked stupidly.
"Don't play silly with me, young filly, you are in big trouble." Cosmos lightly scolded, "You know that dinnertime is when you have food, not stealing anything between meals."
"I'm...I'm sorry..." Woona replied who looked like she was about to cry.
Suddenly, Tia flew through the window into the kitchen.
"Woona, is the coast clear, has he-" Tia cut herself off, noticing her father there. "...uh oh."
"Tia, what are you doing here?" Cosmos asked with a stern expression. "Were you involved in this?"
Now Tia, being the elder sister and knowing better, decided to do the right thing. "Yes father, I helped Woona get the cookie jar down and we ate a few." she confessed.
"We're sorry father...I only wanted a few cookies...please don't punish me." Woona begged as she began crying.
Cosmos sighed, seeing his two daughters sad and guilty of their actions made him reconsider.
"Alright...I can see that you both are sorry for what you did and that you learnt something from this." he replied gently. "In future, I would like you both to write in this book which we call a diary, what either of you or both of you have learnt so you can go back to it when you grow up."
A book then appeared in front of them with the words 'The Princess Diaries' written on the front cover.
"Now, I will let you both off just this once and I won't tell your mother about it, but you must swear that from now on, you will not steal again as having a family member of our stature who does it is not a good reputation to show for our family."
"We promise father." Tia and Woona said together said as they went towards him and hugged his left foreleg.
Cosmos began to smile and hugged his daughters back for a few moments.
"They you may go to your room and write in your dairy what you have learnt today, we'll call you as soon as dinner is ready." he said as he left the kitchen.
"Okay Father...let's go sister." Tia said to Woona as they left the kitchen and trotted to their shared bedroom, carrying the diary with her magic.
Tia and Woona were in the bedroom and with a quill and ink ready, Tia began to write down their first lesson in thier diary.
"Dear diary." she started, "Today me and my sister Woona learnt that it is wrong to steal and that we must learn to take responsibility for our actions and do the right thing."
"Yes Tia." Woona agreed, "I learnt that if I have done something wrong and I get caught, I must tell the truth and be ready to face whatever punishment there is."
"Especially when it's close to dinner time, because that would make our parents not happy with us."
"Right, but since we did something wrong for the first time, we were let off only once, but we promise to never do it again."
Tia then finished the sentence and closed the diary book, before they heard a voice call them.
"Tia! Woona! Dinner's ready!" Galaxia called from another room.
"Coming, mother!" the two replied in unison as they trotted out of the bedroom and into the dining room not far from the throne room, with warm and happy smiles on their faces with a learnt lesson now stored in their minds forever.
Woona was on her first day at the magic school in the castle, Starswirl had aged a little but not much of a difference was shown. Woona who sat alongside Tia was still much of a rebel inside and found classroom sessions to be a little boring, when it was just Tia on her own, things were quiet and sessions ran smoothly, but today, it was going to be very different and from Starswirl's point of view, not for the better.
"Attention Tia and Woona, it's time for our Astronomy session." Starswirl said as he used magic to write on a blackboard with chalk.
"Pssst, Tia." Woona whispered to her sister. "Look what I can do."
Tia looked at her sister to see her pulling weird faces.
Tia chuckled quietly, so that Starswirl didn't hear.
"Now this is where our planet is and here is the asteroid belt." Starswirl said as he carried on writing on the chalkboard.
Woona then stuck her tongue out whilst pulling faces and Tia began to giggle a little less quiet.
"Girls...what are you up to?" Starswirl asked as he turned around to see them both sitting innocently. "Hmm, if I may continue..." he then turned his back towards the chalkboard.
With Tia in her teen years, she gave into Woona's filly behaviour and started copying her sister with pulling faces and shortly, they were behaving a lot less appropriate, pulling faces at each other and giggling normally.
"Ahem!" Starswirl exclaimed as he looked at them...caught in the act. "So you find my lectures funny, do you?"
Tia and Woona shook their heads as if to say no.
"Then please be quiet and pay attention to my class session. Learning other subjects is as important as knowing about magic."
They pulled faces again as he turned his back, much to his disapproval of their behaviour.
When it was lunchtime, Tia and Woona were at a table where they shared a plate of food which was an apple, orange and a carrot. They both looked unimpressed, so being the filly rebels they are, Tia used her magic to transform the fruit and veg into a tiny pile of cookies which made them smile immediately and began eating them away.
"Hey sister." Woona said, "I'm bored now, can we play?"
"Hmm, what do you in mind?" Tia asked.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
They then looked at each other with smug looks.
"Staring contest!" they said together, "Go!"
Tia and Woona began staring at each other's eyes for a while, until Woona pulled a funny face which made Tia fall over in absolute laughter, it appeared that Woona won the staring contest very easily, even though she had help with her faces.
That afternoon when they had their lunch break, Tia and Woona were outside the classroom at the firing range with a sign saying 'Magic Target Practice'.
"Okay girls, its time to learn to use your magic for defensive purposes, by firing on this target." Starswirl said. "Celestia, you shall go first, take aim and then fire up to three shorts from your horn."
Tia moved forward and got in position, looking straight at the target, she got her horn glowing and took aim...she then fired a single blast of her magic beam on the target which hit the second inner circle, she fired a second time that went near the edge of the target and used her third shot, almost getting a bullseye.
"Hmm, it's a start for you I guess, maybe a few more lessons and you'll be hitting bulls-eyes every time."
"Huh, but I don't wanna hurt a bull in the eyes." Tia replied with worry.
"No, no, no, Celestia, it's an expression. It means you'll get a perfect hit everytime you aim for perfection...hehe, aim for perfection, get it?"
"I don't get it...much." Woona muttered.
"Ahem...anyway, Luna it is now your turn. Can you use your magic and hit the target three times?"
Tia moved to one side as Woona got into position, but she was a little hesitant.
"I don't know if I can do it." Woona said worryingly.
"Oh come now, all I ask is that you hit the target with your magic."
"You can do it, sister...just focus all your energy to your horn and aim." Tia encouraged.
Woona aimed and fired at the target twice and was close to the centre on both attempts. However, Woona was about to go for her third shot when she sneezed suddenly and zapped out a big blue beam which didn't hit the target, but it hit something else.
"Now where did that beam go to?" Starswirl asked before he sniffed something, "Is that smoke..." he then paused when he looked behind him to find his bottom part of the cloak was on fire.
"ARGH! SOMEPONY PUT IT OUT...PUT IT OUT!" he shouted as he ran around the whole firing range.
Woona then burst out laughing her head off and falling on the ground, Tia soon found it funny as well and she laughed at the event. It looks like Woona's aiming needed a lot of work as well as her concentration.
Tia and Woona were back in class afterwards and Starswirl was by the window, he felt a little irritated by today, but still showed reasoning towards them, he had a spare cloak and was ready to do one last lecture for today.
"Anypony want to guess what our third and last lesson of today will be?" Starswirl asked positively.
"Is it flying lessons?" Woona asked happily.
"Actually no, I can't teach you how to fly, that's down to your parents."
"No way, come on, show us you can fly." Tia said.
Suddenly, both of the fillies used their magic to lift up Starswirl who was shocked at being lifted up.
"Alright, first of all, I am a unicorn. Secondly...put me down!"
"Awww..." The two fillies moaned as they stopped using their magic.
"Now moving on, our third lesson of the day is numeracy..." he paused to notice that he was actually outside of the room by the window instead of inside.
"Oh not again...WAAAHHHH!" he shouted as fell a while before splashing into a large pool of cold water.
"Wait, Starswirl doesn't have wings." Woona pointed out.
Then, they once again burst out laughing, they were having a lot of fun today, despite them being silly fillies and not behaving properly, due to thier rebel periods...all forgetting that their parents would know about it all.
When today's class sessions were over, Tia and Woona were back with thier parents and around the dining table. There was complete silence during dinner and no sign of happy faces, especially from the parents who were told what happened today.
Cosmos sighed as he looked at the fillies with disappointment, "Children, you are apart of the royal family and even though we can understand your behaviour because of your age, it is not right to behave in such an inappropriate manner and Woona, this applies to you more than your elder sister since you were the one who started it."
"But your Father and I have discussed this after we heard what Starswirl told us today." Galaxia added, "We have decided that you are going to have...a guardian to watch over you both when we cannot."
"What's a guardian?" Woona asked.
"A grown up pony who looks out and keeps an eye on what younger ponies do whenever possible, but is not related to a family." Galaxia replied.
"Mother, I don't think we need a guardian, I'm old enough to look after myself." Tia protested.
"Well unless you want to face the paddle, you two will stay in your room for the rest of the day." Cosmos told them sternly.
"No! Not the paddle!" Woona yelled lightly.
"Alright, we'll go to our rooms now...let's go, Woona. We have a lesson to write in our diary." Tia sighed as she got up and walked away from the dining room.
"Oh yes, keep writing lessons you've learnt in that book." Galaxia said to them.
Cosmos and Galaxia then left the dining room and walked upstairs to the highest tower in the castle to look over the horizon. It was almost time for the moon to rise, Galaxia lowered the sun as Cosmos raised up the moon to start the night.
"I hope someday, our daughter Luna will be able to take the reign of being the Princess of the night." Cosmos said.
"I hope so too my dear, but I don't believe that she will learn until we hire a guardian as soon as possible." Galaxia responded.
"But who are we going to find? I don't see any normal foalsitter being more than capable of watching two filly alicorns."
Suddenly, as if right on cue, a bright light shone in front of them before it turned into a portal that was a medium sized circle. Then, a pony showed up from the portal and landed hard on the balcony floor, the portal then closed up and disappeared in a bright light.
"Ow! Talk about a crash landing." The pony moaned before getting up and noticing who he was looking at. "YES! I did it...I went back to the past..." he then turned and looked at the sky, "...in your face, Doctor Whooves!"
"Excuse me, pony, but mind telling us who you are." Galaxia said.
"Oh yes...my apologies." he replied before clearing his throat. "I am...Bond Racer."
"And you are from the future?" Cosmos asked.
"Yes indeed, I am also an alicorn as you can see...your Lordship." he replied as he went to bow before something clicked in his body. "Ow! I need to lay off going to the sports gym for once."
Cosmos and Galaxia looked at each other and smiled and nodded in unison.
"If you would kindly, Bond. Please follow us into our castle, we have a favor to ask you and two fillies we want you to meet." Galaxia requested.
"Cool! I'm great at looking after young ponies." Bond boasted slightly.
Cosmos, Galaxia and Bond then left the balcony and walked downstairs, past the throne room and into the fillies's room. The King and Queen then believed that Bond Racer could be the guardian they were looking for and wondered if it was fate that brought him to the timeline...but whatever they thought, the rebelling days of Tia and Woona would be about to turn upside down.
Tia and Woona were writing down what they learnt today and it was Woona's turn to write it all down.
"Dear dairy...jackpot!" Woona joked before she spoke seriously, "I mean, my elder sister and I learnt that it is wrong to disobey orders from grown ups, because if we don't behave, we won't learn to become better ponies, or in our cases, princesses."
"Agreed little sister." Tia nodded.
Just then, they heard the door open and looked to see thier parents looking a little better and smiling.
"Children, we have news for you." Cosmos announced.
"We have found a guardian that is ideal for you to look after for us" Galaxia said.
Bond Racer then walked in and saw the two of them looking at him.
"Hey-hey-hey, kids!" Bond greeted.
"Wait a minute, he's got wings and a horn?" Tia asked.
"Yes, he is an alicorn and he's going to be making sure you two behave well before the day of your time to rule arrives." Cosmos replied.
"Bond, we'll have a room prepared for your stay in one of our room towers." Galaxia added as she left the room.
"Cool, how's the room service?" Bond asked.
"It will be far beyond the privileges our daughters have." Cosmos replied, before looking at Tia and Woona, "Now children, be nice to your guardian while he makes himself at home."
Cosmos then left the room, leaving Bond with Tia and Woona.
"So kids, ready to have your rebelling world turned upside down?" he asked with a goofy expression.
"Nuh-uh! We'll never surrender to you, mister." Woona exclaimed.
"Hold on sister, I wanna know more about this alicorn." Tia intervened.
"Well, at least somepony is willing to know more about me than my name and pony type." Bond boasted.
Woona moaned as she walked to another part of her room towards her toys.
"Yes...so how did you become an alicorn?" Tia asked him.
"Why it's simple...I was born as an alicorn, no strings attached." Bond replied.
"Does that mean you're a puppet?"
"No, no, it's an expression. It means I was born just like any other pony. Maybe it was a blessing or something, I can't really tell."
"So, how did Mother and Father found you?"
"Well, what I'm about to tell you both will shock you, but you must keep it a secret."
"Secrets are for babies." Woona said from across the room.
"And from what your parents have told me, that's pretty rich coming from you." Bond retorted as he looked at Woona.
"Hey!"
Bond turned his attention back to Tia, "Anyways, the secret is this...I'm not from around here. In fact, I'm not from the same timeline."
"What, I don't understand." she said with a confused expression.
"I come from the future of Equestria and it's not exactly perfect, but it's 'peaceful' enough."
"The future?"
"Yes, I was with Twi-err I mean I was with a few unicorns, working on the latest magic experiment, when a time spell went horribly wrong and it created a portal that sucked me into it and before I knew it, I fell out of the portal and landed on one of the castle towers where you parents were."
Woona then put her toys away and walked towards Bond.
"What's a portal?" Woona asked.
"Well, let's just say that I was supposed to gone back a thousand years from the future, but it appears that I went back five extra centuries as well in order to stop something terrible from happening."
"Does something bad happen a thousand and five hundred years from now?" Tia gasped.
"Yes...but you're going to have to wait to know what it is until it arrives...it's all I can tell you. Now I think it's bedtime for both of you.".
"Awww, but I wanna stay up." Woona moaned, "I'm the princess of the night after all."
"Not yet Woona...and you know, I think someday, you're gonna drive me and everypony else crazy." he added.
"So crazy that one day you'll turn into an evil chaotic spirit and wreak havoc all across Equestria, causing Tia and I to turn you into stone for a thousand years?"
Tia and Bond could only shorten thier eye pupils at what Woona just said...was Pinkie Pie around at the time?
"What the...I just don't even...ugh, whatever!" Bond sighed, "Let's just call it a night and I'll come back here to watch over you tomorrow after breakfast, okay?"
"Okie dokie." Woona replied.
"Have a good night, Bond." Tia added.
"Goodnight to you both, see you in the morning."
Bond then left their bedroom with a headache and a dumbfounded expression, looks like his first few days with the young fillies would be an uphill challenge for the time being.
In the days that followed, Bond Racer began to learn a little more about what Equestria was like back in those days and how the King and Queen ruled with force but gently. He also learnt that their daughters would one day take over the ruler-ship, starting with Tia who already had a taste of learning to raise and lower the sun and Woona who has yet to learn how to raise and lower the moon. He had also got to know their magic tutor, Starswirl and had some advice for Bond, based on his moments with the fillies.
On Bond's fourth day, he was watching over Tia and Woona as they were learning to use magic with a small tub of ice cream.
"Now remember Celestia and Luna, frozen foods melt easily at warm temperature." Starswirl explained, "You must learn to use magic and solve it in a short space of time."
He then opened up the lid and then brought out the ice cream from the tub with his magic and used a freeze spell on it.
"Alright, now we must learn the next spell and that is to increase or reduce the size of any object...watch carefully."
Starswirl then used his magic on the frozen shielded ice cream and soon the pile began to grow in size and got big, whilst the rest of us looked on, Bond was quite surprised to see how well mastered the spells were long before the future rolled by. The frozen ice-cream then grew smaller and back to normal size before it was put back in the small tub.
"See, it can be simple once you learn to use it and control it. Now why don't you two use your combined magic to perform the same steps as I did....be careful and don't try to make a mess, I still haven't forgotten about what happened to my cloak being set on fire."
Tia and Woona began to get their magic going as they lifted up the ice cream out of the tub and had it floating in the air, they then attempted to put a freeze spell on it which pleased Starswirl. But as always, something went wrong at that moment, they tried to increase the size of the ice cream, but they increased it too much and soon it became a little unstable to control. The freeze shield then broke and the ice cream covered most of Starswirl under it.
Bond saw what happened when he looked from the corner, he saw the two fillies looking worried, knowing that they were now in trouble again.
"That does it!" Starswirl yelled, "You are in serious trouble...allow me to call your guardian over."
"You don't have to, I'm already here." Bond replied as he walked over towards the fillies and Starswirl. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves..." he then paused before he pulled out a sweet sprinkler and sprinkled decoration on top of Starswirl. "...you forgot the sprinkles."
"UGH! Not you too!"
Tia and Woona burst out laughing, it seems that if a chance arises, Bond Racer can be humorous too
Later that evening, Bond, Tia and Woona were out in the Canterlot Gardens, but had a hard time watching over the little animals as after the sun went down by Galaxia, there was no moon rising up, they pondered why it wasn't happening when Cosmos came on by.
"Woona, it is time...come with me, please." Cosmos said as he began walking away.
Woona then followed him from the gardens, through the castle and out onto the field overlooking the hills. It was somewhat pitch black in the sky, as if a huge light was switched off that covered the room.
"Woona, your mother and I believe that it is time for you to learn your one responsibility that you must uphold for eternity." Cosmos said to her.
"What is it father, is it the moon?" Woona asked.
"Yes my little one, Tia is going to be the ruler of the daytime someday whilst you have the role of ruling over the night-time...tonight will be your first attempt at raising the moon, I will be here to guide you. But I must let you know now as this is very serious, once you learn it, I expect to see your cutiemark appearing, just like the one your sister has."
"So that's what the picture of the sun on hers is called, a cutie mark."
"Yes, it appears when a pony does something that is meant to be as their destiny, we all have a destiny when we are born and the day we find our cutie mark happens when we discover our own unique talent and we accept for all time."
"I understand, father."
"Good, now as you can see, the whole view around us is completely dark. Your mother has already lowered the sun and we're all waiting for the moon to be raised, but tonight, it must be you who brings forth the night. Do you understand?"
"I guess so..."
"Then we may begin...start by preparing your magic."
Woona began to concentrate as she closed her eyes and created a glowing aura around her horn in light blue.
"Good, now...focus all your magic and energy on the moon and stay focused at all times."
Cosmos then stood back and watched as Woona began to use her magic to lift the moon...but a few seconds in and already, the required strength of magic was beginning to strain on Woona, the moon was beginning appear from beyond the horizon. However, the moon was not able to be raised upwards as Woona had ran out of her magic energy.
She then fainted backwards and panted in almost exhaustion, she slowly got up and felt sad that she couldn't raise it...her father sighed before he used his magic to raise the moon and he made it look effortless as he raised it up to the sky in seconds.
"I'm...I'm sorry Father...I couldn't do it, I really tried and wanted to, so badly." Woona said as she looked at her father with a sad expression.
"It's alright Woona...nopony is perfect at doing something for the first time, even I wasn't a perfect alicorn when I had the task to raise the moon." he assured, "But from now on every night, I need you to keep trying. When your Mother lowers the sun, I will bring you outside of the castle so you can look at the horizon and then, raise the moon to begin the night."
"Okay father, I promise...I'll try and try again."
"That's my little daughter..." Cosmos said as he smiled and stroked Woona by the head. "...now let's go inside, you need your sleep after your first attempt."
Woona nodded as they walked back into the castle with the moon, shining all across through the night, watched over by the King.
The next day arrived and luckily for the two fillies, it was the beginning of the weekend, so they had no lectures today, but they still had a lot to learn on growing up. The two sisters enjoyed their day out in the fields away from the castle whilst Bond as always was there to keep an eye on them.
When it was the beginning of sundown, Woona already left the sisters room and began to walk out of the castle, but she wasn't alone as Bond trotted along beside her. They were now on the green pasture overlooking the horizon and Cosmos showed up from behind them.
"Good evening Bond, I didn't expect you to be outdoors during the night." Cosmos said to him.
"To be honest...I was bored, so I decided to find out why Woona was doing here, sitting outside." Bond replied.
Cosmos then noticed his daughter, "Ohhh, I see you're already in position to try again?"
"Yes father, I've saved all of my energy and magic today by reading and this time, I'm gonna do it!" Woona replied with determination.
"Commendable spirit, Woona, but we'll see if your second attempt will prove that claim."
"Pardon me if I may interrupt, but are you sure you can do I this time?" Bond asked Woona.
"Of course I'm ready." she replied.
"Well if you want, I could try to get it started for you..."
"Wait...you can't do that, Bond. I have to do it on my own...but you can give me support just in case."
"Alright...I'll just stand where I am at the moment."
Woona said no more as she closed her eyes and got her magic aura going. Then with all of her might, she began to raise the moon and at first, she was struggling whilst Cosmos and Bond looked on.
"Wow...this is really tense." Bond commented as he suddenly had a box of popcorn, "Popcorn?" he asked Cosmos.
The King could only look back, confused and shaking his head.
Woona wasn't distracted as she carried on, raising the moon and sure enough, she began to stand on her backlegs and raised her forelegs, focusing on the moon that began to rise upwards.
"Come on, Woona! You can do it!" Bond encouraged. "Ooof, ooof, ooof!" he added waving his forelegs like a fan at a rodeo.
Woona stayed focused on her second attempt before she finally had the moon raised high enough to cause all the starts to appear across the night sky and the moonlight shone down to the land.
Woona then slightly tumbled forwards as she laid in exhaustion again.
"Father...is it there?" she asked as she tried to get up.
"Yes my little one, it's up there and all for everypony to see. You have raised the moon successfully and look." Cosmos replied as she pointed to a small light shining around Woona's flank which then a black bubble could with a pale moon appeared.
"I did it! I raised the moon and got my cutiemark!"
"Oh, did you?" Bond asked with a grin, "I wasn't looking."
"Bond!"
"Just messing with you...I saw all of it...I never knew you could pull it off at your age, that was incredible!"
"Yes...I am very proud of you tonight, Woona. Your mother and sister will be delighted to hear of this wonderful news." Cosmos added.
"But now, I think it's time we called it a night as I'm sure there'll be time to talk about some possible changes." Bond suggested.
"Agreed...let's go to bed, Woona...have a long rest until the morning, you have earned it."
"Okay, father." Woona replied.
Cosmos, Woona and Bond all went back to the castle when Galaxia and Tia heard about the news and they were very happy and proud too. But somewhere down the line, Tia and Woona are gonna find out that earning their cutie marks doesn't mean it's over, as Cosmos and Galaxia will be talking about it very soon.
But for now, the royal family can sleep well after that night's wonderful moment.
Today, it was a special day over at the Canterlot Castle. Tia woke up one morning to find a greetings message by the door saying 'Happy Birthday Tia.' This was indeed Tia's birthday today and no, I'm not going to tell you how old she is...I don't wanna risk offending the princess and give Pinkie an excuse to break the fourth wall.
"Morning Tia." Woona said as she woke up, "Happy birthday, sister."
"Thank you Woona." Tia replied as they got out of thier beds and shared a sisterly hug.
Tia left her bedroom and Woona followed her into the dining room where Bond Racer was nomming through a carrot cake slice, he noticed the two fillies sitting around the table and smiled.
"Well good morning to you both and happy birthday, Tia." Bond greeted.
"Thank you, Bond." Tia replied, "I wonder what presents I'll get this year."
"Oooh, will it be the new Nintendo Gameboy?" Woona asked. "I always wanted one of those."
Bond raised his eyebrow, trying to figure out what Woona just said.
"Hey! Fourth wall breaking is my job!" Pinkie complained as she jumped into the room.
"Pinkie!" the story writer scolded lightly. "Get out of that timeline now or you'll create a time paradox!"
"Okie dokie lokie...la la la la..." Pinkie then bounced out of the picture and was not seen again.
"Alright fillies, whatever that was...we forget about it and move on now." Bond said, "Anyways...there's no such thing as a Nintendo Gameboy in this universe." he then looked at Tia, "I'm sure that whatever present you get will be something you'll want to cherish."
Just then, they saw Cosmos and Galaxia walk in with a card and a gift with Tia's name on it.
"Well, good morning Tia, happy birthday." Cosmos said as he handed out a card to Tia whilst Galaxia gave her a warming nuzzle around the face.
"Now for me to get my sleep..and Woona, you should be as well." Cosmos added.
"Sleep in the daytime?" Woona asked, "But why?"
"Since you now have your cutie mark and that you can raise the moon, the responsibility for that duty now lies in your hooves instead of mine."
"To put it in another way, you must sleep during the day so that you're well rested and alert to raise the moon to start the night and that starts today." Galaxia added.
"So I get to sleep during the day...cool!"
"Well, it may sound cool at first, but I don't think you're aware of the disadvantages that may have an incoming impact on you, socially." Bond intervened.
"Huh?"
"Oh umm...never mind, you'll learn it all, eventually."
"But if we may go back to the subject..." Cosmos said as he looked at Tia, "...we have left a birthday present for you out in the Canterlot gardens, your mother will take you there now." he then looked back at Woona, "Come on Woona, it's time for your first sleep during the day so you're ready for the night."
"Okay father...I hope the birthday continues by then." Woona replied as she began to walk out of the dining room with Cosmos.
"We'll make sure it does." Galaxia assured, "Bond, you might want to have a look as well."
"Okay, show me the way." Bond replied.
Bond, Tia and Galaxia then left the dining room and walked into the Canterlot Gardens to find some kind of birdcage wrapped inside a huge cloth, keeping it a secret for the moment.
"What's in there?" Tia asked.
"That my dear, is your birthday present...but it's not just a present, it is one that you must keep and to love and care for all time." Galaxia replied.
"Oooh, shall I do the honour of removing the cloth?" Bond asked.
"By all means...do so, now."
Bond used his magic to float the cloth away which revealed a big golden bird cage with a red fire looking bird inside, it was quite big too.
"Wow!" Tia exclaimed. "That is one big bird!"
"That's what she said." Bond muttered.
"Yes Tia, this is what we call a phoenix and he already has a name as we bought him from the Cloudsdale pet store." Galaxia replied.
"Wait, wait, wait...they had a pet store up there in the past?" Bond asked.
"Yes and..."
"Never mind, I'll leave the book of logic alone."
"Good...now Tia, this phoenix bird is called Philomena, he was trained to follow the orders of it's owner and now, that is you."
"Thank you mother...I will take care of him as much as I can." Tia said as she hugged her mother.
Soon, Tia and Galaxia brought Philomena into the outhouse area which will be the bird's new home. Tia and her mother then left the castle to do a bit of birthday shopping in Canterlot, Bond of course towed along as he got the chance to see the streets of Canterlot as well as a glimpse of Cloudsdale. He then noticed that there was a huge green land near a lake which he could see, he then remembered that back then, there was no Ponyville before the Apple Smith family founded the town.
Sometime later, it was around dinnertime, Woona and Cosmos were up and awake and eating away along with the others. Tia talked all about what she did in her shopping and thought of writing it the sisters diary which the parents really liked hearing and so did Bond.
Woona however was a little unsure about a phoenix living here and she feared of it being let loose and catching small prey, such as herself, due to her still filly size which all of them laughed at, thinking that she's making a big deal out of something that couldn't happen.
Later that night as Galaxia had gone to bed early, Woona began the night by raising the moon and she got the hang of it pretty quick. Cosmos was in the throne room, watching the moon rise and he smiled once more before looking over huge piles of paper, he began writing with his quill.
Elsewhere in the castle, Tia was busy feeding Philomena, but she had to have the cage door open in order to do so. She had just finished giving her pet the last bowl of some small meat when she heard a voice calling her.
"Tia, finish off what you're doing with Philomena, it's bedtime for you now." Cosmos called.
"Okay, father." Tia replied, "I'll see you again tomorrow."
Tia then dashed off away from the greenhouse and into the castle to the share bedroom...but then, there was trouble. Tia forgot to close the cage door and lock it securely, she had left it wide open without noticing and Philomena who got the wrong idea about it, flew out of the cage and out of the greenhouse as it roamed free all around the Canterlot Gardens with nopony looking, not even the gardeners were paying attention.
Woona had come out of the castle and to the gardens, thinking that she could see Tia's new pet being locked away and not being afraid. However, when she arrived at the greenhouse, she saw the cage door open and no sign of the phoenix.
"Uh oh...her pet has escaped!" she exclaimed, "We need to find her or Tia will be very upset."
Then, she heard a squawk from the sky...and there she was, the bird was flying around in circles before it noticed Woona, however, the phoenix misunderstood her size for a prey it swooped down to the ground and missed Woona.
"ARGH!" Woona shouted, "IT'S AFTER ME!"
Woona then galloped out of the gardens as fast she could and one of the gardeners finally took notice what was going on to see the bird flying through the castle door.
"It's gone into the castle...the king's not gonna like this." the gardener said.
Meanwhile, Bond was drinking down his first pint of orange cider as there was none of Applejack's apple cider back then, he then heard Woona yelling for help down the hallway, he suddenly finished off his drink and left his room and flew from his tower room and made his way into the main castle hallway, just in time to see Woona galloping really fast with tears in her eyes.
"Woona! Are you alright? What's happening?" Bond asked worryingly.
"A BIRD IS AFTER ME!" she yelled as she stopped and then hid behind Bond's backlegs.
Bond looked ahead to see Philomena who was in pursuit...he stood right in front of Woona, trying to protect her.
"NO!" he scolded, "Philomena, this is not your prey. She is a filly pony...not seed food!"
The phoenix squawked back at him as he stopped chasing and flapped his wings in mid-air.
"What is going on here?" Cosmos asked sternly.
"Oh father..." Woona sniffed, "...that red bird tried to eat me."
"Red bird...oh, Philomena, you're out of your cage, did Tia forget to lock your cage door?"
Philomena squawked several times as if to reply to that question.
"I see...but you're right, it's only her first time looking after a pet."
"Wait, you can understand what Philomena is saying?" Bond asked.
"Yes indeed, now let's put this phoenix back in his cage and I think we can call it a night."
So, Cosmos led Philomena into the greenhouse and she flew inside her cage before the king shut the door and locked it. Woona was able to cheer up after going through the trauma of being scared and chased by the big bird, but it was a good thing that Bond was there or who knows what might've got knocked down and broken across the halls and other rooms.
The next day arrived and Tia and Galaxia heard about what happened last night. Tia felt guilty for not taking her responsibility of looking after her pet seriously and wanted to make amends for Woona. The parents agreed, so by nightfall and with Bond's help, they got Philomena to land by the fireplace in another big room where it was Tia, Woona and the phoenix, whilst the King, Queen and Bond were watching outside, just in case.
"Are you sure, Tia, is it safe?" Woona asked who was still worried about the bird.
"Yes, it's alright now, he won't do anything unless he follows my orders alone." Tia replied.
"That's good to know...I'm happy you had a great birthday, by the way."
"Thank you sister...but I'm sure that very soon, you'll have your birthday and I think it'll be wonderful for you."
"I hope so too..."
There were no more words needed after that point, both the sisters snuggled up close before Tia began to fall asleep. The pet bird stayed where he was before he flew out of the room and was sent back to the greenhouse, whilst Galaxia went off to bed. Bond was about to call it a night as well when Cosmos brought him forward and talked quietly.
"Bond, we have some private news for you, Starswirl is currently working a spell experiment that may open a portal to help you get back to your own timeline" he whispered.
"Really? How far has he got?" Bond asked.
"He's made a start, but it's gonna take a long while. Not only that, next weekend is the Canterlot Carnival and I want you to keep it a secret. As much as we want both of our children to be with us as a family, we can't allow Woona to come along as it's her duty to sleep through the day so she can work as princess of the night."
"Ouch, you sure you wanna go through with that? She'll be devastated and really upset."
"Yes, but our children have duties to uphold, it's ruler-ship first, families second."
Cosmos and Bond then took the conversation away from the room and into the throne room where Cosmos took his seat.
"Well, forgive me for disagreeing with you King, but I don't think that's a wise philosophy to follow."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it would lead to a great tragedy, far in the future."
"A tragedy involving Woona, happens in the future?"
"Yes, but I cannot say anymore nor do anything about it as it will cause a time paradox and mess up the universe timeline."
"Then say no more Bond, not another word...you should go and rest, make sure you keep on taking care of our daughters until it is time for Galaxia and I to leave the world and hand the kingdom to Tia and Woona."
"Alright, I'll carry on as normal...goodnight, king."
Bond then left the throne room and went back to his own room, noticing Woona enjoying the night sky who was now more happy and brave. He showed a sad look on his face, he was worried about Woona's feelings getting hurt by next weekend when the carnival arrives. He wish there was something he could do in order to make sure Woona at least could have fun at the carnival.
So Bond got out a paper and a quill and began to write down an idea he came up with...
In the days that followed, Tia and Woona found out about the upcoming carnival by themselves when a poster outside the castle wall was shown by the entrance with several more around the town of Canterlot. All the ponies around the town were beginning to fill up with excitement and since it would be a once in a lifetime event, it would be one carnival nopony could to afford to miss...well, almost nopony.
When it was the morning of the carnival, Bond was the first to wake up before the royal family were, the carnival was about to start around 10:00am and finish by 3:00pm. It was thirty minutes before it was due to start when Bond was in the kitchen, he had just had what he called a brunch meal, when he heard Tia and Woona walk in and Woona was feeling excited about it.
"I can't believe the carnival is here, I'm so excited for it!" Woona exclaimed.
"So am I, Mother says that it's a once in a lifetime event." Tia added.
Bond was almost tempted to tell Woona the truth beforehand, but not only could he not find it in his heart to do so, he would also be breaking his promise of keeping it a secret until Woona learnt the reality of being a Princess of the Night forever herself.
"That's...good to know." was all he could reply, feeling a little down.
"Is something wrong?" Tia asked.
Bond quickly thought of a good answer to change the subject. "Well...there is, I just wish that I could get back to my own timeline soon."
"Well, I'm sure Starswirl is working as much as he can to make that happen."
Just then, the parents walked in.
"Morning children." Cosmos said before he looked at Bond who put on a smile, "And morning to you, Bond."
"Morning father." Tia and Woona replied.
"So Tia, are you looking forward to your first appearance at the carnival in Canterlot?" Galaxia asked.
"Yes mother, it's gonna be fun." Tia answered.
"Yay! Carnival!" Woona added with happiness.
"Umm...Woona, isn't it supposed to be your bedtime?" Bond asked.
"Bedtime? But I wanna go too."
"You can't Woona, we went over this twice before." Cosmos replied, "Your mother and I know you're still young, but you're a princess of the night and you must sleep during the day so you can raise the moon at night."
"But...but..." Woona protested who suddenly lost her smile.
"I'm sorry, but duties first, families second as we said before." Galaxia said.
"But I will get you a bag of doughnuts from the carnival when we come back." Tia added.
"Oh...okay, thank you, Tia." Woona sniffed before she left the kitchen and galloped out of the room in tears.
Bond felt really sorry for her and so did Tia, but there was nothing they could do to change the King and Queen's minds.
"She'll be alright, Tia, she still needs to learn to accept the change and adapt to it." Cosmos assured.
"More like fill her heart with darkness." Bond muttered.
"Bond, are you coming as well?" Galaxia asked.
"If you don't mind, I'll stay here and keep an eye on Woona, just in case she tries to sneak out."
"Good thinking, Bond. We'll be gone for a long amount of hours, but we'll be back by late afternoon." Cosmos responded. "Come on, Tia...let's get going."
"Okay Father." Tia replied.
Soon Galaxia, Cosmos and Tia then left the kitchen and out of the castle as they walked on their way to the carnival down at the Canterlot town, whilst Bond went to the sister's bedroom to check up on Woona.
He knocked on the door slightly.
"Woona, are you alright?" Bond asked. "It's only me."
There was no reply, he opened the door quietly and looked inside...the whole room empty, minus a window opened.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed, "Woona must gone out through the window and flew away...I gotta find her quick before her parents find out."
Bond then thought she must've went to the carnival on her own by flying, so he flew out through the window and looked around for Woona, turning his head into all directions until he looked down and then along the green fields to spot Woona among the flowerbed.
Woona then noticed a butterfly and got curious about it before loads more butterflies came fluttering around her and then as if by magic, they began to pick up Woona by the tail and mane and she was being flown away with no chance of being able to break free of their hold. Bond then thought that the King and Queen must've planned this in advance by having the creatures magically enforce the rule of Woona's bedtime.
"NOOOOO!" Woona yelled as she began to cry again.
"Sorry Cosmos and Galaxia, but I have to disobey this one." Bond said to himself as he zoomed through the butterflies, knocking them off balance which allowed Woona to be free and flew towards Bond and hugged him, looking for protection.
The butterflies regrouped and began to try and grab Woona, but Bond put up a shield around him, preventing them from getting closer. Bond along with Woona then flew far, far away from the castle and out of Canterlot to a safe empty ground.
Bond landed down and Woona got off his back, she was glad that Bond came to rescue her, but she still felt sad about what she was told earlier and began to sniff, trying to not cry again.
"Oh Woona, I'm so sorry to see the day you're having...I want them to change their minds, I really do, but I cannot do that as I am sure their magic exceeds way past mine." Bond said with sadness.
"It's not your fault, Bond." Woona replied as she wiped her tears away, "I'm still young and I only want to have fun at the carnival...I wish it was during the night as well."
Bond then smiled as he believe this was the time to tell her something.
"Actually Woona...about that, I don't think your parents were told about that small print that were in the posters." Bond said.
Woona then perked up, "What do you mean?"
"Well, a week ago before the carnival, I wrote a letter and gave it to the pony who is in charge of the whole carnival event and I asked him to do a big favor."
"What did you do?"
"Asked him to put on the carnival show through the night as well as the day so that you could go to it when you raise the moon and he said he would be willing to do that on one condition." Bond then sighed in embarrassment, "I have to do a guilty pleasure performance of my choosing."
Woona suddenly jumped up and hugged Bond.
"Oh my gosh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she yelled happily.
"You're very much welcome, although I'm not looking forward to embarrassing myself."
"But you'll do the performance for me, won't you?"
"Of course."
Bond and Woona flew back to the castle and when they were inside, Woona went straight to the sisters bedroom and closed the window before she went to sleep, as for Bond, he went back to his tower room as he began to rehearse his soon to be embarrassing performance.
Many hours later and the rest of the royal family were back at the castle, just in time for dinner as well. Bond was already down at the kitchen, thinking of his upcoming night performance when Galaxia and Cosmos came in.
"Bond, may we have a word with you before dinner, please?" Galaxia asked.
"Sure, what is it?" Bond responded.
"Well, first of all...is Woona alright?" Cosmos asked.
"Yes, I checked up on her. She was upset and was crying a little, but after I talked to her, she cheered up slightly before going to bed."
"I guess that is something." Galaxia said, "Secondly, when we were at the carnival, one of the ponies said that the carnival was going to last through the night as well which surprised us."
"Which then got us thinking, after Woona wakes up and raises the moon, she can go to the carnival event. Looks like she will be able to enjoy the once in a lifetime event after all." Cosmos added.
"That terrific news." Bond replied with a genuine tone so as to keep the real reason a secret.
It was then dinner time and the whole family were around the table, nomming away. Bond had left the castle to go to the carnival so that he could get ready for his night time performance. Galaxia and Tia who had already been to the carnival, said they weren't going as they needed sleep. So Cosmos was the only pony available to be with Woona and through all of it, Woona promised to keep it all a secret until the performance.
Later that evening, after Woona woke up and had her dinner, she went outside to raise the moon and did it in a matter of seconds. She was now resting after doing so when Cosmos came outside.
"Come on Woona, it's time for the night-time carnival, I hope you're looking forward to it now." Cosmos said as he walked outside the castle towards her.
"I am father, I'm just happy that I'll get to be there...but to also have a member of my family with me." Woona replied.
The king smiled back and hugged his little daughter as they walked to Canterlot to see the carnival show, which was about to start.
"So who's opening the night event?" one pony said.
"Well apparently, some magic pony who claims this is to be a guilty pleasure." another one replied.
Soon, the lights on the stage dimmed and the curtains opened to see a mare who was standing behind a mic on the right side of the stage, with a shadow of a familiar alicorn behind it who was standing on his two backlegs. Just then, music began to play and the performance was under way.
When the performance was over, he was treated to huge cheers from the crowd. Bond was relived that the performance was over, he saw Woona with her father and waved at her and she waved back.
Soon, the carnival was finally finished and since it was a once in a lifetime event, it would never return again...well until Ponyville came along and changed all that, but that's not for this timeline, okay?
Cosmos and Woona were enjoying the night time, there was no need for words as they continued to look at the stars in the night sky as they shared a father and daughter hug. Bond watched over from the tower room and smiled with a feeling of being proud that he was able to save Woona from having a sad and lonely heart.
Bond then walked into his room and got under the duvet covers and fell asleep, he was very tired after doing all that dancing and rapping, but he forgot about the embarrassment as it was well worth it in the end. However, he was still concerned about getting back to his own timeline, but he would have to wait for now and hope for the best...
The next morning arrived with Cosmos and Woona going to bed and Tia raising the sun along with Galaxia who was about to begin her ruling of the daytime on her side of the throne room. Bond Racer was still asleep, recovering from the night before where he performed despite his embarrassment of it all.
His main objective was to hope that Starswirl had got around to creating a portal spell that would take him back to the future...if there was a DeLoran with a built in flux capacitor, he would've been able to have it ready ages ago, of course such technology of that calibre did not exist, so patience was the main mindset to put up with for the time being.
In the throne room, Galaxia had finished her paperwork for the morning and looked at Tia who was looking through the window glass overlooking Canterlot. Seeing that she had mastered her new role of the sun as well as becoming smarter and stronger, the Queen sighed quietly and thought that it was time for the reigns to pass on.
"Tia, would you kindly please sit on my throne room chair for a moment?" Galaxia asked.
"Okay Mother." she replied.
Galaxia got off the chair, then Tia walked up to the chair and sat in a good position. She seemed to look perfect in the eyes of the queen and she smiled at her. "You look so perfect in that chair, as if you're a ruler already." she complimented.
"Thanks mother, can I ask why?" Tia replied.
"Well...your Father and I have given some thought and seeing you both now more than capable of keeping your duties on strong form, we have agreed that it's time to pass on the leadership to you."
Tia was taken back slightly, of course she knew the day was always going to come, but she didn't expect it to happen today.
"Really mother, are you and father sure about it, despite Woona not out of her filly years?"
"We haven't been more sure than we are now and Bond Racer will need to hear this too as until Starswirl helps him get back to his timeline, he is still under the orders of whoever leads Equestria, which will be you and Woona very soon."
"Okay, I can understand that, will we have a group talk later?"
"Yes my dear Tia, we'll all be together to discuss it after our dinner time."
Shortly then, Tia got off the chair and left the throne room with a smile as Galaxia got back on her throne. Tia liked sitting there and she was quite happy, but at the same time, she felt worried about what's gonna happen to her mother and Cosmos when Tia and Woona become the new rulers of Equestria.
Several hours later when it was just before dinner time, Bond was talking to Tia about what happened last night.
"So it was you who did that favor for Woona?" Tia asked.
"Yes it was me, there was no way I was going to let Woona miss out on all the fun, I guess I'm a lifesaver of sorts." Bond replied.
"Well, all I can say is thank you so much, I don't know what Woona or I would do without you."
"It's my pleasure, just anything to make princesses smile."
Tia then gave him a friendly hug which he accepted, he smiled cause he knew that he would see Tia and Woona back in the future...when he is finally able to go home.
Shortly afterwards, dinner was underway and Cosmos and Woona had joined at the table, even though Bond wasn't part of the royal family, they all agreed that he had been like one of them and they also knew that they were going to miss him. But they concentrated on the happy side of things for now.
After dinner was over, Cosmos and Galaxia nodded to each other as if to have the talk with their daughters about 'passing the torch' so to speak. Woona and Tia listened carefully as the King and Queen began to speak with Bond needing to hear it too.
"Children, we had a long talk together but your mother and I believe that you are both ready to be handed over the leadership of Equestria. You both have proven that you're more than able to uphold the ruling of peace and harmony." Cosmos said.
"Really, I get to be a leader?" Woona asked.
"Well, a co-leader to be more exact." Galaxia replied. "Between the day and night, you will swap roles of leading the kingdom as you must continue your roles with the sun and the moon."
"However, before you two can rule the lands, you will have to go through royalty training." Cosmos added. "I must warn you, the procedure for the training will be swift and at times be painfully strict, but it has to be done."
"However, we believe you won't have that problem at all as Bond Racer will carry on with his duty which will now be changed." Galaxia continued. "He will no longer be watching over you, instead he will be your support worker in case you need it."
"That's exactly fine with me, Queen and King." Bond intervened politely.
"But on a serious note children, we had to save this to last as we're not sure how you're going to take this..." Cosmos then sighed, "...but when you become the new rulers, your mother and I will have to leave the world behind us."
This shocked Tia and Woona, they weren't exactly sure what they meant by that, but Bond did as he read a book about the beginnings of Equestria with Twilight.
"What...what are you saying?" Tia asked worryingly.
"We mean that we can no longer be with you when you become the official rulers of the land." Galaxia replied.
Tia was able to handle it well, but Woona on the other hoof wasn't able to control her emotions as well as her sister could.
"So...does this mean you're saying goodbye?" Woona asked as she began to sniff.
"Yes, Woona...it has to be this way, but let's not be too depressed...come here and let us have the best time as a family for all time." Cosmos said as he opened his arms out.
Tia and Woona joined him and Galaxia in a group hug, the two princesses began to sniff, trying to fight back the tears as they hugged their parents tightly.
Bond shed a tear in the background and decided to leave them alone and have them enjoy thier final moments as a loving family. He left the dining room and felt quite emotional walking down the hallway, he knew exactly how they felt when he lost his parents when he was a filly, back in Fillydelphia.
Just then, Starswirl showed up, trotting towards Bond as if he had something to tell.
"Bond! Glad you're here, I have just discovered and learnt a portal spell that will allow you to go through it and bring you back to your timeline...it pushed me to the very limit of my magic, but I got there in the end, you'll be able to go home soon." he said happily.
"Yes! Thank you Starswirl, that news was all I needed to cheer up." he replied.
"Cheer up, what happened today?"
Bond then gave a quick summary about the parents 'passing the torch' to the princesses.
"Oh my...I bet they didn't take the news well."
"Actually, Tia was able to do so, but Woona couldn't quite do the same."
"It also means that I won't be their magician tutor anymore once they become the new rulers...so in a way, I may be out of a job."
"That's terrible news, can't you find a job around Canterlot, maybe send off an application form?"
"Jobs in this timeline are very hard to come by, I'd be lucky if I landed a job as a toilet scrubber."
"Don't talk such pile of manure, you're better than that."
Ba-dum tish!
Starswirl was slightly confused, "Not sure if you were trying to make a joke, but I'll take it as a compliment."
"Okay, please do that...I better let you get back to your portal spell perfecting."
"Actually I was going to tell the family the news but I'll go in slow and gently for their sake."
"Good idea, I'll be at my tower room if any of them need me."
Starswirl walked ahead past the hallway whilst Bond left the main castle and flew up to his tower room. He looked at the view all around him and soaked up the surroundings, as if to make the most of it now before he goes back to his timeline, he was smiling and was looking forward to seeing all his friends from the future that he had missed so much.
Sometime later, it was the beginning of the night, Cosmos watched Woona raise the moon one last time before he got up and hugged Woona tightly.
"Woona, I am incredibly proud of you and how far you've come since you became a princess." Cosmos said as he held her, "I know that you will carry on with the rulership of the night and make the family proud."
"I will, father...thank you...thank you for all the good times you gave me." Woona replied.
Galaxia and Tia were beside them, also sharing a close and tight hug.
"Tia, you have also become the greatest blessing of Equestria and you have shown true leadership when you raise the sun and bring forth the new day. I have full confidence that you will be the strongest and most powerful princess of the day." Galaxia complimented.
"Thank you mother...I'll always love you and the rest of my family." Tia replied with a warm smile.
The family got into a close hug once more before lights began to glow around Cosmos and Galaxia. The parents then walked towards a light that showed a gateway to somewhere, but nopony knew where it was.
"Children, your moment has arrived...our time to be with you is coming to an end and it is time for us to part." Cosmos said.
They walked up to the light portal before looking back at Tia and Woona who began to cry.
"We understand, but we're gonna miss you when you leave us." Tia said as she tried so hard not to cry, Woona was already there as she hid her tears on Tia's shoulder.
"One final thing, children." Galaxia said, "Although Equestria is destined to be full of peace, harmony and happiness, we are not alone in the universe. When the world and beyond hears of us gone, forces of evil and darkness may try to stand in your way and conquer Equestria."
"Forces of evil and darkness?" Tia asked as she comforted Woona in a hug.
"Yes, it is why we have created and provided these...the Elements Of Harmony." Cosmos replied.
Soon, six small gems of different shapes on necklaces appeared on a white podium and a glass case appeared and landed gently on the right side of the throne room.
"These elements are Magic, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Laughter and Honesty. They will prove useful in helping you defend Equestria from darkness, you both will control three of the six elements each and you will be connected with them for as long as you have a connection to them." Galaxia added.
"Now children, never give up in hope...and always have faith on the powers of love and peace." Cosmos said.
"We will always be watching and be with you...in spirit, we'll always love you."
"Now, may your co-leadership carry Equestria forward to the future and beyond...our dear children."
The king and queen then walked further into the bright light and further upwards to the night sky before a mega bright light appeared, nearly blinding Tia and Woona until it faded away quickly. Tia and Woona looked to see their parents, but they carried on sharing their sisterly hug and tears as they now realized their parents were no longer around them.
Cosmos and Galaxia were gone from the world which would be spread around Equestria sometime afterwards, although this broke the princesses's hearts, they knew they had to stay strong for their parents and for all the lifeforms on the world as they became co-leaders of the kingdom.
It was then a week later since the King and Queen journeyed to the afterlife, Tia and Woona decided that they should no longer be called by their child names for a start, so they became Celestia and Luna from that point on. Bond Racer found out about it all by then and gave them the most loving and comfy hugs he had ever given.
On that night, Starswirl came into the castle with news once more for Bond and the princesses.
"Princesses, I have finally perfected the portal spell and I am about to open it, outside the castle." he said.
"Excellent news, Starswirl, we'll let Bond know about it now." Luna replied.
Soon, Starswirl, Luna, Celestia and Bond were outside. The guards by the castle bridge were given the night off so that nopony could see the portal spell taking place. Starswirl concentrated as he began to perform the spell, holding his forelegs out and standing up, putting all of is magic and strength into it.
The ponies then saw a circle then began to grow into a big circle and was now turned into a portal, Starswirl nearly fainted as the magic he used seemed to have almost drained his energy out....looks like his retirement is approaching faster than he thought.
"Wow...he really did it and that portal is big enough for me to go home." Bond said as he walked closer to it.
"Remember Bond..." Starswirl said as he got back up. "...it's only travels one way. Once you go through it, there is no going back...but we won't forget the days you were here and you have been very good to all of us."
Bond looked back at Celestia and Luna, they came up to him gave him a close hug.
"We're gonna miss you, Bond." Luna said.
"Yes, our kingdom won't be the same without you." Celestia added.
"I know, Princesses...I won't forget you both." Bond replied.
"But will we see you in the future?"
"Well...you never know... I'll see you in a thousand and five hundred years time."
Bond then let go of the hug and winked as he began to walk into the portal and stepped through it...shortly, he had vanished and the portal closed and disappeared. Celestia and Luna shared another closing hug, seeing that their pony who watched over them was now gone too...for the time being.
"Well, there goes our wise-cracking alicorn." Starswirl smirked. "Too bad I won't be able to see him again as I'm thinking of retiring."
But he said it to himself as Celestia and Luna were already back in the castle. Luna was on the throne as her role of the night, Celestia then headed off to bed in what was the parents bedroom but was now their own and began to sleep.
Celestia then had a bit of a nightmare dream at first where she was a young filly and was chased by a timberwoof through a dark forest. She was then cornered, until she saw Luna come in and blasted the timberwoof away to pieces. This was the night they discovered that Luna can go into ponies dreams and make them better which was quite fitting for the princess of the night.
As time went on, Celestia and Luna were welcomed and loved by all the ponies that came and went and it wasn't long before Ponyville finally came along and was turned into the town the ponies knew today, however they were challenged on two occasions by evil foes. The first of which was King Sombra who was banished away to the Arctic land by the sisters and Discord who tried to turn the world upside down with random chaos before he was turned to stone.
However, when the timeline became nearly a thousand years from the present, things would take a turn for the worse for both of the princesses when a mysterious aura showed up around Luna...but that's another story.
