The water was warm. For a few moments after she drank it, nothing happened. The world was the same. She was the same. Celestia blanketed her in her the familiar comfort of her wings and she leaned against her. "Celestia?"
Celestia laid her chin on her head.
That's when the universe unfolded like a flower. Everything shimmered and the world was suffused with light. The ground and sky vanished, no that wasn't right, the ground and sky revealed themselves as they truly were, Mother Earth and Father Sky, and the trees and river that were her brothers and sisters.
Oneness. In an instant, she was one with them all. Magic spiraled out from her horn, her chakras opened one by one, from the root at the end of her spine, coursed through her all the way to her horn and then she was there, there at the beginning of all things when Rhiannon descended from a golden cloud and gifted her race with magic.
Then she saw what magic truly was, the flow of the river of the spirit that traveled in channels throughout the cosmos and those same channels flowed throughout her very soul-self and the soul-self of all things.
And then she heard the voice of the Moochik singing Dream Valley into being and she saw another incarnation of herself and the mare whom she had loved, their first kiss, frolicking in valleys bathed by the moon and she saw the cataclysms that brought that age to an end.
Alone. For thousands of ages, countless eons, her soul wandered seeking anew that one whom she had loved all those ages ago.
She had been twisted along the way, corrupted by evil. Her obsidian armor glinted in the heat of the Saddle Arabian sun, behind her an army clad in darkness.
The Empress of Saddle Arabia-the Arabian bowed to the Sun and to her alone.
Her soul shuddered with memories of the one she had been, the things she had done. Before her had been Celestia-enemy, lover, mother, friend, daughter, sister-the lifetimes flashed before her in confusing array, the strange shapes that had borne her ego throughout the rolling ages.
The spear borne by Celestia pierced her heart and killed, liberated her.
Then, as if her mind was protecting her, a veil fell behind her and the memories of those other lifetimes. Fire burned within her and she shivered as her mortality sloughed off, like a cocoon falling away from a butterfly. Her mind expanded and her body struggled to keep up with it, the synapses in her brain unable to keep up with the rapid influx of information as the universe itself began to speak to her, laid bare its secrets.
Spinning galaxies, newborn nebulae and stars that had burned out long before her species had crawled out of the primordial ooze flashed before her. Past, present and future intertwined and then she surrendered, overcome by the torrent of the eternal, ageless flow of the ages, of the Cosmos that had always been, the Cosmos of which she had always been one with though she had never realized how deeply her own essence was already united with the Soul of the All.
Cosmic fire flooded her senses, her biology rewritten as the Divine within her blossomed and her soul contemplated the totality of existence. Evolution itself beat within the rhythm of her soul and ancestral forms met with the potentiality of her biological self.
The strength of the Earth Pony, bred into the race from the endless combat with now extinct predators strengthened her muscles, rewrote her DNA to allow muscles that could rip down trees, but were gentle enough to cradle a foal. Strong but lithe. A longing for the good earth, for the rich, dark soil, to till the fertile fields. Life, life, joyful and abundant! The spirits of the plants spoke to her, knew her as their caretaker. The bones of her progenitors called to her.
Her Unicorn magic, the inheritance of her tribe, empowered her, it was the light of the sun and moon and all the stars. The secrets of magic were laid bare to her, the equations underwriting the programming of the Universe which the Creator had used to order the stars and arrange the planets upon their axes. She understood it all suddenly as she understood the way to breathe. She was magic, magic itself, the wild force that created and destroyed and bound all things.
Her bones hollowed, a network of tendons and muscles and feathers erupting from her sides and she felt giddy. Free. Light and airy as if she wished to travel the wide world, to never again be still. The sky called to her. Currents of air buoyed beneath her wings and a laugh bubbled up from her core. Giddiness, she felt pure giddiness as if she were there at the Morning of the World when the Pegasus rose high above the predators that stalked the less fortunate tribes.
And then she saw the future, what her species could one day become, what evolution had been pushing them towards. She saw her very own self, strong and powerful, brimming with ethereal might, wings flared out to carry her through the land and protect the weak. Her power spilled over and flowed into her mane, a mist of ever flowing purple.
She saw that potential, the potential which really laid in the heart of every Pony, what the soul of every Pony would one day flower into even as the caterpillar became the butterfly and the acorn became the towering oak. Her soul had been upon this path since the Creator had sang her into being.
Her consciousness expanded throughout all the worlds, saw every potentiality as if she were gazing upon a multifaceted jewel. She saw all her selves, all the ones she had been, all the ones she could have been. She saw a path where alicornhood came from completing a spell, where it had come from desperation, in order to save Equestria, where it had never come at all.
For a second she saw how she could have died, the flare could have killed her as a filly, or Nightmare Moon could have or Sombra or Tirek or Grogar.
The potentialities were endless. Worlds where she was a poet, an explorer, worlds where she put her intellect towards seeking those who had committed evil, worlds where she had been corrupted. Too many of those. Tears streamed down her face at sins she had never committed, a sharp pang of loss at friends she had never known, lovers she had never kissed.
She understood in a flash of insight the network of causes and effects, the flow of time, both forward and backwards, running off in infinite channels of potentialities. Her horn flared and she laughed in freedom as she let the control she had so tightly held onto let go. Waves of magic flashed in every direction and she saw in her mind the blueprint to create a new world-if not a new universe.
For a moment, she understood the mind of the Creator. She gazed upon Her, dwelling in perfect splendor at the heart of the Multiverse and she saw the thread of her own existence woven into the multiverse, saw her own existence threaded throughout the ten-trillion worlds, all of them existing within the Creator's mind, she was but a thought in the mind of the Creator and in that thought was her selfsame existence-
She longed to dwell here forever, to never return to embodied existence. Why had she chosen to leave this place? For she knew she was an Eternal Thought that had once dwelt here in perfect joy. What had she lacked? Why had she chosen the descent of incarnation, she who was Magic?
Recollections more ancient than the first of her embodied existences returned to her. There had been something lacking, one who had lived alongside her, but had left her. One who had been Fire and Warmth, with whom she had been joined in the bliss of Union.
She had left the glories of Heaven behind her, the One Who Was Fire to guide the evolution of a remarkable species of Equines.
And Magic would follow. For love called her and what was Heaven's glories without the one she loved?
And now, she stood again at the threshold of paradise. The choice was again before her.
All the joys of incarnation or celestial ecstasy?
How easy it would be to shed the clothes of flesh, to reclaim her true Spirit form?
Her friends? Their souls would come here. As would her family. As would Love, the one her mortal self knew as Cadence. She could wander forever the endless multiverse, learn and study mysteries her mortal mind could not even begin to fathom.
The fire of the Creator drew her ever closer. She closed her eyes, let her body be washed by ethereal strands. Love and wholeness she had never known called to her and why had she left this wonderful place?
No limitations. She could conceive of time on the level of cosmic measurements. One-million years was but a moment in the ocean of time and she was older than every ocean on every world.
She was ageless, she was Magic Itself, the force that bound every atom in the Multiverse.
She had left this place and had there been a reason even if she couldn't remember it. There must have been a reason that she had dwelt as a mortal for four ages-from the Young Age when Megan and her Companions had wandered Dream Valley to now, the time of the Restored Diarchy. At the end of each life, she could have reclaimed this state.
Why hadn't she?
She whirled around at the approach of Fire and Warmth. Celestia stood before her as she had been in the Distant Time. Wings of flame swirled out from a blindingly white coat and her mane and tail were streams of cosmic fire.
Celestia stood, the soul of the Sun, not just its shepherd.
"I will not stop you." She shook her head. "I love you too much."
"You must have seen this potentiality." Twilight approached her, floating through the aether. "I know you won't stop me. Like you said, you respect choice."
"Every sentient being has that right." She wouldn't meet Twilight's gaze. "Even if that means the right to walk through those gates."
"And leave you alone."
Celestia didn't respond for a while. "Yes. I'm not going to beg you to stay."
"Have you been incarnate so long you don't remember I can read your mind?" She reached out a hoof, pressed it to Celestia's face. "Come with me."
"Perhaps you are the one who has been mortal for far too long." She wrapped her foreleg around Twilight's. The expanse of the space between worlds, a greenish-blue mist, surrounded them. Sparks of light floated, souls yet to be born. Twilight looked and saw scenes from the present life she was living. Redeeming Luna with the power of the Elements. Later offering Luna friendship that Nightmare Night. Helping Applejack. Her breakdown over a late report. Small moments with her friends.
Celestia nuzzled her and Twilight responded in kind. A heart song burst from her lips.
You've come such a long, long way
and I've loved you since that very first day.
I've seen how you would grow,
I've seen the amazing things you do,
and all the ways you've made me fall in love with you.
Now a new change has come,
a choice before you,
I hope you stay,
but I'll say goodbye
so you can go where you will go,
see where you will go
For it's time now
to fulfill your destiny.
Twilight drew close to her and a heart song of her own came from the depths of her soul.
You've been here for me for such a long, long time
and I've loved you since that first day.
You've seen me grow and the things I might do,
now I ask of you,
will you join me?
So we can see what we might see,
go where we might go,
together forever,
fulfilling our destiny?
Celestia drew away. "You know that I can not."
"Equestria can survive without you."
"There are still things that need to be done. It'll be many generations before my mission is complete."
The words reopened old scars. "You didn't have to accept that mission." She added in a quieter voice, "Why did you? Why did you...leave me?"
"You know why. Equestria stands at the center of the multiverse. If it was lost to darkness...the light of all worlds would be extinguished. You could have come."
"I did come. I followed you."
"Indeed. And I know how painful it was." She ran her hoof through the strands of Twilight's mane."To limit yourself."
"It was easier for you, you're good at ordering and limiting things."
"That's why the Creator did not give the mission to you."
Twilight pawed at a ground that did not exist. "It was painful for my soul to enter into flesh. I am limitless."
"And I am the Sun, which orders all things."
Twilight chanced a smile. "One day, perhaps, the mortals will learn to order things for themselves."
"They already are. In a few centuries, they will take to other lands."
She stepped closer to Celestia. "And will you guide them to other lands?"
"They will no longer need me then. I will hand over power and...in truth, I do not know what will come after that."
Twilight looked into Celestia's eyes, realized they were the same height in this form of herself that was the evolutionary completion of her mortal avatar's race. It was strange to not have to look up at her. If she so wanted, she could press her lips to hers, they could let a millennium pass between them in the starry ecstasies that Gods could bestow upon one another.
Celestia's fiery wings were warm against her withers, each feather a wisp of flame. "I promised myself I would not try to persuade you. But please, we have found each other again after so long. Please stay with me."
Even now, the humming of the cosmic currents were calling to her to return to the Totality, to bathe her mind forever in knowledge. But, there was also Celestia, begging her to stay.
If only she could retreat in contemplation, weigh the pros and cons, examine in detail each potentiality and the intersecting rivers of casualty that each choice led to. How long would it take? One-million years? Perhaps less. Not longer.
In Heaven, she had been the Creator's Thought, her destiny to eternally contemplate. So, she had stayed and contemplated all things. Why hadn't she been happy?
For it was in her nature-in the nature of all sapient things-to share. She had longed to share her knowledge or find one to share it with.
Then, she had found one to share her contemplations with and they had walked together in Paradise, deep in fellowship more pleasant than any mortal flesh could give-not that she knew of the joys of the flesh in that as yet pre-incarnate state.
If she returned to Paradise, she would be yet again alone with her contemplations.
"I wish to share with you my thoughts. I wish to work with you in guiding the Pony's evolution."
Celestia's smile was the dawn after the darkest night. "There is yet more work to be done, my companion from of old."
They interlocked their forelegs, dancing to the music of the spheres. Twilight crossed her horn with Celestia's. "When my avatar approached you, you rejected her at first...rejected me at first. Why?"
Their bodies swayed to the rhythm as they danced throughout the universe. Dancing beyond the space between worlds, they waltzed around spiraling galaxies and pulsing quasars that beat like a heart. Radiant colors streamed from the light of the stars in every shade of the rainbow.
Celestia kissed her forehead. "I was afraid, Beloved. I had lost so many...I was unwilling to open my heart."
"Afraid of losing me." She avoided Celestia's gaze. "And here I was about to leave you."
Celestia put her hoof beneath her chin and lifted her head. "Do not apologize for that. The one thing that has always attracted me to you is your curiosity about the universe. I understand that you would want to explore all the worlds and that's not something you could do as a mortal. I never wanted a beautiful bird I could put in a cage."
Their dancing brought them to a field of stars, each star an impossibly large ball of pure light hanging in the darkness of the void. The constant explosions at the heart of the stars made them shimmer and cast warmth over the pair.
"One day, after you complete this mission on Equus, will we wander together this wide Cosmos?"
Celestia's answer was a kiss. "Of course. I'll look forward to it."
Light shattered in the void, scattered all around them as they continued their dance, not speaking any more, moving to that place beyond the necessity of words where things between them could simply be understood. They wrapped their necks around each other, nuzzled each other's cheeks. The energy that composed this semi-physical form crackled and Twilight couldn't help but think of the level of intimacy they'd once had when their souls had melded together.
She suddenly longed to meld with her. Celestia felt her desire and leaned forward to caress Twilight's lips with her own. They ran their horns together and let the current of their magic flow into each other.
"Shall we go home, Beloved?"
For a single second Twilight thought she meant the Celestial Gardens, where they had wandered in Paradise. But that was not home anymore. Memories of her friends and her family flooded her. Her mother helping her to walk, her father's embrace, riding her big brother's back. Standing with her friends against so many evils, the Deep Magic of the Elements, Pinkie's parties and Dash's flying tricks, Rarity's inspiring passion and Fluttershy's kindness.
Her avatar reawakened inside of her and she re-oriented herself. She stroked Celestia's cheek. "Let's go home."
...
The world returned to how it had been, the vision passing. She stumbled slightly and Celestia steadied her. Strange, disjointed images flooded her mind. Her body felt different. Stronger. She pranced away from Celestia and was assaulted by a cacophony of voices. It only took a few seconds before she began to understand what they were saying.
The trees were speaking to her. The grasses, the flowers. Seedlings deep beneath the earth whispering. The gnarled almond trees, planted probably at the dawn of creation, greeted her in their gravelly tones. She was their guardian, their caretaker. She was Earth Pony.
Her muscular system had changed. Vaguely, slowly, her wings entered her awareness. They flared out at the barest hint of her command. She stared at them, flapped them. Each feather in her wing astonished her. The airs circled all around her, a constant circulation of currents riding beneath her wing.
Laughter bubbled up from deep inside her, but she didn't laugh. It was just a general sense of buoyancy.
Celestia touched her wing. "The Pegasus spirit is wild. Uninhibited. Civilized Pegasi teach their children to control their impulses so they don't throw themselves off a cloud before they can really fly."
Twilight smirked. "Wonder where Dash's parents went wrong?"
Celestia choked back a laugh. "In truth, Pegasi impulses are quite strong. Fluttershy's spooking impulse, for example, is perhaps too highly developed."
Twilight gave her wings a few more flaps. "Dash can teach me to fly. Fluttershy too, but Dash will enjoy it more."
Celestia spread her own wings. "As would I."
Twilight blushed. "Oh! I didn't mean to leave you out! Of course, I can take flying lessons from you!" Suddenly, she felt the urge to prance and obeyed it, prancing in circles around her mentor. Then, she lept into the air. "It'll be just like old times!"
Celestia caught her just as she tumbled and Twilight made no attempt to leave her hold. "So, this means I'm a Princess now."
"Only if you wish to be."
Twilight stepped out from Celestia. "One one hoof, I can help so many Ponies. I already have ideas."
Celestia pressed a hoof to her lips. "Helping others? In government? Unthinkable. I assure you, they will try to break you. They will slander you. They will go after your family. Earl Grey and Earl Shimmer were extreme examples, but many politicians are parasites who want to live off the treasury."
"Are you really so cynical?"
"Yes." She sighed. "Then, somepony like you comes along and renews my hope. We can talk about your ideas later-in fact, I believe you've shared some with me already."
A frown marred her features. "But I don't want anypony to treat me different. I only want to use my new powers to better the lives of others-I...I don't want to rule over anyone."
"I never set out to be worshiped. Never blessed a single priest or commissioned a single temple-if you do it right, you won't need to. They will come to love you even as they love me. Love and your love will fill this land and lead us into a new era." Then, she bowed. "Princess."
Twilight's face was crimson and she ushered Celestia to rise. "I'll have to get used to that, won't I?"
"Yep. I will be with you on this new journey, every step of the way."
They leaned into each other. "Wonder what my friends will think?"
"Let's go into town and find out."
Hoof-in-hoof, they left the grove and headed back towards town.