Chapter 2: The Midday
Celestia loved the air of the garden. She dared herself against speaking arbitrary words, but she felt the air was cleaner here than it was anywhere else through Canterlot. There were no ponies that frequented the grounds, no places of business that left items cluttered, no stagnation or rot that would leave vile scents, and certainly nothing but the finest flowers throughout all of her land. Simply put, she did love the air of the castle’s gardens.
It made the deep breaths she took easier to manage.
For nearly a minute now she prepared herself, taking deep breaths with fluttering eyes, hoping to control what little of her mind was still unprepared for this meeting. Even as she performed the action, she doubted it would quell her rouge thoughts. Always the small idea, the unlikely possibility, that something would unfortunate would come because of the events that were quickly approaching her.
The grass beneath her hooves was free of any dew, dry to the touch, but also soft against her coat. It was another pleasant facet of the garden, testifying to its well-maintained state. The air that flowed over her coat and through her partially extended wings also felt heavenly, though that credit was little deserved by the garden itself.
In the end, however, the diarch was well-aware how minute all the physical sensations she enjoyed would matter, at least for a time. Twilight was soon approaching, doubtlessly slowed by her own mind. It was no mystery to Celestia how the new princess worried herself over appearances, especially under her eye. But it was not a new trait to the Sun Princess, not after living for a thousand years, not after banishing three of the most powerful foes ever to stain Equestria’s pages of history.
She released another breath, letting her gaze fall to the kettle of tea and small cups in front of her. They sat on an impressively decorated table, a linen cloth as white as her coat and embroiled with golden suns lining the sides. Steam slowly rose from the liquid within the cups, cooling as the seconds trickled by. Celestia didn’t bother to count them, not when there was an endless amount of them ahead of her in life.
The conversation with the ambassador was a testament to her mind now. The entirety of the discussion had been the crystal pony speaking to her regarding the state of the Crystal Kingdom’s affairs while the alabaster diarch listened. To any pony in the hall, she appeared to have a focused gaze, listening intently to the ambassador’s words. To herself, however, she had only a passive mask of indifference.
While Celestia’s heart always held the concerns of her little ponies to the highest of regards, her mind kept turned back to the meeting now close at hoof.
When the ambassador spoke of small protests against the Crystal Kingdom becoming part of Equestria again, Celestia thought of Twilight’s astute mind, able to find the solution to the most complicated of problems.
As the crystal pony detailed Princess Cadance’s plan for quelling the fears of the ponies, still used to laws and rules a thousand years old, Celestia’s mind wandered to Twilight once more, who had gone through such a dramatic change once she had begun to make new friends.
And when the meeting was finally done and Celestia stood from her throne to bid the young ambassador farewell, thanking in for his work as he left, she was reminded of her farewells to Twilight Sparkle, leaving to start another portion of her life in another town.
Nearly every thought that Celestia had came back to the lavender alicorn, her and her journey through the stages of her life. From curious foalhood to enraptured mare, the pony was consuming Celestia’s thoughts, but the dairch could see little reason to be concerned with it.
She was happy with the memories made between the two, satisfied with the life that Twilight was leading, joyful to the loyalty the alicorn still had for the alabaster princess.
“Princess Celestia!”
And she was glad to hear her former student’s voice.
The joyful tone of her title and name earned the attention of the mare in question, turning her head towards the voice. She knew, of course, who was speaking before even laying eyes on the pony in question.
Twilight Sparkle stood just beyond the stone archway, with a smile on her lips, joy in her eyes, and wings extended outwards in excitement. Celestia felt a smile pull at her own features as the glow of her former student’s adoration sent waves to her.
“Twilight,” Celestia returned in a far more tame volume. “It is good to see you again.” The mare stood from her seat, walking the small distance needed to match the trot the young alicorn had. Twilight quickly rubbed her coat against the forelegs the diarch, an action that earned the embrace of Celestia’s long neck, holding the younger pony close.
The fibers of their coats mingled with one another, exchanging the heat from one to the other with perfect exchange. Celestia heard a contented sigh leave Twilight’s lips, complete with the inflation and deflation of her chest. The diarch felt herself perform the same action.
“Oh, you already have the tea served.” The young mare’s words caused a rumble through her form, lightly shaking the alicorn’s head. It was as good a sign as any to release the smaller pony from her embrace. Celestia rose her head upwards once more. It matched seamlessly with Twilight lightly backing away from her as well.
“Yes, I had it served the moment your arrival was announced,” Celestia easily explained as she returned to her seat. Twilight trotted the small distance necessary to round the table, taking her own seat across from the much taller diarch. “I wanted to have a private conversation with you, and that would require as few distractions as possible.”
“Thank you princess,” Twilight replied almost automatically. “That was very thoughtful of you.”
“Please Twilight,” Celestia raised her hoof as she spoke. “We are both on equal standing with power now. You are no longer my student, and I am no longer your teacher. We are now both princesses serving the kingdom, and I see you as one of the dearest friends that I have. ‘Celestia’ will do just fine.” It was difficult for her to tell if the heat coming from the smaller alicorn was from her admiring nature or the hot blush that forcing the blood to her head. She suspected the former, but couldn’t eliminate the latter.
“A-As you wish… Celestia…” Her name was spoken tentatively, like a grown mare testing her first fermented beverage. Hesitant, careful, but ultimately, satisfying. Celestia could see it was very similar to how Twilight was acting, as the smile that pulled at her lips was clear indicating. She returned it without any effort.
“Thank you, now,” the diarch started. “How have you been adjusting?” It was rather needless to detail just what needed getting used to.
“Well, it is still a little awkward.” As if to prove her point, her wings unfolded completely from her sides, extending at uneven rates from one another. “I imagined that using wings would be a lot like using your own forehooves, but having their motions match up with one another is difficult, and having them perform constant cyclic motions is even harder. I suspect it’s due to a lack of innate knowledge on how to fly, because, you know… I wasn’t born like this.” The comment earned another soft giggle from Celestia, a rare response from a mare of such high stature.
“I admit I saw your share of difficulties coming.” Celestia lighly spoke with a grin still pulling at her lips. “You would not believe the difficulty Cadance had controlling her magical influxes once she had become an alicorn, namely with controlling her own levitation spells. The maids were cleaning stains from the ceiling for months before she had proper control.”
The comment earned a shared laugh between the two, Twilight raising a hoof to her mouth to stifle the bubbling laughter. Celestia settled to simply let her head fall, eyes closed with an upturned smile.
“It is difficult,” Twilight spoke on, recovering from her giggling, “but Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have been more than helpful with managing them. I had no idea that they required so much… maintenance. Rarity even made sure to take me to the spa to get them cleaned the first time.” Celestia was starting to suspect that Twilight had eaten a good deal of tomatoes before she came here, because she was becoming as red as one rather frequently. “It… It didn’t feel like I thought it would.” Those few simple words sparked a teasing question in the elder alicorn’s mind.
“And what did it feel like?” She spoke softly, letting her eyelids fall to half mast as she leaned over the table. “Was it an… enticing feeling?” Twilight’s own eyes widened in abject horror.
“I-I… i-it… ah-” Celestia’s giggling tone slowly grew into hardly restrained laughter, her soft voice drifting through the air as she did so. It earned a hot blush from the newly-changed alicorn.
“I apologize Twilight, but it isn’t often I can tease a pony so easily. I do hope you understand.” The diarch knew she would. With the friends that Twilight had surrounded herself with, it was an impossibility that she was never teased before. If anything, Celestia had the mind to believe that Twilight was also one to tease.
“Oh… Oh!” The realization slowly donned on the lavender alicorn, her blush fruitlessly being beaten away as her hoofs moved to comb the fur on her face. It was one of the cutest ways Celestia had seen a pony dismiss her own embarrassment. “Well I… I…” A defeated sigh left Twilight’s lips. “I should have seen it coming.” Celestia’s smile was caught between victorious and amused.
“No pony can predict the future Twilight,” the alabaster mare spoke as she took a teacup in her magic, lifting the fragile dish with golden aura. “We may know events, we may know outcomes, be no pony can ever be sure of where, how, or what will cause them.” She took a slow sip of the hot brew, enjoying the sweetened taste as she did so. Sweet Spot always did know just what herbs to add.
“As much as I would love to speak more with you, Twilight, you did come here out of concern for something other than my humor.” The words sparked whatever portion of Twilight’s mind had short-circuited earlier.
“Oh yes!” The alicorn’s voice rose in excitement. “I was doing research on past princesses through Equesria’s history, and I found that you and Luna are…” Her voice trailed off and withered as Celestia raised her hoof. Said mare took a slow breath before speaking.
“Before we discuss what you came here for, could I ask you to entertain me for a moment longer? It has little to do with foalish teasing.” She suspected Twilight would be confused, and her suspicion paid off.
“I’m sorry, how do you mean?” The twisted ears of the alicorn were as clear as sign as her words that the elder diarch’s question escaped her. Celestia knew it would.
Celestia took a careful breath, enjoying the clean and naturally-scented air of the garden they were in. It helped minutely to ease her mind. But any small amount was an sum she desired.
“Twilight,” The alabaster alicorn began, carefully stringing her words in what she knew to be a long tale. “Can you recall for me the meaning of each element?” The alicorn perked up at the question, eager to be tested in her knowledge. It was just another trait of hers that Celestia found to be so endearing and so fun to watch.
“Of course!” The alicorn straightened herself before she continued. “Honesty is held by a pony that believes the goodness of others and faith that they will do what is right. Kindness belongs to a pony that seeks peace over violence and chooses to award the smallest of actions over scolding for harsh ones. Laughter is granted to a pony that is able to see the silver lining in all things, never believing that any situation is truly without hope. Generosity, as it is almost commonly known, chooses a pony that puts his or her own desires beneath the needs of others, always doing what is needed before what is wanted. Loyalty is the simplest of them, but still one of the hardest to find, as it belongs to a pony that would never doubt or turn away from a friend”
Celestia giggled softly as her former student finished her speech. It was entirely accurate and detailed perfectly, but did have the familiar air of being rehearsed. It probably was.
“I-I’m sorry Princess, did I make a mistake?” Twilight’s ears twitched as she saw heard the small bubbles of laughter from behind the alicorn’s lips. The alabaster diarch was quick to dismiss it.
“Not all Twilight, you were entirely correct. Forgive me if you will, but I simply found studied tone of your voice to be… memorable of your younger years.” A hot blush littered the smaller alicorn’s purple coat. It only served to extend Celestia’s smile. “Don’t pay much mind to it. I simply find enjoyable to remember past events. They help to remind you of your current goals.”
“Of course, the events of our past are the reasons for our current states of mind.” Celestia saw the quick fluttering of Twilight’s eyes; a trait the alicorn had seen her student express whenever she was in the act of remembering something. “But, as theorized by Bright Gem Stone, even ponies that have matching pasts will still have variant decisions in future events. It was published three hundred years ago, during…”
“During the research of the pony triplets and how ponies with matching genetic history display opposing to unconnected cutie marks.” Twilight gazed in awe up at her former teacher. Said pony smirked wirily at the younger mare, enjoying the pleasant sensation of warmth the adoring gaze offered her. “You are not the only pony who can read books, my dearest student.” The hot blush that ran across Twilight’s face was more apparent than any other trait about her. The lavender alicorn fought with her words for a moment before speaking again.
“I-I thought you said I wasn’t your student anymore.” Just as with Twilight’s eyes, Celestia could not miss the small twitch of her wings. It was a newer tell, but it was just as obvious to the alabaster alicorn as anything else.
“You are correct, but I can’t help myself sometimes.” A slow sigh left the alicorn’s lips. “You were my faithful student, and I have many… many fond memories of our time together.” Celestia felt her mind wander slightly, deviating from the conversation she was holding thus far.
“Time is such an odd thing, Twilight. So many ponies must bend to it, obey its whims and hold to its course. No pony can change time, and no pony may ever see the end of it.” The words may have been born of her wandering mind, but the statement Twilight made next was the one Celestia was waiting for.
“But you will, right? I mean, you and Princess Luna are both immortal.” Celestia had to force her cheeks to flex, pulling a small and blue smile over her alabaster features.
“And that is the question you came to inquire of, why my sister and I, ponies no different than you now, will live forever, while you will still grow old with the friends you keep.” Twilight nodded at the words, leaning over the table just a bit in anticipation. Celestia wanted to smile at the familiar habit of the alicorn, beginning back in the days whilst she was still a unicorn foal. But she could not, not until her message was spoken.
Taking one last breath, Celestia spoke her piece.
“It is because Luna and I are not ponies, not in the sense you imagine.”
Like glass shattering on stone, Celestia watched Twilight’s expression morph, changing into an expression the alicorn had seen only a few times before. The wide eyes, drooping ears, and quivering lips, they were all the alabaster alicorn needed to see to know that she had truly shocked Twilight to her core.
“I… I don’t under… I’m sorry princess but… I don’t understand.” And there was no way she could; Celestia understood that. There was no way the diarch could speak such revolutionary words and expect such instantaneous results. This was always going to be a conversation, not an announcement.
“I am not a pony Twilight,” Celestia spoke once more. “My needs and my life are different than yours, just as Luna’s. I was born not from a mare, but from an object. I was created not out of love, but from necessity. I am here not for the fulfilling of my goals, but for the assurance of your own.”
“So… so you are…” Celestia heard the fall in Twilight’s voice, accompanied with a bobbing throat and chocked tears. Celestia tried her best to ignore the sound of her falling heart.
“I am a spirit, Twilight. I am not a pony.”
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Hmmm.
Spirit, huh?
That... Makes sense, actually. I mean... They call Discord the Spirit of Chaos...
~Skeeter The Lurker
Huh. Ok.
Huh.
Well holy shit. In some sense, I can see this being hard on Celestia and Luna such as it is hard on Twilight. To know that you were created just for one purpose and not born for the sale of living. In a way, it probably weighs heavy on both their minds that the ones they love will pass before them because the fact that they alone are spirits and everyone around them is a pony with mortal lives. This must be one of the most difficult things she has to accept.
I think we probably all saw the Goddess reveal coming, based on the description and premise, though the execution - created, not born - is an interesting twist. Can't wait to see what the explication is for who or what created Celestia: a higher being, universal necessity, combined will of the gathered pony tribes focused through the Elements, aliens...?
MOAR
static4.fjcdn.com/comments/Somebody+call+the+sWAT+team+someone+just+broke+the+law+_ee96a5b72089d1478b85c02ec7d1451b.jpg
If you need to quell your rouge thoughts, you should spend less time around Rarity.
i.imgur.com/BWoQ9Mk.jpg
Not sure how you'd apply these to tears...
3356700 Description: What happened inside Twilight's head when Celestia revealed her true nature.
Great chapter!
3356784
It's always the aliens...
Alabaster alicorn syndrome.
Aside from that, it was good.
Damn, now that's a bombshell for Twi.
Hm, not what I was expecting but still this was very good. Though it kinda became awkward near the end.
I have seen a similar theory in a couple stories ...
)
The most notable one Celestia became immortal because she is the spirit of Mercy, Luna was the spirit of Justice and Discord is obviously the spirit of Chaos ...i guess the main difference is that if someone did not make the connection to that ideal that gives immortality they simply do not become an alicorn at all.
I cant wait to see how things develop ... Heck Twilight is pretty smart. I bet she (if anyone ) could find a way to become a spirit (if she really put her heart and mind to finding a way
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?
Well it does make sense, I suppose. Discord is the spirit of chaos, so why not Celestia and Luna? 
Hmm, I like that idea about Celestia's true identity--I can't wait to see where you take it
3356705
And yet Twilight is adamant that curses and zombies don't exist. If there's spirits, shouldn't there be ghosts?
Also, called it.
3356700
Indeed.
This -> “My needs and my life are different than yours, just as Luna’s. I was born not from a mare, but from an object. I was created not out of love, but from necessity. I am here not for the fulfilling of my goals, but for the assurance of your own.” is very strange.
That was... unexpected. Although this -> "I was born not from a mare, but from an object." confuses me somewhat. I hope this will be explained more, because there is then the question of what alicorns are and why Luna and Celestia look like them. Also, what's up with Cadence. I expect explanation of the following statement: “My needs and my life are different than yours, just as Luna’s." along with the rest. You just a huge wrench in the assumed nature of Celestia.
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
Uh... okay, so Celestia is a "spirit". So what?
Well, shit. I wasn't expecting that.
Color me interested, definitely looking forward to more.
Not sure why everypony's so stunned, really. Assuming she's the spirit of the Sun is hardly a stretch. Doesn't fit my own head canon, but it's not exactly a revolutionary concept.
Don't take that to mean I'm not enjoying this. You need to proof read a little better, but I'm not one to let grammar get in the way of a good concept. I'm just confused about all the shocked bronies.
3383967 Ah, you meant this chapter. Might I ask what's wrong with it?
“I am a spirit, Twilight. I am not a pony.”
Thirst thought:
A second later: Whaaaat!?
interesting take