//------------------------------// // 4: Pasts (Heavy - Uncovered) // Story: Alchemical Empire // by NineOneThree //------------------------------// Thousands of years ago, in a land that looked very little like it did now, a goddess bled on the sundered checkerboard ground, gasping for breath. Celestia. "Sister," she panted, one eye sealed shut with blood dried black, the other half-hidden with tangled pink locks. "Where are they?" Struggling to lift her head, she could see the dark blue shape heaving with gasping breaths. Celestia. After what felt like hours, she was able to haul herself up just enough to agonizingly turn her head, looking at the ruin around them. She saw a few shattered pieces of dark grey and slate and dull brown standing out against the checkered ground, but far too few. Celestia. Thousands of years ago, in a land that looked very little like it did now, a goddess wept. CELESTIA! In the present, a goddess nearly fell over in surprise, taking a full dose of Royal Canterlot Voice to the eardrums. Luna frowned, worry all over her face. "Sister, what were you doing?!" Wincing, Celestia rubbed her neck with her forehoof. "I'm sorry, Luna, I was just... I was lost in thought, I'm sorry." "Thinking about them?" Luna's voice became more gentle. "I remember it too, but you're much too hard on yourself about this. There was nothing we could do. Remember, you and Twilight are going to meet soon. She said she had something to talk to you about, so please try to clear your head." Nodding, the personification of the Sun shook herself a little, like a dog shaking water from itself. "I know... thank you, Luna. I wouldn't know what to do without you..." She closed her eyes, collecting hereself before standing up straight. "I'll be heading to Ponyville now, sister." The smaller Alicorn nuzzled her sister before she left, smiling just a little. "Be well." --- Sometimes a goddess just needed to get away from things, and being able to just trot down a small town road without everyone pointing and gasping and bowing was a great help to that. A white-coated, rose-maned Earth mare sighed in relaxation, coming to the library tree. As she stepped in, she was imagining Twilight's face, first mild surprise, then puzzlement, then realization... "... Princess?" Or maybe just recognizing her right off the bat because she's an alicorn too, remember? Get it together, Tia. She quickly closed the door behind her before her cover was blown. "Yes, Twilight, it's me. Could we perhaps head to the basement, away from prying eyes?" Not malicious ones, but innocent curiosity could be bad enough. Thankfully, the young alicorn shook off her confusion and nodded, taking the disguised goddess down into the well-lit, cool depths of her basement laboratory and archive, where Celestia could return to her true, majestic shape. Sitting across from her most brilliant student, she smiled again. "Now, Twilight, what did you want to talk about?" "Well, Princess, I remembered our conversation last week and since the beginning of this week I've been thinking about it and..." Twilight pulled out a few books. "I wanted to talk about golems!" Oh. The excitement in the young alicorn's voice wasn't lost on Celestia as she forced herself to maintain her smile. "... Golems? I suppose I may have indeed mentioned them when last we spoke... what about them did you want to talk about?" "Well, I know golems are generally not very common these days, and not in Equestria especially... but I wondered about before, perhaps even before Princess Luna... before Nightmare Moon was sealed away." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "You and Princess Luna are fantastically magically powerful even on an off day, so if you wanted you could probably create golems by yourselves with ease instead of the labor it takes a group of alchemists for just one golem... did you ever create any? Celestia nodded slowly, taking care in her choice of words. "Once... very, very long ago, yes. Unfortunately they're... no longer with us." Her smile took on a sad tinge as she glanced away for a moment. "Oh, I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up..." Twilight winced, having been about to ask something else. The goddess of the sun could see it in her face (what kind of teacher would she be if she couldn't?) and shook her head, bolstering her smile back up to normal. Twilight hesitated, then went for it. "I, er, I was going to ask, Princess, if you could tell me anything about Equinculi..." "Equinculi?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Well, it seems your hunger for knowledge is no less acute, my faithful student... go on, tell me what you know about that subject already." Twilight sat up a little straighter, smiling a bit. "Well, Equinculi are a theoretical 'super-golem' of sorts, with a more normal emotional capacity akin to a regular being. This is combined with the benefits of golem nature, mainly their durability and much lower requirments for sustenance as compared to natural beings. However, there has been no confirmed sighting of one, ever, due to the creation being much more demanding than the process of producing a standard golem. "I did the math and I would estimate that a five-person team, more or less regardless of the species of the team members, could produce a batch of perhaps four of the same model of golem within one month... if they were all highly-skilled, worked diligently, and had a minimum of setbacks during the process. With alchemy not especially common these days, even less so in Equestria, that sort of efficiency is itself fairly uncommon, with most golem batches taking several months. "But equinculi? Just one could take a skilled five-person team a year at the least, if they knew how to make one, which evidence suggests nobody does! If anyone would be able to make them, it'd be highly powerful beings like Dragon Queen Tiamat (though I doubt she'd have any reason to), several Griffon Crypt-Kings (assuming they ever existed, which is unlikely), or an Alicorn..." There was a pregnant pause as she looked at Celestia, wondering if it was her place to ask. At least, until the goddess gave a nod and a small sigh. "Yes, Twilight, I did create an Equinculus, but as with the golems I made long ago, she is gone..." Twilight was a little surprised as Celestia came around the table, nuzzling against her as she would her own child. "I know I've talked a lot about things that are gone, things I've lost, but know this, Twilight. While we must strive with all our hearts to preserve and protect those things which we and others have, once a thing is truly lost, we cannot dwell on it any longer. This is truest for you and I, my student; a goddess cannot afford to regret."