I settled into my throne after a quick stretch. Court was proceeding slowly, and thankfully quietly. Not to mention Twilight had offered to keep me company today, so in between the snobbiest of nobles, and whiniest of the Canterlot elite, we found ourselves enjoying delightful conversation that branched from astrophysics, to arcane science theories that would have baffled all but a few other students of mine, or some of the professors at my school.
Time had grown on in the late of the day, the nobles had thinned out and most of my time was spent briefly snacking and sipping tea, in between traded words with Twilight. “Princess Celestia, if you don’t mind my asking, just how old are you?” Twilight asked.
I blinked, shifting my gaze from the grand hall down to her, she was sat aside my throne, her wings primed and properly seated at her side, and her tiara balanced perfectly on her head.I tilted my head slightly, “Why?”
She looked up, matching my gaze. “Just curious. I’ve read stories referring to you and Princess Luna long before the pony tribes had even met, going all the way back to near the beginning of history itself,” she looked at me in that beseeching way. Like when she can't find the right book to sate her curiosity; she gets this little crease in her brow and a slight frown. "So... when were you born? Is there a record of it somewhere I've missed?"
I chuckled, “I regret to inform you that no history books date back to my and my sister’s birth, Twilight. We’ve been around far longer than the pony tribes, or the roaming zebras from the far east.” I glanced up, regarding the beams of light that shone through the stained glass windows.
“How long though?”
“Oh, a long, long time. We were each born from a great being that lumbered high above the skies themselves, long before Equus was born as we know it today.”
She seemed to regard what I said. “So… You’re saying you saw the death and rebirth of life on our planet? That you were the first new life on Equus?” I nodded, looking down a little in thought. “What was it like? Do you even remember?”
I sighed with a smile. “Do I even remember… Do I remember the endless sea of oranges and reds, that dissolved the boundaries between oneself and another? Do I remember watching our mothers collapse and crumble to dust in the span of mere days?” I sighed, leaning back in the golden throne. “Do I remember the final words they spoke to us as they died to give us a brand new world, free from the hatred and violence the last one held?”
She didn’t respond as I continued to reminisce. “Right as we were born, their combined consciousness came to us on their dying breath, and spoke to us. ‘You, white child with a heart of gold. To you, I give the great orb of power, and life, the Sun,' my mother said to me. ‘And with this gift, I name you Celestia,’” I thought to my sister, slumbering in her quarters. “And to my sister, her Mother said, ‘And you, blue child with the determination of a thousand bulls, I give the satellite of hope in the darkness, and the light of the night sky: the Moon, and the world of dreams and consciousness. And with this gift, I name you Luna.’”
“‘Together you two are to rule this world, benevolent and kind, but powerful beyond comparison to the other creature who will eventually grow in your image,’ they said.” I glanced at the ceiling, as though to stare through it. “‘Together, you children will grow and bring a world of peace and love, from the ashes of a world full of hatred and war. Together, you will usher the phoenix of life; never stopping life from beginning, and never allowing it to end if it’s within your power...'” I trailed off.
Twilight sat in silence as I sighed, closing my eyes as I tried to remember them. “But… that isn’t what the history books said.” I opened my eyes and tilted my head down to Twilight, as the gears twitched and worked around in her head against the rust of rationality. “They all say that life evolved from microorganisms after an asteroid hit near the Zebrian Isles. If they were wrong, why didn’t you correct them?”
I smiled patiently, “Because they’re not entirely wrong. While the microorganisms didn’t come from an asteroid, we all evolved from it. They came from Mothers' blood, and their lives came from the souls of the old ones.” I glanced to my own hoof, bringing it up to my gaze and contemplating it with a slow eye. “Even me and Luna. Granted, our evolutionary rate was accelerated and modified by our Mothers, but we have continued to change and evolve over the thousands upon thousands of years we’ve been alive.”
She nodded slightly, not as a sign of agreeing, but as an acknowledgement. I chuckled, breaking the short silence. “Please, Twilight, lets change to a simpler, more carefree subject.”
Twilight sighed, smiling slightly as her shoulders sagged. “That’s probably a good idea. I don’t even have anything to take notes with right now anyway.” She giggled a little, trying to make light of what was likely an actual tragedy to her.
I smiled, our conversation soon returning to other things. Smaller things. Like the Cakes being exhausted as new parents, especially with their babies first birthday coming up soon. Or about Rainbow Dash doing three Sonic Rainbooms in one day. Simple things.
«♦»
I twirled my wing in its socket, joints popping from being held stiff against my side for the last eleven hours. But the eleventh hour is over now, and the clock is striking twelve’s. Meaning… “Ah, sister.” I turned and smiled to my sister as she walked up along side me. “I heard that Princess Twilight Sparkle visited you today. Has she already left?” She said.
I nod. “Afraid so, Luna, you missed a rather interesting debate on the morals regarding trans-morphing creatures and biologically tampering with them through use of magic. Twilight had some rather good points in moral favor for both of those, surprisingly.”
Luna smiled, chuckling. “As… fascinating as that sounds, I needed my sleep for this evening. As you need your sleep for the morning ahead.” She looked me over, “Though, you’re not looking exceptionally tired this evening, perchance we can eat our meals together? Your dinner and my breakfast?”
I nodded, “I wouldn’t see a problem with that at all, Luna.” We changed course, aiming for the dining hall.
She followed, keeping in perfect stride aside me. “Any other interesting topics come up in the almost dozen hours you had with her?"
I hesitated, then nodded after a moment. “We spoke about the beginning.”
“The beginning?”
“Yes. The Beginning.”
Realization dawned on her, “Oh. Did you tell her everything?”
“Not everything.” I smiled beside myself, “But enough to sate her curiosity for now.” I pushed open the large door with my magic, letting Luna and myself slip through it before closing it.
Luna trotted around and sat off to the side of the table, as I settled into the chair next to her. “Interesting indeed. Do you think she’ll take it to heart and properly explore the idea like Starswirl? Or reject it?”
I hummed to myself. “Perhaps. She has already taken further steps than Starswirl ever did in other fields, but I wouldn’t want her to be a mere copycat of him. I want her to be somepony even better: herself.” I smiled and thanked the servant who brought our food out to us. “Then again, she worships the stallion almost as much as she does me.” I chuckled and sighed, the poor mare needed to stop treating me as a god.
“Perhaps that is who she is then? A successor to him?” I started on my dinner, slowly chewing it as I listened to Luna. “Is that how ponykind is meant to evolve I wonder… Simply reproducing until a Starswirl or a Twilight crop up, and taking bits from them to make an even better one down the road? Is that their only importance? And if so... What is the next Twilight likely to be? Beyond an alicorn even?”
I swallowed, “No. They’re so much more than that. Every mare and stallion is so unique and wonderful. Not just the exceptional ones, like Starswirl and Twilight, but the 'plain' and 'ordinary' ones too.” I took a sip of the wine that came with my dinner. “Even if Twilight and Starswirl stood out among the others, there have been so many other important ponies in history. Every one of them were just normal ponies though, not an evolutionary marvel, not some sort of thriving sub-species, but just… ordinary.”
“Ponies are ordinarily extraordinary so to say?”
I shook my head, “No. Individual beings are ordinarily extraordinary.” I took another bite. “People were extraordinary, in their own, twisted way. And so are ponies.”
«♦»
I stood, pushing my empty plate to the center of the table. “The meal was good, it felt nice to have some personal time with you this evening, Luna, we’re much too busy lately.”
She nodded. “I agree, it was enjoyable. I will see that you have pleasant dreams this evening, Celestia.” She smiled and I returned it. “Try not to dwell on things too much.”
I nodded. “Of course.” I turned and started away, “Good luck with the night, Luna. Hopefully nothing world-ending will happen.” She chuckled as I opened the door and exited into the hall, closing it behind me.
I trotted down the hall to my quarters. I wondered if Twilight spent that evening scouring the library, reading through every book for even a hint of the Mothers. It wouldn’t be beyond her for certain. But I do worry for her health sometimes, staying up studying almost every other night.
I pushed through the door, slipping in and locking it behind me. Perhaps I simply worry too much; at least she’s an alicorn now, so she isn’t in as much danger of the dangerous effects of sleep deprivation. I sighed, trotting over to my desk and opening that certain drawer. I smiled slightly, glancing through the old drawings and doodles; illustrations of my Mother I had drawn centuries ago, of her towering over the tallest mountains and clouds, her wings spanning around the planet as though to cradle it from the bad in the universe. Her lengthy long arms, and slender fingers, as I had learned they were called by the other creatures in the mirror world. And her eyes, those deep, blood red eyes that I will never, ever forget.
She smiled, even as her flesh rotted and fell from her bones within seconds, as her blood arced from her throat, past the heavens and sprayed across the moon. It took Luna decades to gather it all from the surface and hide it away, lest somepony could harness it for evil purposes. We never knew what killed, Mother, but we still fear, to this day, whatever it was will return and wipe out life as we know it.
I sighed, putting the pages back in the drawer and stepping away from it. Luna was right, dwelling on it wouldn’t help. I turned and flapped my wings, lifting me up into the air for a moment, before settling on my bed, and laying my head to sleep.
«♦»
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
—Keel