"Careful, Twilight, the wind is strong today."
Celestia winced as her student and newly crowned princess heeded her advice too late, frantically trying and failing to slow her momentum before slamming into a solid oak tree. The purple alicorn slid to the ground with a groan, lying still for a heart-stopping moment before beginning to untangle her wings and rub her bruised muzzle. The older princess heaved a silent sigh of relief before gracefully landing next to her.
"Are you alright, Twilight?" The littler alicorn sat up and nodded, brushing a tear out of her eye. Celestia wrapped a wing around her comfortingly.
"Sorry, Princess- I mean, Celestia- I just can't seem to get the hang of this…" The white alicorn hugged her friend tighter and gently straightened a feather that had been twisted out of place.
"Don't worry about it, Twilight. You should have seen Luna and I when we first got our wings; we looked like drunken ducklings and I'm shocked we never broke a bone before we got the hang of it." The purple mare looked up with a curious frown.
"Wait… I thought you and Pri- Luna- had always been alicorns?" Celestia shook her head.
"No, Twilight, we have not always been Princesses. I haven't told you this story?" Twilight shook her head with a look of fascination, forgetting her failed attempt to fly. Celestia settled back more comfortably, letting her wing lay over Twilight like a warm blanket against the cool breeze.
"Our father was just a very young colt when Discord first rose to his reign. We were young mares, unicorns- like you were- when he was at the height of his power…"
Celestia huffed out a breath as she trotted through the dusty library stacks, deftly avoiding the random outcroppings in the floor and the occasional drips of water from a frozen-over shelf with the ease of long practice.
"Luna! Luna, where are you? It's going to be nightfall any moment!" She called out as loudly as she dared; the wrath of the librarian pony with bulging eyes was something to be feared. In response to her call a dusky blue head peeked out from behind a nearby bookshelf made of bread, a book held open in her little sister's telekinetic grasp.
"It can't be nightfall yet- it was noon when I arrived, and it's only been a few hours!" Celestia blew a strand of candyfloss-pink mane out of her face with an angry huff.
"You know how it goes, Lulu- the day changes whenever it feels like it, and Mother said she could feel the sun slipping. She wants us both home before it gets dark-"
As soon as the words left her mouth the room plunged into darkness. They could hear a quick curse from the librarian (Mother would have washed her mouth out with saddle soap) before the older unicorn snapped the lanterns on.
They made their way to the front desk quickly, Luna still carrying her book and attempting to read as they walked. The third time she nearly walked into a shelf Celestia huffed angrily and snatched the book from her, ignoring her sister's angry glare as they approached the desk. The grey and green unicorn looked at them worriedly as she recorded Luna's most recent checkout.
"It's full dark out right now, you two. Are you sure you don't want to stay until it's light again?" Celestia shook her head with a tight smile.
"No, Mother and Father will worry if we're not home soon. We'll be okay- home's not far away." She nudged her little sister back towards the exit, already engrossed in her book again, and waved goodbye to the older mare.
"Lulu, at least put that up until we get home!" Celestia watched the darkness as they walked, navigating by the light from various strange sources (what in the world was that bobbing liquid in that strange-shaped glass, and why was it moving?) and the candles other ponies carried. "You know you have better night-sight than I do."
"Oh, fine." With an aggrieved sigh Luna tucked the book back into her saddlebags. They were emblazoned with their mother's simple but beautiful embroidery, forming the shape of Luna's crescent moon cutie mark. Celestia had a matching set with her own sun cutie mark.
"What were you reading, anyways? That book looked really old."
"Stuff about ancient magic and how the world used to be, before Discord." They skipped like foals over a hopscotch table written with what looked like chocolate milk.
"Don't you ever read anything fun?"
"Oh, what, like that new explorer who claims he's found a land with an ocean made of sand?"
"Hey! Farseeker is a legitimate explorer!"
"Why doesn't he spend more time exploring our own country and put his talents to good use actually fixing things, then?"
"Because not everyone wants to bury their noses in the same old history books they've read a million times over, repeating the same old problems! Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Where's your respect for the past?" Luna retorted with a playful shove. "There's plenty of information to be found in what's already happened; we just haven't looked deep enough." Celestia sighed and gave her sister an affectionate hug as they arrived at their doorstep.
"Well, if anybody can find something new in all that dusty history, it'll be you, little sis." Then she pulled away and winked. "But you'll still need me to actually make anything with it!"
She laughed as Luna playfully chased her into the house.
After a quick dinner the two young mares tucked themselves into bed to take advantage of the dark sleeping hours; no one knew how long it would last or when the next dark cycle would come again, and it was hard to sleep in broad daylight.
Unfortunately, Celestia's attempts to rest were thwarted by her sister, reading by hornlight under her sheets. Sometimes she hated having to share a room… The white unicorn moodily picked up her spare pillow and hurled it at her sister.
"Hey!" Luna protested, throwing the pillow back. By pure bad luck the pillow hit Celestia in the face; her horn ripped the outer covering and allowed the slightly squashed cotton candy filling to rain down over her mane and sheets. Celestia pinned back her ears and glared at her sister, who broke down in giggles even as she began to telekinetically clean up the mess.
"Sorry, but that was perfect, you gotta admit it Cellie!" Celestia scowled.
"Yeah, yeah, hilarious. Why won't you just go to sleep?" Luna rolled over onto her back and waved her hooves in the air idly.
"I've been trying to figure out something about this book. It keeps talking about how important the cycle of day and night is to large magical workings." Celestia snorted and rested her head on her folded forelegs.
"What cycle?" Luna nodded.
"Exactly. There isn't any cycle… But it seems like, as crazy as it seems, there used to be." Celestia's head shot back up.
"You said that book was written pre-Discord, right?" Luna nodded and checked the date again, just to be sure.
"This would have been written… A few years before Dad was born. So about five years pre-Discord; Dad was just a foal when he took over." Celestia got out of bed and began pacing back and forth, keeping her hoofsteps soft so she wouldn't wake their parents.
"If the sun and moon had a cycle, and Discord messed it up… Do you think?..." They shared a look, and with the singleness of mind other ponies sometimes found creepy, whispered in unison-
"We could put it back on track?"
They spent hours in the library, researching the dustiest old tomes Luna could dig up. Finding the possibilities in darkness was her sister's specialty, like the moon lighting the darkness of night; once found, however, it was Celestia who pulled the ideas into full clarity like the brightness of day. Their mother had once called them twins in all but birth, so well did they balance each other.
Together, they planned ways to take back the day and night.
Nearly a month later they stood on the high ridge of a hill made of rubber, watching the sun and moon hover at opposite edges of the horizon. Celestia swallowed heavily.
"Well, Lulu… This is it." Luna sidled a little closer until they were pressed shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. They both trembled a little with nervousness. If this went wrong… Neither of them wanted to consider the magical backlash they would incur. Finally, Luna shook her mane resolutely.
"It's not going to get any easier if we just stand here." Her sister nodded and raised her head.
They turned and faced the celestial bodies they had chosen- Celestia at the sun, Luna at the moon. They began to gather as much power as they could manage as they recited the spell they had created in unison.
"The Sun and the Moon, the Night and the Day;
Equal and Opposite, both holding sway;
Forced from your cycle by dark chaos power,
Just part of the world it sought to devour…"
Sweat began to pour down their necks as the power gathered.
"Calling you now are two who hold firm
Against Chaos unleashed, who makes the world squirm;
The Sun and the Moon we take as our names-
Celestia and Luna! Your might we embrace!"
Unnoticed by the mares, a ferocious glow began to surround them as they shouted the final couplets.
"We bid you return to the rotation you held,
Guided by magic of order upheld-
Give back our day! Give back our night!
And stand as the beacon of all that is right!"
At first, nothing happened; though the two unicorns could feel the spell successfully lock into place, the sun and the moon stubbornly remained in the sky together.
Then, slowly, ponderously, the moon began to tiptoe down towards the horizon as the sun began to rise. Panting, sweating, and shaking with an excess of magic, the two sisters gaped at the sight.
"… We did it." Celestia gasped, her shudders growing stronger. "Luna, we did it!" Just as they connected in a desperately triumphant hug, a wave of magic forced them both to the ground with shrieks of pain and surprise.
Luckily for the both of them, they blacked out.
When she woke up, Celestia ached all over. She blearily struggled to lay on her stomach, feeling wobbly-legged and unsteady. Her head spun.
"Luna?" No response- she shook her head to try and clear it. "Sister?" She turned her head to look for her sister, reaching up to rub at her horn- it felt unusually heavy. A shocked gasp drew her attention.
Her dark blue sister was laying on the rubber, one hoof lifted as if to brush away her mane. It was now longer, fuller, almost magical looking; it sparkled like the night sky. With shock Celestia noted her changed mane, the new length of her sister's horn, and most surprising of all… The beautiful feathered wings that extended from her back.
"Oh, Lulu… You're an alicorn!" Luna swallowed heavily and gave a breathless laugh.
"You are too, Cellie." The white unicorn- now an alicorn- almost gave herself whiplash as she turned to look at her new wings and noticed her newly tricolored mane and tail.
"But… How?" She stuttered, lifting one wing experimentally to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The new limb rose weakly, shaking like a leaf, and it would obviously take work to make her muscles flight-ready; but it was hers.
They were startled out of their amazement by the sound of slow clapping.
"Bravo, girls, oh Bravo!" They unsteadily got to their feet to face the one they dreaded most.
Discord himself.
The Draconequus hovered in front of them, clapping his mismatched paws together.
"Simply astounding, girls! You've managed to take control of both the sun and moon, get them back on their old cycle. Now what's the fun in that? You messed up all my beautiful chaos!" The two alicorns stared in shock. Their feared tyrant, the one who made their lives miserable… Was pouting. Like a little foal who wanted another apple.
It was Celestia who found her voice first.
"Your chaos makes the entire world miserable. We can't sleep, we can't keep track of time, we can barely manage enough sunlight to grow our own food! This can't continue, Discord. We're putting the world back in order whether you like it or not." She didn't know where she found her bravery.
The draconequus laughed.
"Ooh, really? I'm so scared." He teased, hovering closer and tucking a claw under Celestia's chin. She yanked away from him and glared with her ears pinned. "How, exactly, do you plan to put your little world back in order? You're just two little ponies, no matter how good with magic you are…"
Shocked gasps and murmurs drew all of their attentions. A crowd was beginning to gather, attracted by the flash of light and the sense of their magic; they gaped at Celestia and Luna.
One little filly squirmed her way to the front and began bouncing excitedly.
"Mama! Mama, lookie lookie! It's the princesses I dreamed about! They've come to beat Discord!" Celestia found the pride to lift her head, and Luna followed her lead.
"That's right, Discord. We may be small, and we may not have your power… But the other ponies stand beside us, and that makes us powerful." She met Discord's eyes; with the gathering of ponies, some of whom were powerful unicorns in their own right, obviously made him nervous. Even spirits of chaos could be damaged if there were enough determined ponies to overwhelm his magic. He played it off, however, laughing and floating up into the sky.
"Oh, fine, play your little games, Princesses… Just don't be surprised when I crush you down into the dirt again!" He disappeared with an anticlimactic pop, and the two alicorns were left with a crowd of ponies staring at them with wonder.
Luna drew back a little, scuffing one hoof in the dirt, and Celestia shifted from foot to foot nervously, unsure of what to say. There was absolute silence… Until one voice abruptly rang out over the crowd.
"Celestia! Luna! Oh, my little girls!" A pale blue pony shot from the crowd to embrace them, followed by a white-speckled black stallion.
"Mom? Dad?" The two sisters found themselves crushed in enthusiastic hugs, and were shocked to realize they both stood taller than their parents. Their mother drew away, wiping tears from her eyes.
"I knew it! Every mother knows her foals are special, but you two… I knew you were meant for something great!" She took a shaky breath and their father wrapped her in a hug of his own. "My little girls… Princesses, just like all the stories predicted…"
She turned to the crowd.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I introduce… Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of the Sun and Moon!"
Thunderous cheering followed by the entire crowd sinking into bows followed her announcement, leaving the two sisters to gape in shock and awe before drawing themselves back together and bowing in return. Luna nudged her sister lightly with her wing.
"You're the best at speaking, Cellie. You say something." Celestia swallowed hard and nodded, deciding to go for short and sweet.
"Ponies of Equestria… My sister and I have set ourselves in defiance of Discord, and started our campaign by reclaiming the Sun and the Moon, bringing them back to their natural cycle. If you will stand with us, we will do our best to defeat Discord once and for all, and bring peace and harmony to all of Equestria!"
Roaring applause met her proclamation, and the two sisters felt their hearts swell with hope as they stood before their first followers.
"There was a lot more work and fighting after that day, of course, but that was the start of our reign over the ponies of Equestria and our fight against Discord." Twilight had hung onto every word, wide-eyed.
"Wow… You two managed to figure that out all on your own? That's amazing…" She shook her head to clear it before her gaze turned thoughtful. "You and Luna became princesses fighting by Discord, I became one by restoring my friends' destinies… How did Cadence become a princess?"
Celestia laughed and got to her feet, brushing dirt out of her coat.
"That's her story to tell, Twilight. Maybe she'll tell you if you ask her nicely. For now, though, the breeze has calmed- let's give flying another try, shall we?" With an enthusiastic smile her student agreed and they took to the skies again.
As she watched the purple alicorn fly, Celestia's thoughts turned inwards. It had been a long time since she'd thought of her mother and father. Lady Galaxis and Lord Stardust, as they would come to be known as members of her court, had passed on many years ago. She still missed them terribly, and knew that Luna did as well.
She turned her eyes sadly to her student, who had caught a breeze and was happily figuring out the details of a banking turn. Someday Twilight would outlive her friends and family, like Luna and Celestia had; she only hoped that day did not come for a long, long time.
For now she would savor the breeze and the sunlight and turn her thoughts away from the past.
The cycle of the sun continued eternally, after all.
Author's Notes:
Yet another MLP fanfic, this one focusing on my favorite princesses! This has been floating in my head since the S3 finale. If Twilight could become a princess by performing some new incredible feat of magic, who's to say Celestia and Luna couldn't have become the first princesses the same way?
This was written in about a 4-hour marathon stretch while sitting up on the flybridge of a boat on a very peaceful evening. Please excuse any errors I may have not caught in my editing- it's late and I'm tired.
No, I currently have no plans to write one of these about the origins of Princess Cadence. If you'd like to, however, send me a link- I'd love to read it! ^_^
I hope you enjoyed, read if you feel like it!
-SS