The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab

by Fuzzyfurvert


215. Spirit by Knight of Cerebus

by Knight of Cerebus

***

Celestia walked along the lengths of a mighty tree. Despite being natural wood, the tree had a long slope to it, curling like a length of smoke out of a chimney in a spiral along the length of the giant plant. Celestia breathed in the smell of old paper and the smell of candles, the smell of burning incense and the smell of fresh cast magic. She watched the branches of the tree, noting that there were book covers along them in place of leaves. On every book cover was a set of images. Celestia was pleased to note the surroundings were not simply a barren library of knowledge and memories. Butterflies flew around flowers blooming along the bark, and fat, juicy apples hung from branches here and there. The cover of book-leaves were inlaid with gems, and the skies shone with sunlight, fast and acrobatic clouds in the shape of pegasi and stars that blinked against all odds in the bright blue daylight.

"You've probably already worked out where you are, haven't you?" The voice came from all around the world she had entered. Clouds of pink, yellow, white, blue and orange set the border for the world, though the tree stretched into infinity when Celestia searched up or down.

"I assume I am in a dream of yours, though I confess I was not expecting your dreams to be quite so abstract. Literal minded is our dear Mrs. Sparkle." Celestia gave a chuckle, and the booming voice of her spouse followed suit. White maple key seeds dropped from the tree as it shook with laughter, raining down on Celestia. Ballons floated past her on the wind, then dissipated into pink clouds as the laughs became chortles and then silence.

"Not quite a dream. You are inside me--err...that sounded better inside my head." At once, a flush of pink petals erupted around Celestia's branches, and some of the books skirted away and shut. Celestia thought on her response, knowing that experimentation and observation were the most reliable paths to understanding.

"You are ever so cute when you're flushed." More pink blooms, but the books twitched and opened in anticipation. Several of them even spread themselves out for her. She spotted several with herself and Twilight on the cover. Cartoons depicted her faithful purple pony gaining wings as Celestia serenaded her, waiting on Celestia at the Gala, recieving her medal for besting Discord, cuddling her when the two of them opened up to each other prior to the Sun Celebration, kisses, sleepy days in bed, looking after Spike together, reading sessions, teaching, their first meeting, cuddling after Luna's return, cuddling after Twilight took her magic, cuddling when Twilight passed her last test, cuddling when Twilight was scared...an awful lot of cuddling, really.

"It's sixty percent cuddling and or expressions of affection, by the way. Another thirty percent is devoted to other tasks and the last ten is fights."

Celestia blinked. "How did you...?"

"I'm over in you right now. You're confused and inquisitive, and also thinking about me. I like all the galss, by the way. Very beautiful. It fits you well." Celestia blushed. "Aaaaand it's turning to rose glass in places. You're blushing."

Celestia realized at last where she was. "When you say I'm inside you, Twilight, you mean this artifact you found transplants us within each other's..."

"Souls, yes. Our spirits."

Celestia's mind went from slowly building up to dread to full on horror. "Twilight, we have to cut this off. The soul is an incredibly delicate thing. I could hurt you, or you could hurt me, in ways we could never recover from."

"Not that different from the way we normally are, then. But we won't. And even if we do, we can recover from the worst we can throw at each other."

At once the wood against Celestia's feet turned black and rotten, the veins beneath the bark pulsing red in tune with her heartbeat. Books fluttered in the wind, and the sound of her voice damning the tree with a booming "You have a lot to think about" echoed across the soul. Celestia folded her ears, looking down at a shivering book.

"I did not mean the harm I caused you, Twilight. Of that you can be sure."

"I am." The tree grew bright again, and the rotten wood quickly healed over. Celestia found herself crowned in bright cheery blossoms, and the books opened up to her all across the tree. She glanced from cover to cover, seeing stories of sadness, of anger, of love, of joy, of friendship, of horror, of triumph, of laughter. Not a single book was closed. The entire tree sang with birdsong, and the branches began to coil around her possessively. The sun beamed out at her, and then at last she could see Twilight was standing within it, a massive hall of mirrors, marble and gold shining light against her. The framing of the light made her angelic, and the sun lowered down to meet her on the branch, which in turn rose towards the sun. At last the two met, and then rose together to look over the scale of the distance they had traveled. Twilight reached across the barrier, and the two souls touched, for a moment one unit, unhindered by skin, muscles or nerves. Twilight spoke at last. "I love you. I'm yours, in body, in mind, and now, in spirit."