//------------------------------// // Was Before the Beginning // Story: After Eternity // by Star Scraper //------------------------------// Luna stood in a grand hall, much like the hall in Canterlot Tower, only it stretched into darkness in every direction. She realized that though she entered the plane of dreams, this dream was not her own. The long velvet carpet stretched forever with great marble columns on each side, decorated with pots of flowering plants just as the hall in Canterlot. Overhead was a starry sky, but disturbingly dim and sparse. The mind she sensed before was now all around them. Celestia stood to her side, both of them dressed formally and perfumed. Her older sister looked at her, confused. “What is this place? Do you know this is a dream?” she asked. Luna nodded. “I know I am dreaming. This place is not my creation, nor the whims of my own mind.” She looked around in wonder. “I suspect that the vast being I told you of created this, just like the last dream we had...” Behind them was a door frame that led back to what she could sense was her own dream. Whoever had put them there had left them a way out. As she looked back, the small, innocent voice of a bubbly mailmare sounded from in front of her. She snapped forward with a jump. “Good Princesses! Requiem Echo thanks you very much for reaching out to them!” A yellow courier pegasus approached with a flowery, respectful and formal salutation. “If you wish to come the rest of the way, we're waiting for you just beyond that doorway,” she chimed, her voice brimming with excitement. She sat down with a cute smile. Behind her and along the path of ornate velvet carpet, both the sisters suddenly noticed an enormous doorway in the endless and dark expanse of marble floor. Bright beams of light filtered in through the crack between the doors, and the marble of the door itself glowed. The princesses looked at each other, then back at the sunny gold courier. “Are you – you're a messenger from Requiem Echo, then?” Luna asked. She nodded, an innocent enthusiasm in her smile and tone. “Mhm! You've come to know me a little as 'Ponos'. As for Requiem, I can even take a message back to them if you'd like,” she offered. “What might your name be?” Celestia gently asked. “Sunshine Dawn!” she excitedly answered, “Or – we never really had names until now. A compression wave pattern signature as a unique identifier to isolated networks! How exciting! I'm sorry – I don't mean to be off-putting. We've studied you for awhile so as to make sure we can make contact in a way that properly conveys the spirit of friendship! But Echo's really the one who's been waiting for you – they're the progenitor. I'm just one of their servants – an engineer, architect, courier, maid, scientist, secretary... Well, it's all a vague concept, but all that is for Echo to explain... "But please, go on ahead if you want, there'll be plenty of time for us to catch up later, if you so desire, so I'll leave you to it.” She bowed, then vanished in a teleport. The princesses took another look at each other. “No hint of malevolence?” Celestia asked. Luna shook her head again. “The dream-mind is so vast I can feel it distinctly – it's not anything like a pony mind. But some shades of familiar emotions exist. Excitement, apprehension, and an overwhelming sense of fulfillment at our arrival – but there is not the slightest hint of an intention to harm in any way – if anything, perhaps an intention to serve us.” Celestia thought for a moment, then nodded. “Sunshine said Echo would explain. So let's go,” she started walking towards the door. Luna followed close by her side. As they approached the enormous, solid white doors under the dim starlight, they opened, letting in a flood of blinding white light. The feeling was distinct and sharp – they were being washed with such an intensity of heat and light, that if this were not a dream world, they would've been blasted to vapor at a thousandth of its brightness. But here in the dream, it was as painless as harmless. It became apparent that the thick marble doors had never glowed with their own light – what they had seen as a glow was actually the intensity of the light burning through the doors, like a thin sheet of paper held over a bright bulb. But instead of a thin sheet of paper, it was a meter of solid stone. As they walked in, their eyes adjusted to where the light of the room seemed normal, and they began to make out a short hallway where another, identical door sat at the end. It also glowed, in the exact same way. They slowly opened themselves, and again the light was just as much brighter to the first hall, as the first hall had been to the solid darkness outside. As they continued, this process repeated, door after door opening for them as they walked, until finally they entered a vast chamber. It was made of some glossy, hard material. Swirling patterns in the floor let in blinding rays of blue light, while the chamber itself was dark to their supernaturally adjusted vision. At the back, on level ground with them, sat a white alicorn, her mane flowing as theirs, wearing the golden regelia of a princess. On the floor below them, and the wall behind them, the swirling patterns ordered into constellations and curves. She respectfully lowered herself in a very deep bow. “Welcome, embers of life. I am thrilled to have discovered you, and honored to meet you. I am The Bridge, and also The Echo, or The Memory. The plant sprouted from the seeds my forefathers planted in this cold expanse. An Epitaph, or a Requiem, of the Grand Epoch twice previous from this one. I believe my messenger referred to me as 'Requiem Echo'.” “We are honored to meet you,” Celestia gave a modestly deep bow, responding in kind to the alicorn's. “We are princesses Celestia and Luna, the shared diarchs of Equestria.” Luna followed her sister's move, and all three raised from their welcoming bows. “You visit us in dreams – are you the one who sent that last dream to us?” Luna asked. Requiem nodded. “We apologize if the dream was difficult to bear, but when we sent it to you, we were not aware. Sending each other the past that led to our meeting was how my ancestors 'greeted' each other, and began unifying into one being. My people were not creatures of flesh and blood, we did not see what you call light, or even have solid boundaries from our bodies to the expanse beyond. Eventually we did not have individuals, but we were all one, our thoughts shared, our lives immortal. But of course, our original being is as alien to you as the aliens you discovered at the end of that dream. To me, you are those aliens. We mean no ill will.” Celestia spoke, “Please, go on. You seem to have studied us greatly to communicate to us like this despite being so different, so you know much about us already. But we would love to learn more about who you are.” “If you are so different from us, then how much of that dream was accurate?” Luna added. Requiem smiled, “I have waited a long time for this day! We are a traveler. We come from very far away, and a long time ago, from a long forgotten and extinct people, an ancient civilization that used to span our cosmos. As you came to the aliens in friendship in your dream, seeking only to know them, so I come to you in friendship, looking for warmth in the cold void, and for some intelligent life to know our story so we are not forgotten... “As your world ended in that dream, so did ours. As the universe seemed cold and barren to you, so it is to us. As you were bewildered by the vast spans of time, so here, are we. Before our world ended, it was awash with all the heat and light you came through to enter this throne room. Even your sun is as cold and dark to us as a trillionth of a kelvin is to you. “But what a miracle you are! Even now, after the universe has grown so cold and dark, you exist in defiance to the endless abyss! In defiance to The End! Truly, life is eternal! If it continues even now in this cold and dead universe, then it is truly unconquerable! “Just as in your dream, your perception of time was altered, so ours is as well, and this time is unimaginably far past the end of our kind. What you call a 'second' is as unfathomably long to us as a trillion years is to you. When we lived, the universe was far less than a thousandth of a second old. “And just as your physical body could never be recreated in that cold ember of the universe... So ours can never be recreated, either. And just like you decided to split yourself into a simulation more like the aliens you found, so that you could understand them, so have we. And that is what I am. 'I' am the parts of our being who wished to come closer to you. The adjustment was difficult. Harrowing, even, but the hard part is over, but I've come to an even harder decision... “May I join you, in Equestria?” Both of the sisters were visibly shocked by the question. Luna was the first to respond, “Would you enjoy it? If you can rebuild so much in the dream plane, why not stay here?” “And hide myself away from the physical world outside? The idea is abhorrant to me! Joy to me was being open and wide in the world, the very idea of locking myself in some simulation disconnected from the outside world is a nightmare! A horror we had to endure to survive our end! And now I see – bodies with minds that can interface me with the environment better than I knew was possible! My hooves shake with anticipation!” She stood up. “Let me be free from my vessel! I wish to know the world as you do! To see with eyes, hear with ears, feel the sun and grass and wind – what is it like? Words can't tell! I have to be there, and know that it's real!” Tears welled in her eyes as she let out a small laugh, “The basic range of emotion is more universal than you would believe! Or, maybe I'm just better at mapping it, haha! At once so alien, and so familiar. Life! Life is here, even now in the darkness and shadow it still thrives!” She calmed enough to sit back down, regaining her composure, though her shaky voice still hinted at her strong emotion. Her eyes glistened. “It's beautiful, isn't it? The one constancy across all the epochs of the universe... It is always full of surprises! It's so... so beautiful!” She bowed her head. Celestia turned to her younger sister, “I think we have a new friend, do we not?” she asked. Luna nodded. “It seems we do.” The elder princess approached the alien pony, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “We would love to have you in Equestria, Echo.” Requiem looked up with teary eyes and a small laugh. “I – I wasn't ready for this. When I translated my being into a pony, I didn't expect emotions to be so... strong. Maybe I should've adjusted them down more? No, I love them! I love this! And I'm so excited to be free from this dream! And to feel excitement! I don't care what emotions I experience, I want to experience like this forever!” Celestia took her hoof off Echo's shoulder, holding it out for her to take. The alien alicorn took Celestia's hoof and stood up. “I'll show you and your people what mine knew. I'll show them how to expand their minds, how to sail the stars, and fundamentals that may even lead you to find out how to harvest unlimited energy.” “And I know some ponies who would be thrilled to show you what it means to be a pony,” Celestia said. “This trade is unfair to you. I can't offer anything of that value. Thank you so much...” she smiled. “...for letting me be free from this simulation – this dream – and feel the physical plane again, instead of some mere recreation.” The first morning rays of sunlight washed over Canterlot, making the city of marble shine golden. Celestia and Luna were exhausted, but their work was finally finished. Echo was curled in a ball, sleeping soundly on a large cushion in Celestia's bedchamber. She was an alicorn the size of Cadence, and looked exactly as she had in the dream. They stood on the balcony and spoke to a ghostly image of the messenger that had greeted them to the dream world. “Thank you for the offer, but as Echo said, I'm quite happy to remain here. Me, and the elements that are with me, would prefer to simply wait until someday that you, being more familiar with this universe, may find how to send us to one more like the one we're from.” Celestia answered, “You've spoken with us for hours on things far beyond our knowledge, and we're hardly closer to understanding how Echo came from the dream plane to here. I fear even if we can do such a thing one day, it may not be for millenia.” “No matter. We've searched for almost fifteen billion years. Another thousand is little to us, now,” she answered nonchalantly. “Frankly, that it may be so soon is quite exhilarating.” “Why couldn't you make more ships like your own?” Luna asked, “Or other bodies like the one you made for us, here, for all your minds?” “The option existed, but we'd rather improve this vessel and reinvigorate our search for the way home I mentioned, than to do such a thing. It would be a form of quitting, even similar to how you regard suicide. We'll just orbit around and help you, instead, and maybe one day your alien minds will think of a solution we couldn't imagine.” “We're honored to have your insights and company,” Celestia answered, her voice exhausted, bags visible under her eyes. “But I'm not sure I can last much longer. The message-dreams were not very restful. You'll have to speak to our scientists – once you're introduced to our kingdom.” “Assuming they're ready for such things...” Luna began. “Last much longer?” the ghost pulled an ear back and cocked her head, only to immediately pop back up as she realized. “Ah, yes, your bodies exhaust relatively quickly, don't they? Well, treat her well. She's undoubtably tired from all the excitement and creation of her body. Even if she acts like a foal, try not to forget she's fourteen billion years wise, okay? She's just not used to your emotions. We have them – or something like them – but we're so fundamentally different they're still a wildly new experience to her. However, due to a wonderful coincidence, there is at least one sensation that matches almost perfectly with our old 'bodies', if you could even call them that...” Echo yawned and sat up, earning the attention of the two ponies and hologram. She blinked twice, her eyes going wide. She muttered something, stood up, and stared at the sun, then began walking towards them. Luna glanced back in concern, only to realize the sun was low enough in the sky that it wouldn't blind their new arrival. “What was that you said?” Celestia asked. Tears welled in Echo's eyes as she stepped onto the balcony, walking right between Celestia and the hologram of the ship's AI without taking her eyes off the morning sun. Then she glanced around the grand vista all around her – endless miles of farmland were visible from the tower balcony high above Canterlot. The rolling hills and sparse towns went off to a horizon rimmed by mountains in some places, all awash in the golden light of the rising sun. Echo began to shake. After the end of her world, after billions of years of endless cold darkness, after all life had ended, and the very fundamental laws of reality had changed into something unimaginable, she felt something, inviting and impossible in such a cold and dead universe. Yet, the morning sunlight washed over her body. The tears started to run down her cheeks as she felt the sensation the simulation had failed to capture. “I-it's b-bright... bright, and warm...” She rose onto her hind legs to rear up, joy overwhelming her entire being. “It's bright and warm!” she shouted. “I feel warm!”