Familial Tiesby CircuitChaserChaptersThe Day of the CoronationSomething Big Is About To Go DownVignettesThe Girls (and Mac) Learn About Their FamilyThe Day of the CoronationTwo weeks after the last gathering, and the Coronation was upon them. Backstage, Celestia was giving Luna some last-minute instructions. "Now Luna, remember that when we group hug, control your strength, lest you accidentally crush them." "Of course, Tia. I shall use the same strength I used with Fluttershy on Nightmare Night." Luna could be gentle when she wanted, but that was difficult to do when she was excited about something. "We're here!" Pinkie happily squealed like the girl from Poltergeist. Twilight considered admonishing her, but then thought against it. She shrugged and thought, 'Eh, it's as good an announcement as any.' She quickly made her way to Celestia. "Do you have the speech on hoof, Princess?" Twilight asked. "I just want to make a minor spelling correction." Celestia hovered the speech (which fit on one note-card) to Twilight, who then took it, and pulled the ink from an extraneous letter she'd added in her sleepy state. She, unfortunately, could find no way to lengthen it. "Okay, we're good to go. Sorry, but that error would have annoyed me all throughout the event." Rarity took a quick peek from one of the sides. "I see most of our families here. Excepting Pinkie's and Fluttershy's, unfortunately," Rarity said, hoping their day wouldn't be ruined. "Ah, don't worry, I got a letter from them saying they've gotta stay, or the U-235 isotopes they've been enriching would leave the farm a smoking, radioactive crater!" Pinkie said in the same way she might explain why her favorite flavor of ice cream has gummi-wyrms in it. "Oh, and Maud, Limestone, and Marble have abdicated." "And *ahem* my family doesn't really like crowds, so they'll be, um, they'll be watching from the forest." Fluttershy then pointed towards the Everfree. "We're scheduled to start in five minutes, your Majesties," said one of the guards, interrupting the admittedly rather bizarre (and disturbing) conversation. "Thank you, Lieutenant." Celestia turned to the our heroes. "Well, that's our cue to get into position." She nodded to Twilight and company. Luna and Celestia went to opposite ends of the stage. 'Ready Luna?' She mentally asked her sister. 'Yes, Tia.' came Luna's reply. They appeared onstage. *GASP* "This crowd is bigger than I thought it would be! It stretches to the ends of the town!" Celestia said, hooves to the sides of her face, feigning surprise. The audience laughed. "We're here, on this beautiful spring day, to welcome some members to our family." pause for effect. "Would you believe they are our grandfoals' descendants?" Celestia asked the crowd. Murmurs of befuddlement rippled through the gathered masses. 'They had grandfoals? Why didn't we know this?' "What my sister has said is the truth, dearest subjects," Luna said as she took over the speech. "Six of them are well known throughout Equestria for ridding me of the spirits that possessed me and became Nightmare Moon." The crowd murmured again. "Though they did not know it themselves at the time. Then, there is our Captain of the Royal Guard, who married Princess Cadance." The crowd began to understand. "Last but not least, Macintosh, more commonly known among the ponies of this beautiful little town as 'Big Mac'." The audience's eyes were wide open by that point. 'Mac is a prince?' they seemed to ask. "Let us begin with the ceremony." The audience gasped when the first of them stepped out: Applejack without her trademark stetson (a rare sight), and Mac. A cry of 'Woo!' came from the stands; Caramel, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom were cheering their loved ones. Then Fluttershy came onstage, followed by Twilight and Shining Armor. After them came Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie (which the crowd was justifiably nervous about), and Rarity. Celestia gestured to the gathered eight. "These eight ponies are our descendants, and eight of our greatest treasures." Cadance came onstage with the ceremonial headpieces. "We give to you the honor of first crowning, Cadance," said Celestia. Twilight was first, a tiara, the right half made of gold studded in diamond with a sunstone, and the left made of silver-plated aluminum, with rounded obsidian spikes centered around a moonstone, the halves bonded with gold-aluminum intermetallic. Shining's circlet was a large gold ring, with a silver band wrapped around, inset with diamonds and hematite, sunstone and moonstone side-by-side. Cadance placed Twilight's tiara upon her head, while simultaneously placing Shining's circlet. "This is a good look for you," Cadance purred to Shining, whose face quickly became as pink as hers.. After that, the ceremony went surprisingly quick, with Celestia going first. The circlet Mac wore was gold plated steel, a sunstone on the band, with rubies set atop it like little panes of stained glass, while the tiaras Applejack and Fluttershy wore shared the same willowy design, with a single sunstone in the center of a cluster of gems; fire opals for Applejack, and yellow sapphires for Fluttershy. The Lunar Trio's silver/palladium alloy tiaras shared a more robust, solid design, with a single polished moonstone in the center. Rainbow's held several triangular aquamarine shards, like the statue of liberty. Pinkie's had tourmaline dotted all along the front rim. Rarity's featured eight pearls circling around the moonstone. After the circlets and tiaras had been placed, Celestia began the next part of the ceremony. The group hug. The crowd 'awwwww'-ed and cooed at the sappy, syrupy sweetness that was happening on stage. __________________________ "Why don't we ever hug like that, Honey?" asked a small dragon who was hiding behind a large tree, holding binoculars. "Because my coat gets caught in your scales, then Firestarter ends up having to grab some scissors to free us. And we don't kiss anymore because your tongue tastes like lighter fluid." The dragon held the binoculars to his wife's face. "I think they're going to get something to eat now. Oh, Flutters looks so beautiful with those sapphires on her head." "Let me see, Ma." The binoculars were given to a golden, heavily-armored pegasus about twice as big as her similarly colored husband. "Haha! That's my little girl! Honey, look!" The binoculars were then given to a slight, butter-yellow stallion, who nodded agreement with his wife's statement. "Way to go, Flutters," he said in the same tones his daughter would use. The group then slunk back to a hole in the mountainside. __________________________ 'Wow, Grandma and Grandpa are really getting into this.' Spike thought as Twilight Velvet and Night Light cheered on their little ones. Spike then dug out another amethyst, and ate it. 'Way to go, Mom.' __________________________ "Hah! And just think. In six years, it'll be you and Apple Bloom up on that stage!" Magnum said to Sweetie Belle. "Then I'll have Auntie Celestia make Scootaloo a Baroness!" "Of what dear?" asked her mother. "I dunno. Just something so Diamond Tiara won't bug us anymore," Sweetie told them. Both parents just shrugged and turned back to watch the event. __________________________ 'If I know Dash, she's gonna take that tiara and stuff it under so much sports equipment, nopony'll be able to find it.' thought Heavyweight. He turned to an empty seat. "Oh, if only you were here to see this day, sweetie." "Ah, don't worry. The hospital is right there." Dash's Honorary Uncle Lightning Strike took his seat next to Heavyweight. "Rush'll be able to look out a window and see the whole thing." Sugar Rush had an unfortunate run-in with a Mama bear. Now she knows not to take a cub's lollipop from them. Especially if the cub is an Ursa Minor. __________________________ Granny Smith wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew, good thing Ah abdicated. Ah don't think Ah could walk across that stage." "Why Granny?" Asked Apple Bloom "All those eyes on me woulda made mah hip seize up. Even worse because Ah don' have mah walker no more." Secretly, Granny Smith thanked Discord for fixing her hip, but that's a different story. 20 minutes later, at Sugarcube Corner... "That was the most fun I've had at an event since... the Battle-Golem Tournament!" Celestia said to nopony in particular. "You were not upset by all the attention, were you dear?" she asked Fluttershy. It could be very difficult to read Fluttershy's face, even for a nigh-goddess. She nudged the pie she had been eating closer to Fluttershy. "Would you like some? It's Prench Siii-iilk..." She much preferred a well-made pie to a towering cake. Similarly, Luna preferred a Manechester tart over a tray of sugar cookies (this preference went out the window if they were chocolate chip). "Oh, no, I'm still eating the cupcakes I ordered." Half a dozen cupcakes (One of which was covered in rubies. Eesh.) could last a while for the butter-yellow pegasus. "I had a wonderful time." She thought for a moment. "Oh, maybe just a little pie." Fluttershy then proceeded to eat the remaining quarter of the pie in three bites, ending with a rather uncharacteristic *BELCH*. "Excuse me," she said, putting a hoof to her mouth. The table burst into laughter. "You have GOT to teach that to me, 'Shy," said a very impressed Rainbow Dash. Not wanting to be outdone, Luna let loose a belch that threatened to collapse the building. "That is how it is truly done," she said to the ponies at the table, their manes blown back. Even Celestia's ethereal mane was affected by the great burp. "Too much?" They nodded, then started laughing again. "Now, where should we build the castle?" Asked Luna. Celestia groaned, while the others looked confused. "I never received a reply from you as to where the castle should be built." "Um, Luna? I'd thought we'd agreed that was a joke." Luna looked at Celestia, eyebrow quirked upwards. "Ugh, if you want to build a castle so badly, we can place it-" She pulled out a map of Ponyville "-here." Celestia pointed to lake as she rolled her eyes. "We can build up an island, then build the castle, then move their personal affects into their rooms," said Luna, clapping with filly-like glee. "Uh, don't we get a say in this?" asked everypony simultaneously. The two Sisters looked to the group , then to each other, then to the group again, then apologized for getting carried away. An hour, two cakes, three dozen cookies, three pies, a caramel apple, half a dozen cupcakes, and a few questions later... "So, you do not want a castle." The group nodded. "Oh well. Now that I think about it, there are no proper places to build one, are there?" Luna looked a little sad at that. "I think this is the part where we depart. Do not worry, Rainbow, you won't have to wear jewelry all the time. Just for special occasions." Celestia then thought of something. "Oh, should we leave a guard detail here? Just in case?" she asked Shining. "Ma'am, these girls would most likely end up rescuing my guys from the sticky situation of the week, not vice versa," said Shining. "However, you could update the Candy-maker's and the Harpist's mission parameters." "We shall consider it. Have a good evening, Little Ones. We will have to bring you over to the castle some time. We have a surprise waiting for you," said Luna, cheeky grin on her face. The two alicorns then flew off, leaving eight newly crowned royals to wonder 'What the hay just happened?' As they flew higher, out of earshot, Celestia said to Luna, "Don't make promises we can't keep." "We can, and will, keep this promise, Tia. I am sure of it," Luna replied. Author's Note Yes, the ceremony was improvised. This kind of thing has never happened before. So they went for Simple, but Sweet. And in a few years, there's gonna be a Princess Sweetie Belle, Princess Apple Bloom, and Baroness Scootaloo. Goodbye, Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon is cool though, she hasn't really done much of her own volition. Something Big Is About To Go DownIt had been two weeks since their coronation, and the newly-crowned family found itself in the main hall of the palace. They wondered why. There were no events scheduled. None they were aware of, anyway. "Why in the wide, wide world of Equestria are we here?" asked Applejack. She looked to Mac, who just shrugged almost imperceptibly. Twilight coughed. "I think they'll tell us when they are ready." Twilight then turned around to find herself muzzle to golden neckwear with Celestia, who was smiling warmly. She looked up. "H-Hi, Grandma." Celestia brought her up to eye level, then gave her a hug. "We'll explain everything after dinner," Celestia said to our motley little group. Then she left. Pinkie shuddered, then jumped in place, then her tail went in twenty different directions while her mane turned into a 'fro. "Whoa! Talk about a doozy! I wonder what it means." The others were justifiably frightened, considering the last time a doozy came along, a hydra was involved. Around 5 o'clock that evening... "This spread is ab-so-lute-ly amazin'!" Applejack said with glee. And she was not kidding. Twenty trays, piled high with everything from roasted carrots drizzled with honey, to fruit salad with chunks of sweet rolls for croutons. Anything a vegetarian with a sweet tooth could ask for. Plus two barrels of Apple Family Cider, a barrel of mead, and two dozen bottles of assorted wines, sodas, and juices. "Do enjoy yourselves. You'll need the energy for what happens afterwards," Celestia said to the group. "W-what happens afterwards?" Fluttershy asked from behind Mac. Apparently, Mac is a good pony to take shelter behind. "A surprise, dear Fluttershy. A good surprise. A wonderful surprise." Luna was doing her best to calm down her niece. "I promise, you will not be injured in any way." "You're sure?" Luna nodded, and mimed the Pinkie Promise. "Okay." Fluttershy stepped out from behind Mac. Twilight then showed her a trick she'd learned from Cadance. That seemed to help even more. By the time the clocks struck six, the entire hall had been scoured clean of food and drink. This left eight sluggish, groaning, nearly comatose ponies. Scratch that. They're in food comas now. Oh, let's just say midnight. IT'S MORE DRAMATIC! AND HAMMY!! The ponies were led by the Princesses into a large, oval-shaped room with a two pronged diagram situated in the center, under a skylight. There appeared to be a large stack of mattresses in one corner. Our heroes thought to themselves 'What would we need those for?' In the other corner was a large wall of sandbags. "Now you may be wondering what the surprise is," Celestia said. The group nodded in unison. "We want to apply a very special sort spell to you. It is meant to awaken some traits and abilities. Namely those inherited from Us." Several eyebrows shot upwards. "I promise it will not harm you, but it does require a great deal of energy to get it going." Celestia thought for a moment. "This will probably be easier to show, rather than tell. Do we have any volunteers?" Twilight stepped forward; primarily because she trusted Celestia, and a little bit because she was curious. "To start, We would like Twilight to stand in the center of the diagram." Twilight did as she was told. "Next, could somepony please open the skylight?" Shining opened the (oddly large) skylight. "Everypony else, please step behind the sandbags. If we tell you to drop to the floor, do so." The group sans Twilight moved to behind the sandbags. "Twily's gonna be okay, right?" asked Shining from behind the wall of sand. "So long as we are not disturbed, yes," the Princesses replied in unison. It is not a good idea to disturb somepony in the middle of a spell. Especially one this powerful. The two alicorns started an arcane-sounding chant: Bring to bear the powers of creation by our wills to the one between Our work begun, we ask the elements to grant our blood its right to eight new beings, unseen BRING THEIR ASCENSION TO LIGHT! A flash of light, and all that was left of Twilight was a scorch mark. Celestia threw a mattress down where the scorch mark was. Luna tapped her left hoof, like she was timing something. A scream was heard, as though from far away. It continued to grow louder. Eventually the source of the scream was sighted: Twilight, who was heading straight for the mattress. Direct hit. Twilight got up, and dusted herself off. Something felt off. She felt taller than before. She also felt a tickle at the end of her muzzle. Like... feathers. She opened her eyes. Purple feathers were tickling her nose. 'Wait a second. PURPLE!?' She looked down the length of the wing. It terminated just behind her shoulder... Her family was looking at her like they couldn't believe their eyes, mouths agape. Somehow, Pinkie was actually holding her eyes like glasses, and after she'd cleaned them, she put them back on. "Those wings are indeed yours. Your birthright," Luna said as she helped Twilight to steady herself. "Now if you could stand at the third point of the formation..." Twilight confusedly walked to a new point on the diagram. "Thank you. Now," -Luna clapped her hooves together- "that spell was good for ten of our descendants. Who is next?" It was decided by Mac that Shining Armor was next. "Hey, quit pushing! I'm going!" Shining looked down, then back up. "Uh oh." He waved goodbye. Then flying into the sky on a beam of light he went. Another mattress was put down, due to Twilight crushing the springs of the first one. Luckily, they bought in bulk for this occasion. He crashed very hard, screaming all the way down. Cadance was drawn by the screaming, and the eventual *crash*. She opened the door. She could not believe her eyes. Twilight and Shining both had wings. "Are they..." A nod from Celestia and Luna. Cadance pointed to the others. "And they'll be..." Another nod. "Eeeeeee!" Cadance tackled/hugged Twilight and Shining. "Eeeeeeee!" She got back up, heart overflowing with joy. She took a breath. "I'll be quiet now. Just, just tell me what to do." She was relegated to mattress detail: Pulling out the crushed mattress and replacing it with an undamaged one. This practice continued until only Fluttershy was left. Mac's great amount of mass meant they'd needed to double the crash pad's depth with a second mattress. A request was sent down for another mattress so Fluttershy could land safely. By sheer coincidence, it was dropped off by the guards who'd originally seen the Celestia-fied Shining. They were suitably intimidated when they saw his new wings, and proven their reality. 'The company is gonna....' Thankfully they were out of earshot when they finished that statement. Fluttershy stepped into the diagram's center. She was propelled upwards on a beam of light. She came down completely silently, but didn't crash (fortunately for her, her wings had locked in a fashion that was passable for a parachute). While now an alicorn, her wings were different from before. The outsides were covered in golden scales, with bones spread like fingers between the internal membranes. They looked almost draconic in origin. "Oh dear," she said to herself. Luckily for her, they were big enough to hide behind. 'Could it be?' Luna thought. She decided to humor herself, and gently brushed one of Fluttershy's new wings aside. "Your wings remind me of a friend I had. A dragon, called Sharpclaw the Gold-Plated. He, Dusky and I would go to taverns together. Very shy, but friendly by all accounts. He would down entire pints of this odd drink called scumble." Luna started to flashback, when Fluttershy spoke up. "You're Lulu? Grandpa was talking about you the entire time?" Fluttershy asked. For the longest time, she'd thought he'd been talking about some other pony he'd met those 1200 years ago. Meanwhile, the girls were flashing back to the wedding, and the pint Fluttershy had consumed. Celestia was floored. 'How can a dragon and a pony.... ' Celestia immediately cursed herself as her mind flooded with images of... yeah... 'By Celestia! Wait, I'm Celestia. BY ME! WHY?!?!' Thankfully for Celestia, she was very good at affecting calm even with her mind in disarray. Twilight thought, 'This probably explains the hoard of animals she keeps at her cottage. As well as my inability to find record of her maternal grandfather, and her breakdown at the Gala.' "Haha! Oh, how is he? Does he still eat all of the gold he finds?" Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, I had wondered if he was still around. My heart is gladdened to hear he is alive and well." She put a wing around Fluttershy. "When next you see him, could you please invite him and your grandmother to the castle? Wait, he is still roughly pony sized, correct?" Fluttershy nooded. "Splendid, then we will not have to knock out a wall for him to enter." 'Well, that makes the whole dragon-pony thing slightly less squick-y. Emphasis slightly.' Celestia decided to speak up, before more unsettling images came unbidden to her mind. "Congratulations! You are now alicorns. Meaning you now have access to all three basic types of magic. Now, If you'll excuse me, I must attend to something..." Celestia teleported away, having thought of something that could save them hassle in the long run. _____________________ Meanwhile, outside the gates of Tartaros....... _____________________ 'Now to plug this hole for good,' Celestia thought. The doors were shrunk, then beset upon by large wooden planks, chains, glue, locking bars, a kitchen sink (any good list of barriers includes the kitchen sink.), and then two massive pieces of steel, which were then welded to the doors' rivets, then each other. A small padlock was then placed on the latch. After all of that, the gates were buried by a rock-slide, then a lava floe. The doors, melted rock and all, were then relocated to a sea with over ten thousand monsters swimmng in it. The doors were then rigged with a ward to keep the prisoners from leaking out, then they were sealed in a clam-shell package, labeled Gateway to Tartaros (Collector's Edition!). After all of that, she teleported a large box, forged of nigh-unbreakable, magic-resistant Thunderbolt Iron, around the mass, even below the earth, leaving a hole for the tunnel to Tartaros. Celestia landed upon the box, and clapped the dust off of her hooves. "If that doesn't keep those doors shut, nothing will. Amazing what a little unintentional trauma can inspire." Celestia laughed. 'Good thing there's two of Kerberos to guard these gates.' She then teleported back home. 'Who knows what horrors could have been released?' ______________________ Back at the castle......... ______________________ "I didn't miss anything, did I?" Celestia asked. "Nothing at all. They seem to be admiring Fluttershy's new wings." As Luna spoke, Twilight organized the Newly-Awakened into a line. "Okay. I'm going to teach you basic telekinesis. Rarity and Shining will be helping me. We'll start with something light." Twilight took some springs from the broken mattresses, then said, "Try to imagine the spring coated in a field of energy. Then imagine it moving to where you want it to." Fluttershy got the hang of it first. "Good job Fluttershy." What Mac was doing caught Twilight's eye. "Oh, Mac, that's beautiful." Mac had taken his spring, and bent it into a crude wire flower. He then hovered it over to Celestia. He quickly made another one for Luna, and hovered it over to her. "A gift t'both of you. Fer all you've done fer all of us fer the past fifteen hundred years." The gesture was sweet. The others quickly followed suit, making little wire sculptures of their own. From animals, to plants, even the Royal Sisters themselves. Fluttershy did something different from the others. Hers was a model of Celestia, which was connected to a small wire globe. She brought the globe to life when she exhaled, releasing a small puff of fire which was then captured in its wiry receptacle. It emitted very little heat, but a fair amount of light. "These are beautiful. Especially yours, Fluttershy. Lovely use of your new abilities, dear. I shall have a shelf installed in my office for these works." "Um, actually, I've always been able to do that." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I just don't use it around other ponies. Mommy said it scares them." "Do you use your fire when you're alone?" Twilight asked. "I use it to make tea. I used to use a stove, and but the temperature was too hard to control. It burnt the leaves, making it too bitter to drink." Fluttershy grimaced. "I tried using sugar and honey, but they just masked the burnt taste. Grandpa also taught me how send letters to my family. And a few other things." "It's still a marvelous use of your abilities, dear." Celestia turned to face everypony. "I've had some suites set up for you. They're on the south side of the castle, under my tower. You'll find your names on the doors. Feel free to roam around, however. The gardens are especially lovely this time of night." "Tomorrow, we announce to the world your ascension," Luna said. She muttered, "Not like the eight beams of light and the screaming have not already done that for us..." Twilight tapped Celestia on the shoulder. "I'm still your faithful student, right?" asked Twilight. "Of course dear. But you're also much more now." She pulled her in for a hug. (What is with these two and hugs?) "You're one of my grandfoals, for one." They nuzzled each other. Alright, enough with the sap. "And tutor for your family, for two." Regretting his current assignment, Shining broke up the treacle-y scene before him. "I'd better get back to my post," he said to the group. "Nonsense. I hereby give you the next two weeks as vacation," said Luna. She could do that, too, since she foots half of the bill for the guard. "In that case, can I drop off my armor to be resized? I have a feeling it's gonna be a little small now," Shining said to Luna. She nodded. "Thank you. I'll take care of that right now." "Well. I'm bushed. I'm hittin' the sack. Y'all should, too," said a sleepy Applejack. The rest of the group soon followed suit. Having an Awakening Spell applied to you can really drain your energy reserves. "Um, i-if I have trouble falling asleep, may I, um, take a walk in the gardens?" Fluttershy asked Celestia. "Of course, dear. Just be careful. I've heard some noises coming from some of Posey's favorite spots in there. Like two ponies were talking to each other," she said to Fluttershy. Author's Note About the spell: Yes it is gibberish. It's more a focusing mechanism for power to the diagram on the floor. Symbol magic, if you will. Note: Dusky was a nickname for Luna's wife Dusk Spinner. For the entry on Scumble: http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/index.php/Scumble Note: There is a world of difference between a Bat-pony and a Dragon-pony. Bat-ponies are pegasi who have had their wings concealed in a partial guise, to reflect the realm of Princess Luna, and her Night Guard. Meanwhile, dragon-ponies are ponies with dragon ancestry, and a few overt draconic qualities, like hoard collection, sleeping on beds lined with precious metals and/or gems, or, depending on how far down the bloodline the ancestor is, a hint of scales and/or breath effects (fire, ice, noxious fumes, in one case electricity...) and enhanced strength/durability, but this all depends on the dragon ancestor, and the amount of power they wield. And yes, Celestia is an Equestrian version of a troper. Vignettes Down in the Royal Guard barracks, 45 minutes past midnight.......... "Seriously. He had, like, a 20 foot wingspan!" Sergeant Blitzkrieg said to the armorer. He was demonstrating by standing on his hind legs, with his forelegs spread like wings. "He easily stood about an inch shorter than Princess Celestia!" "Uh-huh. Right. I'll believe that when... I... see..." Fiery Forge never finished her statement. She just pointed behind Blitz, and stammered. "H-H-Hello, Sir. Will you be needing s-some, ah, some adjustments made to your armor?" she quickly asked. "Uh, yeah. It's a little tight now." That was easily an understatement. He was 25% wider than before, and six inches taller. "Also, could you cut some holes out around my shoulders? I kiiiinda sprouted wings." He gestured to his new wings. While his wingspan was impressive, it was hardly 20 feet. It was 13 feet at best. Forge quickly went to work, hammering away at the material. After it had been tempered, she repainted it, and hovered it over to the waiting Captain Shining. "That was quick. Thanks Forge," he said to the castle armorer. After Shining left, Blitzkrieg just said, "Told ya." He went to the door, and turned his head to Forge. "And he's the smaller of the Princes." He trotted off. Something about 'Warning the others.' Forge just stood there, mouth agape, thinking, 'If the Captain is the smaller of the two Princes, how big is Prince Macintosh?' Basically, Mac is eye-to-eye with Celestia now (And that's as tall as he'll get). Odd, considering Posey was the smaller of the Royal Daughters. ____________________________ "Hey, Mort. You seein' this?" asked Spear Carrier. There was some recruit wearing the Captain's armor. Even worse, pieces were missing. "I see it too." Mortar Strike called out to the recruit. "HEY RECRUIT!" The recruit turned his head this way and that. Mort face-hoofed. "YOU IN THE PURPLE ARMOR! GET OVER HERE!" The recruit walked closer to them. To their horror, it was the Captain. "Hey, guys, why'd you think I was a recruit?" Shining asked confusedly. He had been in command for two years now. Not once had he been mistaken for a recruit. "My apologies, Sir. We had not been informed of your, ah, your ascension to the ranks of the alicorns. In our haste to prevent a recruit from getting thrown in the brig for taking the wrong armor, we called out to you." "Well, this-" he flared his wings "-didn't really happen until about an hour ago. When you two are relieved, would you mind posting a notice to prevent any confusion? Oh, also, I'm off the next two weeks." Mortar and Spear saluted. "Dismissed." They walked away. "Guys! Guys! The Captain's an alicorn now!" Blitzkrieg said, running up to them. He shrank as the two glared at him. "We could have used that info five minutes ago, Schneckentempo," Mortar replied. "We have a note for you to post on the Board: 'The Captain is now an alicorn. This is your one heads-up. Also, anypony in the pool owes Spear Carrier five bits.' Got it?" Blitzkrieg nodded. "Well hop to it, Schneckentempo!" That was the last they saw of him that night. "Rats!" "What?" "We forgot to tell him the Captain was on vacation!" The next day, at Carousel Boutique, 6 in the morning... "Oh, where is it? I knew I had some scissors here somewhere." Rarity was holding them. She looked up. "Hehe." She grinned sheepishly. "OH, RARITY! I'm here!" cried Sweetie Belle. "I'm supposed to bring somepony in for Family Appreciation Day and..." Sweetie Belle stopped short as she realized her sister had some new attachments. "When did you become an alicorn?" she asked in the same tone she might use to voice wonder as to why her sister would wear a duck as a hat. In this town, you learn to accept odd things as ordinary real quick. "Last night. I just got back from the castle a few hours ago. Although, I suppose I could come in. When is it?" "Today. Though I'd kinda wanted to bring Auntie Celestia." Sweetie rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. Rarity looked crestfallen. "Oh." For all of five seconds, when she remembered that filly Sweetie Belle had to deal with. "Okay, let me just get a pen." She thought, 'This should knock her down a peg.' ______________________ "Who did you bring for Family Appreciation Day, Sweetie Belle?" asked Cheerilee. Sweetie Belle had said she would surprise everypony today. "My (46 times) Great Aunt," Sweetie Belle said. "Um, I thought we could only bring in living family members, Ms. Cheerilee," snarked Diamond Tiara, raising her hoof. "She's better known as Princess Celestia," said Sweetie Belle, who innocently smiled out at the awestruck class. Except for Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, whose expressions ranged from derision, to ambivalence, to smug glee at what would happen next. "Oh, please! Like you're related to a Princess," said Diamond Tiara, who'd been out of town with Silver Spoon for the past month. So, basically, she missed the coronation, and hadn't heard the news. "She speaks no lies, little ones." Princess Celestia, Sol Invictus Herself, stepped into the room. "She, and young Apple Bloom, are not only related to me, but to Luna and Cadance as well. Not to mention the newly crowned Elements of Harmony and their siblings." Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped. 'TWO OF THOSE BLANK-FLANKS ARE RELATED TO THE PRINCESSES?!?!' She looked to Scootaloo, who just grinned and whispered the word 'Baroness' while she pointed to herself. Diamond gulped, and immediately started thinking of ways to grovel to the CMCs. At the library, noon... "Spike I'm back! And I brought Fluttershy with me!" Fluttershy was nervous about this. "Hey Twilight. Hey Fluttershy. What're you two doing here?" He had no idea what was coming. "I brought Fluttershy here to tutor you on dragon's fire," Twilight said. Spike laughed. "Her? Teach me?" Spike asked, laughing. "She can't breath fire!" His laughing was quickly shut up when she unfurled her wings and exhaled a stream of fire towards the ceiling. Good thing Twilight had the place fireproofed. "Huh?" Spike's eyes quickly bolted between the scorch mark and Fluttershy, who spoke up. "I'm, um, also supposed to mention my grandfather is Sharpclaw the Gold-Plated." Upon hearing that, Spike started kissing Fluttershy's hooves. To meet the granddaughter of one of his (draconic) idols... "Teach me, oh lovely one! Spawn of Magnificent Sharpclaw!" He then offered to her an array of gems from his stockpile in the closet. "Ooh! You have sapphires!." She took one of the gems up to her mouth, and bit into it like she would an especially crunchy apple. "Mm. It tastes just like the cupcakes Auntie Frost makes," Fluttershy said. "By any chance, do you mean this?" Spike held out of of Sugarcube Corner's (in)famous Sapphire cupcakes. "Mrs. Cake makes these by the dozen. I asked her why one day, but she just said 'Family Secret'." "I suppose I should visit her, after I have a rest," Fluttershy said. Then she went home. _______________________________________ Twilight was down in her lab. "Almost got it." She poured a drop of some green chemical into a beaker containing a purple chemical. "There. Now to test it." Twilight took a swig, and immediately spit it back out. "BLECH! Okay, never mix condensed dragon's breath with grape juice. It makes a horrible drink." She wrote that bit down, then underlined it, then highlighted it. "Twilight, you down here? Whoa!" *THUMP* *BANG* *CRASH* "Below Ground Floor!" He said, raising his index claw, still face-planted. Twilight picked him up. "Mommy?" he asked, still dazed. "Um, no. At least, I don't think so..." Twilight had never given it much thought. She had hatched him, but nopony was sure what to make of that. She patted him on the head anyway. "Let's get you cleaned up. Then I'll get you those Cupcakes you like so much. The old ones have gone stale." Spike hopped up the stairs. 'I know he needs gems to strengthen his scales, but he also needs to go easy on the sugar.' Twilight rolled her eyes, then headed up the stairs. Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner.......... "Whee! Hey, wait! Pound, don't go down there!" Pound Cake then flew down to the ground floor of the building. "Pumpkin, stay here while I go get your brother." Pinkie flew down, and snatched Pound Cake out of the air. "Oh, Mrs. Cake, did know Sharpclaw had grandfoals?" "Oh, Uncle Sharpclaw finally revealed he has a grandchild? What's their name?" Asked Mrs. Cake, who was even more scared of Pinkie now than she ever was before. And Mrs. Cake is a dragon-pony; they aren't scared of much. Why is she dragon-pony? Well, why else would she have recipes for foods with rock-hard gems in them? She got her Great-Grandma's recipes for ruby baklava, jade Ice cream with chocolate diamonds, and the (in)famous sapphire cupcake. "Fluttershy! Didn't you notice her new wings? They're covered in gold! She even breathes fire!" Pinkie said, careful not to hurt Pound's ears with her voice. Mrs. Cake raised an eyebrow at that. "As in the pony with the dragon wings? Who walked right past not 20 minutes ago? That was Fluttershy? Haha! I'll make sure to send her a note." She laughed to herself. 'Grandma Frost, why didn't you say before that I had a cousin?' At Sweet Apple Acres, roughly 3 o'clock in the afternoon..... "You ready Mac?" Applejack asked. She was facing the corn fields. "Eeyup." Mac turned to the wheat fields. "Ya got a good view up there, Apple Bloom?" "You betcha, Sis!" Apple Bloom shouted from atop the farmhouse. "You comfy up there, Dash?" she asked the lazy former-pegasus. "Hay yeah! I'm sitting on a cloud! That's the ultimate in comfy!" Rainbow Dash then hovered a tankard of cider to her side, and took a swig. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff." "Ya got Granny with ya, Honey?" Mac asked Caramel. "Yes, Dear," Caramel replied. Granny Smith had a bucket of popcorn with her, the better to watch what happens next. Applejack tried taking off first, but just skidded along the dirt, face first. Mac, who jumped, and took off, ascended to about twenty feet, before falling back to the ground, creating a Mac-sized hole in it. The second attempt saw Applejack get airborne, before she got stuck in a treetop (she's got flying straight down, now she needs to work on turning). Mac tried getting airborne a second time, and actually succeeded. He thanked Scootaloo for lending him that book on flight. His landing saw him end up face first in the mud. "Well, you've got flying down.-" Rainbow Dash snickered "-Now you just need to work on landing." Mac Looked up to see Rainbow dash standing in front of him. "Wanna help me get AJ out of the tree?" Rainbow helped Mac up, then he kicked the tree, releasing the one apple not meant to be in a tree in the first place. A visit to a local infirmary, and one day later.... Ten baskets of apples were taken to the market. Two were taken to Sugarcube Corner, where Fluttershy, Spike, and Mrs. Cake were having a conversation on the tastes of different gemstones while Twilight took notes. The last eight baskets were left behind to be processed into Apple Family Jam, Cider, Applejack (the drink from which AJ gets her name), Pie Filling, and Dried Fruit Mix. All throughout the yearly apple delivery, Mac turned heads. He thought to himself, 'First, Ah'm made a Prince. Two weeks later, Ah'm an alicorn. What's next? Ah'm deified? Wait, don't ask that kind o' question. It might jus' come true, in the worst way possible." After he thought that, nothing happened. He looked around, then sighed with relief. He wiped the sweat from his brow, then dragged the cart back to the Acres. Author's Note Note on Sharpclaw: He's idolized by Spike because he was the one adult dragon The Princesses had ever befriended and trusted. Has a not-so-friendly sister named Frost Spitter, also known as the Icy-Clawed Dragoness. The Girls (and Mac) Learn About Their FamilyA knock was heard at the Apple Family door. 'Now who could that be?'she thought. "Hold your horseshoes, I'm comin'!" Applejack set down the paper, went to the front door and opened it. Two royal guards were standing in front of her. They appeared as stern as ever. "We have been sent to gather Applejack and 'Big' Macintosh." Their looks softened a little. "May we assume you are Applejack?" She nodded, staring confusedly. The guard spoke again. "Could you please gather your brother? We are to meet with the others at Princess Sparkle's dwelling, by order of her brother, Captain Armor. I don't want to disappoint him. He's the best commander we've ever had." By this point, he was almost pleading with her. She turned her head. "Mac, git yer kiester over here! We're goin' ta Twi's!" Mac meandered over. The guards' voices had traveled very well through the house. Caramel stood to Mac's right, looking both anxious and amused by what was going on. "Caramel, you stay here, and keep an eye on Granny and Apple Bloom. Ah don't know when we'll be back." Applejack and Mac left, with their apparent security detail trailing behind them. "Bye Honey! Come back soon!" His voice gained a more nervous tone. "Seriously, A.B. scares me!" shouted Caramel as the siblings left. They heard screaming as they left the farm, but it was just Apple Bloom messing with Caramel. Granny'd straighten her out when she got up from her nap. One hour later..... The girls (and Mac), and their twelve guards were standing right at Twilight's front door. Applejack figured they were together because of the article she'd read at breakfast that day. "Twi, we wanna talk to ya about this here article." She held said article up to the window. "How in the hay are you a Princess? And are you related to Bluebl-" "Don't you dare say that vile cur's name!" shouted a very literally fiery Rarity. The guards recoiled for fear of being burnt. The flames died down. "I'm still cleaning cake out of my mane because of him." Applejack turned back to the door. "Are you at all related to that Other Guy?" She turned her head toward Rarity. "Happy?" Rarity gave a curt nod. "Good." She turned to the now open door, where Twilight stood. "You gonna let us in, or what?" she asked the zoned-out Twilight. "Hehe, sorry. I guess you deserve an explanation, come in. Don't worry about Spike. He's out on a camping trip with my parents for the week." Twilight then levitated the six ponies outside her door into the building. The party landed with a crash. Twilight was having one of her episodes. Again. As the door closed, the guards set up in front of the library/house/tree that the soon-to-be-crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in, as crowds began to gather. After that, they set up a small canvas checkpoint in front of the thing Twilight called home. About 20 minutes of uncomfortable silence later.... "Okay, this all started a little over a month ago when Pinkie brought to my attention that the record of my lineage stopped at generation forty six, as opposed to six or so generations before that, as is normal." Twilight went into what could be called a lecture-trance. She then explained how her visit to the Princesses had gone. Then, Shining Armor's account of their meeting with the Princesses, as well as the tale of Blueblood's sentencing. "To answer your likely questions in no particular order: Yes, I am, indeed, a Princess, just as Big Brother is now a Prince, not Prince-Consort. He and I are the genetic descendants of Princesses Luna and Celestia. I've also gone over the charts again, because there is a high statistical improbability of there only being two descendants in all this time. They do have other living descendants, whom are in the room with me. And no, none are even remotely related to Blueblood. I checked three times, Rarity." She settled onto her seat, rearranged her friends so they sat upright, and then unfurled the banners that had gone unnoticed by everypony else. Six jaws went agape at who the other most recent descendants were. Them. Fluttershy 'eeped'. Rainbow Dash gawked. Mac looked unfazed, as usual. Applejack pulled her hat down. Pinkie threw confetti. Rarity looked deep in thought. The five (since Rarity was zoned out by now) stared uncomfortably at Twilight. "Soooo, they're our grannies, too?" Mac, of all ponies, asked, finally breaking the silence. "In a manner of speaking, yes. It turns out that Luna and Celestia had three grandfoals each. Not one as Pinkie and I had originally thought. I wish they'd given me that information before I'd left, but oh well. I am the descendant of both Flower Power, and Stone Wall, Pinkie's ancestor. An oddity, considering everypony else only has one royal ancestor," explained Twilight, coming down from her episode. "Just to clarify, and make it easy on us all: Fluttershy, Mac, and Applejack are part of Princess Celestia's line, while Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity are part of Princess Luna's." As she spoke, she pointed to each of the ponies in question, one by one. "I've also searched for more relatives who might share the royal genetics, but I've found nothing. It's like there was some outside force preventing other branches from coming to fruition." Twilight shrugged. "Oh well." Five minutes of rambling Later.... Rarity looked positively giddy about this. "Princess Rarity." She did a fidgety little dance. "Ooh, I love the sound of that." Rarity was definitely taking this very well. Then a frown appeared on her face. "Wait, Blueblugh-" Rarity tried again "-Bluebluhuhuh-" Once more, with feeling! "-Blueblech! Oh, you know who I mean! He won't attempt to court any of us, will he?" Hm, It seems even Rarity can't say his name in this story. Mac spoke up again (wow, second time today!). "HA! Ah doubt it." Everypony turned to Mac. "First, he'd hafta fight me, Caramel, and half o' the mares 'n stallions in town to get any of us near a marriage certificate with his name on it. An' that's if the Princesses themselves don' intervene." Everypony then relaxed, letting out a visibly held breath. Yeah, Mac needs to stop getting all the mares. And stallions. "Second, he'd hafta clean up his act 'fore they'd accept him back. 'Sides, most of our family here don't care fer all this High Society stuff y'all're so interested in, Miss Rarity, so that'd leave you an' me, an' Ah'm taken already." He held up his hoof to show off the ring. "So that leaves you. An' he'd avoid you like you'd just stepped out of the Everfree, if he knew what was good for 'im." As he said that, he clacked his front hooves together. "Right, Family?" A resounding 'Yeah!', and the brandishing of various blunt items, from baseball bats, to pipes, a rolling pin, and a war hammer (where does Fluttershy find this stuff?), confirmed this. "Hey!" Twilight was tapping into the Royal Voice. Presumably, her grandmothers taught her. Anyway, the group was blown back a good two feet. *Ahem* "I know he's not the most well liked pony, but isn't this a bit much? I grew up around him. The only things that I could say about him is that he drinks too much mead and makes some (very) poor decisions." Twilight sighed. "His recent conviction being an example." The group appeared dumbfounded. "Nothing to do with Rarity, I assure you." Applejack had been mulling over something she'd heard Twilight say. "Let's go back to the main point. You said all of us're related to one or both of the Princesses? The previous holders of the Elements? How does that factor into our ability to use 'em?" Applejack asked. "Would we have been able to use 'em even if we weren't related? Hay, would we have even been able to find the durn things?" Valid point. "And on a side note, does this have anythin' to do with our 'unstable' psychowhoozits?" "Considering there is so little known about the Elements, for all we know, they could be alive and self-aware. We just know they work though six semi-codified virtues, which we embody." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled warmly. "I like to think we could have used them even if we were just friends, not relatives. As for the predisposition to mental instability, It's possible this town is the problem, but it could just as easily be our shared ancestry, considering none of the other ponies in this town haven't showed signs of similar problems. I'll do some tests on the town's water supply after this." She paused, thinking. "And maybe a few on the Elements, just to be safe." "Okay. Now, onto the next issue. We don't have to start wearing those frou-frou tiaras and crowns the Princesses wear, right? 'Cause that's gonna be kinda difficult to do that when I'm flying. I mean, Fluttershy might be able to fly with one, but I can't," said the speed-obsessed Rainbow Dash. Everypony facehoofed. "Hey! With how I fly, if it falls it could hurt somepony on the ground pretty badly!" "Rainbow, while you are right in your concern, I have been here for the past month since my visit. In that time, have you seen me wearing a crown, a tiara, or any jewelry for that matter? It's entirely optional. Luna and Celestia only wear their jewelry because of what the Princesses call the Ermine Cape Effect." The group looked confused. "Basically, royalty is expected to dress better than those not of the royalty, and because of this, the princesses must wear gold and other finery, in their subjects' minds at least, such that if they didn't, their subjects would spend ruinous amounts of money attempting to invoke the trope," Twilight explained, growing ever snarkier. "Hay, the Princesses would be happier if they could get away with the simpler, sturdier materials Mac and AJ are wearing instead of their bare minimum of gem-encrusted, gold-plated aluminum neck-wear and silver shoes.-" Twilight paused, and took a deep breath. "-No offense to your craft meant, Rarity." "None taken darling. I can understand not everypony enjoys the feeling of cloth and metal rubbing against their coats," Rarity said, as she quickly began searching for paper. "Now, if you'll be a dear and help me find some paper, I'd be more than happy to begin designing the coronation attire." "C-coronation?" Fluttershy hid behind Mac, arguably the safest place to be, and covered her eyes with her hooves. "C-can't they just s-send a letter to everypony in the mail?" Fluttershy feared being in front of large crowds. Even more than she feared dragons. Or other ponies. Or her own shadow. "Please?" Fluttershy then pulled off the most powerful puppy-dog eyes she'd ever done, which is really saying something. "Supposing such a thing would happen, you wouldn't have to speak, Fluttershy. You'd just stand on a stage surrounded by guards and three of the most powerful ponies in existence, Princess Celestia would place a tiara on your head, everypony in the audience cheers, you walk backstage, et cetera. Then you can go right home," Twilight said glibly, trying to comfort her friend. Somehow, it worked. "It would be more of a formal acknowledgement of our ancestry than anything." "O-okay. I think I can do that." Fluttershy came out from behind Mac. "Ooh! Ooh! If the Princesses are our (46 times) great grandmothers, does that mean we'll be like them? Y'know, one day we're just doing our thing then POOF!, Alicorn?" Pinkie asked in her normal, LOUD voice. Everypony looked up at that question. They too, wanted to know if that would happen. Mac especially. He'd heard some of what the guards had said about Shining Armor's mishap. "Pinkie, no. That would require outside intervention to happen. It wouldn't just be a 'poof'. And Mac, what you overheard was an account of a prank Luna pulled on Big Brother. That didn't really happen, no matter what he looks like when he comes down here." Mac sighed with relief, and wiped the sweat from his brow, while Pinkie's mane deflated a bit. She'd wanted to be able to fly, Celestia bless it! Mac's head jerked back up. 'Wait, no matter what he looks like?' KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "I'd better go get that." Twilight got up, quickly ran to the door, and opened it. She was quite shocked. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked to the pony in the checkpoint. "Yes. I want to see how they'll react." It sounded like Celestia to the assembled ponies. They relaxed a little. "Okay..." She led the visitor in. An unknown alicorn. She had a shield with a star for a mark, with mane and tail of various shades of blue, and a white coat, which caused the assembled ponies to think they knew her from somewhere. Twilight was rather pointedly looking away nervously, blood rushing to her cheeks. She rubbed the back of her head. "Hehe. Everypony remembers my brother, right?" Insert noise like two cogs grinding steel wire in their teeth. The group was dumbfounded. Fluttershy (eventually) spoke up. "I-It might have been the cider I drank at the wedding, b-but, um, wasn't your brother a unicorn before? And a s-stallion?" -Fluttershy had overdone it at the wedding. The catering staff went for Scumble, instead of more expensive, but higher quality Apple Family Ice Cider, which has a relatively lower alcohol content, not to mention it is less reactive to metal and water, and fewer rumors about its manufacture. This goes double for a stronger recipe dubbed 'Suicider' by a dragon called Sharpclaw. Due to her sheltered life, Fluttershy had ended up downing a pint (even Celestia Herself only drinks the standard shot of the stuff at any event), then, after the effects kicked in, flew into the cake just as they were cutting it. Surprisingly, the only lasting effects were that her tail was rather short for a few weeks, and she had a mild aversion to weddings and frosting, which was more due to the ceremonial knife falling on her tail than the drink itself.- "This is a result of our shared ancestry. Turns out the spell Celestia and Luna used to have their foals caused their, hehe, 'attributes' to be able to flare up down the line. They just helped it along with me is all." Shining turned to the whole group and smiled. "If they want, I could jump-start everypony else's alicorn genetics as well." The faces of the various ponies in the room showed expressions from fear, to wonder, to being disconcerted, to excitement. Mac looked ready to dive out a window. Then, there was Twilight, who tired of the charade. "Okay, you can lose the guise now, Shining." Well, so much for the mental image of Mac as a recolored Celestia. Priceless. "Oh, you're no fun." A puff of smoke, and where the bad facsimile of Celestia once stood, now stood Captain of the Royal Guard, Prince Shining Armor. "I wanted to see if I could get them to go along with it. Then, I would have zapped 'em. Like, just a little shock." "Knowing you, you'd probably end up using a transformation spell instead of a guise or a shock, and then we'd all be up on the moon with no air," Twilight playfully snarked. "I'll use the spell they taught you. Come here." They crossed horns, and both glowed. They broke contact and shook their heads. "Data transfer complete. Anypony else want to see what they'd look like?" "Long as it's just smoke an' mirrors, Ah'm alright with it." Wow, Mac is really talkative today. The rest of the group joined in, one by one. "Okay, everypony ready?" Murmurs of consent rippled through the group. "Here. We. Go!" Twilight's horn glowed. An extremely large plume of smoke appeared, then dissipated, leaving many of its occupants coughing. "Everypony okay?" Twilight's voice sounded like a mix of two; calm and gentle like Celestia's, yet as sharp and clear as Luna's. "Whoa, that'll take some getting used to." She also stood taller than Luna, but shorter than Celestia. It seems she unconsciously put the form together. "Don't I know it." Shining was back in his guise. "Hehe. I'm still taller than you though, sis." He put a hoof on her shoulder. "I have to get a picture though, otherwise the Princesses will never believe me." He figured one with the two of them, then a family photo. "Oh, alright." Twilight summoned a camera. Thankfully the film developed after you took the picture. The fewer that saw them like this, the better. "Get over here." Shining did as she asked. "Now smile." The two sat with Illusory wings flared. Insert camera flash. "Okay, everypony. Group photo." The whole family scrunched together as best they could. Insert camera flash. "Now let's get one without the spell." Dispel, then another camera flash. After the photo shoot, everypony spread out. "Now that that is out of the way, why did you come down here?" "What, I can't see how my LSBFF is doing?" Shining could almost feel the snark radiating off of Twilight. "Oh, okay. Y'know, you're no fun this early in the morning. Anyway, our beloved grandmothers have sent me and a contingent of guards to secure the town for the coronation. Oh, and Cady will be coming down with them. I've also had them send a letter to Spike so mom and dad could come." "Wait." Great. Twilight's confused again. "The coronation is actually happening?" Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who was surprisingly calm, then to Shining. "I figured this wouldn't happen so quickly, if at all." "Grandma told me, and I quote: 'We wish to publicly acknowledge you as part of our family', end quote." "All the more reason to get me some drawing materials, darling! I'm in the zone right now! I'll even take crayons!" Rarity was shaking Twilight in her excitement. "Ooh, I can see it now! White dresses with gold trim, and accents from the colors of our Elements!" Mac coughed a little in annoyance. "Oh, and suits for the gentlecolts. How did that slip my mind?" Rarity thought for a second, her hoof on her chin. "Gold with red trim for Macintosh and a dark blue with white trim for Shining Armor. And maybe some purple and gold bands around Shining's upper forelegs noting his status as Captain of the Guard." This is why Rarity will never need caffeine, or any form of stimulants for that matter. "Luckily for you, I keep some crayons and paper around here in case Spike has nothing to do. In my office, red filing cabinet, top drawer." As Rarity left to gather her impromptu materials, Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "I guess the hypothetical situation is real. You're still okay?" Fluttershy nodded. Twilight laughed nervously. "I guess I have a letter to write. Hehe. Where is that pen?" 2 days, and everypony's favorite grey mailmare crashing into the mailbox later... "Thanks Bright Eyes!" Yes, in this work she's named Bright Eyes. She still has the strabismus however... "Bye, Twilight." Bright Eyes flew off. She did loop-de-loops as she flew to the other end of town. Twilight opened the manila envelope. It was marked with two blue ribbons, signifying an urgent letter for or from Celestia, not dealing with any catastrophe in the making. ___________________________ Dearest Twilight, Thank you for informing us about our other descendants. To find that the Elements have bonded to them is remarkable, to say the least. However, I must apologize for not giving you information regarding the number of our grandfoals. Enclosed, you'll find seating arrangements, and an itinerary for the coronation. We would also like a recommendation for a local bistro or cafe as well, for snacks after the coronation. Love, Grandma Celestia P.S.- Luna wants to know where in town to place the castle she's commissioned ___________________________ Twilight breathed deeply. "Okay. I can work with this," Twilight said to nopony in particular. "I'd better gather the others." The water testing would have to wait. After a lot of walking between her friend's/cousin's dwellings, she'd gathered everypony at her (I'm just gonna call it the librar-tree). "I've got the (relatively) finalized checklist for how the coronation is going to go. Seems I was right about the series of events. The princesses make a speech, everypony else walks onto the stage, Cadance brings in the ceremonial headpieces (circlets for the colts, tiaras for us), they crown us, we group hug, everypony cheers, and all of us go to Sugarcube Corner for a snack. After all of that, we go home. Okay?" Twilight had inadvertently caused the manes of her family to be blasted back due to her speaking. Fluttershy smoothed out her mane and did something rather unusual for her. "YAY!" The others looked at her like she'd gone legitimately insane. "I'm actually looking quite forward to this." Fluttershy smiled. 'She could kill a diabetic at 100 yards,' Twilight thought. "As for how everypony will be seated, I've made a chart." She pulled a projector screen down, and turned on the projector she'd summoned. "Applejack and Mac will be sitting farthest right, then Fluttershy, then Shining and I . To my left will be: Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity, in that order." She turned the lights back on. "And before anypony asks; no, I did not arrange the seats. Cadance did." "Uh, question: Why aren't AB and Sweetie Belle part of the ceremony?" asked a confused Applejack (which is not as dangerous, but not a good thing either). "That's actually because they aren't old enough. The Princesses have put it into the law that nopony shall be crowned before age 16, as they were." The group raised collectively raised an eyebrow. "Yes, the Princesses were 16 at some point." A guard came up to Shining Armor and whispered something into his ear. "Hey, Sis. They've got the stage set up. Oh, and Grandma wants some help with writing the speech. She asked for you because she's having trouble thinking of ways to lengthen it. Nothing urgent." Twilight turned to the guard. "Send word that I'm just about finished explaining the seating arrangements for the event." The guard saluted, accidentally hitting his head with his hoof-armor in the process, said 'Ow', then left. 'And these are the guys who are doing security?' she thought to herself. Author's Note Note about Spike: Twilight's parents are not quite sure what to view Spike as. Child? Grandchild? Family friend? Princess Celestia's adopted son? Don't look at me, I don't know! Notes about Unicorn Biology: Unicorns can transfer data between each other. It doesn't happen often because if the unicorns don't aren't blood-related, the magicks grind against each other, causing mini-tremors in the horns, and splitting headaches for the unicorns in question.
The Day of the CoronationTwo weeks after the last gathering, and the Coronation was upon them. Backstage, Celestia was giving Luna some last-minute instructions. "Now Luna, remember that when we group hug, control your strength, lest you accidentally crush them." "Of course, Tia. I shall use the same strength I used with Fluttershy on Nightmare Night." Luna could be gentle when she wanted, but that was difficult to do when she was excited about something. "We're here!" Pinkie happily squealed like the girl from Poltergeist. Twilight considered admonishing her, but then thought against it. She shrugged and thought, 'Eh, it's as good an announcement as any.' She quickly made her way to Celestia. "Do you have the speech on hoof, Princess?" Twilight asked. "I just want to make a minor spelling correction." Celestia hovered the speech (which fit on one note-card) to Twilight, who then took it, and pulled the ink from an extraneous letter she'd added in her sleepy state. She, unfortunately, could find no way to lengthen it. "Okay, we're good to go. Sorry, but that error would have annoyed me all throughout the event." Rarity took a quick peek from one of the sides. "I see most of our families here. Excepting Pinkie's and Fluttershy's, unfortunately," Rarity said, hoping their day wouldn't be ruined. "Ah, don't worry, I got a letter from them saying they've gotta stay, or the U-235 isotopes they've been enriching would leave the farm a smoking, radioactive crater!" Pinkie said in the same way she might explain why her favorite flavor of ice cream has gummi-wyrms in it. "Oh, and Maud, Limestone, and Marble have abdicated." "And *ahem* my family doesn't really like crowds, so they'll be, um, they'll be watching from the forest." Fluttershy then pointed towards the Everfree. "We're scheduled to start in five minutes, your Majesties," said one of the guards, interrupting the admittedly rather bizarre (and disturbing) conversation. "Thank you, Lieutenant." Celestia turned to the our heroes. "Well, that's our cue to get into position." She nodded to Twilight and company. Luna and Celestia went to opposite ends of the stage. 'Ready Luna?' She mentally asked her sister. 'Yes, Tia.' came Luna's reply. They appeared onstage. *GASP* "This crowd is bigger than I thought it would be! It stretches to the ends of the town!" Celestia said, hooves to the sides of her face, feigning surprise. The audience laughed. "We're here, on this beautiful spring day, to welcome some members to our family." pause for effect. "Would you believe they are our grandfoals' descendants?" Celestia asked the crowd. Murmurs of befuddlement rippled through the gathered masses. 'They had grandfoals? Why didn't we know this?' "What my sister has said is the truth, dearest subjects," Luna said as she took over the speech. "Six of them are well known throughout Equestria for ridding me of the spirits that possessed me and became Nightmare Moon." The crowd murmured again. "Though they did not know it themselves at the time. Then, there is our Captain of the Royal Guard, who married Princess Cadance." The crowd began to understand. "Last but not least, Macintosh, more commonly known among the ponies of this beautiful little town as 'Big Mac'." The audience's eyes were wide open by that point. 'Mac is a prince?' they seemed to ask. "Let us begin with the ceremony." The audience gasped when the first of them stepped out: Applejack without her trademark stetson (a rare sight), and Mac. A cry of 'Woo!' came from the stands; Caramel, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom were cheering their loved ones. Then Fluttershy came onstage, followed by Twilight and Shining Armor. After them came Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie (which the crowd was justifiably nervous about), and Rarity. Celestia gestured to the gathered eight. "These eight ponies are our descendants, and eight of our greatest treasures." Cadance came onstage with the ceremonial headpieces. "We give to you the honor of first crowning, Cadance," said Celestia. Twilight was first, a tiara, the right half made of gold studded in diamond with a sunstone, and the left made of silver-plated aluminum, with rounded obsidian spikes centered around a moonstone, the halves bonded with gold-aluminum intermetallic. Shining's circlet was a large gold ring, with a silver band wrapped around, inset with diamonds and hematite, sunstone and moonstone side-by-side. Cadance placed Twilight's tiara upon her head, while simultaneously placing Shining's circlet. "This is a good look for you," Cadance purred to Shining, whose face quickly became as pink as hers.. After that, the ceremony went surprisingly quick, with Celestia going first. The circlet Mac wore was gold plated steel, a sunstone on the band, with rubies set atop it like little panes of stained glass, while the tiaras Applejack and Fluttershy wore shared the same willowy design, with a single sunstone in the center of a cluster of gems; fire opals for Applejack, and yellow sapphires for Fluttershy. The Lunar Trio's silver/palladium alloy tiaras shared a more robust, solid design, with a single polished moonstone in the center. Rainbow's held several triangular aquamarine shards, like the statue of liberty. Pinkie's had tourmaline dotted all along the front rim. Rarity's featured eight pearls circling around the moonstone. After the circlets and tiaras had been placed, Celestia began the next part of the ceremony. The group hug. The crowd 'awwwww'-ed and cooed at the sappy, syrupy sweetness that was happening on stage. __________________________ "Why don't we ever hug like that, Honey?" asked a small dragon who was hiding behind a large tree, holding binoculars. "Because my coat gets caught in your scales, then Firestarter ends up having to grab some scissors to free us. And we don't kiss anymore because your tongue tastes like lighter fluid." The dragon held the binoculars to his wife's face. "I think they're going to get something to eat now. Oh, Flutters looks so beautiful with those sapphires on her head." "Let me see, Ma." The binoculars were given to a golden, heavily-armored pegasus about twice as big as her similarly colored husband. "Haha! That's my little girl! Honey, look!" The binoculars were then given to a slight, butter-yellow stallion, who nodded agreement with his wife's statement. "Way to go, Flutters," he said in the same tones his daughter would use. The group then slunk back to a hole in the mountainside. __________________________ 'Wow, Grandma and Grandpa are really getting into this.' Spike thought as Twilight Velvet and Night Light cheered on their little ones. Spike then dug out another amethyst, and ate it. 'Way to go, Mom.' __________________________ "Hah! And just think. In six years, it'll be you and Apple Bloom up on that stage!" Magnum said to Sweetie Belle. "Then I'll have Auntie Celestia make Scootaloo a Baroness!" "Of what dear?" asked her mother. "I dunno. Just something so Diamond Tiara won't bug us anymore," Sweetie told them. Both parents just shrugged and turned back to watch the event. __________________________ 'If I know Dash, she's gonna take that tiara and stuff it under so much sports equipment, nopony'll be able to find it.' thought Heavyweight. He turned to an empty seat. "Oh, if only you were here to see this day, sweetie." "Ah, don't worry. The hospital is right there." Dash's Honorary Uncle Lightning Strike took his seat next to Heavyweight. "Rush'll be able to look out a window and see the whole thing." Sugar Rush had an unfortunate run-in with a Mama bear. Now she knows not to take a cub's lollipop from them. Especially if the cub is an Ursa Minor. __________________________ Granny Smith wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew, good thing Ah abdicated. Ah don't think Ah could walk across that stage." "Why Granny?" Asked Apple Bloom "All those eyes on me woulda made mah hip seize up. Even worse because Ah don' have mah walker no more." Secretly, Granny Smith thanked Discord for fixing her hip, but that's a different story. 20 minutes later, at Sugarcube Corner... "That was the most fun I've had at an event since... the Battle-Golem Tournament!" Celestia said to nopony in particular. "You were not upset by all the attention, were you dear?" she asked Fluttershy. It could be very difficult to read Fluttershy's face, even for a nigh-goddess. She nudged the pie she had been eating closer to Fluttershy. "Would you like some? It's Prench Siii-iilk..." She much preferred a well-made pie to a towering cake. Similarly, Luna preferred a Manechester tart over a tray of sugar cookies (this preference went out the window if they were chocolate chip). "Oh, no, I'm still eating the cupcakes I ordered." Half a dozen cupcakes (One of which was covered in rubies. Eesh.) could last a while for the butter-yellow pegasus. "I had a wonderful time." She thought for a moment. "Oh, maybe just a little pie." Fluttershy then proceeded to eat the remaining quarter of the pie in three bites, ending with a rather uncharacteristic *BELCH*. "Excuse me," she said, putting a hoof to her mouth. The table burst into laughter. "You have GOT to teach that to me, 'Shy," said a very impressed Rainbow Dash. Not wanting to be outdone, Luna let loose a belch that threatened to collapse the building. "That is how it is truly done," she said to the ponies at the table, their manes blown back. Even Celestia's ethereal mane was affected by the great burp. "Too much?" They nodded, then started laughing again. "Now, where should we build the castle?" Asked Luna. Celestia groaned, while the others looked confused. "I never received a reply from you as to where the castle should be built." "Um, Luna? I'd thought we'd agreed that was a joke." Luna looked at Celestia, eyebrow quirked upwards. "Ugh, if you want to build a castle so badly, we can place it-" She pulled out a map of Ponyville "-here." Celestia pointed to lake as she rolled her eyes. "We can build up an island, then build the castle, then move their personal affects into their rooms," said Luna, clapping with filly-like glee. "Uh, don't we get a say in this?" asked everypony simultaneously. The two Sisters looked to the group , then to each other, then to the group again, then apologized for getting carried away. An hour, two cakes, three dozen cookies, three pies, a caramel apple, half a dozen cupcakes, and a few questions later... "So, you do not want a castle." The group nodded. "Oh well. Now that I think about it, there are no proper places to build one, are there?" Luna looked a little sad at that. "I think this is the part where we depart. Do not worry, Rainbow, you won't have to wear jewelry all the time. Just for special occasions." Celestia then thought of something. "Oh, should we leave a guard detail here? Just in case?" she asked Shining. "Ma'am, these girls would most likely end up rescuing my guys from the sticky situation of the week, not vice versa," said Shining. "However, you could update the Candy-maker's and the Harpist's mission parameters." "We shall consider it. Have a good evening, Little Ones. We will have to bring you over to the castle some time. We have a surprise waiting for you," said Luna, cheeky grin on her face. The two alicorns then flew off, leaving eight newly crowned royals to wonder 'What the hay just happened?' As they flew higher, out of earshot, Celestia said to Luna, "Don't make promises we can't keep." "We can, and will, keep this promise, Tia. I am sure of it," Luna replied. Author's Note Yes, the ceremony was improvised. This kind of thing has never happened before. So they went for Simple, but Sweet. And in a few years, there's gonna be a Princess Sweetie Belle, Princess Apple Bloom, and Baroness Scootaloo. Goodbye, Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon is cool though, she hasn't really done much of her own volition.
Something Big Is About To Go DownIt had been two weeks since their coronation, and the newly-crowned family found itself in the main hall of the palace. They wondered why. There were no events scheduled. None they were aware of, anyway. "Why in the wide, wide world of Equestria are we here?" asked Applejack. She looked to Mac, who just shrugged almost imperceptibly. Twilight coughed. "I think they'll tell us when they are ready." Twilight then turned around to find herself muzzle to golden neckwear with Celestia, who was smiling warmly. She looked up. "H-Hi, Grandma." Celestia brought her up to eye level, then gave her a hug. "We'll explain everything after dinner," Celestia said to our motley little group. Then she left. Pinkie shuddered, then jumped in place, then her tail went in twenty different directions while her mane turned into a 'fro. "Whoa! Talk about a doozy! I wonder what it means." The others were justifiably frightened, considering the last time a doozy came along, a hydra was involved. Around 5 o'clock that evening... "This spread is ab-so-lute-ly amazin'!" Applejack said with glee. And she was not kidding. Twenty trays, piled high with everything from roasted carrots drizzled with honey, to fruit salad with chunks of sweet rolls for croutons. Anything a vegetarian with a sweet tooth could ask for. Plus two barrels of Apple Family Cider, a barrel of mead, and two dozen bottles of assorted wines, sodas, and juices. "Do enjoy yourselves. You'll need the energy for what happens afterwards," Celestia said to the group. "W-what happens afterwards?" Fluttershy asked from behind Mac. Apparently, Mac is a good pony to take shelter behind. "A surprise, dear Fluttershy. A good surprise. A wonderful surprise." Luna was doing her best to calm down her niece. "I promise, you will not be injured in any way." "You're sure?" Luna nodded, and mimed the Pinkie Promise. "Okay." Fluttershy stepped out from behind Mac. Twilight then showed her a trick she'd learned from Cadance. That seemed to help even more. By the time the clocks struck six, the entire hall had been scoured clean of food and drink. This left eight sluggish, groaning, nearly comatose ponies. Scratch that. They're in food comas now. Oh, let's just say midnight. IT'S MORE DRAMATIC! AND HAMMY!! The ponies were led by the Princesses into a large, oval-shaped room with a two pronged diagram situated in the center, under a skylight. There appeared to be a large stack of mattresses in one corner. Our heroes thought to themselves 'What would we need those for?' In the other corner was a large wall of sandbags. "Now you may be wondering what the surprise is," Celestia said. The group nodded in unison. "We want to apply a very special sort spell to you. It is meant to awaken some traits and abilities. Namely those inherited from Us." Several eyebrows shot upwards. "I promise it will not harm you, but it does require a great deal of energy to get it going." Celestia thought for a moment. "This will probably be easier to show, rather than tell. Do we have any volunteers?" Twilight stepped forward; primarily because she trusted Celestia, and a little bit because she was curious. "To start, We would like Twilight to stand in the center of the diagram." Twilight did as she was told. "Next, could somepony please open the skylight?" Shining opened the (oddly large) skylight. "Everypony else, please step behind the sandbags. If we tell you to drop to the floor, do so." The group sans Twilight moved to behind the sandbags. "Twily's gonna be okay, right?" asked Shining from behind the wall of sand. "So long as we are not disturbed, yes," the Princesses replied in unison. It is not a good idea to disturb somepony in the middle of a spell. Especially one this powerful. The two alicorns started an arcane-sounding chant: Bring to bear the powers of creation by our wills to the one between Our work begun, we ask the elements to grant our blood its right to eight new beings, unseen BRING THEIR ASCENSION TO LIGHT! A flash of light, and all that was left of Twilight was a scorch mark. Celestia threw a mattress down where the scorch mark was. Luna tapped her left hoof, like she was timing something. A scream was heard, as though from far away. It continued to grow louder. Eventually the source of the scream was sighted: Twilight, who was heading straight for the mattress. Direct hit. Twilight got up, and dusted herself off. Something felt off. She felt taller than before. She also felt a tickle at the end of her muzzle. Like... feathers. She opened her eyes. Purple feathers were tickling her nose. 'Wait a second. PURPLE!?' She looked down the length of the wing. It terminated just behind her shoulder... Her family was looking at her like they couldn't believe their eyes, mouths agape. Somehow, Pinkie was actually holding her eyes like glasses, and after she'd cleaned them, she put them back on. "Those wings are indeed yours. Your birthright," Luna said as she helped Twilight to steady herself. "Now if you could stand at the third point of the formation..." Twilight confusedly walked to a new point on the diagram. "Thank you. Now," -Luna clapped her hooves together- "that spell was good for ten of our descendants. Who is next?" It was decided by Mac that Shining Armor was next. "Hey, quit pushing! I'm going!" Shining looked down, then back up. "Uh oh." He waved goodbye. Then flying into the sky on a beam of light he went. Another mattress was put down, due to Twilight crushing the springs of the first one. Luckily, they bought in bulk for this occasion. He crashed very hard, screaming all the way down. Cadance was drawn by the screaming, and the eventual *crash*. She opened the door. She could not believe her eyes. Twilight and Shining both had wings. "Are they..." A nod from Celestia and Luna. Cadance pointed to the others. "And they'll be..." Another nod. "Eeeeeee!" Cadance tackled/hugged Twilight and Shining. "Eeeeeeee!" She got back up, heart overflowing with joy. She took a breath. "I'll be quiet now. Just, just tell me what to do." She was relegated to mattress detail: Pulling out the crushed mattress and replacing it with an undamaged one. This practice continued until only Fluttershy was left. Mac's great amount of mass meant they'd needed to double the crash pad's depth with a second mattress. A request was sent down for another mattress so Fluttershy could land safely. By sheer coincidence, it was dropped off by the guards who'd originally seen the Celestia-fied Shining. They were suitably intimidated when they saw his new wings, and proven their reality. 'The company is gonna....' Thankfully they were out of earshot when they finished that statement. Fluttershy stepped into the diagram's center. She was propelled upwards on a beam of light. She came down completely silently, but didn't crash (fortunately for her, her wings had locked in a fashion that was passable for a parachute). While now an alicorn, her wings were different from before. The outsides were covered in golden scales, with bones spread like fingers between the internal membranes. They looked almost draconic in origin. "Oh dear," she said to herself. Luckily for her, they were big enough to hide behind. 'Could it be?' Luna thought. She decided to humor herself, and gently brushed one of Fluttershy's new wings aside. "Your wings remind me of a friend I had. A dragon, called Sharpclaw the Gold-Plated. He, Dusky and I would go to taverns together. Very shy, but friendly by all accounts. He would down entire pints of this odd drink called scumble." Luna started to flashback, when Fluttershy spoke up. "You're Lulu? Grandpa was talking about you the entire time?" Fluttershy asked. For the longest time, she'd thought he'd been talking about some other pony he'd met those 1200 years ago. Meanwhile, the girls were flashing back to the wedding, and the pint Fluttershy had consumed. Celestia was floored. 'How can a dragon and a pony.... ' Celestia immediately cursed herself as her mind flooded with images of... yeah... 'By Celestia! Wait, I'm Celestia. BY ME! WHY?!?!' Thankfully for Celestia, she was very good at affecting calm even with her mind in disarray. Twilight thought, 'This probably explains the hoard of animals she keeps at her cottage. As well as my inability to find record of her maternal grandfather, and her breakdown at the Gala.' "Haha! Oh, how is he? Does he still eat all of the gold he finds?" Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, I had wondered if he was still around. My heart is gladdened to hear he is alive and well." She put a wing around Fluttershy. "When next you see him, could you please invite him and your grandmother to the castle? Wait, he is still roughly pony sized, correct?" Fluttershy nooded. "Splendid, then we will not have to knock out a wall for him to enter." 'Well, that makes the whole dragon-pony thing slightly less squick-y. Emphasis slightly.' Celestia decided to speak up, before more unsettling images came unbidden to her mind. "Congratulations! You are now alicorns. Meaning you now have access to all three basic types of magic. Now, If you'll excuse me, I must attend to something..." Celestia teleported away, having thought of something that could save them hassle in the long run. _____________________ Meanwhile, outside the gates of Tartaros....... _____________________ 'Now to plug this hole for good,' Celestia thought. The doors were shrunk, then beset upon by large wooden planks, chains, glue, locking bars, a kitchen sink (any good list of barriers includes the kitchen sink.), and then two massive pieces of steel, which were then welded to the doors' rivets, then each other. A small padlock was then placed on the latch. After all of that, the gates were buried by a rock-slide, then a lava floe. The doors, melted rock and all, were then relocated to a sea with over ten thousand monsters swimmng in it. The doors were then rigged with a ward to keep the prisoners from leaking out, then they were sealed in a clam-shell package, labeled Gateway to Tartaros (Collector's Edition!). After all of that, she teleported a large box, forged of nigh-unbreakable, magic-resistant Thunderbolt Iron, around the mass, even below the earth, leaving a hole for the tunnel to Tartaros. Celestia landed upon the box, and clapped the dust off of her hooves. "If that doesn't keep those doors shut, nothing will. Amazing what a little unintentional trauma can inspire." Celestia laughed. 'Good thing there's two of Kerberos to guard these gates.' She then teleported back home. 'Who knows what horrors could have been released?' ______________________ Back at the castle......... ______________________ "I didn't miss anything, did I?" Celestia asked. "Nothing at all. They seem to be admiring Fluttershy's new wings." As Luna spoke, Twilight organized the Newly-Awakened into a line. "Okay. I'm going to teach you basic telekinesis. Rarity and Shining will be helping me. We'll start with something light." Twilight took some springs from the broken mattresses, then said, "Try to imagine the spring coated in a field of energy. Then imagine it moving to where you want it to." Fluttershy got the hang of it first. "Good job Fluttershy." What Mac was doing caught Twilight's eye. "Oh, Mac, that's beautiful." Mac had taken his spring, and bent it into a crude wire flower. He then hovered it over to Celestia. He quickly made another one for Luna, and hovered it over to her. "A gift t'both of you. Fer all you've done fer all of us fer the past fifteen hundred years." The gesture was sweet. The others quickly followed suit, making little wire sculptures of their own. From animals, to plants, even the Royal Sisters themselves. Fluttershy did something different from the others. Hers was a model of Celestia, which was connected to a small wire globe. She brought the globe to life when she exhaled, releasing a small puff of fire which was then captured in its wiry receptacle. It emitted very little heat, but a fair amount of light. "These are beautiful. Especially yours, Fluttershy. Lovely use of your new abilities, dear. I shall have a shelf installed in my office for these works." "Um, actually, I've always been able to do that." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I just don't use it around other ponies. Mommy said it scares them." "Do you use your fire when you're alone?" Twilight asked. "I use it to make tea. I used to use a stove, and but the temperature was too hard to control. It burnt the leaves, making it too bitter to drink." Fluttershy grimaced. "I tried using sugar and honey, but they just masked the burnt taste. Grandpa also taught me how send letters to my family. And a few other things." "It's still a marvelous use of your abilities, dear." Celestia turned to face everypony. "I've had some suites set up for you. They're on the south side of the castle, under my tower. You'll find your names on the doors. Feel free to roam around, however. The gardens are especially lovely this time of night." "Tomorrow, we announce to the world your ascension," Luna said. She muttered, "Not like the eight beams of light and the screaming have not already done that for us..." Twilight tapped Celestia on the shoulder. "I'm still your faithful student, right?" asked Twilight. "Of course dear. But you're also much more now." She pulled her in for a hug. (What is with these two and hugs?) "You're one of my grandfoals, for one." They nuzzled each other. Alright, enough with the sap. "And tutor for your family, for two." Regretting his current assignment, Shining broke up the treacle-y scene before him. "I'd better get back to my post," he said to the group. "Nonsense. I hereby give you the next two weeks as vacation," said Luna. She could do that, too, since she foots half of the bill for the guard. "In that case, can I drop off my armor to be resized? I have a feeling it's gonna be a little small now," Shining said to Luna. She nodded. "Thank you. I'll take care of that right now." "Well. I'm bushed. I'm hittin' the sack. Y'all should, too," said a sleepy Applejack. The rest of the group soon followed suit. Having an Awakening Spell applied to you can really drain your energy reserves. "Um, i-if I have trouble falling asleep, may I, um, take a walk in the gardens?" Fluttershy asked Celestia. "Of course, dear. Just be careful. I've heard some noises coming from some of Posey's favorite spots in there. Like two ponies were talking to each other," she said to Fluttershy. Author's Note About the spell: Yes it is gibberish. It's more a focusing mechanism for power to the diagram on the floor. Symbol magic, if you will. Note: Dusky was a nickname for Luna's wife Dusk Spinner. For the entry on Scumble: http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/index.php/Scumble Note: There is a world of difference between a Bat-pony and a Dragon-pony. Bat-ponies are pegasi who have had their wings concealed in a partial guise, to reflect the realm of Princess Luna, and her Night Guard. Meanwhile, dragon-ponies are ponies with dragon ancestry, and a few overt draconic qualities, like hoard collection, sleeping on beds lined with precious metals and/or gems, or, depending on how far down the bloodline the ancestor is, a hint of scales and/or breath effects (fire, ice, noxious fumes, in one case electricity...) and enhanced strength/durability, but this all depends on the dragon ancestor, and the amount of power they wield. And yes, Celestia is an Equestrian version of a troper.
Vignettes Down in the Royal Guard barracks, 45 minutes past midnight.......... "Seriously. He had, like, a 20 foot wingspan!" Sergeant Blitzkrieg said to the armorer. He was demonstrating by standing on his hind legs, with his forelegs spread like wings. "He easily stood about an inch shorter than Princess Celestia!" "Uh-huh. Right. I'll believe that when... I... see..." Fiery Forge never finished her statement. She just pointed behind Blitz, and stammered. "H-H-Hello, Sir. Will you be needing s-some, ah, some adjustments made to your armor?" she quickly asked. "Uh, yeah. It's a little tight now." That was easily an understatement. He was 25% wider than before, and six inches taller. "Also, could you cut some holes out around my shoulders? I kiiiinda sprouted wings." He gestured to his new wings. While his wingspan was impressive, it was hardly 20 feet. It was 13 feet at best. Forge quickly went to work, hammering away at the material. After it had been tempered, she repainted it, and hovered it over to the waiting Captain Shining. "That was quick. Thanks Forge," he said to the castle armorer. After Shining left, Blitzkrieg just said, "Told ya." He went to the door, and turned his head to Forge. "And he's the smaller of the Princes." He trotted off. Something about 'Warning the others.' Forge just stood there, mouth agape, thinking, 'If the Captain is the smaller of the two Princes, how big is Prince Macintosh?' Basically, Mac is eye-to-eye with Celestia now (And that's as tall as he'll get). Odd, considering Posey was the smaller of the Royal Daughters. ____________________________ "Hey, Mort. You seein' this?" asked Spear Carrier. There was some recruit wearing the Captain's armor. Even worse, pieces were missing. "I see it too." Mortar Strike called out to the recruit. "HEY RECRUIT!" The recruit turned his head this way and that. Mort face-hoofed. "YOU IN THE PURPLE ARMOR! GET OVER HERE!" The recruit walked closer to them. To their horror, it was the Captain. "Hey, guys, why'd you think I was a recruit?" Shining asked confusedly. He had been in command for two years now. Not once had he been mistaken for a recruit. "My apologies, Sir. We had not been informed of your, ah, your ascension to the ranks of the alicorns. In our haste to prevent a recruit from getting thrown in the brig for taking the wrong armor, we called out to you." "Well, this-" he flared his wings "-didn't really happen until about an hour ago. When you two are relieved, would you mind posting a notice to prevent any confusion? Oh, also, I'm off the next two weeks." Mortar and Spear saluted. "Dismissed." They walked away. "Guys! Guys! The Captain's an alicorn now!" Blitzkrieg said, running up to them. He shrank as the two glared at him. "We could have used that info five minutes ago, Schneckentempo," Mortar replied. "We have a note for you to post on the Board: 'The Captain is now an alicorn. This is your one heads-up. Also, anypony in the pool owes Spear Carrier five bits.' Got it?" Blitzkrieg nodded. "Well hop to it, Schneckentempo!" That was the last they saw of him that night. "Rats!" "What?" "We forgot to tell him the Captain was on vacation!" The next day, at Carousel Boutique, 6 in the morning... "Oh, where is it? I knew I had some scissors here somewhere." Rarity was holding them. She looked up. "Hehe." She grinned sheepishly. "OH, RARITY! I'm here!" cried Sweetie Belle. "I'm supposed to bring somepony in for Family Appreciation Day and..." Sweetie Belle stopped short as she realized her sister had some new attachments. "When did you become an alicorn?" she asked in the same tone she might use to voice wonder as to why her sister would wear a duck as a hat. In this town, you learn to accept odd things as ordinary real quick. "Last night. I just got back from the castle a few hours ago. Although, I suppose I could come in. When is it?" "Today. Though I'd kinda wanted to bring Auntie Celestia." Sweetie rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. Rarity looked crestfallen. "Oh." For all of five seconds, when she remembered that filly Sweetie Belle had to deal with. "Okay, let me just get a pen." She thought, 'This should knock her down a peg.' ______________________ "Who did you bring for Family Appreciation Day, Sweetie Belle?" asked Cheerilee. Sweetie Belle had said she would surprise everypony today. "My (46 times) Great Aunt," Sweetie Belle said. "Um, I thought we could only bring in living family members, Ms. Cheerilee," snarked Diamond Tiara, raising her hoof. "She's better known as Princess Celestia," said Sweetie Belle, who innocently smiled out at the awestruck class. Except for Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, whose expressions ranged from derision, to ambivalence, to smug glee at what would happen next. "Oh, please! Like you're related to a Princess," said Diamond Tiara, who'd been out of town with Silver Spoon for the past month. So, basically, she missed the coronation, and hadn't heard the news. "She speaks no lies, little ones." Princess Celestia, Sol Invictus Herself, stepped into the room. "She, and young Apple Bloom, are not only related to me, but to Luna and Cadance as well. Not to mention the newly crowned Elements of Harmony and their siblings." Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped. 'TWO OF THOSE BLANK-FLANKS ARE RELATED TO THE PRINCESSES?!?!' She looked to Scootaloo, who just grinned and whispered the word 'Baroness' while she pointed to herself. Diamond gulped, and immediately started thinking of ways to grovel to the CMCs. At the library, noon... "Spike I'm back! And I brought Fluttershy with me!" Fluttershy was nervous about this. "Hey Twilight. Hey Fluttershy. What're you two doing here?" He had no idea what was coming. "I brought Fluttershy here to tutor you on dragon's fire," Twilight said. Spike laughed. "Her? Teach me?" Spike asked, laughing. "She can't breath fire!" His laughing was quickly shut up when she unfurled her wings and exhaled a stream of fire towards the ceiling. Good thing Twilight had the place fireproofed. "Huh?" Spike's eyes quickly bolted between the scorch mark and Fluttershy, who spoke up. "I'm, um, also supposed to mention my grandfather is Sharpclaw the Gold-Plated." Upon hearing that, Spike started kissing Fluttershy's hooves. To meet the granddaughter of one of his (draconic) idols... "Teach me, oh lovely one! Spawn of Magnificent Sharpclaw!" He then offered to her an array of gems from his stockpile in the closet. "Ooh! You have sapphires!." She took one of the gems up to her mouth, and bit into it like she would an especially crunchy apple. "Mm. It tastes just like the cupcakes Auntie Frost makes," Fluttershy said. "By any chance, do you mean this?" Spike held out of of Sugarcube Corner's (in)famous Sapphire cupcakes. "Mrs. Cake makes these by the dozen. I asked her why one day, but she just said 'Family Secret'." "I suppose I should visit her, after I have a rest," Fluttershy said. Then she went home. _______________________________________ Twilight was down in her lab. "Almost got it." She poured a drop of some green chemical into a beaker containing a purple chemical. "There. Now to test it." Twilight took a swig, and immediately spit it back out. "BLECH! Okay, never mix condensed dragon's breath with grape juice. It makes a horrible drink." She wrote that bit down, then underlined it, then highlighted it. "Twilight, you down here? Whoa!" *THUMP* *BANG* *CRASH* "Below Ground Floor!" He said, raising his index claw, still face-planted. Twilight picked him up. "Mommy?" he asked, still dazed. "Um, no. At least, I don't think so..." Twilight had never given it much thought. She had hatched him, but nopony was sure what to make of that. She patted him on the head anyway. "Let's get you cleaned up. Then I'll get you those Cupcakes you like so much. The old ones have gone stale." Spike hopped up the stairs. 'I know he needs gems to strengthen his scales, but he also needs to go easy on the sugar.' Twilight rolled her eyes, then headed up the stairs. Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner.......... "Whee! Hey, wait! Pound, don't go down there!" Pound Cake then flew down to the ground floor of the building. "Pumpkin, stay here while I go get your brother." Pinkie flew down, and snatched Pound Cake out of the air. "Oh, Mrs. Cake, did know Sharpclaw had grandfoals?" "Oh, Uncle Sharpclaw finally revealed he has a grandchild? What's their name?" Asked Mrs. Cake, who was even more scared of Pinkie now than she ever was before. And Mrs. Cake is a dragon-pony; they aren't scared of much. Why is she dragon-pony? Well, why else would she have recipes for foods with rock-hard gems in them? She got her Great-Grandma's recipes for ruby baklava, jade Ice cream with chocolate diamonds, and the (in)famous sapphire cupcake. "Fluttershy! Didn't you notice her new wings? They're covered in gold! She even breathes fire!" Pinkie said, careful not to hurt Pound's ears with her voice. Mrs. Cake raised an eyebrow at that. "As in the pony with the dragon wings? Who walked right past not 20 minutes ago? That was Fluttershy? Haha! I'll make sure to send her a note." She laughed to herself. 'Grandma Frost, why didn't you say before that I had a cousin?' At Sweet Apple Acres, roughly 3 o'clock in the afternoon..... "You ready Mac?" Applejack asked. She was facing the corn fields. "Eeyup." Mac turned to the wheat fields. "Ya got a good view up there, Apple Bloom?" "You betcha, Sis!" Apple Bloom shouted from atop the farmhouse. "You comfy up there, Dash?" she asked the lazy former-pegasus. "Hay yeah! I'm sitting on a cloud! That's the ultimate in comfy!" Rainbow Dash then hovered a tankard of cider to her side, and took a swig. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff." "Ya got Granny with ya, Honey?" Mac asked Caramel. "Yes, Dear," Caramel replied. Granny Smith had a bucket of popcorn with her, the better to watch what happens next. Applejack tried taking off first, but just skidded along the dirt, face first. Mac, who jumped, and took off, ascended to about twenty feet, before falling back to the ground, creating a Mac-sized hole in it. The second attempt saw Applejack get airborne, before she got stuck in a treetop (she's got flying straight down, now she needs to work on turning). Mac tried getting airborne a second time, and actually succeeded. He thanked Scootaloo for lending him that book on flight. His landing saw him end up face first in the mud. "Well, you've got flying down.-" Rainbow Dash snickered "-Now you just need to work on landing." Mac Looked up to see Rainbow dash standing in front of him. "Wanna help me get AJ out of the tree?" Rainbow helped Mac up, then he kicked the tree, releasing the one apple not meant to be in a tree in the first place. A visit to a local infirmary, and one day later.... Ten baskets of apples were taken to the market. Two were taken to Sugarcube Corner, where Fluttershy, Spike, and Mrs. Cake were having a conversation on the tastes of different gemstones while Twilight took notes. The last eight baskets were left behind to be processed into Apple Family Jam, Cider, Applejack (the drink from which AJ gets her name), Pie Filling, and Dried Fruit Mix. All throughout the yearly apple delivery, Mac turned heads. He thought to himself, 'First, Ah'm made a Prince. Two weeks later, Ah'm an alicorn. What's next? Ah'm deified? Wait, don't ask that kind o' question. It might jus' come true, in the worst way possible." After he thought that, nothing happened. He looked around, then sighed with relief. He wiped the sweat from his brow, then dragged the cart back to the Acres. Author's Note Note on Sharpclaw: He's idolized by Spike because he was the one adult dragon The Princesses had ever befriended and trusted. Has a not-so-friendly sister named Frost Spitter, also known as the Icy-Clawed Dragoness.
The Girls (and Mac) Learn About Their FamilyA knock was heard at the Apple Family door. 'Now who could that be?'she thought. "Hold your horseshoes, I'm comin'!" Applejack set down the paper, went to the front door and opened it. Two royal guards were standing in front of her. They appeared as stern as ever. "We have been sent to gather Applejack and 'Big' Macintosh." Their looks softened a little. "May we assume you are Applejack?" She nodded, staring confusedly. The guard spoke again. "Could you please gather your brother? We are to meet with the others at Princess Sparkle's dwelling, by order of her brother, Captain Armor. I don't want to disappoint him. He's the best commander we've ever had." By this point, he was almost pleading with her. She turned her head. "Mac, git yer kiester over here! We're goin' ta Twi's!" Mac meandered over. The guards' voices had traveled very well through the house. Caramel stood to Mac's right, looking both anxious and amused by what was going on. "Caramel, you stay here, and keep an eye on Granny and Apple Bloom. Ah don't know when we'll be back." Applejack and Mac left, with their apparent security detail trailing behind them. "Bye Honey! Come back soon!" His voice gained a more nervous tone. "Seriously, A.B. scares me!" shouted Caramel as the siblings left. They heard screaming as they left the farm, but it was just Apple Bloom messing with Caramel. Granny'd straighten her out when she got up from her nap. One hour later..... The girls (and Mac), and their twelve guards were standing right at Twilight's front door. Applejack figured they were together because of the article she'd read at breakfast that day. "Twi, we wanna talk to ya about this here article." She held said article up to the window. "How in the hay are you a Princess? And are you related to Bluebl-" "Don't you dare say that vile cur's name!" shouted a very literally fiery Rarity. The guards recoiled for fear of being burnt. The flames died down. "I'm still cleaning cake out of my mane because of him." Applejack turned back to the door. "Are you at all related to that Other Guy?" She turned her head toward Rarity. "Happy?" Rarity gave a curt nod. "Good." She turned to the now open door, where Twilight stood. "You gonna let us in, or what?" she asked the zoned-out Twilight. "Hehe, sorry. I guess you deserve an explanation, come in. Don't worry about Spike. He's out on a camping trip with my parents for the week." Twilight then levitated the six ponies outside her door into the building. The party landed with a crash. Twilight was having one of her episodes. Again. As the door closed, the guards set up in front of the library/house/tree that the soon-to-be-crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in, as crowds began to gather. After that, they set up a small canvas checkpoint in front of the thing Twilight called home. About 20 minutes of uncomfortable silence later.... "Okay, this all started a little over a month ago when Pinkie brought to my attention that the record of my lineage stopped at generation forty six, as opposed to six or so generations before that, as is normal." Twilight went into what could be called a lecture-trance. She then explained how her visit to the Princesses had gone. Then, Shining Armor's account of their meeting with the Princesses, as well as the tale of Blueblood's sentencing. "To answer your likely questions in no particular order: Yes, I am, indeed, a Princess, just as Big Brother is now a Prince, not Prince-Consort. He and I are the genetic descendants of Princesses Luna and Celestia. I've also gone over the charts again, because there is a high statistical improbability of there only being two descendants in all this time. They do have other living descendants, whom are in the room with me. And no, none are even remotely related to Blueblood. I checked three times, Rarity." She settled onto her seat, rearranged her friends so they sat upright, and then unfurled the banners that had gone unnoticed by everypony else. Six jaws went agape at who the other most recent descendants were. Them. Fluttershy 'eeped'. Rainbow Dash gawked. Mac looked unfazed, as usual. Applejack pulled her hat down. Pinkie threw confetti. Rarity looked deep in thought. The five (since Rarity was zoned out by now) stared uncomfortably at Twilight. "Soooo, they're our grannies, too?" Mac, of all ponies, asked, finally breaking the silence. "In a manner of speaking, yes. It turns out that Luna and Celestia had three grandfoals each. Not one as Pinkie and I had originally thought. I wish they'd given me that information before I'd left, but oh well. I am the descendant of both Flower Power, and Stone Wall, Pinkie's ancestor. An oddity, considering everypony else only has one royal ancestor," explained Twilight, coming down from her episode. "Just to clarify, and make it easy on us all: Fluttershy, Mac, and Applejack are part of Princess Celestia's line, while Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity are part of Princess Luna's." As she spoke, she pointed to each of the ponies in question, one by one. "I've also searched for more relatives who might share the royal genetics, but I've found nothing. It's like there was some outside force preventing other branches from coming to fruition." Twilight shrugged. "Oh well." Five minutes of rambling Later.... Rarity looked positively giddy about this. "Princess Rarity." She did a fidgety little dance. "Ooh, I love the sound of that." Rarity was definitely taking this very well. Then a frown appeared on her face. "Wait, Blueblugh-" Rarity tried again "-Bluebluhuhuh-" Once more, with feeling! "-Blueblech! Oh, you know who I mean! He won't attempt to court any of us, will he?" Hm, It seems even Rarity can't say his name in this story. Mac spoke up again (wow, second time today!). "HA! Ah doubt it." Everypony turned to Mac. "First, he'd hafta fight me, Caramel, and half o' the mares 'n stallions in town to get any of us near a marriage certificate with his name on it. An' that's if the Princesses themselves don' intervene." Everypony then relaxed, letting out a visibly held breath. Yeah, Mac needs to stop getting all the mares. And stallions. "Second, he'd hafta clean up his act 'fore they'd accept him back. 'Sides, most of our family here don't care fer all this High Society stuff y'all're so interested in, Miss Rarity, so that'd leave you an' me, an' Ah'm taken already." He held up his hoof to show off the ring. "So that leaves you. An' he'd avoid you like you'd just stepped out of the Everfree, if he knew what was good for 'im." As he said that, he clacked his front hooves together. "Right, Family?" A resounding 'Yeah!', and the brandishing of various blunt items, from baseball bats, to pipes, a rolling pin, and a war hammer (where does Fluttershy find this stuff?), confirmed this. "Hey!" Twilight was tapping into the Royal Voice. Presumably, her grandmothers taught her. Anyway, the group was blown back a good two feet. *Ahem* "I know he's not the most well liked pony, but isn't this a bit much? I grew up around him. The only things that I could say about him is that he drinks too much mead and makes some (very) poor decisions." Twilight sighed. "His recent conviction being an example." The group appeared dumbfounded. "Nothing to do with Rarity, I assure you." Applejack had been mulling over something she'd heard Twilight say. "Let's go back to the main point. You said all of us're related to one or both of the Princesses? The previous holders of the Elements? How does that factor into our ability to use 'em?" Applejack asked. "Would we have been able to use 'em even if we weren't related? Hay, would we have even been able to find the durn things?" Valid point. "And on a side note, does this have anythin' to do with our 'unstable' psychowhoozits?" "Considering there is so little known about the Elements, for all we know, they could be alive and self-aware. We just know they work though six semi-codified virtues, which we embody." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled warmly. "I like to think we could have used them even if we were just friends, not relatives. As for the predisposition to mental instability, It's possible this town is the problem, but it could just as easily be our shared ancestry, considering none of the other ponies in this town haven't showed signs of similar problems. I'll do some tests on the town's water supply after this." She paused, thinking. "And maybe a few on the Elements, just to be safe." "Okay. Now, onto the next issue. We don't have to start wearing those frou-frou tiaras and crowns the Princesses wear, right? 'Cause that's gonna be kinda difficult to do that when I'm flying. I mean, Fluttershy might be able to fly with one, but I can't," said the speed-obsessed Rainbow Dash. Everypony facehoofed. "Hey! With how I fly, if it falls it could hurt somepony on the ground pretty badly!" "Rainbow, while you are right in your concern, I have been here for the past month since my visit. In that time, have you seen me wearing a crown, a tiara, or any jewelry for that matter? It's entirely optional. Luna and Celestia only wear their jewelry because of what the Princesses call the Ermine Cape Effect." The group looked confused. "Basically, royalty is expected to dress better than those not of the royalty, and because of this, the princesses must wear gold and other finery, in their subjects' minds at least, such that if they didn't, their subjects would spend ruinous amounts of money attempting to invoke the trope," Twilight explained, growing ever snarkier. "Hay, the Princesses would be happier if they could get away with the simpler, sturdier materials Mac and AJ are wearing instead of their bare minimum of gem-encrusted, gold-plated aluminum neck-wear and silver shoes.-" Twilight paused, and took a deep breath. "-No offense to your craft meant, Rarity." "None taken darling. I can understand not everypony enjoys the feeling of cloth and metal rubbing against their coats," Rarity said, as she quickly began searching for paper. "Now, if you'll be a dear and help me find some paper, I'd be more than happy to begin designing the coronation attire." "C-coronation?" Fluttershy hid behind Mac, arguably the safest place to be, and covered her eyes with her hooves. "C-can't they just s-send a letter to everypony in the mail?" Fluttershy feared being in front of large crowds. Even more than she feared dragons. Or other ponies. Or her own shadow. "Please?" Fluttershy then pulled off the most powerful puppy-dog eyes she'd ever done, which is really saying something. "Supposing such a thing would happen, you wouldn't have to speak, Fluttershy. You'd just stand on a stage surrounded by guards and three of the most powerful ponies in existence, Princess Celestia would place a tiara on your head, everypony in the audience cheers, you walk backstage, et cetera. Then you can go right home," Twilight said glibly, trying to comfort her friend. Somehow, it worked. "It would be more of a formal acknowledgement of our ancestry than anything." "O-okay. I think I can do that." Fluttershy came out from behind Mac. "Ooh! Ooh! If the Princesses are our (46 times) great grandmothers, does that mean we'll be like them? Y'know, one day we're just doing our thing then POOF!, Alicorn?" Pinkie asked in her normal, LOUD voice. Everypony looked up at that question. They too, wanted to know if that would happen. Mac especially. He'd heard some of what the guards had said about Shining Armor's mishap. "Pinkie, no. That would require outside intervention to happen. It wouldn't just be a 'poof'. And Mac, what you overheard was an account of a prank Luna pulled on Big Brother. That didn't really happen, no matter what he looks like when he comes down here." Mac sighed with relief, and wiped the sweat from his brow, while Pinkie's mane deflated a bit. She'd wanted to be able to fly, Celestia bless it! Mac's head jerked back up. 'Wait, no matter what he looks like?' KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "I'd better go get that." Twilight got up, quickly ran to the door, and opened it. She was quite shocked. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked to the pony in the checkpoint. "Yes. I want to see how they'll react." It sounded like Celestia to the assembled ponies. They relaxed a little. "Okay..." She led the visitor in. An unknown alicorn. She had a shield with a star for a mark, with mane and tail of various shades of blue, and a white coat, which caused the assembled ponies to think they knew her from somewhere. Twilight was rather pointedly looking away nervously, blood rushing to her cheeks. She rubbed the back of her head. "Hehe. Everypony remembers my brother, right?" Insert noise like two cogs grinding steel wire in their teeth. The group was dumbfounded. Fluttershy (eventually) spoke up. "I-It might have been the cider I drank at the wedding, b-but, um, wasn't your brother a unicorn before? And a s-stallion?" -Fluttershy had overdone it at the wedding. The catering staff went for Scumble, instead of more expensive, but higher quality Apple Family Ice Cider, which has a relatively lower alcohol content, not to mention it is less reactive to metal and water, and fewer rumors about its manufacture. This goes double for a stronger recipe dubbed 'Suicider' by a dragon called Sharpclaw. Due to her sheltered life, Fluttershy had ended up downing a pint (even Celestia Herself only drinks the standard shot of the stuff at any event), then, after the effects kicked in, flew into the cake just as they were cutting it. Surprisingly, the only lasting effects were that her tail was rather short for a few weeks, and she had a mild aversion to weddings and frosting, which was more due to the ceremonial knife falling on her tail than the drink itself.- "This is a result of our shared ancestry. Turns out the spell Celestia and Luna used to have their foals caused their, hehe, 'attributes' to be able to flare up down the line. They just helped it along with me is all." Shining turned to the whole group and smiled. "If they want, I could jump-start everypony else's alicorn genetics as well." The faces of the various ponies in the room showed expressions from fear, to wonder, to being disconcerted, to excitement. Mac looked ready to dive out a window. Then, there was Twilight, who tired of the charade. "Okay, you can lose the guise now, Shining." Well, so much for the mental image of Mac as a recolored Celestia. Priceless. "Oh, you're no fun." A puff of smoke, and where the bad facsimile of Celestia once stood, now stood Captain of the Royal Guard, Prince Shining Armor. "I wanted to see if I could get them to go along with it. Then, I would have zapped 'em. Like, just a little shock." "Knowing you, you'd probably end up using a transformation spell instead of a guise or a shock, and then we'd all be up on the moon with no air," Twilight playfully snarked. "I'll use the spell they taught you. Come here." They crossed horns, and both glowed. They broke contact and shook their heads. "Data transfer complete. Anypony else want to see what they'd look like?" "Long as it's just smoke an' mirrors, Ah'm alright with it." Wow, Mac is really talkative today. The rest of the group joined in, one by one. "Okay, everypony ready?" Murmurs of consent rippled through the group. "Here. We. Go!" Twilight's horn glowed. An extremely large plume of smoke appeared, then dissipated, leaving many of its occupants coughing. "Everypony okay?" Twilight's voice sounded like a mix of two; calm and gentle like Celestia's, yet as sharp and clear as Luna's. "Whoa, that'll take some getting used to." She also stood taller than Luna, but shorter than Celestia. It seems she unconsciously put the form together. "Don't I know it." Shining was back in his guise. "Hehe. I'm still taller than you though, sis." He put a hoof on her shoulder. "I have to get a picture though, otherwise the Princesses will never believe me." He figured one with the two of them, then a family photo. "Oh, alright." Twilight summoned a camera. Thankfully the film developed after you took the picture. The fewer that saw them like this, the better. "Get over here." Shining did as she asked. "Now smile." The two sat with Illusory wings flared. Insert camera flash. "Okay, everypony. Group photo." The whole family scrunched together as best they could. Insert camera flash. "Now let's get one without the spell." Dispel, then another camera flash. After the photo shoot, everypony spread out. "Now that that is out of the way, why did you come down here?" "What, I can't see how my LSBFF is doing?" Shining could almost feel the snark radiating off of Twilight. "Oh, okay. Y'know, you're no fun this early in the morning. Anyway, our beloved grandmothers have sent me and a contingent of guards to secure the town for the coronation. Oh, and Cady will be coming down with them. I've also had them send a letter to Spike so mom and dad could come." "Wait." Great. Twilight's confused again. "The coronation is actually happening?" Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who was surprisingly calm, then to Shining. "I figured this wouldn't happen so quickly, if at all." "Grandma told me, and I quote: 'We wish to publicly acknowledge you as part of our family', end quote." "All the more reason to get me some drawing materials, darling! I'm in the zone right now! I'll even take crayons!" Rarity was shaking Twilight in her excitement. "Ooh, I can see it now! White dresses with gold trim, and accents from the colors of our Elements!" Mac coughed a little in annoyance. "Oh, and suits for the gentlecolts. How did that slip my mind?" Rarity thought for a second, her hoof on her chin. "Gold with red trim for Macintosh and a dark blue with white trim for Shining Armor. And maybe some purple and gold bands around Shining's upper forelegs noting his status as Captain of the Guard." This is why Rarity will never need caffeine, or any form of stimulants for that matter. "Luckily for you, I keep some crayons and paper around here in case Spike has nothing to do. In my office, red filing cabinet, top drawer." As Rarity left to gather her impromptu materials, Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "I guess the hypothetical situation is real. You're still okay?" Fluttershy nodded. Twilight laughed nervously. "I guess I have a letter to write. Hehe. Where is that pen?" 2 days, and everypony's favorite grey mailmare crashing into the mailbox later... "Thanks Bright Eyes!" Yes, in this work she's named Bright Eyes. She still has the strabismus however... "Bye, Twilight." Bright Eyes flew off. She did loop-de-loops as she flew to the other end of town. Twilight opened the manila envelope. It was marked with two blue ribbons, signifying an urgent letter for or from Celestia, not dealing with any catastrophe in the making. ___________________________ Dearest Twilight, Thank you for informing us about our other descendants. To find that the Elements have bonded to them is remarkable, to say the least. However, I must apologize for not giving you information regarding the number of our grandfoals. Enclosed, you'll find seating arrangements, and an itinerary for the coronation. We would also like a recommendation for a local bistro or cafe as well, for snacks after the coronation. Love, Grandma Celestia P.S.- Luna wants to know where in town to place the castle she's commissioned ___________________________ Twilight breathed deeply. "Okay. I can work with this," Twilight said to nopony in particular. "I'd better gather the others." The water testing would have to wait. After a lot of walking between her friend's/cousin's dwellings, she'd gathered everypony at her (I'm just gonna call it the librar-tree). "I've got the (relatively) finalized checklist for how the coronation is going to go. Seems I was right about the series of events. The princesses make a speech, everypony else walks onto the stage, Cadance brings in the ceremonial headpieces (circlets for the colts, tiaras for us), they crown us, we group hug, everypony cheers, and all of us go to Sugarcube Corner for a snack. After all of that, we go home. Okay?" Twilight had inadvertently caused the manes of her family to be blasted back due to her speaking. Fluttershy smoothed out her mane and did something rather unusual for her. "YAY!" The others looked at her like she'd gone legitimately insane. "I'm actually looking quite forward to this." Fluttershy smiled. 'She could kill a diabetic at 100 yards,' Twilight thought. "As for how everypony will be seated, I've made a chart." She pulled a projector screen down, and turned on the projector she'd summoned. "Applejack and Mac will be sitting farthest right, then Fluttershy, then Shining and I . To my left will be: Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity, in that order." She turned the lights back on. "And before anypony asks; no, I did not arrange the seats. Cadance did." "Uh, question: Why aren't AB and Sweetie Belle part of the ceremony?" asked a confused Applejack (which is not as dangerous, but not a good thing either). "That's actually because they aren't old enough. The Princesses have put it into the law that nopony shall be crowned before age 16, as they were." The group raised collectively raised an eyebrow. "Yes, the Princesses were 16 at some point." A guard came up to Shining Armor and whispered something into his ear. "Hey, Sis. They've got the stage set up. Oh, and Grandma wants some help with writing the speech. She asked for you because she's having trouble thinking of ways to lengthen it. Nothing urgent." Twilight turned to the guard. "Send word that I'm just about finished explaining the seating arrangements for the event." The guard saluted, accidentally hitting his head with his hoof-armor in the process, said 'Ow', then left. 'And these are the guys who are doing security?' she thought to herself. Author's Note Note about Spike: Twilight's parents are not quite sure what to view Spike as. Child? Grandchild? Family friend? Princess Celestia's adopted son? Don't look at me, I don't know! Notes about Unicorn Biology: Unicorns can transfer data between each other. It doesn't happen often because if the unicorns don't aren't blood-related, the magicks grind against each other, causing mini-tremors in the horns, and splitting headaches for the unicorns in question.
