First Ascension

“One more push, Volcana!” the midwife, a golden yellow unicorn told the other mare she was standing in front of. The other unicorn, an ashy gray with a dark red mane that curled at the tips, was currently giving birth to her first foal. Beside her, holding her hoof, was her husband. A dark blue stallion with a black mane that blended in with the night.

With one last muscle contraction, the foal was fully pushed out, landing comfortably on a levitating blanket. Before being wrapped in the cloth, the midwife looked down at the unicorn, taking in it's features. It was a filly, incredibly white, with a pink, curly mane. All in all, she looked like a lighter version of her mother, “It's a filly!”

The couple looked at each other with a disappointed gaze before the father took the baby in his telekinetic grip, “She is beautiful, at least.”

“What's wrong?” the goldenrod unicorn asked.

“We were hoping for a colt,” Volcana, the new mother, told her.

The midwife nodded, “As much as we do need stallions to help raise the celestial bodies, mares have their purpose as well. She may well grow into Princess Platinum's next right hoof mare,” she went up to the child, held to her father's chest, and moved a lock of hair out of her face, “Raise her well, and she will succeed.”

The couple looked at their foal before nodding, “Smart words from the wisest unicorn. Thank you, Midwife.”

The midwife chuckled, “Come now, Clover the Clever holds the title as the wisest unicorn,” she went up to the ash gray unicorn's side, “Now, Volcana, you must take it easy for the next few days. I don't want you doing any hard labor, even magic. Just stay and take care of the new foal.”

“Yes Midwife,” Volcana replied, looking at her new daughter.

The yellow pony looked out a hole in the camp tent, seeing the starry night sky in return, “We should all get some sleep. Good night everypony.”

“Good night Midwife,” they both chorused. After she left, the father looked over to his wife, “What do you think for a name?”

He swore there was a twinkle in her eye before she said, “I'm thinking, Celestia.”

“Naming her after the sun and moon? Isn't that a bit much?” he asked.

“Perhaps,” Volcana said, taking the baby from his legs, “I feel she will have something to do with them. At the very least, she will raise and lower them like the rest of us.”

“Very well,” he said, levitating a blanket over, “Let's get some sleep,” he pulled the cover over the three of them, the newborn huddled between the two.

Morning came early for the couple, as a couple hours later Celestia began crying. Volcana awoke first, and realizing the fatal mistake she had made, moved the newborn over to her chest, where she began suckling. She waited until the foal stopped, before slinging the baby over her shoulder, remembering the midwife's instructions on how to burp a foal.

As she went out to the nearby lake for a drink, she saw a small group of unicorns were already trying to raise the sun. She wasn't sure, but it looked like one was trying to call her over. Cresting up the hill they were on, she looked to see the group was all stallions.

“Hey Volcana, you're good at raising the sun. Give us a hoof here?” One of them, a light red unicorn, asked.

“I'm sorry, but I just had a foal last night. The midwife said no heavy lifting for a few days, physically and magically,” she explained.

Rounds of “congratulations” and “I'm so happy for you” came from the group. Volcana blushed, embarrassed at the praise she was receiving. As she trotted back to the campsite, she noticed more and more unicorns were waking up. As she walked through the opening she finally spotted her husband, newborn foal curled to his chest.

“Go outside with your friends Atlas, I'll take care of Celestia,” she told him, nuzzling the baby's face.

“Are you sure dear? This is our first baby,” he asked.

“All she needs is to be fed, burped, and have her diapers changed. Nothing I can't handle.” She lifted the baby up telekinetically, holding her to her chest.

Atlas looked concerned for a moment, before smiling, “As you wish, my dear.”

She watched as he left, an idea lighting up in her mind. She held Celestia out with her hooves, and asked, “Would you like to see the sun rise?

A gurgle and smile escaped from the newborn, which she took as a yes. Levitating the foal on to her back, she slowly trotted out of the tent and up the hill to the group of unicorns. Behind them on another hill, stood her husband and another group, ready to lower the moon.

The filly watched in wonder, as light slowly filtered up over the mountain. The light's source soon became apparent, as a large round disk of light lifted itself over the mound of rock. Utterly dwarfing the Fire of Friendship, it rose ever so slowly until it stopped just over the mountainside, as if resting on the peaks.

Celestia raised her hooves, stretching out the stubby limbs as far as they could go in an effort to reach the mysterious source of light and heat. Unable to reach the sun, the foal began to cry in earnest, as if something that was essential to her had been taken away.

She cried through the whole day, unable to be comforted. Only when the sun dipped below the horizon and she fell asleep did anypony get some peace and quiet.

“Hurry Daddy, hurry!” the small white filly shouted, rushing up the hill. Her curly pink hair flew back in the wind, as she finally stopped at the peak of the mound.

Behind her, plodding slowly up the grass was Atlas, her dark coated father and as of today; magic teacher. Panting as he caught up to her, he said, “No need to rush, Celestia. Magic is always there, you have plenty of time to learn it.”

“I want to learn it fast, though, so I can help raise the sun!”

“Most ponies begin the moon, as it's smaller. Why do you want to help move the celestial bodies anyway? Nopony wants to, we just have to.”

The little filly dug one of her hooves in the dirt, staring at the ground, “I don't know,” she started, “I just feel like it's what I'm meant to do.”

Atlas smiled at his daughter's unusual goals, “Most fillies would dream of becoming the next Princess Platinum,” he said, “but you should do whatever you want, Celestia. Let's get started practicing magic.”

“Yeah!” she shouted, now on all four hooves, “How do we start?”

“Let's see,” Atlas began, looking around at the valley below them. Right on the edge of the forest was a large, rotted out dead tree, “The tree,” he pointed to it, “I want you to focus on it.”

She dipped her head down, horn pointed at the rotten log.

“Now, search for a tingling feeling at the base of your horn. That's your magic. You've had this feeling all your life, so you're used to it. You'll have to concentrate to find it.”

She lost her concentration, instead looking up at him like he was crazy. Deciding he knew more about magic than her, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Sure enough, when she focused she felt a strange feeling at the base of her horn, as if somepony was tickling her forehead.

“I found it!” she said, looking up at him in delight, “Now what?”

“You take hold of that feeling, and try to move it through your horn,” he tapped on his own for emphasis.

Focusing again on the dead tree, she tried her best to take hold of the magic inside her. It felt impossible, or as Firefly would say, “It's like trying to catch lightning with a jar; you just can't”. Eventually, however, she was able to get a firm grip on the slippery energy and slide it slowly up her horn.

The first few times the magic stopped halfway up, only to return to the base. Eventually she was able to slide it all the way to the tip, resulting in a small glow and a spark at the end of her horn. She felt it, not just magically, but physically too. It felt almost like the first time she was struck by lightning, though not nearly as strong. More of a tiny static shock.

“Daddy, I did it! I made magic!” she said, hopping around his legs.

“Good job, sweetie,” he said, watching his daughter dance around happily, “I think we've done enough. How about we call it a day?”

“No way!” Celestia stopped, shouting, “We just started! I want to learn everything!”

“And you will learn everything. Eventually. You can practice more at home, okay Celestia?”

She sighed, “Okay Daddy.”

As the sun hung low in the sky, two unicorns were seen walking down the hill.