The First Hours Before The Spring...
Princess Celestia Perspective
I know that it might sound selfish, but I felt absolutely no pain. Granted it wasn't severe nerve-wracking pain that I have felt before in the heat of battle in ages long past in a lifetime I've all but left forgotten, but compared to what I had known before; this was calm and simple, profound yet subtle. My size offers me more advantages than just longer legs as most ponies would have simply presumed.
"Princess, you're almost done." Spoke Sable as she stood by my side. I looked over to her, the silver-maned unicorn who had been in my service these last few months, and one who was experienced enough in these matters. She came highly recommended by her Charge, and was proven to be trustworthy enough for such praise. Had she been here longer before, Sable would have easily been made my Guard Captain. "Do you need some refreshment, your highness?" Raven Inkwell spoke to my side, whom Silver had followed close behind when they came into my employ, her alabaster gray coat stood out in-particular from the rest of my staff and her tendencies for scriptures had made her valuable towards my palace staff as my Majordomo.
Resting still as I simply shook my head as a pang flooded through my abdomen. A part of me had felt saddened that my Beloved could not be here for me in this moment, of all ponies that lived, he deserved to witness what was about to happen. "Princess, just push wider please." Said Sable as she tended to the bulge in my abdomen. I knew that it was selfish to ask for Sable to be here, while her own daughter sleeps in the other room with Cadence. But I know not who to turn to in this dire of times.
The pressure along my hips was now lessened as the pressure was gone at long last; like a weight was finally lifted from me as the two of us took in a deep breath for the first time in so long. I begun to hear a soft growing and empty cry before the crying jags that I had both heard and felt truly filled me with relief as I saw Sable and Raven both bundle up something in my peripheral before handing it over to me slowly. I slowly unbundled the head as I stared into the squinted eyes of my newborn at long last, My Light Of Lights as the little ones' crying had slowed and quieted by my touch and warmth.
"Congratulations, Celestia... It's a filly..."
Night Light Perspective
It was a surprise in the cold morning when I heard a knock at our door.
The Sun wasn't supposed to rise for a few more hours, and my Son, my Daughter, and my Grandson were still in bed at this time from the protection Runes remaining active and untampered. Miss Inkwell was a Grondsend for that inscription on the windows and the walls of theirs and our rooms, strong and reinforced enough to ward off anything short of a trebuchet.
The door knocked again, and taking one look over at my still sleeping wife, I resolved to see what the commotion was about and stumbled out of bed and heading downstairs to the front door.
Stretching out my neck one last time to wake up more, I opened the front door with my Magic as I sought to find out what the commotion was at this early hour. While it wasn't unusual to see one of the Royal Guards and a carriage parked outside of our courtyard due to Twilights' position as Celestia's personal student, and Shining being one of their newest recruits, as the young fellow removed his helmet and bowed to me, I knew that whatever news he was bringing had to be urgent.
"Sir Night Light of House Evenfall?" I let out a tired yawn as the courier asked me, "I apologize for this early hour, but your family was requested to come to the Palace by the Princess. Her child is born."
Immediately, all tiredness flees from my mind as I process exactly what I just heard. With resolve, I ask the guard to wait while I go tend to my family and wake them up. Once their minds were more awake, I apologized profusely for this and promised them that we could sleep inside of the carriage on the way. Thus we found ourselves a scant twenty minutes later, bordering somewhere between half-asleep and half-awake as the royal carriage wove through the streets of Canterlots' Noble District towards the Palace.
To say that I wasn't nervous about what was happening with the Princess the last few months would be an outright lie. I still remember all those months ago at a ball held in the palace when Princess Celestia had announced that she was pregnant. Lady Majesty managed to shriek at an octave worthy for the opera as I stared across the room to both the Princess and to my dear daughter Twilight; offering up my congratulations on the newest upcoming addition to the Royal Family. The following weeks and months were spent by the Noble Parliament in speculation as to who would have garnered Princess Celestias' favor to have a child with them.
The more ambitious and power-hungry Nobles had made wild accusations that the child was actually theirs, citing that only their lengthy pedigree and service to Equestria would be enough for the Sun Princess to realize the worthiness of their sons as potential husbands and future Kings, a few of them going as-far as to pull out family heirlooms and symbols of nobility for the young Stallions to don and begin courting the Princess properly even if they denied doing so; blessed honest stallions the few might have been there.
Once the suitors had been turned away by Celestia; turned away or urged back to either their families or to their own beloved mares, did the rumormongers' come up with that the reason why the Princess denied sharing who her husband or her suitors' name was. A quiet minority had spoken in hushed tones that the child Celestia was carrying had to be the seed of a Commoner, and thus explained why the Princess was being quiet during the whole ordeal, with a certain few others stating that the apparent "villain" responsible for taking away the purity of the Sun Princess had to have been extremely powerful and absolutely dangerous to have trapped someone like her, and demented enough to ravage a Princess as thus. The deluded fools had demanded for the responsible party comes clean about what they had done to not face any cruel and unfair punishment from the Nobility. One of them I knew had tried to order the Royal Guards to declare her own personal war against the Majordomo, blaming her as the reason for this disturbance and insistance that she be killed for treason.
As for me? I knew that it was obvious that the father had to have been a member of the recently-returned House Corvus. Weeks before she had announced her pregnancy, Princess Celestia had offered amnesty and asylum to the three members loyal to the once lost and ancient Noble House: the Acting Head, her House Sentinel, and the House Sentinels' child; all of whom just showed up inside of Canterlot one day beside the Sun Princess and none of the guards stationed knew exactly how the three of them had ever arrived or eluded detection by the staff. I always wondered exactly why nopony bothered to make that connection yet? Perhaps it must be the foolish delusions of the greedy Nobles who have been living off of their ancestors good names that the deeds no longer resonate within their progeny. No matter what was being said or done by the Nobility, many of them were too scared or stubborn to even bother approaching the Sun Princess for a more direct answer.
The Palace gates were at the end of the road before us as the stationed guards flagged us down to inspect our credentials. I procured my House sigil, the famed Amethyst Evenfall Starburst that was well-known to many of the Guards due to my Daughters antics with Magic studies. After presenting them were we allowed past and heading up towards the outer courtyard of the Palace. Already I could see that there was another chariot parked in the middle of the path leading towards the palace doors, and I groused as I saw the official seal emblazoned on the sides and back as the regal Crown belonging to nopony else but that of House Platinum. What ruckus was Lady Majesty attempting at this hour? Ushering my family out of the chariot and away from the warm interior, we could hear the demands and shouting long before we even opened the palace doors to see both Ladies Majesty and Inkwell at the foyer entryway in strong argument once again.
"I thought I made it particularly clear that you weren't to be invited on this evening, Lady Majesty." groaned Raven Inkwell, the Alabaster-gray Unicorn with a black-feathered inkpot Cutie Mark being flanked on both sides by Royal Guards stared down the slightly taller pure white and maya blue maned Unicorn with a Cutie Mark of four Saltorels around a single crown who in-turn radiated with indignation. "You dare to interfere with me, Raven-Smoocher?" Yelled Lady Majesty; her usual flair of uptight decorum ever present on herself, "I don't care what your position is as the so-called Majordomo. Princess Celestia would never associate with one of your kind, your insolent witchcraft and superstitions will propagate no further. Guards, arrest this Raven-Smooching occultist and prepare for her execution post-haste!"
The Guards simply stood there and did nothing as they looked back at Lady Majesty. Most who frequented the palace all knew of the routine that at least once a day; Lady Majesty would demand and order for Raven Inkwells' imminent execution for mostly inane reasons and "crimes" as she would come up with on the spot. Most of it was simply bluster and insanity as the guards would simply ignore her and be labeled by her for treason against the crown afterwards. It was a bit of a riot watching the new recruits using this as a rite of passage to immediately be branded a traitor to Equestria by Her Majesty. A part of me ever wondered why it was that she was left in-charge of Parliament in the first place, especially when she was mentally unstable while her adoptive son Vladímir was saner and better liked by the other Nobles. I knew that answer already; it was traditional for the Head of House Platinum to preside over the goings-on of the Parliament, and was tied into the very laws that our society was founded upon. While she had no actual level of authority, most of the other Houses were "Allowed" to pass their own laws so long as they didn't countermand those of Platinums' authority.
I made the miscalculation of closing the door behind us as both Ladies turned to look at the front door and to us as we entered. I groaned inwards as I saw Majesty Platinums' amethyst eyes lock onto my family. "Ah, Lord Night Light. Glad you made it this fine morning. Perhaps with your assistance, we can finally be rid of these Raven-Smoochers once and for all!" "I didn't come here to be wrapped up in your games, Lady Majesty." I responded as I saw Twilight walk over with Spike to rest on a nearby seat with my wife, "I was actually invited by the Princess beca-" "Ah, of course." replied Majesty as she put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, "Your child is the faithful student of the Princess, perhaps she can dispel the rumors circulating that Princess Celestia is pregnant. She cannot really be pregnant, it is against the law that she is to be pregnant. I should know, I have written the laws against her being pregnant as being an act of insanity that must be punished by a swift execution towards the rumor-mongers and their immediate family that dared to start this whole mess."
Normally a saner pony would simply balk at a claim as this by Majesty, but unfortunately; I knew the Head of the Noble Parliament and that she lives off in her own little world where she is in control over everything around her. I heard Raven speak up next. "I invited them to the palace. Princess Celestia said that she wanted them here after she gave birth to her foal." "For the last time, enough with your lies Raven-Smoocher!" yelled Lady Majesty as she turned her attention back to the smaller head of House Corvus indignantly, "Princess Celestia is NOT Pregnant!" For the most part, Raven managed to keep her composure as she readjusted her glasses. "That is correct: Celestia isn't pregnant; Celestia just gave birth this morning. And I was told to invite House Evenfall because she wanted to speak with her faithful student on this matter." Iterated Raven, "While I indeed recognize your position as Head of the Noble Parliament, know that it was I was chosen to be the Princesses Majordomo: meaning that when it comes to the affairs of the Palace and its occupants outside of the Princess herself: I outrank you!" Spoke Raven Inkwell as she firmly brushed aside the taller Unicorn with one hoof before looking back up at our group and smiling softly towards both my Daughter and Grandson, "Don't mind Lady Majesty here. Princess Celestia is waiting for you both in her bedchambers, you know the way up there and the guards know to expect you."
Taking one last look at us, I nodded softly as I saw both Twilight and Spike get to their feet and begin walking towards the stairs, giving Lady Majesty a wide berth as she sputtered at Ravens' most recent 'act of treason' against her, and swearing to rid the world of every single one of the Raven-Smoochers at length again. Being made aware of the ranting and raving of the Head of Parliament, I saw my Son put his head in his forehooves. This, I and my wife both felt was the sign that this would be a long morning indeed...
Spike Perspective
We journeyed up the stairs as the din of arguing between Ladies Majesty and Raven became faint echoes in the halls behind us. I was still very sleepy as I shook my head slightly from tiredness. While the carriage ride was smooth, it still left me fatigued due to the cold outside of the castle. Fortunately for us, Princess Celestias' private bedchambers weren't in a tower so we didn't need to worry about the cold too much. "Do you think it will be a filly or a colt?" I asked Twilight as she perked up at the question. "Well, nopony really knows what Celestias' foal is." She replied, "Mrs. Sable didn't want any doctors or nurses to be close to Celestia." I heard a loud clatter from behind us as we briefly shared a look with one-another regarding Lady Majesty and the ruckus she was probably causing downstairs. We silently agreed that if there was anypony that shouldn't be allowed near Celestia; it was that particular mare. A feeling of unease passed through me at the implications of what Majesty would even do to Celestia's child if left alone...
I immediately stamped out that train of thought as I returned to my question once again. "Well, I think that it'll be a colt. Maybe he will enjoy reading some comic books with me when he gets older." That made Twilight chuckle as she gently ran a hoof against my ridge scales slightly. "I'm sure that any colt would enjoy reading comics with you, but I think that it will be a filly. She might become a magical prodigy with Celestia as her mother." "Or she might become some kind of superhero if she's just as strong as the Princess." We continued on like this, making wild statements into the air as we slowly forgot all about Lady Majesty from before.
In no time at all, we found ourselves before Princess Celestias' personal bedchambers. As Raven told us, there was already a small number of Royal Guards stationed outside of the main doorway as they looked us both over. "The Princess said for us to expect you. But with the disturbance caused by Lady Majesty, we just had to really be sure that it was you." "No worries." I replied calmly waving my claw back-and-forth.
Twilight Sparkle Perspective
The door tenderly opened as we walked inside, it was much warmer within the bedroom as the guard closed the door behind me as I took in the heat around us. Sitting upon the low bed in the center of the room was Princess Celestia, though most of her body was wrapped around a large yellow blanket decorated with various suns. She looked exhausted, but she was blushing warmly and smiling as I saw a slight ruffle beneath the blanket close to her tummy. "Twilight, Spike." I heard Celestia speak, her voice barely above a whisper as I walked over towards the Princess and bowed before her. "I heard that you needed us?" "Less of a need, and more of a want my Faithful Student." Celestia told me as I saw something move next to her, right beneath the large blanket draped across her body. Celestia looked towards the flutter beneath the blanket as she smiled softly before letting out a small coo of affection that caused the bulge to settle down and start to move forwards out from underneath the blanket and towards Celestias' front.
Poking out slightly and slowly from the depths of the blanket was a small unicorn foal. It was no older than just a few hours from what I could guess, the coat was a soft pink almost like Cadence, however the mane was an equally soft arctic blue as deep as the frost that clung delicately to windows in winter what was really striking however was the deep regal violet eyes that gave hint at who exactly I was seeing.
"Twilight, meet My Light Of Lights." Said Celestia as she bent her head down to nuzzle slightly against the newborn as she giggled slightly at this, "She was only born a few hours ago." "She?" I heard Spike as the Filly slowly got onto her hooves and begun to slowly wobble next to Celestia who carefully nosed her daughter upright. It was then that I noticed another slight ruffle from behind the filly still beneath the blanket as the blanket fell slightly to reveal a somewhat large pair of wings sprouting from her back. Celestia's filly was an Alicorn! "Holy guacamole." Spike whispered to himself as he saw the young foal look behind at her wings as they slowly stretched upwards, the wingtips glinting in the firelight slightly as the newborn slowly moved them back and forth slightly as Celestia noticed that a feather on her daughters' left side was a bit out of place before gently nudging it.
"I never thought I would ever see what a baby alicorn would look like." Said Twilight as the filly looked over to the older Alicorn, Celestia pulling her head back slowly as she put the errant feather back into place as the filly smiled soothingly at the discomfort vanishing at that moment before taking in the Dragon and Unicorn looking right at her. "I am grateful that my loneliness is nearing its end." Spoke Celestia as her filly yawned slightly, stretching her jaw as wide open as she could make it; very much like a dog would do, "It has been nearly a thousand years since I've seen another one of my kin." "But didn't you meet with Cadence just the other day?" I heard Spike ask as he slowly climbed off of my back to look closely at the filly. "Indeed Cadence is an Alicorn, but she isn't what I was talking about when I talked about kin." The small Alicorn blinked as she turned to look closely at Spike, her face betraying a sense of curiosity at witnessing a Dragon instead of a Pony for the first time in her short life so far. "Are you talking about other Alicorns? I remember hearing something about another Alicorn from so long ago, I think she was called Nightmare Moon." "Yes she is known nowadays as Nightmare Moon, but before that fall from grace she was once one of my kin. I find it pitiable that the Ponies of Equestria have treated her as an Outcast just the same as when we were but fillies ourselves in the Frozen Northlands. We fled our home and eventually came to Equestria to start a new life with new names for ourselves." I was shocked to hear such groundbreaking information about the Princesses own past being talked about like it was nothing. Nopony ever mentioned about Celestias past from before Equestria, even this little amount could redefine much of how I saw her.
"But, how is your family different from Cadence? Is it because she wasn't a part of your family?" Spike said. I saw Celestia smile a wane smile to herself as she noticed her daughter slowly walking over towards Spike. "Yes and no, the situation with Alicorns is... difficult to put into words. Mostly because it is steeped in traditions and rites that are only truly available to be taught by members of the Alicorn Tribe. Cadence cannot be inducted into the Tribe because of certain provisions and conditions that are a part of our traditions; the only two ways that she can become a member of the Alicorn Tribe is by being sworn in with the approval of three Tribal Alicorns, or by being sworn in by a Tribal Parent and Child no younger than five years of age." Already, Spike felt the tiny hooves reaching out towards him as Celestias' newborn smiled up at him, "I think she wants to say hello, Spike."
Spike Perspective
I look down at the small foal who looked at me from her perch on the mattress. "Hey there little one. My name is Spike." I say as the filly tilted her head and smiled up at me, "I hope that we can become friends and we can read comics together." The filly simply gurgled in her small way as she placed her hoof into my lowered claw. We were startled at a low growling being heard from somewhere closeby as Celestia looked down at her stomach as it growled in protest of being hungry. Having spent the better part of a few months providing sustenance to not only herself but to her newborn had left a substantial hole in her gut that now needed filling. "Goodness," I heard the Princess coo as she nosed against the newborn filly, eliciting a small giggle, "you really know how to leave mommy hungry don't you?" Celestia soon looks up at me, "Spike, can you go downstairs to the kitchen? Ever since my pregnancy, I've always had a hankering for some Lemon Yogurt. Tell the chef to bring some up for us? You can even get some sapphires from the kitchen while your downstairs." I perked up at the thought of sapphires for an early breakfast. "Okay, it was Lemon Yogurt right?" I said as the Princess nodded slightly in approval, "Alright, be back in a few minutes." I go towards the door as I hear the sound of slight whimpering as I turn back around to look at the filly who was looking right at me as I stop from putting my hand on the doorknob and slowly walk back towards her. "Hey, kiddo. I'm not going away, I just need to get some food for your mommy and I'll be back soon." I place my claw down next to the foal as she gently prodded her hoof against it lovingly. I slowly rub my other claw against her forehead, running my claws through her soft and short mane as I do so. Immediately she tenses up and lays back down again at my touch, and I slowly pull my claw away from her and make my way to the door, opening it and closing it behind me slightly with a soft click.
Twilight Sparkle Perspective
Spike closed the door behind him quietly as it was now myself with the Princess and her newborn. The crackling of the fire was all that could be heard, along with the foals' light breathing as she rested in Celestias' forelegs. Casting a spell, the Princess lifted the blanked back around the both of them as she smiled softly. "There's a reason why I decided to invite you to see My Light Of Lights before everypony else." I straightened upon hearing this, there was a reason why it was me instead of Cadence or her Majordomo? "There is?" I asked aloud, my voice quiet for the sake of the newborn filly. "I've been thinking it over for the last few months, and I've considered a role for you in the life of My Light Of Lights." I perked up at hearing this. "Are you making me her babysitter? Because I think that Cadence is better suited for that role since she helped watch over me whenever you or my parents were too busy." "Close, but not quite." Replied Celestia as she continued to smile, "The position I am talking about isn't being a Babysitter, you are too young for such responsibility on top of watching over Spike. What I have in mind is that..." I sat there with bated breath as Celestia looked into the fireplace, watching the flames flicker and dance across the logs, her gaze intent on one particular log sitting atop the pile. Celestia slowly turned back around to look between her filly and me, "...I want you to become her Godmother."
I was floored at hearing this. Princess Celestia wanted me to become the Godmother to her child. "I'm honored at your consideration, but I don't think I can be trusted with watching over your daughter." "Twilight, I know that you've fought so hard for the right to make Spike a part of your family, despite what Majesty tried to accomplish.
"It wouldn't be much to treat My Light Of Lights as a part of your own family, since you're already now accustomed to having Spike running around your home. I feel that just like how Spike taught you about responsibility, so too can she teach you so much more in life."
I sat there, looking down at the slightly dozing filly sleeping next to the Princess.
"Okay, I will become her Godmother." I reply as Celestia smiles her normal warm smile before turning back around towards the fireplace once more. "Since you have agreed to becoming a Godmother, I must notify you that there is a ritual that must be performed to solidify your bond with My Light Of Lights. It is nothing inherently dangerous, only traditional for those of my kin." Using her Magic, Celestia reaches into the fire to retrieve the topmost log and hold it in midair over the burning pile, "I've been working on this ever since I got pregnant. Within this log is a gift that I have made for My Light Of Lights. Tradition stipulates that after an Alicorn is born into our Tribe, we entrust to a relative or godparent the newborns' Vorpals. To keep within their home or in a place of ancient power until they have turned five years of age. Within this particular Log is the Vorpals of My Light Of Lights, and now that she is born, you must complete the ritual by imbuing the Log with a portion of your own Magic to help solidifying its' energization."
A book was soon levitated before me, it's cover was made of bound black leather, and was decorated with large Garnets at the edges with a larger garnet situated in the center. A thin black silken bookmark stuck out from the top and draped down the cover in an inverted V pattern. Several other bookmarks of various forms and types were also visible, ranging from simple cloth decorated with silver coins, to one with a small stone that had an inexplicable floating shard of Ruby right next to it. What I felt most of all was that the Magic radiating from the book itself felt... ancient. As though it had predated not just Equestria, but also the lost lands of Alogo. It was arguably the oldest Magic that she had ever felt and probably ever will feel. "Use the spell contained within this book to complete the sealing ritual on the Vorpals, open to the bookmarked page." I heard Celestia speak to me as my head swam with the overwhelming power before me. I nodded in acknowledgement as I opened to the bookmarked page.
Immediately, my mind was assaulted by the raw arcane power that was bound within the ink on the page. As I faded out of consciousness, I could only feel sensations around me as my mind began to wander throughout as words encircled my being, their meanings lost to my own mind as I heard them unspoken. The last thing I remrmber hearing was that activation spell Celestia had spoken when I opened to what I thought was originally a blank page.
...Kelshara...
