My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Origins: Celestia & Luna

Chapter 1: Butterfly Wings

Celestia lightly closed her book with her magic and looked out the window. The afternoon sun shone brightly into her room. She slowly walked to the window and pushed it open. The view to the bottom of the mountain was breathtaking, and a pony could see for miles without even trying. Celestia rested her head on the windowsill and stared out into the uncharted territory.

"Hey sis! Dinner's ready!" Luna's voice snapped Celestia out of her trance. Luna lightly floated up to eye level with Celestia.

"Why do you look so bummed?" Luna asked, seeing Celestia's head resting on the windowsill.

"I'm not bummed!" Celestia opposed, "Just... Just look out at that view"

"I see it, sis. I see it everyday," Luna replied.

"I know," Celestia stated sadly, "I don't though, I almost never get to leave Canterlot"

"Who knows? Maybe you'll find that spell you're looking for soon"

"Professor Starswirl down at the college might know something, but Dad would have my cutie mark if he knew I was practicing magic behind his back... even if it is to join you guys in the sky"

She looked down at the floor.

"I just don't understand why I had to be born a unicorn, it's so unfair!"

Luna flew into the room and landed gently on the floor, placing a hoof on her sister's back.

"Who knows? Maybe it was for the best!" She tried. Celestia scoffed.

"Yeah, maybe it was good that I forced mom and dad out of their cloud mansion to live in a rock! Maybe it was good that they constantly have to walk everywhere even though they like flying better," she ranted sarcastically. Luna moved her hoof back and forth along her sister's back, providing what comfort she could.

"It's okay, Celestia, we'll go down to the library after dinner. We'll get your wings somehow," Luna explained, hopping into the air and flying through the window.

"I'll be down soon," Celestia said as she closed her window. Luna nodded and flew downward.

---

Celestia trotted lightly down the steps into the dining room. Red Dawn, his short orange mane ruffled from recent flying, was already seated at the table, enjoying a rather large helping of hay with daisies for a side. Celestia walked past him.

"Good evening, Father," she said, lightly kissing him on the cheek.

"Watch the horn," Red Dawn warned, "Almost got my eye there"

"Sorry, Father," Celestia took her seat, "How was work?"

"These damn groundlings expect me to manage the weather almost constantly to make their plants grow," He said, failing to hide his contempt for non-pegasi.

"That's... a shame, I suppose," Celestia said, "But it leads to pretty good food, right?"

Red Dawn slowed his chewing, and swallowed, staring at Celestia.

"No, I shouldn't have to constantly manage the weather just so the plants can grow correctly. A little bit of management, sure, but they want a pegasus in the air for all hours of the day. If the plants really need such intensive treatment, they should just tell the damn unicorns to give them a spell to make them more manageable." Celestia winced at the mention of her species.

"I guess that just means we're the most important species!" Luna stated, attempting to pull Red Dawn's attention away from Celestia. It worked. Red Dawn turned toward Luna and smiled.

"I suppose you're right," He chuckled. Celestia quietly dug into her plate, feeling sorry that her species could cause her father so much trouble. She eyed the daisies on the plate in the middle of the table. Setting her horn alight, she began to lift a small portion onto her plate.

"Hey!" Red Dawn yelled, smacking Celestia's horn, and causing the levitating daisies to fall into the bowlful of hay in the center of the table, "What are you doing?!"

"I wanted some daisies," Celestia whimpered.

"No," Red Dawn said, "No magic. Not in my house"

"I'm sorry," Celestia apologized, using her hooves to scrape the daisies onto her plate.

"No magic," Red Dawn repeated slowly, pointing his hoof at Celestia. Celestia began to nibble at one of the daisies.

"So how were the clouds today?" Luna offered a distraction, "I heard that they get thicker during the summer, and they're harder to push, you know"

"You're right, Luna," Red Dawn turned to face her, "You'll make an excellent weather controller one day, maybe even weathermaster, like me!"

"I can only hope," Luna said.

---

Luna and Celestia walked down the stone Canterlot walkway. Luna would occasionally fly up at drafts and land again gracefully next to Celestia.

"That went well," Celestia said sarcastically.

"You should know by now that Dad will never accept your magic," Luna said, "You should just stick with doing it behind his back"

"I know if I just keep doing it in front of him, he'll get used to the idea," Celestia hoped. Luna jumped at a draft and landed in front of Celestia.

"No, Celestia, he won't," Luna warned, "He's always hated non-pegasi and he always will"

Celestia pushed past her.

"Well, then I guess I'll just be living a lie until I can get married and leave," Celestia said, remembering her cutie mark, the sun. "The sun is the most magical thing in the world, but I have to say that my cutie mark means that I want to touch the sky, just to please Dad. What kind of pony would be dumb enough to fly close to the sun?!"

Luna pushed open the door to the library and allowed Celestia in before letting it close. A librarian pony waved at them and whispered a quiet hello. They both walked over.

"Good Evening, Miss Clover, anything new?" Celestia asked. Clover nodded.

"We just got a bunch of books from all over, including one or two you might be interested in," Clover said, nodding, "'Magical Anatomy; A reference Guide', by Meteor Shower, and 'A Guide to Magical Body Alteration' by Flaming Comet"

"Wow, that's just what I've been needing!" Celestia said. Clover levitated the books to her, placing them on the counter in front of her.

"Remember, Celestia, if it sound too good to be true, it probably is," Clover warned, "I don't want you trying any spells on yourself without telling me first. I can tell you what is actually possible"

Celestia nodded, "I know, I wouldn't try it!"

Clover nodded, "Good girl"

Celestia took the books to a nearby table and magically flipped one of them to the first page. Luna wandered around other sections of the library, looking around and hoping something would pique her interest. The books seemed to be in no particular order, so the best she could do was read the titles. One book suddenly caught her attention; "Simplification of Complex Magical Spells."

Luna looked at it, pondering whether she should take it or not. Suddenly, a pale green glow formed over the book. Luna's eyes widened as she realized a unicorn was grabbing it. As it slid slowly from its shelf, Luna jumped at and grabbed it.

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know that was the book you wanted!" A voice said as the magic around the book disappeared and Luna fell to the floor.

Luna stood up and shook her light blue mane, "I'm sorry, I should have grabbed it sooner," Luna looked up at the brown unicorn's orange eyes.

"Say, what's a pegasus doing with a book on magic anyway?" The colt asked, "I've heard of non-magical ponies studying magic, though I'm not sure why... Do you study magic?"

"No," Luna declined, "My sister is trying to learn it"

"Your sister is... a pegasus?"

"No, no, she's a unicorn"

"A pegasus and unicorn are... sisters?"

"Yes!" Luna said brightly, "I know it's a little weird, but it's true"

"No! No, it's not weird, I just- I- You know, it's... not weird, just kinda, er, rare," The colt stumbled over his words.

"I'm Luna," Luna introduced herself, offering a hoof in friendship.

"My name's Chocolate Nights, but Night is generally what I go by," Night took Luna's hoof and lifted it to his lips, planting a light kiss on it. Luna blushed.

"A pleasure to meet you, Luna," He said.

"You must be from uptown," She commented. He nodded.

"I'm the son of Princess Platinum!" He said, rather cocky.

"I'm Commander Hurricane's daughter," Luna said, rather shyly. Night's eyes grew wide.

"I heard- From my mother- You two- So you're..." Night said, speaking too quickly for his mind to process what needed to be said.

"Yes, that's us," Luna said, saving Night the trouble of thinking clearly.

"Why does your sister need this book?" He asked, levitating the grounded book to eye level.

"Well, the spells she wants to perform are... very hard, to say the least," Luna explained, "Simplifying them will help her to cast them, although, I honestly have no idea what it's like to cast a spell, I just look around for books that look helpful."

"What kind of spells is she looking to cast?" inquired Night.

"Well..." Luna danced around the subject, avoiding eye contact with Night, "It's kinda-"

"Luna!" Celestia rounded the corner to the aisle, walking toward the two, "Did you find anything?"

"This!" Night piped up, levitating the book toward Celestia. Celestia cocked an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked dryly, taking the book with her own magic, "How did you know I needed this?"

"Well, I- You see, I was-"

"I was going to get it, but then he took it, and I jumped for it, and, well... Celestia, meet Chocolate Nights," Luna introduced him.

"A pleasure," Night said, bowing.

"Right, well, thank you," Celestia said, backing up.

"I'm sorry, my sister is-" Luna began to explain.

"Luna!" Celestia interrupted.

"Well-" Luna began again.

"Luna, no!" Celestia demanded.

"I apologize for my sister's bad manners!" Luna said quickly.

Celestia harrumphed and turned around, going back the way she came.

"She doesn't like new ponies much," Luna whispered after Celestia was out of earshot. She began scanning the bookshelves again, moving past Night.

"What are we looking for?" he inquired, hastily putting together what clues he could to figure out what Celestia needed.

"I don't know if I should tell you," said Luna, sighing, "She wants, well-"

"What?" asked Night, "It can't possibly be that bad!"

"She wants wings," Luna finished.

"Is that all?" Night asked, not sure why it was so embarrassing. Everypony wanted to try life as another species at least once. He began heading the way he saw Celestia come. Luna quickly flew up and landed in front of him.

"NO!" she quietly scolded, "you can't let her know I told you!" She put her hoof on Night's chest threateningly.

"She won't know," Night said, brushing her hoof off as he attempted to move around her. Luna flapped open her wings to block him. He looked her in the eyes.

"I can do it," said Night, "Trust me, I know we just met, but if she wants wings, I can do it!"

"If you can," Luna began, lowering her wings, "But don't let her know I told you"

"I won't," He promised, moving around Luna. He moved into the large reading area and looked around for Celestia. Seeing her, he moved over to her table.

"Please don't just go and talk to her," Luna pleaded silently to her self.

Night stood silently behind Celestia, thinking quickly what he should say. He glanced over the three books she had laid out on the table, each open to a certain page. Rehearsing to himself, he slowly put his head above Celestia's shoulder.

"Looks like you're into some pretty intense spells there," He said confidently. Celestia, surprised at the sudden voice, scrambled and quickly stood up and turned around to face him.

"Do you usually read over other ponies' shoulders?!" She demanded.

"I was just passing by and saw what you were reading. Looks like you wanted to give yourself wings," He tried.

"I- Wha-" Celestia stuttered.

"Your magical body alteration book is opened to a section about extra appendages, your anatomy book is opened to the details of a pegasus wing, and clearly you were looking for some way to make the spell easier to cast. Anypony who saw could tell," He fibbed.

"You just- You-" Celestia began, incensed.

"I can do it," Night said simply. Celestia, taken aback, leaned away from him.

"No thanks!" Celestia rejected, "I want to do it on my own!" Night trotted around the table and sat on the opposite side.

"Trust me, you could never simplify a spell enough to cast it on yourself without losing all your energy. You need that energy to use the wings it gives you!" he explained, "I can give you the wings, maybe not permanently, but at least for a little while"

Celestia looked away. Maybe... Maybe this was her chance.

"Okay... But first we have to check with miss Clover," Celestia said.

"Fine by me," Night said coolly, waving Luna over. The trio walked to the front desk, where Clover the Clever was organizing returned books. Celestia cleared her throat, catching Clover's attention.

"One moment, Celestia," She said, swapping a few more books, "There! One of these days I'll get an assistant who can do that for me"

"Madame Clover," began Night, "I think I know how to give Celestia wings!"

"Really?" Clover the Clever answered skeptically, "And how's that?"

"Well, it's a rather long winded explanation," answered Night, "Could we go into the spell room and show you there?"

---

The spell room was rather dark, lit only by a few candles in certain corners of the room. Since there were only three ponies in the room, though, the few lit candles were all they needed.

"Now, explain your theory, Coco," Clover demanded. Luna giggled. Night blushed at the use of his old nickname.

"Yeah, go ahead, Coco!" Luna teased.

"Well, appendage adding spells tend to get more complicated and last for shorter time if the appendage being added is complicated, right?" Night explained, "Pegasus wings are pretty complex, right, bones, ligaments, nerves, and the works. Not to mention the fact that it's quite painful to attach real nerves to magical ones. You know what isn't complicated? Butterfly wings! They're simple, easy to cast, and the pain after the spell wears off is minimal."

"I don't think that's quite what Celestia was aiming for, Coco," Clover sighed.

"Hear me out, now," pleaded Night, "Celestia will require a little practice flying before she can get full use of pegasus wings. If we gave her pegasus wings right now, the pain of them wearing off and the effort of the caster wouldn't be worth the time she got with them. Plus, the time she's using them will give us time to find a magical energy source capable of giving her pegasus wings for an extended time."

"Such wings would be extremely fragile, and flammable," Clover said, "She couldn't fly too close to the sun"

"Celestia, you cannot fly too high with these wings," Night said, "You understand that, right?" Celestia looked down and pondered what opportunity she was being given.

"Can I still visit my mother and father's city? The cloud city?" she asked. Night thought about it.

"Well, I wouldn't risk going much higher, but more than likely, you will be able to visit," he offered. Tears formed in Celestia's eyes.

"THANK YOU!" she yelled, hugging Night. Night returned the hug.

"If I expended all my magical energy, you should be able to keep the wings for about a week," He offered his final remark before setting his horn alight.

"Be careful now," Clover quietly cautioned.

A small sliver of blue excreted from the tip of his horn, moving toward Celestia. Celestia embraced the odd feeling as the blue ribbon wrapped around her, spinning faster and faster until she couldn't see anything anymore. Just a big blue blur, everywhere she looked. Magical isolation, she thought to herself, to prevent accidental interference from other magical sources. She quickly cleared her mind and thought only of what she was feeling at the time. Her back felt icy cold and fiery hot at the same time. Her skin felt stretched. The blue ribbon spun faster and faster around her as she felt the magical energy poking and prodding her from every angle. For a moment, she fell between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Night felt the last of his energy go into the vortex. In weakness, he stumbled a bit before losing his balance. Luna quickly supported him and let him slowly slump to the floor, drifting asleep. The blue ribbon vortex unraveled itself from around Celestia, and as the last of it disappeared, Celestia, wings flapping, floated in the middle of the room.

"Wow," Celestia muttered in awe as she realized her hooves weren't on the ground. Night cracked open one eye and, upon seeing Celestia, managed to raise his head.

"Did it work?" He asked, before letting his head hit the floor again.