The First True Alicorns

by Bronyxy

2 Coming of Age

The brave but impetuous Commander Hurricane had died heroically in a battle against the constellation beasts, ironically the same battle that had seen Private Pansy struck down by a hydra as she tried to direct a family of ducklings out from under the path of a charging Ursa Minor. The eccentric Commander Puddinghead had been found drowned in a vat of cake mix wearing nothing but rollerskates and the vain Princess Platinum had been cut off by the tide on a walk across the seashore; she could have escaped easily, but petulantly refused to leave behind her expensive robes and had been carried away by the riptide. Smart Cookie had remained a true friend, and Clover recalled their final farewell from her deathbed as they had been reminiscing and sharing tales about the stupidity and courage in equal measure that had finally got the tribes to unite.

Having now reached a venerable age, Clover still carried out as much research as he could, having realised a long time ago that the more he knew, the more there was still to learn. Aside from the Royal alicorns, he was universally regarded as the wisest pony in Equestria and had picked up responsibility for the Royal sisters’ education following Star Swirl’s disappearance. As Clover was by now a de facto member of the Royal Family, it was considered most appropriate that he preside over this most important of milestone events for the Princesses.

Ponies from all over the land came to celebrate this big event; from the remotest outposts in the Badlands to the elite from Manehattan, from the desert village of Somnambula to the non-stop playground of Las Pegasus; all were welcome, and none wanted to miss out on seeing their future rulers come of age.

Guests were introduced upon their arrival to the lavish affair by a Royal herald and each presented a gift to the two striking alicorn mares. They had both inherited their parents’ calming influence and were now fully grown, but surprisingly both still lacked cutie marks.

The sun descended sedately over the hills on the furthest horizon as the view turned from light blue through the oranges and rich reds of sunset before being overwhelmed by the purples of dusk. As the rich hues of the sky gave way to the darkness, the large chandeliers began to come into their own, reflecting a sparkling image of myriad tiny lights in the imposing floor to ceiling windows.

Dinner was a lavish affair with course after course of the most exquisitely prepared foods to suit every palate while a formal band played traditional music from the different cultures interspersed with more recent songs reflecting the unification of modern Equestria. As everypony sat back to recover from their indulgences, Clover rose from his seat at the head table and introduced the King who got to his hooves and began his address by thanking the kitchen and serving staffs for their hard work. While the speech continued, Clover went back to the head table to escort the two young Princesses from their places to a position behind the King, but from where they were still occluded from the sight of the guests.
“… And so now to the main reason we are all gathered here together this evening” announced the King proudly, “I should like to present to you for the very first time, my heirs to this fine Kingdom of Equestria!”

At this cue, the King retreated gracefully and all eyes turned to the beautiful young Princesses as they were led forward by Clover into the spotlight under the full gaze of the guests.

There were gasps from the guests as they saw how beautifully sleek the young mares were, their feathers perfectly preened and tiaras gleaming under the glittering lights of the chandeliers. Spontaneously, the guests broke out into rapturous applause; Luna looking a little shy to be receiving so much attention and taking half a hoof backward before being checked quickly by Clover. Her sister meanwhile, took to the attention more easily and smiled appreciatively at the guests’ attention.

Suddenly the King started in surprise, looking around animatedly as wisps of energy were being drawn from all the guests and converging around the two Princesses. He felt a cold shudder of trepidation ripple through him as his line of sight followed the focus of that energy to a glowing ball that surrounded his two precious daughters.

“Clover?” he asked, “Clover, old friend, what’s going on?”
Through the swirling ball of energy surrounding his oldest friend and his two daughters he could just make out that Clover’s eyes had turned the colour of moonstone and were staring straight ahead.

“Papa?” squeaked Luna who was the nearest of the three to him.
The King had faced magical beasts and armies in combat, sometimes against fearful odds, but he had never felt weaker than he did now when three of the four most precious ponies in his life were surrounded by a magic that he did not know whether was benevolent or malicious, knowing that one false move could cost all of them. He knew he had to use his alicorn magic to find out as much as he could as quickly as possible, but swore he would give his life to ensure that the last plaintive request from his daughter would not be the last word she ever spoke.

He was just about to light his horn, when to his surprise and relief found that the Queen had come to his side and leaned forward, presenting her horn. She looked up at him with a deep love and courage burning from her eyes and suddenly he felt reassured, leaned forward and touched horns as they both closed their eyes.

A stream of alicorn magic joined the unusual mix of auras that swirled around the Princesses and made it change colour from white to pink as the ball then began to deconstruct into two separate swirling strands of energy one of which was absorbed into each of the Princess’ horns.

When the energy had finally all been absorbed, a faint glow remained emanating from somewhere behind the sisters. The Queen was first to spot what had happened, “They have their cutie marks, look!”
The two scared looking young mares took this as their cue to look at each other and then at their own flanks, noticing the pulsating glow that adorned their new sun and moon cutie marks and suddenly both were so excited that they completely forgot how scared they had been just a few seconds earlier.

On seeing that the Princesses were unharmed, the guests saw the new cutie marks and all immediately suspended their concerns about the weird sensations they had just felt and joined in with wild cheering and hoof stomping as the sisters proudly paraded their latest acquisitions.

“Clover, my old friend” said the King, “I am so glad you and the Princesses are safe. What happened?”
“Your Majesty, something most unusual. There is no harm done, but a momentous decision has to be taken and must be actioned before the next full moon, which to the best of my astronomical recollection is about three days away. We do have time to enjoy the celebrations should you not want to discuss this immediately.”

“No, let us do it now. Does the Queen need to be party to the discussion?”
“She does, Sire, as ultimately so will the Princesses.”
“If we do not need them just yet, let them enjoy their fun.”
Clover nodded, and the King beckoned the Queen to follow the mysterious and respected Mage.