//------------------------------// // Memorial Temple // Story: Genesis // by JumpingShinyFrogs //------------------------------// She flew across an expanse of emptiness. It was rock and rock as far as the eye could see. She glanced down. Lakes and rivers had been created aplenty: Brooks and canals, lagoons and streams. There was a lot of water on the planet, but not yet enough. She thought back to the size of the oceans of Equestria, trying to calculate the time it would take to create an ocean. The answer she came up with was, ‘a long time’. Must’ve been some asteroids among the rocks that shaped the planet, she thought. Already her awareness stretched itself into the crust of the planet, digging ever deeper in search of something. Moments passed and finally she found what she was looking for. A mountainous block of rock with moisture seeping from every crack in it. It was far underground, but it was there;. the remnants of an asteroid coated in kilometer thick ice. Grasping the moisture deep in the earth, she condensed it and pulled it upwards. The ground cracked, splitting apart as the earth beneath it was pushed upwards as well. Like giant molerats the water pushed up earth into small hills, the hills spanning farther than she could see. More and more hills rose from the ground until, finally, the first one erupted and water spilled from the maw of the earth with an ear-splitting roar, soon followed by many until a cacophony of rushing water, breaking rock and earth vibrated through the air. More, she thought and started powering a spell. A purple beam shot from her horn, hitting the slowly-growing amount of water. The speed at which the water levels rose increased. Going back to drawing up water from underground, she witnessed more hills and holes appearing in the ground. The ground’s becoming unstable. Hardly had the thought been finished before the earth shook and the air vibrated with the sound of rock and dirt collapsing in on itself, leaving behind a sinkhole of massive proportions. Surprised, she let go of her spells and just watched. The collapse continued for about an hour. The ground had caved in, leading to the water collecting in a more central area rather than spreading too far. It wasn’t just a hole that went straight down, either. Unlike how it was with the place where she had created the first waterfall, the collapse made it seem more like a gigantic bowl. And sparkling blue water filled it, waves already being stirred by the winds. It wasn’t quite an ocean, but it was a lake the size of which she had never seen. She flew off again. How long had passed? How many times had the sun passed over the horizon, with the moon following close behind? How many times had the constellations shifted? How many times had they disappeared and returned? Water and air, soil and stone, wind and rain. The seasons were passing like the ticks of a clock, passing by so quickly that she hardly registered them at all. How many weeks, months and years had passed? One, two, maybe ten? She had spent the time creating, shaping the world. Canyons and ravines scarred the earth. Hills rolled in the horizon and gave form to the bleak sandstone that otherwise could be seen over to majority of the planet. There was much to be done, and she was far from done. She had made brief visits to Equestria, a single day here and there to catch up on events with her fellow immortals. She may have been engrossed in her work, but even she was prone to loneliness. In the time that had passed, she had wanted to create three additional wonders. Each of them a homage to her friends. Much like the first four mountain ranges were created in the name of Equestria’s other immortals, these were special things or places that could not be found elsewhere, and were unique in their own way. Or would be. She had small plans for what she would make for Fluttershy, Pinkie and Applejack, but she couldn’t yet. She wanted to finish shaping the world before bringing more life onto the planet than the small errant patches of red and green grass. Making anymore would be redundant should she decide to level an area, killing the life immediately; whether it be trees or small animals. While she couldn’t quite do what she had planned yet, she did have one thing she could, and would do. It was a gift, not only to her long lost friends, but also to future explorers. It would be a wonder without equal, one that only the most foolhardy and adventurous would find. She stood on the side of a mountain to the north. It was one of the lesser ones, not yet named. But she was sure it would be named something grandiose once it was discovered. In front of her was a steep incline, nothing interesting unless one counted several centimetres of snow as interesting. It wasn’t so far north that the snow in the lower side of the mountain was more than half a meter deep at most. She took a breath of frigid air and watched the steam rise as she breathed out. Drawing from her wellspring, she channeled magic into her horn and sent it forward, her magic eating away at the stone almost as quick as a parasprite ate. She trotted forward, eroding more and more stone as she pressed on, soon creating a small hollow that became longer and formed a tunnel. Several long minutes later and she stopped. She was far enough in that she could no longer feel the chill wind’s bite, nor hear the crunch of snow beneath her hooves. While it was still cold, it was not so much as outside. “To the adventurous and daring, I give you this,” she said, and her magic spread. The spell she had used to create the tunnel now formed a perfect half-sphere around her. At her beckon, it spread and shaped the place into a small dome that quickly grew. Stone was reduced to dust and small particles. Gems were shattered and reduced to mere sprinkles on the grey stone floor. The room had grown to a size that would be able to accommodate twenty ponies easily. She conjured a small orb of light and glanced around, the floor and domed roof of the small room was still rough. Given what she wanted this to be, that was not good enough. Her eyes closed and her horn flared to life. An ethereal wind blew through her mane and tail, softly first then with more force. It wasn’t long before arcane winds and raw magic flew around her in a small tornado filling the entire room, with Twilight being the only thing untouched. The wind cut at the domed roof, at the rough floor, and smoothed out any uneven part of the surfaces. Some time later and the wind died down, Twilight stood in the middle and gazed around, smiling at the mirror polished room. But it was not yet done. Reaching out with her magic, she grasped six small areas on the four with her magic. As she did so, six circles of purple appeared in line at the far end of the room, each on wide enough for a pony to stand on and half a pony’s width between them. With a flex of her will, she yanked at those six areas, creating six stone platforms risen directly from the stone floor. Each one as polished and perfect as the walls. A breath escaped her lips. Years of constantly pouring magic into the world was starting to tear at her wellspring. She may be immortal, a pony possessing cosmic powers, but she wasn’t omnipotent. She trotted over to the six platforms, nearing the one on the left first. She smiled and touched a hoof to the wall behind it. Magic poured from it and shaped the stone, drawing a little of it out and remaking it. When she removed her hoof, a blue balloon shaped gemstone half the size of a pony’s head sat embedded in the wall behind the dais. She walked to the next one in line, this one was an orange apple-shaped gem with a green gem on top, mirroring a pair of tiny leaves. For the third time she put her hoof to the wall behind the third dais. A pink butterfly sprouted from the wall, the same size as both the apple and the balloon. She continued like this, making a gemstone replica of the elements of harmony: A pink butterfly, a deep pink, six pointed star, a red lightning and a light purple gem, shaped exactly like one of the gems on Rarity’s cutie mark. Satisfied, she stepped back to the middle of the room and just looked. She was close to done, only a few things remained before this place was done. Digging deep into her memory, she called forth some of her oldest and most precious memories. They were memories so precious, that she would never want to forget, no matter how much they would hurt. She smiled and let her magic take hold, bringing forth the memories into the real world. Where the daises had been empty before, now stood ethereal versions of each of the her old friends and herself. Way back when she was still only a unicorn. Pinkie Pie stood with a large smile on her face, eyes sparkling, and just looking happy. She also looked like she was mid-jump, hovering just a few inches above the dais, her legs bent in such a way that it also looked like she had just jumped. Applejack stood with her two right legs crossing the left ones, a proud smile on her lips. Next was Fluttershy. She stood with her wings spread and a small smile on her lips that so looked like Celestia’s serene smile. Or was nothing short of peaceful. Fitting for the pegasus, really. She had made her own apparition stand normally, head tilted a little to one side and with a friendly expression on her face. Smiling like the rest. Rainbow stood on her hind legs, wings flared wide and turned sideways, head turned just enough to face the entrance. Twilight chuckled. It was just like she had posed back when she had tied to bridge up for them in the Everfree, just hours after they had met. She looked so proud back then, just like her image did now. Last was Rarity. She, too, was standing side ways, her head turned to look at the entrance as well. Her eyes were half-lidded and one front leg was raised, her chest pushed forward in the most fabulous pose she could do. Always a beautiful pony, right to the last second, Twilight mused. Smiling. Each of the apparitions were transparent enough that one could see through them, but still corporeal enough that they almost looked solid. There were only a few things left to do before this place was finished. Her horn lit once again, and spells poured out as magic was drawn into it and pushed outwards. Layers upon layers of protective spells were cast in the tunnel and small dome shaped room. No one would be able to take anything, but anyone would be able to enter. Furthermore, the place would be warm and with enough light to see effortlessly. No chill would be able to make its way into here, warmed and lit by the gems behind each dais. And lastly, if anypony ever entered the memorial room itself, she would know. She smiled and turned around, chuckling, and headed down the tunnel towards the outside again. She looked forward to teleporting back here and tell them about why it was there when somepony found it. Finally reaching the exit, she sighed and took flight. She was not yet done with her world.