//------------------------------//
// Time and Place 
// Story: Tree-Borne Creator Pony 
// by Crescent Pulsar 
//------------------------------//

While Twilight Sparkle tackled a big lunch, Ranma seized on the opportunity to browse the library's selection, still wanting to get some idea of where ponies were at in their development before venturing into their society. She was aware of the purple alicorn's gaze the whole time, but didn't comment on it since she had become accustomed to being the center of attention ever since she had made an appearance to the world as an alicorn.

By the time Twilight Sparkle finished the last bite of her meal, she had been able to think of a burning question. "How did you erase the humans from history so thoroughly?"

"Not easily," Ranma replied, as she turned her head away from the books and gave her undivided attention. "Between the time John and I transformed humanity into other creatures and going to sleep, I spent most of the time doing exactly that: converting settlements and infrastructure into natural environments, removing pollution from the land, air and water, transforming the shape and size of continents, dealing with everything that could be found in lower earth orbit and beyond — among other things. Once their physical presence was dealt with, I had John monitor and manipulate what was passed down orally and through literature afterward. There were some exceptions to what I would effectively destroy, though, and I transferred those into pocket dimensions to preserve them."

Twilight Sparkle's ears perked up with keen interest upon hearing that there were exceptions. "What did you save?"

Not seeing any reason to withhold that information, Ranma replied, "A ton of art, stuff of cultural significance, ancient monuments, engineering achievements, books—"

In a flash, Twilight Sparkle teleported over to Ranma, with her face nearly touching hers and gaze intense, hungry for knowledge. "You saved books? May I read them!?"

Ranma jerked her head back, more unsettled by her fervor than surprised by her sudden appearance. "Uh..."

"Pleeeease!" Twilight Sparkle begged, with wide, expressive eyes that seemed ready to cry the very moment that she was denied.

Unable to resist the earnest and cute pony before her, and not wanting to make them sad, Ranma looked away and mumbled, "I guess..."

Twilight Sparkle threw her forelegs into the air and cheered, "Yes," before prancing giddily in place, unable to contain her excitement at the prospect of learning about an ancient species that most — if not all — sapient life had been derived from. Her destiny and what certain individuals had done to ensure it were completely forgotten. "Can I read some of them right now?" She settled down and blushed when she realized how she was behaving. "Er, if it's not too much to ask?"

"...Sure," Ranma acquiesced, who summoned a key onto an upraised hoof and had it snatched away long before she could finish extending it toward Twilight Sparkle. "Just jab the blade with the intent of opening a portal," directions which were quickly followed, "and it'll open one to the pocket dimension where I stored all of the books. They're all frozen in time to preserve them, but if you touch one then a copy in pristine condition will appear on the podium — only one at," the portal closed behind the purple alicorn, and she sighed while she finished saying, "a time, though."

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the bookcase, simply glad that she didn't have a cute pony being adorable and getting too close for comfort. Well, just finding ponies cute made her uncomfortable, because she still self-identified as a human at her core, but she had gotten accustomed to it for the most part. She didn't know why she found ponies attractive, since her tastes in general hadn't hinted at it being possible, but it had made itself apparent the very first time that she had seen her reflection.

At least she came out really attractive to her own eyes, so she supposed that there was some consolation to becoming a pony.

A couple hours later, while she was reading at the table, she heard the door opening. She looked up to watch the little, purple dragon from earlier enter, who stopped just beyond the threshold and casually said, "Oh, hey. Does Twilight still want to be alone?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Ranma replied.

"Guess I'll go ask her," he said, before closing the door and making his way up to the second floor.

A minute later he returned, and when he reached the bottom of the stairs he asked, "Is Twilight in the basement?"

"She's looking at books in a pocket dimension," responded Ranma, without looking up from what she was reading.

"What's a pocket dimension?" Spike inquired.

Placing a hoof down on the page to make it easier to find her place, Ranma looked over her shoulder and answered, "Well, it's kind of like a bedroom in a house, separated from the public spaces by a door, but the house is the universe."

Spike didn't quite get it, so he moved on to another question to avoid an awkward situation. "Uh, okay... What kind of books?"

"The ones I saved from humanity," Ranma informed him.

Brow furrowed, Spike prodded, "You mean, the creatures who were so bad that you decided to transform them into something else?"

Ranma nodded her head and unconcernedly said, "Yup."

Spike stared for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and leaving the building, to update Twilight Sparkle's friends on the situation.

Ranma spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the library's books and reading a bit from some of them. By evening, she felt that she had done enough on that front and decided to take a look around the town. By Equestria's own standards Ponyville wasn't all that modern, from what she'd read about some of its cities, but it had the kind of rural charm that she could appreciate, and there were interesting oddities regarding some of the architectural choices. The inhabitants of the town, for the most part, were welcoming and friendly. She also encountered a couple of Twilight Sparkle's friends, and nothing of note happened with them aside from getting a strong feeling that Pinkie Pie had something planned for her soon.

She made it back to Twilight Sparkle's house before nightfall, where she opted to spend some time on the balcony and think about what she had learned about the world so far. Equestria looked promising, as far as she'd read, but she hadn't read many good things about the rest of the world. Actually, she couldn't find much information about the rest of the world in general, including recent information, and that alone made her concerned about what she would find. Unless there was a reason for why a library wouldn't bother stocking much in the way of books about anything outside of Equestria.

Shortly after the sun was lowered below the horizon and the moon was raised into view, there was a pair of flashing lights in the air before her, heralding the arrival of Celestia and Luna. She backed up and gave them room to land on the balcony, an accommodation that they gratefully accepted.

Once they alighted, Luna got straight to business and stated, "We wish to discuss certain matters that are of great importance to us."

Ranma nodded her head, having expected as much. "Alright. Let's take this inside." As she led them into Twilight Sparkle's loft, she added, "Shall I give us some privacy?"

"We would appreciate it," Celestia replied.

Once the center of the room was between them and her, Ranma shifted back to her natural form, thinking it appropriate considering at least one of the topics that she assumed they would broach, then used her horn to cast a spell over the room, so that no one outside of it would be able to hear or see them.

With that done, she asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

Celestia and Luna shared a look before the former asked, "What if you found a minority of the world acceptable, but the rest unacceptable? Would you pass your judgement on everyone?"

"That sounds like a real concern," Ranma noted, causing Luna to grimace slightly. "Let me ask you this first, then: why is so much of the world, outside of Equestria, in such a poor state?"

"It isn't from a lack of trying," Luna groused.

"We've tried to improve other parts of the world for a very long time," Celestia began to elaborate, looking weary. "Forming peace treaties, spreading our ideas through trade, extending various forms of aid to show our goodwill..." She released a sigh. "In too many cases, the best that we've been able to do is avoid personal conflict, for the most part, and significantly decrease conflicts occurring between other creatures within our sphere of influence. I know not how much of the distant past is responsible for the divide that has persisted since before our own time, but there are a multitude of issues and differences that make it difficult to attain a meaningful and long-lasting relationship with most creatures."

Ranma closed her eyes and released a sigh of her own. "So that hasn't changed much, then." After taking a moment to think about it, she reopened her eyes and addressed the two princesses' fears. "Well, if Equestria is anything like I've read, or the little I've experienced, you won't have anything to worry about. And I've got all the time in the world to wait and see if things can be improved further before resorting to anything drastic."

Both Celestia and Luna were relieved to hear that, and Ranma gave them a moment to enjoy it before asking, "Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?"

"Indeed," Luna replied, who drew herself up. "We discussed the fact that you're our mother at length."

"Yeah?" Ranma said, dreading what would be said next.

Luna and Celestia proceeded to bow and lower their heads, with the latter entreating, "Please raise us from foals, until we reach adulthood."

The request was enough of a surprise that it took a moment for Ranma to voice a nonplussed, "What?"

Raising her head, along with her sister, Celestia explained, "Our father was barely that, spending most his time as our magic teacher when he was actually available. Our nanny, Milky Way, while nice, usually held us at foreleg's length. We were kept a secret and knew no others our own age until we became Equestria's rulers, and we spent most of our time being groomed to rule Equestria and didn't have many opportunities to have fun."

"Hardly any fun was had," Luna unhappily muttered.

"So," Celestia continued, as she looked up at Ranma imploringly, "we desire to have our memories suppressed and be raised as normal foals by a proper parent... to have a childhood."