(kryxel here with a small note. if you do not like what is in this minisode then i extend a hand to you to write your own. send it to me and i will pick the best one and use it as a minisode. well without furthur ado...)
Interlude 3: Celestia and Luna; or, Of chess and cheaters.
Grown from the frustrated mind of Ray10k,
Based on the tale woven by Kryxel
In the realm of dreams, time is a strange thing. One could spend an eternity wandering the desert and wake up, finding only a minute to have passed, or spend a mere second with the one they love, while the waking world had advanced from dusk to dawn. In dreams, time flowed strangely.
However, one would be mistaken to think that time flowed truly free in dreams. For starters, it flowed ever onward, never turning back. Second, it always answered to its mistress. A mistress who, at this point, was getting frustrated to the point of infuriation.
“Checkmate!”
“GAH! How come you are so good at this?!” Luna demanded.
Her opponent smiled. “Many who excelled in this game often found themselves praying to me in some form. Of course I’d get a few hints on how to play from that.”
Celestia, who had been drinking a cup of tea up to this point, chuckled. “And that is twelve victories in a row! Time to step up your game, dear sister.”
“Why? The newfoal is fully converted, I am done with my last game, and this lie has lasted long enough. Off with you!” She replied as she gestured to the bearded man in front of her, who smiled once more before collapsing into a cloud of silvery dust, flowing away on an unfelt wind and spreading to the minds of a million sleeping ponies.
“A lie you say?” Celestia said with a devious smile. “I don’t recall any lies being told since we got here.”
“Oh, please Celly, don’t play that game with me. ‘A god for every world?’ Have you forgotten why we are even offering them a way to our world? Their world is empty of magic, empty of life for crying out loud!”
“True, and he was definitely their god. You have to admit that.”
“He was a construct of a million thoughts, a golem of belief!”
“Correct again. A construct of a million human thoughts and beliefs. The sum of all their dreams and more. In a sense, the dreams you just sent back was the only way a god could exist in their world,” Celestia said as she got up from where she was sitting, reaching out with her magic to gather up the chess pieces Luna had been using.
“You know it doesn’t just end there! Then what about your claims of him having made that world?”
“Well, one could argue that mankind in a way did make the world they lived in. From the moment they figured out how to make fire, mankind has been shaping the world around them. So, given that their god was the sum of their collective beliefs, it is no lie to say that he indeed created their world.”
Luna sighed. “Alright, I give you all that, but the point is still that he could not exist on Earth. Humans have their own dreams, never ones that could meet in a way to create Him. I mean, I had to painstakingly sort through the dreams of every newfoal out there to even create that image! And what for? To let one new member of the Herd say goodbye?”
“Yes. And you know it was worth it.”
A short silence existed between the two sisters, in which Celestia finished up packing the old Chess set.
Celestia broke the silence. “Besides, you know it was not just about her. Sometimes, one pony is all it takes to change the world. Who knows, maybe one day she will save someone else.”
Luna chuckled grimly at this. “Right, who knows? Who else would be able to trick such a sweet young mare into furthering your own agenda?”
“If this is about the Nightmare again, I told you already. I genuinely thought Twilight just needed to get out more.” Celestia thought for a moment. “Except, this is not about Twilight, or is it?”
“Wha?... I- I don’t know what you are talking about, of course it isn’t! It is just about your constant manipulation of others!”
Celestia gave a wide, almost creepy grin. “Really? So, you are sure you are not just annoyed after losing twelve times in a row?”
“Yes! I mean, No! I mean, I,err… *sigh* OK, yes, you are right Celly. I guess I’ve gotten a little too used to beating you lately.”
“Really now? Last time I checked, it was 35 victories for me, 34 for you…”
“AND SO HELP ME THE MOON, I WILL SURPASS YOU!”
“*giggle* Calm down, Lulu, you are using the Royal Voice again! But, if you want another round, let’s get out of the Dream first. Can’t have you cheat, right?”
“Oh, is that how you are going to play? You hurt me sister, trusting me that little! What ever have I done to warrant such base accusations?”
“Forgotten about the Starswirl family already?”
“...You promised you would never mention that again.”
Time in a dream is a strange thing. One can spend an instant in the embrace of a long lost sibling, or find themselves banished to an inhospitable wasteland for a thousand years, but inevitably one must wake up to the dawn of a new day. One would expect that such a strange realm answers to no-one, but the truth is that the Dream has its own mistress. A mare whose mane is made from the night sky itself, who spent a thousand years alone. A mare, who woke up to the caring embrace of her sister, with only one thought going through her mind.
“worth it!”
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Ray10k here. This chapter is my own work entirely. I wrote it to address some issues I had with chapter 13 ( episode 3, part 5). If you are reading this, Kryxel took ten additional levels of badass and decided to post my incoherent rambling/friendshipping/excuse for more exposition (sun and moon do I love writing that). So, any complaints about the quality of the chapter go to me, Kryxel was probably taken by surprise when I sent him this.
(kryx here. i accept the ten levels of "badass" )