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

Chapter 2: To The Sky

Celestia twisted her neck to see her new wings. Even in the dim candlelight, they glimmered and sparkled.

"Oh my gosh..." She whispered to herself, "Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh!" Each time she said it, she got louder. Flapping the wings faster in joy, she began to push herself higher and higher, until she slowed and gracefully landed on the floor. She walked over to the unconscious Night.

"He'll be alright, right?" She asked Clover. Clover simply nodded.

"Coco has always been rather reckless when it comes to casting spells," She explained. Luna snickered at the name once again.

"We can't just leave him here..." Clover pondered, "I'll go get his father, you two stay here with him." Luna nodded, watching Clover leave, then looking down at the unconscious pony on the ground in front of her.

Celestia floated around the large room with her new found wings, rather clumsily at first, but that was to be expected. The room was a large dome, with supports circling the top forming pseudo-shelves. Celestia ran her fore-hooves along a section of the shelves. When she viewed it, it was gray with dust.

They need to get a few pegasi in here to clean these, she thought to herself as she continued to scan. A large lump caught her eye on another side of the shelf. She flew over to it and blew the dust off. The dust hit the wall and bounced back at her, causing her to sneeze and flip in the air.

"Are you okay, sis?" Luna was right behind her, setting her right in the air. Celestia simply looked past her.

"Look," Celestia said simply. Where she pointed, the former lump of dust, was a book.

"It's a book, sis," Luna replied lamely, "we're in a library, there's lots of them!" Luna descended to the floor.

"Why is it up here?" Celestia whispered to herself, "Why was it covered in dust?" She carefully lifted the book with her magic and looked at the cover. Elements.

"Elements? That's it? Not even a title? Not even an author?" Celestia wondered aloud. She flipped it open. Each page was covered in marks of straight lines in odd orders and combinations.

"Is this... Could it be?" Celestia said, "Runes?" Her eyes widened as the marks began to glow. The book began shaking in her hands. Surprised, Celestia let the book drop to the floor.

"Clumsy! At least give a warning!" Luna yelled, still tending to Night. Celestia descended to the floor, standing next to the book. Why would the cover be in English if everything inside is Runic? She pondered.

The doors to the room burst open, interrupting Celestia's train of thought. Into the room strolled Clover and an unnamed unicorn, whom Celestia correctly assumed was the father of Chocolate Nights.

"Ah, there he is," The unnamed unicorn muttered, "He always had trouble controlling his magic" The yellow unicorn looked up at Celestia, his mouth agape.

"Is this his doing?" He asked.

Celestia lowered her head, nodding. The yellow unicorn wandered over to her, looking her up and down.

"That's amazing!" He grinned. "I'm Comet Dust, you must be Celestia, which makes her Luna" He said, gesturing toward each pony. Celestia gave him a confused look.

"My wife was present at your birth," explained Comet, "We leaders of the pony tribes have to know almost everypony in Canterlot, it helps negotiations. Anyways, it looks like my son outdid himself this time. Granted, he knocked himself out doing it, but it's still a pretty complex spell! May I?"

Celestia turned her side to him. He reached up and felt the wing with his fore-hoof.

"They certainly are thin, though I suppose that's to be expected," He commented, "Don't try to fly too fast with them." Celestia nodded. Slight pangs of jealousy stung her as Comet turned to his son and began to walk. If my dad was proud of my magic... Celestia thought as she looked down. The book was gone. Startled, she twisted and turned, trying to think of where it could have gone.

"These are his saddlebags, no doubt," Comet said as he lifted some saddlebags onto his back. Celestia quickly turned to look. There weren't any saddlebags there! She thought with alarm. As Comet turned to pick up his son, Celestia saw the book within the folds of the saddlebags. Comet lifted his son onto his back.

"Thank you, Madame Clover," he said before he left.

Clover turned to the sisters, saying, "You two better walk, er, fly home now, Celestia, you know a light spell, right?"

Celestia nodded. The two sisters walked toward the door. Clover closed the door behind them, reminding them to stay safe.

As soon as they heard the door close, both sisters began talking. After a few interruptions from each other, Luna got the chance to speak first.

"That was so nice of him," she said, taking off into the air. "Celestia, you have wings!"

"The book," Celestia said, shakily flying up next to Luna. "How did it get into his bag!?"

"What," replied Luna. "The one you dropped?"

"Yes!" cried Celestia. "It somehow ended up in his saddlebags! He didn't even have saddlebags when we went in there!"

"I think those wings are doing something to you," said Luna. "To your head."

Celestia gave her sister a blank look, then chuckled. "Maybe..."

"C'mon, I want to show you something, y'know, now that you have wings!" Luna flapped harder and harder, driving herself into the atmosphere.

"Well," Celestia began. "If that isn't a little unoriginal! When you get a horn, I'll show you someplace too." Celestia didn't have to push herself to fly upwards, which put her at ease. Her delicate wings were the first things on her mind, and nothing could convince her to even think of doing something dangerous with them.

"Here," Luna announced, holding her position in the air.

Celestia looked around. "Where are we?" She said, floating next to Luna.

"You don't have to be anywhere to be somewhere in the air!" Luna exclaimed, doing a small flip. She landed on a cloud and sat on her haunches.

"C'mon, sit down," she implored. Celestia lightly flew over and attempted to sit down, falling right through the cloud.

"Oops," Luna giggled. "Here, I'll just-" She began to fly around, collecting little bits of cloud from where she could. After her hooves were full, she pushed them all together and put them in a seat for Celestia.

"The cloud cities are made of thicker cloud," explained Luna. "To stop them from leaking, and keep them as permanent as possible." Celestia landed, feeling the cloud sink a little, and sat down.

"I think part of the spell made me lighter, like a pegasus..." She said.

Luna looked down unto where they just came from.

"...This is my spot, sis," said Luna. "This is where I can just sit and think. Just look at the city, see the ponies walking around in the day, see the lights turn on and off in the night." She took a deep breath and sighed, looking out onto the city.

"This is amazing, Luna," admired Celestia. "The best I have is, well, my room"

"Is that why-"

"Yes," Celestia answered, already knowing the question. "That's why I hate ponies in my room... It's supposed to be my spot."

"Oh." Luna nodded sympathetically. "I see..." She looked over at Celestia. "This is how you feel when you look out your window, isn't it?"

Celestia nodded.

"I just want you to know... If you ever wanna come to my spot... y'know, whenever you have wings... You're welcome here," said Luna.

"...Thank you," responded Celestia, "and... If my room is open... You can hang out... Too."

"Thanks, sis," Luna thanked her. She took another look towards the city. The library lights went out, and Luna assumed that Clover was probably on her way out, going home for the night.

"Dad's probably worried about us," noted Luna.

"About you, maybe..." Celestia said bitterly. Luna turned and looked sternly at her sister.

"Don't say that! Dad loves the both of us. He just- He doesn't know how unicorns are supposed to be... like," Luna stumbled through her explanation. "He's been a pegasus among pegasus his whole life. He doesn't know how to act with you. He loves you, Celestia."

Celestia nodded understandingly. She stood up on the cloud and walked off, letting her wings take her into the air.

"Let's go home," she asked. Luna hopped off the cloud.

"C'mon, then!"

---

"...Wow..."

Red Dawn stood in his living room, looking at his daughter. His jaw hung slack as his eyes passed over her wings.

"So?" asked Celestia. "What do you think?"

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Red Dawn. Celestia melted with delight.

"Really?" Celestia was practically bouncing, a wide smile plastered across her face. "Can we go visit Mom?" Red Dawn's eyes grew, surprised by the question.

"Mom..." Red Dawn muttered to himself. "If I had known... I suppose I could..."

"Please?!" begged Celestia, as she put on her saddest face. "I only have them for seven days!"

"If I had some more time to get a pegasus to fill in for me..." Red Dawn explained.

"I'll do it!" Luna offered, strolling into the living room. "It'll be good practice!"

"I can't just leave you here," said Red Dawn. Luna walked in front of him.

"This is about Celestia!" She informed him, putting on her sternest face. "She's never seen our home city! She finally has the chance to! Let me cover for you!"

Red Dawn stumbled backwards at his daughter's sudden assertiveness, sitting on his haunches.

"Okay then," Red Dawn submitted. "Okay! Go pack, Celestia!" Celestia's eyes lit up as she hugged her father, then dashed up to her room. Red Dawn slowly walked to his room, leaving Luna in the living room. Luna's eyes lit up as soon as her father was out of sight. Maybe, she thought to herself. Maybe.

As fast as she could without hurting herself or her wings, Celestia swung through her room, throwing everything she thought she needed into a box in the center of the room. A few of her favorite books, a dress, a blanket. She picked up the box by its handle and brought it into the living room, eagerly waiting for her father, lost in her own thoughts. Luna sat on the couch next to her.

"I wish you could come, sister," Celestia lamented. "But thank you for doing this for me."

"Sis," Luna said, lowering her voice. "Don't worry, I want to stay here. I'm doing it for me."

"Well," Red Dawn said as he entered the room, a cart hitched up behind him. "Celestia, put your things in here. Luna, be safe, lock the door each night, close the windows, I know you know how to do my job, but if you need help, talk to Earlie Birdie, he will help you."

"Right," confirmed Luna. "I got it."

"Oh, and, if you do see Earlie Birdie, call him Earl, It'll be funny," chuckled Red Dawn. Celestia was already at the door, waiting. "Alright! I'm coming!"

Celestia waited until Red Dawn's tail had left the doorway. She leaned in, looking at Luna.

"Bye, sis!" She said, ecstatically. "Good luck!"

"See ya, sis!" Luna said back.

---

Celestia clumsily climbed into the cool overcast sky, Red Dawn following not far behind, the cart hitched up and some sort of magic prevented it from falling.

"Where's the pegasus city, anyway?" Celestia asked, curious.

"It's north," answered Red Dawn, his large body smoothly sailing through the sky. "You'll see it, trust me. It's hard not to see." Celestia twisted around in the air, flying backwards.

"What's it like?! Y'know, sleeping on clouds?" Celestia was full of questions, and she wasn't going to let her father's good mood get away from her.

"Well, your mother prefers it, and the first time we did it on a-"

"DAD!" Celestia interrupted. "Not like that kind of sleeping!"

Red Dawn chuckled as he flew higher. Soon, he and Celestia approached the top of the sky, the cloud barrier above them.

"I don't think they'll mind if we just punch a little hole here," Red Dawn commented as he created a hole in the clouds, opening them for Celestia to pass through.

"Thanks," she said, lightly placing her hooves on the top of the cloud layer after she passed. Red Dawn slid his hoof over the hole in the cloud, somehow zipping it up. He turned around, walking up to Celestia. Celestia simply stood, rooted to her spot, staring at the expanse of clouds before her.

"They're... They're like mountains!" she exclaimed, looking up at the white fluffy shapes.

"They're larger than any mountain you've ever seen, been on, or heard of," Red Dawn boasted. He lifted off, flying straight up. "We'll have lunch on top of that one!" He declared, pointing to the tip of a mountain off in the distance.

"Are you sure that's not too high?" Celestia asked. "These wings are fragile."

"Would I put my little girl's wings in danger?" Red Dawn asked rhetorically. Celestia scoffed.

"But you don't know anything about my wings, they're magic," Celestia cautioned. At the mention of the word, Red Dawn visibly recoiled.

"I know the limits of the sky, and I know that that cloud is not high enough for any kind of temperature extreme enough to set anything on fire!" he barked, making Celestia wince. He flew forward, upset by the turn of the conversation.

Dammit, Celestia. Celestia cursed herself mentally. Dad knows what he's doing. She fluttered upward, eventually keeping pace with Red Dawn.

"So..." She began, determined to set up a better mood. "When do you think we'll reach that cloud?"

"'Bout an hour," Red Dawn said gruffly. Celestia stalled in the air, her face disbelieving.

"An hour?" she asked.

"An hour," Red Dawn Clarified. "Maybe two, considering how fast you're flying."

Celestia pushed herself forward. Even pushing the magical wings to their limits, she had trouble keeping up with her father.

"Oh yeah, how fast could you get there?" Celestia asked, frustrated at her lack of speed.

Red Dawn cocked an eyebrow. "Thirty minutes. Fifteen if I push myself." He turned and looked at Celestia as he flew. "Don't worry about it, Celestia, we'll be almost there once we reach the top."

Celestia's eyes grew wider as Red Dawn turned and flew forward again.

Did he just... comfort me? She pondered, her insides feeling warm.

---

Celestia clawed her way to the tip of the cloud mountain. Red Dawn pushed her the final few feet and she slowly crawled away from the edge.

"That," she began, breathing heavily, "was the hardest thing I've ever done." Red Dawn walked past her to a flat area and unhitched the cart from his back.

"Most pegasi don't attempt to fly ten miles the day after they get their wings." Red Dawn commented. "But I'll be damned if you didn't push yourself to the top of this mountain yourself." Pride filled his voice. Celestia found the strength to trot over to the picnic site. Red Dawn had already set out a few choice foods. Celestia absentmindedly found herself casting a spell, but instantly stopped herself. Nothing was going to ruin this moment. Red Dawn sat down and tore into his sandwich. Celestia nibbled at hers, before quickly switching over to a drink.

It's the perfect time. She thought to herself.

"Dad," Celestia began, her heart beating faster in her chest. Red Dawn looked up. "Why... Why do you love Luna more than me?" Red Dawn stopped chewing and swallowed, pondering the question, painfully aware of the possible consequences of his answer.

"Celestia..." Red Dawn began, attempting to translate his emotions and thoughts into words. "I... I love the both of you to death. It's just that I grew up in a different time. What you consider normal was a complete faux pas when I was little. I saw non-pegasi, like my father, as annoying ponies, perhaps even lesser ponies. The Pegasi, in the clouds, were the top of the heap, the cream of the crop. I... I once asked my dad why we were better. He muttered some nonsense I didn't understand until later. It was pride. I suppose it was undeserved pride. And that's just how I was raised. Each race kept to themselves. Nobody had friends with the other races. Now... Now It's just so different. I was raised a pegasus, I know how to raise pegasi, I know how to raise Luna. But you, Celestia, your mother didn't even know how to name you. I never knew how to raise you. I love you so much, Celestia. We're just... just too different." Red Dawn was trying his best to hold back his tears. "And now I've failed as a father." Celestia walked over to him and threw her hooves around him.

"I don't think we're that different, dad," she said calmly.

Red Dawn smiled. "You're smarter than I am," he choked.