"Okay, this could be a problem," Cosmos said as she looked at her three companions with a worried look.
She, Amber, Crystal, and Twilight stood outside the Golden Oaks Library. The welcome party had finally ended some time ago now. Sunset had gone back to Canterlot with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She planned to stay with her parents if she could.
Twilight herself was still trying to take in all Ponyville had to offer. Many ponies had given her odd looks on the way. Not that she could blame them seeing as how she looked so much like Cosmos.
The only major difference that seemed to stick out for some was that she lacked, as Crystal called it, a cutie mark. When she'd asked what that was, Amber had pointed at the symbol on her flank, saying that it represented a pony's destiny.
That didn't make any sense to Twilight. But who was she to judge how this world worked?
But now that she saw that Cosmos lived in an actual library, she just about broke into a happy dance right then and there. But she kept her composer for the moment.
"And how's that?" Crystal asked.
Cosmos gestured to the whole group. "The girls are staying with their local selves, Celestial and Diamond are staying together, Emerald has her new cloud house, and Water Lilly and Orchid also have their own home now."
"And Ivy, Ocean and Moon Petal are looking into getting their own home together," Amber added. "So what about us?"
Cosmos sighed. "There's not enough room for all of us. The Guest Room was built for only one pony." She smiled. "But I think it can handle two fillies."
Crystal and Amber shared a grin while Twilight poked the ground with a hoof. "And with Spike sharing the loft..." She sighed. "I mean, I can stay at a hotel."
Cosmos shook her head. "Twilight. No friend of mine will ever need to use a hotel if I can help it. We'll think of something."
Twilight didn't look totally convinced at that as Cosmos pushed open the door. Her earlier thoughts were pushed aside as she got a glimpse of all that was inside. Her smile would've made Pinkie Pie proud.
"So. Many. Books!" She squealed excitedly as she ran over to the nearest shelf and took in all the titles available. Some were novels, while others were the size of a dictionary, and even bigger than that in some cases.
Unknown to Twilight, her tail began to wag and back and forth as she looked at the veritable treasure trove of literary knowledge. "I don't even know where to start!"
Cosmos and Crystal chuckled while Amber looked worried. "Should we stop her before she reads something she's not ready for?" She asked.
Cosmos nodded while snickering. "We should. But this too cute to stop now."
Twilight paid them no mind, so focused on the books before her as she was. One, in particular, caught her attention.
"Warm Hearts will Prevail Spells and Transmutations of the Post-Warming Era." She read aloud, the word 'Era' in the title catching her attention. "No doubt indicating a major point in this world's history." She mused aloud.
Cosmos chuckled as she walked over to her. "Easy there Twilight. You're jumping right into magical theory, and highly advanced theory at that." She smirked. "Maybe we should start with the basics first?"
Twilight smiled sheepishly as she retracted her hoof from the book. "Oh. Right. Good idea."
Cosmos just smiled as she reached out and pulled out something more within Twilight's level before floating it over to her. "You might want to start with this."
Twilight caught it with a hoof. For only being a pony for only a few hours now, motor control in her new body was coming along rather well. Her good mood lasted until she read the title of the book.
"A Unicorn Foal's Guide to Magic." She read aloud aghast before giving Cosmos a deadpan glare. "Seriously?"
Cosmos was unapologetic. "Yes, seriously. Twilight you've never used magic before in your life. Most unicorns, or alicorns in your case, have been using it for years now and it's second nature to them."
Twilight wanted to argue, but the retort died in her throat when she realized she was right. What did she know of magic? She remembered all too well what had happened when she jumped into it headfirst without thinking. She sighed. "Fine. So how is this supposed to help me?"
"It will help you learn to feel the leylines of the world and the mana pathways of your body. As much as I'd like to help, only you can feel them in a way that will enable you to use magic." Cosmos replied.
She pointed at Twilight's horn. "Right now if you tried to use your magic nothing would happen. Yours at the moment is nothing but a protrusion good for poking things and not much else."
Twilight frowned. "Is that normal?"
Cosmos nodded. "It is. Unicorns develop their magic at different rates and in different ways. That book will help you. But only you will find a way to use your magic. And it will be unique to you alone."
Twilight nodded. "And then what?"
Cosmos grinned. "When it happens, and you will know when it does, you'll have taken your first step on a journey that never ends for magic is not constant but always changing in some way. Not all know this, nor could they."
"Except you," Crystal added.
Cosmos chuckled. "Except me. But then, I don't follow any laws mortals attempt to impose on forces of reality." She smirked. "In fact, I usually say 'Buck you!' to those laws."
Twilight scratched her chin. "So what does that mean? Doesn't that make you, I don't know, a god?"
She shrugged. "That is a short view of it, but yes. But I am so much more than that. But I couldn't explain it in any way that would make sense to you."
Amber nodded. "And she's tried, and we still didn't get it."
Twilight wished she had a pen and paper to take this all down. This was far more than she thought she'd get from her host. Something though stuck out for her. "Okay. I get unicorn magic. But what about these?" She asked, pointing at her own wings.
Cosmos smiled sheepishly. "That's something you'll have to ask Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy about. I'm not an expert on them."
Now Twilight was lost. "But don't you have them too?" She asked, pointing at Cosmos's own wings.
Cosmos sighed as she unfurled all her wings, watching Twilight's jaw drop in shock. "I have six Twilight. Pegasi and alicorns only have two."
"How the hay are you going to make that work?" Crystal asked.
She shrugged. "I have no idea. I mean, this is what I wanted to look like when I came back, but I didn't think of how I would use them."
Amber smiled up at her. "Look on the bright side. You've got all the time in the universe to figure it out."
Cosmos smiled. "Good point."
Twilight gave them all a confused look. "What do you mean?"
Cosmos gestured at Crystal and Amber. "We can never die. In all sense of the word. Even when this universe finally ends we will not."
"How does that work?" Twilight asked, trying to wrap her head around the idea. It wasn't working.
Cosmos smirked. "Easy. In the grand scheme of the multiverse, I stand at the very top. All of reality is at my command. Anything you can think of I can do, and so much more besides."
"So what happens when it does end to you then?" Twilight asked.
Cosmos's smile dropped slightly. "There is a place that exists outside of all reality where every Exarch I have ever had goes to live until the end of time. What happens when that time comes I don't know."
Twilight nodded. "And you?"
"This small part of me rejoins my whole. Occasionally I return and spend time with a set of girls among the countless that have stood with me over the ages." Cosmos replied.
"Doesn't that get lonely?" Crystal asked.
Cosmos chuckled. "Not when I'm so busy with the running of the multiverse it doesn't. Or at least most of the time."
Twilight had to admit, as fascinating as all this was, she didn't understand a lot of it. To top it off, she didn't even have something to keep notes with and ask them later about it. There was one thing though that was bugging her that could be answered now.
As much as she loved Golden Oaks, it seemed far too small for Cosmos to live in, especially her and ten ponies, plus Spike planned to live together if she had heard right.
"How do you plan to live here?" She asked. "I love libraries as much as the next pony, but this seems a bit, I don't know..."
"Undeserving?" Cosmos added, guessing where Twilight was going with this.
"Yes. I mean, you're a literal goddess. Shouldn't you be living in a celestial palace or something?" Twilight asked.
Amber rolled her eyes. "We should. But our last one got blown up."
Twilight was aghast. "Who would do that?"
"A bunch of idiots a long time dead. Lucky for us no one now has the stuff to do it again. I hope." Amber added.
"And castles are so last millennium," Cosmos added. "I'm thinking of something different this time." She clapped her hooves in excitement. "Plus I've been wanting to try this out for a while now."
"What's that?" Crystal asked.
Cosmos only smirked. "Well that would be spoilers now wouldn't it?" The smirk dropped as her horn ignited. "But first." An armor panel opened and out floated a certain looking stone.
Twilight blinked. "Isn't that the Memory Stone?"
Cosmos nodded. "The same. I haven't had a chance to put it somewhere safe. I really need to bring this up to Celestia and Luna. What else they haven't told us about."
"Why them?" Amber asked. She was still trying to wrap her head around those two. The sun and moon had been fine for a long time without somepony guiding them. How did they end up like this?
"Because they were alive when most of the bad stuff that's happened to Equestria that I've had to clean up happened," Cosmos added. "I'd ask Starswirl, but I'm leaving his old flank in Limbo a little while longer."
Twilight though was giving the Armor of Eternity an intense look. "How did you fit that in there? Your armor can't be that thick can it?"
Cosmos chuckled. "You'd be surprised what I can fit in here. She's an infinite demi-plane of her own." Closing the open slot, she opened several more and began to pull out an odd assortment of different things. Vials, jars, and other containers filled with all kinds of odd and strange looking concoctions.
"Where did you get all that?" Crystal asked.
"I made a pit stop before I cam back and picked up a few things. Backups in case talking or threats don't work." Cosmos replied airily.
"Do we want to know what some of this stuff is?" Amber asked as she poked one of the jars, this one filled with a thick black liquid.
"Not really," Cosmos replied as she pulled the last items out of its compartment and closed them all. "Most of these don't exist on Equus at all, so you wouldn't have heard of them."
"Then where'd they come from?" Crystal asked.
"From other worlds and plains of the Great Wheel, and some were made by Simaker himself," Cosmos replied.
Twilight scrunched her nose. She had heard those names before, but where? She put it off for the moment as her mind returned to her first question on getting here.
"So where am I supposed to sleep again?" She asked.
Cosmos smiled widely. "Oh, you don't actually have to sleep at all. Alicorns that don't have to move the sun or moon don't need it."
Twilight's smile would have made Pinkie Pie proud.