Pure. Pure was what Celestia felt like. Before Discord and before Nightmare moon, she was pure.
Then those monsters came and destroyed her. They didn't hurt or torture her, they did something much worse, they changed her.
Gone was the honest and naive Princess and in her place was what everypony else saw, the lonely, cold and calculating Princess.
Everypony saw a mask, a facade, that she put up for them because if they saw the real her it would be seconds before they executed, banished or locked her up and she'd let them.
To say this was bliss would be an understatement and Celestia didn't know what this was; every nerve was on fire with sensations racing all over her body, leaving her feeling raw.
The only thing she would compare it to would be a hundred million orgasms racing through her mind, blotting out existence or a single morning, waking up and seeing Twilight smile.
As fast as it happened, the sensation ended and she reluctantly opened her eyes feeling exhausted and cold.
She looked around and saw she was in some sort of morgue or examination room. There was a distinct smell of disinfectant and the room looked to be scrubbed down to a mirror shine.
She looked down at herself and found she was covered in some sort of blue cloth and made to move it but found her limbs stiff and sore. Bearing the discomfort, she pulled the cover off and screamed at the grotesque "Y" shaped scar that ran along the length of her chest.
She stared at it, her breath catching and her heart-rate skyrocketing. She scrambled back and fell of the table with a large clatter as a table next to her fell to the ground, spilling instruments and notes over the sterile floor.
She hit the ground with a dull thump and groaned, the force knocking her out of her panic attack.
Celestia shook her head and moved her hoof over her chest, feeling where the stitches were still embedded in her chest and dangled down.
Feeling fine, other than the scar, Celestia rose and stretched her wings, making sure they still worked correctly. She opened them to her full wingspan and fluttered them, frowning at the preening she would have to do later after she gets some information and a hot bath.
Looking down at the clutter, she picked it all up in her magic, which had changed from the yellowy gold, to a more sparkly bronze color, placing it back on the now upright table.
Looking over some of the notes, she came across: Princess Celestia: passed away after extreme mental and magical trauma. Medical teams tried multiple resuscitations, but nothing was successful."
"I died... But..." Her thoughts died when a noise from outside the room alerted her to the presence of another pony. She stood up straight and waited for the pony to find her, hoping she wouldn't boot too horrible to anypony else.
The double doors opened and a mare walked in. She was dark grey with a white mane and tail sporting a lab coat which covered her cutie-mark.
Trotting in, she spotted the Princess and froze, her eyes going wide. She slowly rose a shaking leg up and promptly fainted, flopping to the floor in a heap.
The Princess rolled her eyes and lifted the mare off of the cold floor and onto her back. "Let's see if anypony knows something..." she thought as she walked towards the doors.
Just as she was about to push the doors open, she clichéd her head with a hoof as a migraine pushed through her and made her close her eyes.
After a few seconds the migraine passed, leaving Celestia dizzy and lightheaded. She opened her eyes to see a glow in front of her.
Yelping. She jumped back as she charged her horn, holding the pony on her back with her wings. The glow hovered there, slowly gaining in size and brightness before it collapsed in on itself and a moderately sized orb took its place.
The orb fizzled and cracked, shattering into a billion glistening stars, leaving behind a slightly smaller being. It stirred, glowing in time with Celestia's breathing and shook.
The being wasn't entirely organic and wasn't entirely ethereal, somewhere in-between and looked like something Celestia had seen from a mathematics book on multi-dimensional shapes, a hexacosichoron.
"I'm awake..." it said, the voice leaving it's body and from inside Celestia's head at the same time. The voice sounded young, but that could have been her mind playing tricks and she frowned, uncharging her magic, for now.
Coughing, she asked, "Uh, hello... What are you?"
The being hovered in silence for a second and then answered, "I am."
"That... doesn't answer my question..." She shook her head and carried in, "Let's try something else, what's your name?" Surely this was something it could answer, it knew our language after all.
"I haven't used names in such a long time," It answered, sounding partly dispondant but cheering up, "My race has no need for names, at least not for a while now." It bobbed slightly, glowing bright, "Organic beings are fond of names, would you like to give me one?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow, "Well, I need to know what race you are then maybe I can find something to call you."
The aliens glow receded slightly but didn't fade completely, "Our race was named Tetra."
"Was?"
"I am the only one left, our enemies destroyed these vessels, like what I currently inhabit." It sounded depressed and the glow faded, showing it's hollow body once more.
"I-I don't know what to say..." Celestia stood there, horrified that an entire race could be killed off. She swallowed and nodded to herself, "I... can't bring any of them back, but I can protect you. As Co diarch of Equestria, planet of Equis, andromeda galaxy, I hereby offer my ship, my country and any needed assistance to you and anymore of your race that request it, wherever they may be."
She finished and looked at the alien to see it shining brightly, a miniature sun in front of her. "Thank you, Celestia." The alien lowered itself for a few seconds as some sort of bow and Celestia copied, bowing her head.
"I take it you were on the ship?" Celestia asked, rearranging her cargo.
"Indeed, I was sleeping when you woke me."
"What happened?" Celestia closed her eyes trying to remember the series of events before waking up in the morgue, "I opened the box and then... nothing."
"You saw my original form that organics cannot handle, even ones as... robust as you."
Celestia couldn't hide the miniscule blush that made its way onto her face and shook her head, "What do you mean original form?"
"This is simply a vessel made from magic I and siphoning from you." It saw the shocked look on her face, "Do not worry, it is nothing malicious. It was done to save my existence and my race have become very efficient at minimising the amount of magic we consume with these forms. It hovered silently before continuing, "I did not expect an equine to open my seal... It was strange." The alien said the word in such a way that Celestia assumed he had never felt confused before.
"Who did you expect to find you and why do you need my magic to exist?" She asked with a hint of agitation.
"I'm sure you saw our scriptures on our vessel?" Celestia nodded. "They prophesised that our masters and creators would come back and bring us to the next universe," he explained with a sigh at the end. "Your race are not our creators... But you are kind and powerful, like they were."
The alien shook and the glow diminished, "As for your second question, I absorb magic passively to exist in this vessel. Without it I would pass over, back to the end."
"The end?" Celestia asked.
"Of course, organics wouldn't know..." It mumbled, still as loud as before. "The end is what you would call the place after your passing. There only is in the end, no time, no space. You only are."
"It sounds horrible."
"It is unimaginable for something of this universe. For us, of the end, it is pure torture nor to be able to experience reality." The aliens voice began to waver as he continued, "That is why I use your magic, to simply exist."
Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof as a tear dropped to the floor. "I won't stop you," she whispered.
"You have my infinite gratitude... Friend?"
Celestia gasped and hugged the tetra, pulling it close to her chest. A sphere flared around the being keeping Celestia away from the main body.
"Celestia, please..." It said, being ignored.
Celestia nuzzled the top if the sphere and released it. "There."
"While that maybe what your kind does, it would be my turn to show my gratitude in my races way." A small brown magical aura leaked out of the side of its body and hovered in front of Celestia. "Use your magic and hold mine."
Celestia let out a controlled lead of magic and wrapped it around the aura, immediately sighing as she closed her eyes. Her whole body felt like it was being hugged and her neck was being nuzzled, "This is my species' way of showing affection." The being said, a small chuckle making it's way into it's voice. It echoed inside Celestia's mind as she opened her eyes.
Celestia held a genuine smile of her face and she felt energised, ready to take on the universe, "Did I really die?" She asked, her smile never leaving her face.
"Indeed, a most unfortunate side effect of opening the my seal, I apologise."
"Then... How am I alive?"
"It shames me to say that I do not know. Though, I know that since our joining, there will be benefits to both of us. As little as that will help, it is a boost if nothing else."
"I suppose... Do you know what benefits they might be?"
"I do, but that would spoil the surprise," The alien replied, with an ethereal laugh.
The princess poute then remembered where they were. "Everypony thinks I'm dead!" She shouted and checked on her cargo, "Still asleep, good."
"It would be best if I stay out of sight for the time being." It said, turning into a magical aura and flowing down the Princess's horn.
She shivered and a small headache pulsed through her mind before it faded "I have entered your mind... It's cluttered..."
The Princess closed her eyes and asked, "How?"
"One of the benefits..." She could actually feel its chuckle inside her head.
"Oh, okay." Celestia took a deep breath and pushed the doors open and trotted through. The corridor looked quite spacious and lead to a small table with a computer and documents piled up neatly just in front of a large wooden door.
Celestia ignored the table and went straight towards the door and used her magic to enhance her hearing. She heard nothing behind the door, wall or around her and assumed it was safe.
She opened the door and walked through into a metal stairway. "Which way?"
"I can look for the information, if you'd liked. I need your permission."
"...Sure."
She felt a small itch coming from within her head for a fraction of a second and then it was gone.
"For something so cluttered it was extremely organised... As for the way, go up. We are two floors under where Star Charmer works, East side."
As Celestia climbed the stairs she asked, "Do you know how long I was dead?"
"I," There was a small pause, "do."
"Well?" She huffed, climbing ever further up.
"Based with how much magic I used while keeping myself alive... I'd say about one week, with an eighty nine percent accuracy."
"One week!" She shouted. "How could I have been dead for so long." Celestia whimpered as her climbed stopped with a few stairs left, "I've... never died before."
She felt a soothing warmth around her and for a moment could feel and smell Twilight snuggle up to her before realising where she was. Celestia built mental barriers up around her memories and emotions and snarled, "Don't you ever do that again!"
"But... It brought you joy, did it not?"
Celestia's anger slowly seeped out of her and she hung her head. "I apologise... Those memories are all I have left."
"I apologise, it shall not happen again."
The Princess rose her head and made the final few stairs up and onto the floor where Star Charmer worked, the autocannon maintanance bay.
She walked through, gaining stares and fainting from all of her subjects and in turn smiled back at them the best she could.
Star Charmer came into view and Celestia trotted up to her while her back was turned. Tapping her on the shoulder, she grinned as Star turned around, screamed something about a "zombie princess", promptly threw a spanner at her head and fainted.
The spanner hit Celestia on the nose and bounced off with a clang. She scrunched her nose up and shook her head, straightening up her mane.
With an amused chuckle in her head, Celestia fed a small spell into her and waited for the spell to take effect.
Star woke up with a groan and looked up at Celestia with wide eyes, "P-princess?!"
"Yes, my little pony," she replied with practised grace that these situations demanded.
"Oh Princess!" Star shouted, hugging her. She started sobbing intoned chest, dampening Celestia with her tears. "They said you di-I-ied!"
"I got better."
Star laughed and hiccuped, nuzzling Celestia's chest. "I'm glad, I wouldn't have made the trip without you. Everypony is so mean now..."
Celestia was surprised at how much Star's crying affected her, causing her chest to ache and how everypony is suddenly mean."
"Star, come with me. I'll need you for support." Celestia wanted to say "For moral support" but she just couldn't bring herself to be even that open with somepony.
Together, they walked out of the maintanance bays with hundred of stunned ponies in their wake, some crying, some praying but all ecstatic about their Princess's recovery.