//------------------------------// // Sixth // Story: Drops of Jupiter // by PaulAsaran //------------------------------// She sensed them long before the planet came within range of Her senses. As She zoomed closer, She also picked up the position of the celestial bodies in this particular solar system. By sheer luck, She’d arrived at a time when they were together. She dipped Her essence into the blue orb’s atmosphere, pushed through the ever-denser air, and burst through the clouds over a tall, white city on a mountain. In less than a second, Her vapors had formed as a fog about a lone balcony, where two startled figures took note. Her gases coalesced slowly, moving with greater caution this time as they tried to remember Her old, original form. Gradually, oh-so gradually, She regained Her purple hooves and wings and horn. Sucking in Her first true lungful of Equestrian air in what seemed like an eternity, She opened Her eyes to take in the alicorns watching Her from a polite distance. Strange. They seemed so much smaller a few seconds ago. The white one approached, but slowly. “Welcome home, Twilight.” Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked at the sounds being sent her way, so familiar and so strange at the same time. It took her a moment to remember how to respond the ‘normal’ way. “Celestia.” Oh, that didn’t sound right at all. Too rough, too impersonal. Funny, how limiting physical bodies could be. “I mean…” She licked her lips. Such a strange sensation. Rather novel. She did it again, just to try it out. Princess Luna moved closer as well, her motions a little more eager than her sibling’s. “Is everything alright, Twilight Sparkle?” “Hmm? Oh. Um, sorry.” Ruffling her wings and giving her body and experimental shake, Twilight smiled. “It’s kinda weird, being… me again.” “Of course.” Celestia offered the slightest nod, her calm and patient smile just as firmly in place as Twilight remembered. “We’ll be happy to help you adjust. Assuming this isn’t just a brief stop before you head back out?” Twilight hummed, then did it again, delighting in the sound. She tested a few octaves just for the pleasant sensation it brought. Oh, right, there’d been a question. “No, I’m done.” “Are you sure?” Luna’s face contorted, her brow a mess of furrows and something peculiar in her eyes. Concern, that was the word Twilight was looking for. “You weren’t gone too long. Did you at least see one or two of the sights I recommended?” “One or two?” Twilight stared at her. “I saw them all. And then some. They were wonderful.” She blinked, looking down only to realize she couldn’t see her own lips in this form. Was she frowning? “That didn’t come out right. I’m supposed to sound excited, because I am. Physical bodies are weird.” Luna’s wings went slack. “A-all of them? How? That kind of journey should have taken you a century at least. One way.” Returning her attention to Luna, Twilight asked, “It should?” A pause. “How long was I gone?” Celestia had a new smile, this one reflecting an emotion Twilight had no trouble placing: pride. “You can tell us, can you not?” “Oh. Right.” Closing her eyes, Twilight cast Her senses through the solar system. It was nothing to place the location of every planet, asteroid, and comet in the cosmic region. And with Her encyclopedic knowledge of astronomy and calendars and knowing where everything was on the day She left… “Twelve years, three months, eight days. Give or take a couple days.” Celestia hummed, then looked to her sister. “Luna?” “Perfectly accurate,” Luna replied, sounding just a little winded. “You… you really saw all of them? In just over a decade?” “Looks like she broke your speed record by a high margin,” Celestia noted with a light giggle. Oh, Twilight liked that sound! She’d have to endeavor to make it happen more. Luna pouted and glanced away. “Accursed Mary Sue…” Twilight cocked her head. That was not a technically accurate term for this situation. Did Luna not know? Maybe She should— Her thoughts were interrupted before She could act on them by Celestia stepping up beside her and placing a wing on her back. “But are you sure you’re ready to return, Twilight? Did you achieve what you wanted to achieve?” Twilight pondered this, noting that Luna’s attention was back on her and once more filled with concern. After a moment, she turned around, out from under Celestia’s wing, and stared at the city and the world beyond. The tall buildings of Canterlot, with the thousands of ponies mingling in the fading sunlight. The green hills and mountains and valleys beyond, coated in lush forest. And there, merely a speck in the distance, was little Ponyville, right where she left it. Home. It dawned upon her that in all her travels these last twelve years, for all the wonders she’d witnessed, she’d not encountered a single place that held life. Magic… Magic was amazing. Magic could do so much. And now she knew that there were other beings like Celestia and Luna out there, beings like Herself and Cadance. They showed Her such stunning displays on such grand scales. But none of them had this. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Celestia hummed. Luna remained silent. “Not just the view. Life itself. The concept of it. The idea.” Twilight felt her lips doing something. She felt them with her hoof. Smiling. She was smiling. She rather liked it. “My friends won’t come back, but… that’s okay. They lived, and that alone is a magic of its own. I think I’m just happy that they got the chance to exist, and I got the chance to witness it.” She turned back to the princesses, showing off her rediscovered ability to grin. “I want more of it. More life! More of its magic. More… more friends.” Luna and Celestia were beaming down on her. “I told you this vacation would be good for you,” Celestia declared with a hint of merry ego. “You were right.” Twilight, recalling the motions all but forgotten in her journey, approached Luna and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much for telling me how to find those places. It was exactly what I needed.” “You are most welcome, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna returned the hug, but upon separating she cast a half-serious scowl at the young princess. “But in return I expect you to show me how you achieved such ludicrous speeds. Even as a living goddess, that should be impossible.” Twilight giggled – oh, another nice sound! – and nodded. “Deal.”