The Ponyville hospital was slowly recovering.
It had been four days since Ponyville’s latest disaster, and for two of them the Hospital had been a blur of activity. With several guards, Andrew, and Princess Luna all in critical condition, and with the six elements of Harmony battered and bruised, the small town hospital had to call in doctors from Canterlot to assist with the sudden increase in patients, and keep up with the regular day to day. Now, four days later, with the critical patients finally stable, the on loan doctors gone, and the elements discharged, the hospital was slowly resuming its normal pace, not including the frenzy that occurred during the frequent visits from Princess Celestia.
“How is she?” She asked one of the nurses assigned to Luna. “Any change?”
Luna lay unconscious on the hospital bed, her face bandaged. She breathed steadily, the blanket that covered her rising and falling to match. The morning sun cast shadows in her room, slowly lighting up the room.
“She is still stable Your Highness.” The mare answered nervously. “Princess Luna is beginning to slowly recover from almost complete magical exhaustion. Mana scans show that she may wake up in a day or so. Her other injuries are healing on course with the information we received from her personal doctor in Canterlot. Would you like me to get the doctor? He could do another scan now for you…?”
“No, that’s alright.” Princess Celestia responded, shaking her head as she watched her sister breathe slowly in her bed. “Thank you my little pony. If there is any change I will be in Andrew’s room. I believe Twilight is waiting for me.”
The nurse nodded, turning back to Luna’s bed. Princess Celestia left the room slowly, pausing to look back at her sister before entering the hall. She crossed it, heading to a nearby room on the other side, pushing the door open. Inside lay Andrew, Twilight Sparkle sitting on a chair in the corner. The unicorn turned to the door as Princess Celestia entered past the assigned nurse, her eyes lighting up as she saw her mentor.
“Princess Celestia!” She greeted, her eyes lighting up. “I’m glad you’re here, I have so many-“
“Questions, I know my student.” She finished with a small smile, walking further into the room. “I’m sorry if I have kept you waiting.”
“Oh, it’s okay.” Twilight assured her mentor. “I know you must be busy with everything that’s happened.”
“Indeed I have been.” Princess Celestia agreed, before turning her head towards the door. “Nurse? Could I have an update on Mr. Dike?”
“Of course Your Highness!” The nurse said, rushing to the princess’s side. “Mr. Dike is still in a coma, with no signs of when he will wake up. His injuries are set and bandaged, including his seven broken ribs, the small hairline fractures in his left femur and another hairline fracture on his right tibia. His muscles are slowly healing, including the torn ones that we repaired yesterday.”
“What about the burns on his chest?” Twilight asked meekly. “are they okay?
“Well the burns on his chest show no signs of infection, and should heal fine. However, those burns, as well as those on his stomach are magical in nature, so the scarring will most likely be permanent.”
“Oh, okay.” Twilight nodded sadly. “Thank you.”
The nurse nodded and turned back to Princess Celestia, who nodded in return.
“Thank you nurse. If you don’t mind I would like a private word with my student.” She explained. “We will alert you if there is any change.”
“Of course Your Highness.”
The nurse turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. Once it had clicked shut, Princess Celestia turned, her eyes back on Twilight.
“Before I begin, are you sure none of your friends would like to hear this as well?”
“Applejack might want to.” She admitted. “But I can explain it to her later. Rarity and Pinkie Pie are still at home recovering, Rainbow Dash is to cool to admit she is curious and Fluttershy doesn’t really know how to behave around Andrew right now.”
“Very well.” The princess agreed with a nod. “Then before I begin…”
Princess Celestia’s horn glowed, a golden mist expanding from the tip. It flowed out to all four corners of the room, sinking into the walls, windows and door. When she was finished, she sat slowly into the only other chair in the room.
“Was that a muffling spell?” Twilight asked.
“Indeed it was, I’m impressed, though not surprised you recognize it.” The alicorn said with a small smile. “What I am about to tell it is one of Equestria’s best kept secrets, one that has stood for hundreds of years. I need you to promise me that, besides the other elements, you will not whisper a word to anyone.”
“Of course Princess, I would never betray you.”
“I know my precious student, but revealing this secret is not just about my trust. I had to ask many others to trust you and your friends as well.”
“Others?”
“Indeed.” The princess responded simply, watching her student closely before beginning again. “Twilight, what do you know about the Holy Blood theory?”
“It’s an old crackpot theory, spearheaded by Nickle Tesla…” She answered, looking confused. “The All-Mother gifted ponies with great gifts and talents…Why?”
“Well, to put it plainly my student, he wasn’t entirely wrong.”
“But… You always told me he was crazy, that he was a kooky old stallion who liked being right even if it meant bending the truth.”
“And for the most part that is true. He was an ornery pony, and had a habit of taking maybe for yes and no for a cover up.” The white alicorn explained with an annoyed look as she remembered a long passed thorn in her side. “But Holy blood, or the All-Mothers Children, as we liked to be called, absolutely exist.”
“We?” she asked, her mouth dropping open at her mentors last line.
“Yes. But perhaps I should start from the beginning?” She asked, starting again when Twilight nodded. “A very long time ago, before I was born, before ponies even existed, there were only dragons. They lived at peace with the world, living to exuberant ages before passing on, becoming the bones of what have since then become the world’s largest mountains. But as you know, dragon magic can be almost as wild as untamed magic.”
Celestia paused now, standing from her seat and walking to the window. She looked out it, watching her little ponies walk along the paths that ran from the hospital back to town, before beginning again.
“Over time, it became clear that many dragons feared passing on. Their greed for riches, the will to live was too strong. Many dragons strong in magic lived thousands of years longer than they were meant to, their wild dragon magic answering there deepest desire. To live forever.”
“Forever?” Twilight asked. “They were immortal?”
“It certainly seemed that way.” Princess Celestia answered. “But such prolonged life was dangerous. Souls are meant to pass on into the ether, keeping them here can twist them, foul even the purest of intentions. They tilted the balance, and the All Mother saw this. She knew she needed to do something, but she wasn’t sure what. She detests interfering directly, as she values our free will over all else. So, instead of fixing the problem, she chose two dragons and gave them the power to fix it themselves. The first of the All-Mothers Children.”
“What kind of powers did they have?”
“The powers of Life and Death. Death was charged with ensuring that unnatural magic did not end the lives of innocent dragons before their time, while Life was tasked with making sure that powerful dragons did not greedily hoard more life then they were given.”
“Life… And Death?”
“A daunting concept, I understand.” The alicorn agreed with Twilights unspoken question. “One that I found quite scary when I was first introduced to it.”
“Have… Have you met them?” Twilight asked, her mind still reeling.
“I have visited where they sleep. They entered a deep slumber long before I was born.” She answered, turning to once again look at her student. “Not entirely uncommon for some of my older brothers and sisters. But they are still alive, and if they were needed they would wake.”
“Oh.” Twilight nodded, slowly processing what she was learning.
“Should I continue my faithful student?” The princess asked. “I’m afraid this is only one part of the story.”
Twilight nodded quickly, reeling but eager to learn more. She mentally kicked herself for leaving her notebook and quills at home.
“Eventually, The All-Mother began to create again, breathing life into a world previously only inhabited by dragons. I know you know the story, I remember assigning an essay to you about it.”
“Yes Princess, the story of creation. She created the wildlife of the world, filled it with beautiful nature. She saw the world and was sad that no pony was enjoying it with her, so she created the three pony tribes, gryphons, the Zebras and all other sentient creatures.”
“Very good, and all exactly right. She created us to enjoy the paradise she had created, wanting to share in the wonder with us.” She agreed, explaining further. “But with each species came new problems. Once again magic was being twisted by emotions, doing things that where unnatural, throwing off the harmony of the world. So once again she chose among the sentient creatures her Children, giving them small portions of her power so that they might solve the problems themselves.”
“Portions of her power?”
“The powers of a goddess.” The alicorn explained. “Incredibly small fractions of her power, put pieces all the same.”
“D-did it work?”
“All in all, yes. There were hiccups, and catastrophes, but overall yes.” The princess answered. “Though you must understand, my sister and I are at large, exceptions. The vast majority of us are only needed once every dozen or so years, to rebalance smaller accidents.”
“So, you being in charge of the sun, and Princess Luna being in charge of the moon was…?”
“A responsibility given to us by the All-Mother.” The princess responded, nodding her head. “It took a very long time to get used to.”
“I can’t imagine…” Twilight murmured. “Are all… Children of the All-Mother as powerful as you and Princess Luna?”
“It depends on how you define powerful. The powers and responsibilities given to us vary greatly from pair to pair.”
“Pair to pair?”
“Yes, each Child is created in pairs, to maintain balance and harmony. I was getting to that.”
“Sorry.” Twilight squeaked, blushing. “I’ll be quiet.”
“Don’t worry Twilight Sparkle, I know you just can’t help but be curious.” The princess explained with an affectionate smile. “Each Child is part of a pair, two halves of a whole. Opposites that keep the balance, keep the other in check. Luna is my opposite. When the world is thrown off balance by greed, by magic or by sheer accident, the Children responsible for that balance steps forward and restores harmony.”
“Why… Why is this a secret?”
“Because despite being bestowed with an immense responsibility, many of my brothers and sisters are simple ponies, who only wish to live their lives in peace. Imagine if the whole world knew you were capable of sending a pony back, or even forward in time, with no side effects or limits. Would you ever get a moment of peace?”
“I-is that possible?” Twilight's eyes widened at the mention of time travel. “I mean…”
There was a slight twinkle in Princess Celestia’s eye as she smiled at her student. She walked to her, and patted her back with her wing.
“I won’t say anything to that, though I will say that a very close friend of mine may or may not have been cursing your name not too long ago, I believe it was around a Tuesday?”
Twilight bit her lip and nervously looked away, trying her best not to look guilty but failing.
“It’s alright my student. My friend assures me no harm was done, though I should suggest you try your best to forget that particular spell.”
Twilight nodded, embarrassed but reassured by her mentor. Eventually the lavender pony met her gaze again.
“How many are there?” She asked.
“There are a dozen or so pairs awake.” Princess Celestia answered. “it has been awhile since our ranks have grown.”
“Grown… you mean Andrew is…” Twilight asked, clearly not believing what she was being told. “But he isn’t even from here.”
“I won’t pretend to understand how the All-Mother chooses her children, only that she does.” The motherly alicorn explained. “And she chose him.”
“So that’s it? He is destined to be a… a child of the All-Mother?”
“Someday, yes.” Princess Celestia answered again, this time holding up her hoof, Twilight shutting her mouth before her next question could come out. “Perhaps I could explain further?”
Twilight nodded abashedly, sitting back in her chair, her lips pressed tightly together as if to hold her questions inside herself with pure force. Princess Celestia nodded back to her student before beginning again.
“When a Child is chosen it happens immediately. They carry the spark of divinity, a piece of the All-Mother inside them. But it has yet to turn into a flame.” She explained, beginning to pace. “This process takes decades. Their body changes slowly, over time until they are ready to inherit their gift, their responsibility. From then they are taught how to utilize their gifts, the rules it dictates and how to resist the temptations it will offer. By this time the flame has been born, and they become full-fledged Children. Andrew manage to skip all of those stages, and now he is paying the price.”
Princess Celestia walked to Andrew’s bed, using her magic to adjust his pillow slightly before turning back to her student.
“The runes on his chest, the ones you burned off, they were called Tiwaz. He bears it on his cutie mark.” Celestia paused. “Once, it represents justice. Repeated twice, at the angle he carved them, they invoke something different.”
“What?” Twilight asked softly.
“Punishment. The pulling down of the scales, to even them until harmony of justice is reached. That is what Andrews charge will someday be.” She answered. “And it’s what nearly killed him, it’s why he is in this coma. His body, soul and mind was not ready for that power, will not be ready for many, many years. The flame of full blown divinity burned through all three, mind body and soul, every second that he possessed it. The runes that you burned held onto the flame, if you had not destroyed them he would not have survived.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” Twilight asked, after a long pause.
“Well, eventually he will wake up. He will be weak and confused, and most likely angry for being lied to, mostly by me. Given time, he will recover to his full strength. And then he will pass that. Over the next thirty or so years he will get stronger and stronger. Someday he will be ready to bear his gift, but for now he is only Andrew, Ponyville’s human.”
A silence stretched over the two, both of them watching the humans slow quiet breathing. Eventually Princesses Celestia looked away, to her student, watching her instead.
“Why was he so different? The lavender unicorn asked finally. “He was so cold, and brutal. I-I’m not sure that Trixie her deserved punishment either…not after what she has been through.”
“I think there is a very large chance that Andrew will agree with both of those statements.”
“Then why did he do it? Why was he like that?”
“I can’t know for certain.” The alicorn answered. “But my guess it has to do with his sudden introduction to his power. I was not joking when I said there was a temptation involved. Each pair has rules, each pair has different twists and guides, different responsibilities and gifts. But they all share a want, a need to fulfill their jobs. Andrew just wasn’t ready to deny punishment to somepony, even if they had suffered enough at someone else’s hand. In all truth, we are lucky he resisted the urge to punish the whole town of every misdeed and law its citizens have broken.”
Silence once again ruled the room, the two mares sitting together, both of them watching Andrew’s bandaged face. Eventually Princess Celestia stood, her wings rustling before tucking themselves back into place.
“I know this is a lot to take in my faithful student.” She said sympathetically, pausing a while before starting again. “I need to tend to some things around Ponyville before I return to Canterlot for the rest of the day. We can meet again, in your library before I return home. Beyond that, if you have more questions, feel free to send me a message through Spike, I will write back as soon as I can.”
Twilight nodded mutely, her eyes not moving of her friend. The Princess walked past her, hoof on the door handle when Twilight spoke again.
“Andrew… Who is his partner?”
Princess Celestia turned back to face her student, a sad look in her eyes.
“We don’t know. We have been looking but so far… we have found none. It should have been someone close, a few of us think that it was meant to be his sister. But we don’t know where she is.”
“Alice? Is she here? In Equestria?”
“If she is… we haven’t been able to find her.”
Twilight nodded, turning her head back to Andrew. Princess Celestia gave one final, long look at her student, before opening the door and leaving the room.