//------------------------------//
// VIII 
// Story: Rebirth 
// by The-Pony-Librarian 
//------------------------------//

	Year 1000, Celestial Era - 357 years ago.



It was around two in the morning the day of Twilight’s ascension, when the small group of ponies gathered outside the library began to disperse with soft '”Goodnight's” and covered yawns. Though the past day had been extraordinary, even life changing, it had been collectively decided that any further pondering of its events (and the consequences thereof) could be postponed until tomorrow. Miracles of nature, no matter how spectacular, could only take precedence over sleep for so long. Only, Twilight, the one pony with probably the strongest excuse to collapse into sleep, lingered. Many times she moved slowly over to the library door, only to pause, step away from it again, indecision flitting across her face.
“Twilight.” Celestia said gently, touching a hoof to her student’s shoulder. She raised her brows ever so slightly. It was always easy to tell when her student had something on her mind.
The mare froze, almost guiltily, under her gaze. She half-smiled, nervously, shifting her new wings awkwardly at her sides. She didn’t even quite know how to fold them properly, yet.
“I’m sorry, I just..I had some questions.” Twilight took a small step closer, ducking her head.
Celestia smiled warmly at her, delighting in the way that Twilight’s hesitant smile followed suit, growing easier, and more comfortable. Today, Celestia decided, was going to be a great day.  .She felt as if she were made of light, as if she could fly without even flapping her wings. In the sky, the stars were out in full force. Twilight’s friends were slowly picking their way back to their beds while, all around the town was asleep, unaware of the world, unaware of how beautiful, how wonderful this day was - Iit took some force for Celestia to restrain her racing thoughts, and maintain a soft, composed smile.
“No need to apologise, Twilight.” Celestia chuckled quietly, a fraction of the joyful laugh bubbling inside her. “Ask away.”
“Oh! Um...Well…” Twilight’s ears flicked as she shifted her weight restlessly between her hooves. “I’m not even sure where to start really. I don’t even know...Hhas this ever happened before? What was that star place? Why are there pictures of my entire life up there? Why did this happen?”
Twilight stopped, eyes wide. “Oh my gosh., Iis this some sort of circle of life thing? Are you dying?! Am I going to have to replace you? Because I don’t feel comfortable with-”
“Twilight.” Celestia stepped forward, shushing her gently.
Twilight’s eyes focused on the golden clad hoof pressed softly against her muzzle, and her cheeks flushed pink underneath her fur as she gave an embarrassed little chuckle. “...Sorry”
“That’s quite alright.” Celestia had no trouble relating. She could remember being in her young student’s position, many, many centuries ago. So confused, so excited. It had been incredible... and then terrible, more terrible than she could imagine. She should have guessed, she should have known what was going to happen, it was all her fault, and she just kept making it worse, over and over again, hundreds of years, and- With effort, Celestia dragged herself away from the memories.
Carefully, Celestia lay an iridescent white wing over Twilight, feeling her snuggle up close to her side. She closed her eyes, brushing away all the negativityin her mind to embrace the simple joy in this moment, for however long it lasted. Twilight was safe, and in this small moment that was all that mattered.
“I just can’t believe this is happening.” Twilight murmured softly. “That I’m…I mean,, I’m not even sure that I’m qualified.”
Celestia couldn’t believe it was real either. She hardly knew what to do. She wanted to laugh, to cry, to  gratefully kiss every single feather on those beautiful, beautiful wings. Instead, she wrapped her feathers closer around Twilight, tilted her head to gaze at her, and said, with complete conviction, “Twilight, there is no one I know more deserving to be a princess than you. Not me, not anypony that I have met over the entire course of my life. Don’t ever doubt that.”
For the past ten years, Twilight had been the brightest thing in Celestia’s life. She had been the little light that had kept her going through endless court sessions, and guilt ridden Summer Sun Celebrations, the eager filly that never failed to make her smile.
Twilight had saved her sister.
Twilight had saved her.
There was nothing Celestia could ever do to repay that.
Twilight blinked up at her, eyes filled with tears, her mouth a little ‘o’ of surprise, and Celestia thought of everything leading up to this moment:

Twilight, in the old castle, almost glowing with happiness, with Luna lying safely next to her.

Luna, storming into the hall after her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville, and shaking her head, teary eyed, as she said “Her? It had to be her? Of all ponies?”

Her own anger at Cadance and Shining Armour’s wedding, clinging desperately at any excuse to be disappointed in Twilight, at any chance to lessen the blow she knew was coming.

Her guilt...the very next day, when she found out just how very wrong she had been.

The terrible certainty she had felt when Twilight had returned from the Crystal Empire, that, should the little unicorn die, some part inside herself would shatter, and not even her immortality would be able to save her then.

That was the day she had decided. Her entire life she had watched herself destroy the things she loved most. But not this time. Not Twilight. Tears prickled at Celestia’s eyes as she continued.
“I know you, Twilight, and I know that you’re going to do great things... Not just because you’ve been my student all these years, but because you’ve been my closest friend, too”
With a quiet sob, but a large smile, Twilight threw her hooves around Celestia’s neck, wet tears dappling her fur. Apparently, Celestia realized, she had not been the only one struggling to keep her composure. With a shaky laugh, Celestia began cry too, letting all the relief pour out of her. She had been so close to losing her.
The day she had brought Discord to Ponyville, she felt Twilight’s magic, already withering, dying. Twilight had probably thought  that she was just getting out of practice, or maybe hadn’t slept as good as she normally did. She would have realized something was wrong by the time her magic sputtered out entirely, in about a month or so, but by then her muscles would have already started atrophying, her bones eating themselves from the inside, as her severely depleted life force ran dry.
Most unicorns believed that magic was replenishable, constantly being reabsorbed from the world around them,. This was only mostly true. Most unicorns could never manage to use all of their magic supply in one go, so the inaccuracy would never affect them. All of the ponies that were powerful enough knew very well that some magic wasn’t replaceable. Twilight herself had been taught and repeatedly warned about how using over ambitious spells would burn straight through her standing magic, and tap deeper into her own, non-renewable  life force, stripping literal years from her.
Twilight had just never thought of using the elements of harmony as casting a spell. Or just how overly ambitious using the elements really was.
Celestia did though. She had learned the hard way, many years ago, and she knew how close Twilight had come to death. Twilight shifted in her hug, nuzzling further into her embrace and causing another rush of tears to come from both of them. Pressing her cheek against Twilight’s, she could feel Twilight’s renewed magic, pulsing stronger than ever before. If she concentrated, Celestia could even feel the unicorn’s life force, hot, brighter than any mortal pony’s, and nearly blinding relative to the shrunken husk it had been just days before. It was wonderful.
It took a long time for the two mares to stop crying, but even when the last tears had finally dried, they both stayed where they were, Twilight with forelegs wrapped around Celestia, the princess’s great white wings shrouding her like a blanket. For a few minutes, they just sat there, soaking in the quiet. 
As Twilight lay her head, eyes closed, against Celestia’s shoulder, Celestia could feel her trembling softly. Maybe from emotion, but more likely, with exhaustion. Growing a new pair of limbs, not to mentions several inches in height, wasn’t exactly easy on a body. Though part of her wished to stay with Twilight forever, Celestia closed her eyes. With a light of her horn, and a brief flash of light, they were in Twilight’s room, with the brand new alicorn set snug in the covers of her bed. Twilight let out a small mewl of surprise, before quickly realizing exactly how tired she felt, and wriggling further under the covers. A little smile crossed over Celestia’s face as she leaned over the bed, and smoothed down Twilight’s mane with a hoof.
“Thank you.” Twilight murmured softly, a far-off  little smile on her face. “Thank you for everything.” 
As if it shouldn’t be the other way around. As if she wasn’t the one that Celestia should be thanking.
Celestia’s eyes softened. “Sleep well...Twilight.”
She doubted her student even heard her.
The library door shut with hardly a sound as Celestia stepped outside and spread her wings. The flight to Canterlot wasn’t exactly short, and she could have just as easily teleported to her chambers, but sometimes the simple pleasure of flying trumped convenience. In the cool, early morning air, with the wind rushing through her feathers and hair, it was easy, at least for a little while, to let her mind rest. On this occasion, however, she was barely two wingbeats into the trip, when trouble arrived, floating lazily on it’s back beside her, and grinning like a snake.
“Well, wasn’t that just adorable.” Discord cooed, twisting around so he was no longer upside down, and paddling his legs to propel himself through the air. His small, mismatched wings were folded neatly at his sides.
Celestia lifted her gaze away from him, to the horizon, and sped up significantly.
It was no use. In the blink of an eye, Discord was in front of her, this time inside a gigantic soap bubble.
“Celly, dear-” he began, voice wavy, and distorted through the shimmering film. Reaching out a claw, he drew a little circle on the inside of the bubble, and neatly tapped it out, where it tumbled to the earth below, and shattered like a pane of glass. “That’s much better.”
You could have cut yourself on his smile.
“I just wanted to congratulate you. Really. Well done! Good job! ” he stretched lazily, “Stellar scheming, on your part., I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes, and hissed. “It wasn’t a scheme.”
Discord widened his eyes, the bubble around him popping loudly. “Not a scheme?! Oh ho! Silly me…” He shook his head, a large yellow dunce cap materializing between his horns. “Here I thought all this cloak and dagger stuff implied it was some sort of... secret plan. You know...getting me to switch around some cutie marks, stir up some of my usual chaos, create a fake crisis that could realistically warrant an ascension, that sort of thing.”
Celestia clenched her teeth together. It had been a necessary falsehood, for everypony’s well being. If she thought there wasn’t enough time, if she thought Twilight might not last until the preparations were finished, she would have scrapped the smoke and mirrors to ascend her in a heartbeat. Things were just smoother with them, easier. Twilight would suffer less in the end.
“Now that I know that it wasn’t a scheme though. Well! I had you all wrong, Celestia!” Discord put a paw to his face dramatically. “Just imagine, me, thinking that you were some sort of lying, manipulating-”
Discord was swiftly cut off as he was muzzled by several bands of glowing energy. Celestia yanked his face very close to hers.
“Think very carefully about finishing that next sentence.” She hissed, teeth clenched.
“Fine. Fine! Alright!” Discord rubbed his snout sorely as her magic released him.
They flew in silence for a little while, the only noises the faint whistle of wind through Celestia’s wings, and whatever mode of locomotion happened to strike Discord’s  fancy that minute, including, but not limited to: Jogging in midair, lounging on a floating rug, turning himself into a kite, and pedaling through the clouds on a little broomstick while humming to himself. Celestia took a deep breath. Any second now...
“A real shame though...” Discord said slowly. “About Twilight’s friends.”
“I told you,” Celestia snipped coolly, “I have a plan for that.”
“Hrr--Scheme-cff!” Discord coughed loudly into his paw, before smiling unpleasantly at her. “Celestia, friend. You and I both know that returning the elements to the tree isn’t going to work. The damage has already been done.” He folded his arms, and grumbled. “Not that I won’t help you out with that act too. I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”
Celestia glared at him “It will work.”she said firmly, desperately. “Besides, what do you care? Didn’t you say the reincarnations would be soulless simulacrums? What was the phrase you used, “Empty flesh sacks with the faces of friends”? I remember that pretty distinctly.”
Discord paused, his face tightening into a frown. The face on the duck shaped life preserver that he was bobbing through the air in glowered as well.“I was wrong...it’s like...it’s just like she’s alive again.”
Celestia’s expression softened. “Fluttershy is a lovely girl, isn’t she? Really, a dead ringer for Pansy. They all are. A little different here and there, but with the same…” She waved a hoof vaguely, searching for the right word, “soul. I guess.”
“Yeah.” Discord said quietly.
“It would really be terrible,” Celestia continued, slowly, “Iif you didn’t stay reformed, if you went around making trouble. It would probably break her heart to have to see you in stone again, given how much she trusts you. Such  a sweet mare….You write each other letters, don’t you?”
Discord nodded.
“That’s nice.” Celestia's warm smile did nothing to thaw her eyes. 
The only noise from Discord came from his spontaneously deflating life preserver. He didn’t even try to reinflate it the entire way back to Canterlot.
She closed her eyes, and sighed. Everything was okay. Twilight was okay. Everything was going to be fine.