That awkward matter of eternal life.
There was nothing quite like anxiety to get the heart going, Twilight knew. Striding up the familiar steps around Canterlot Castle, the alicorn did her best to keep breathing steadily. Something pounded in her head, though, and whatever it was, it had a friend with an iron grip on her chest.
Still, Celestia had agreed to the meeting, she’d cleared her schedule for her favorite student -- though after that business with Sunset Shimmer, Twilight wasn’t sure what that title meant, exactly -- and the magical land of Equestria was not being threatened by any ancient evils today.
At least, Twilight hoped it wasn’t. Ancient evils were sneaky like that.
The air in the palace halls felt warm and welcoming. The Royal Guard had members keeping an eye out up high, and they all nodded towards her in greeting and respect.
Twilight took another steadying breath. Mere days ago, she’d felled an ancient demon who had managed to escape the fiery clutches of Tartarus itself. She’d researched the matter afterwards, and as far as she could tell, escaping Tartarus meant jumping in a direction that couldn’t be pointed to. Or rather, falling upwards in a direction that couldn’t be pointed to. It was a relatively simple feat to open the doors and put a prisoner in, but the other way around was next to impossible for anyone who wasn’t a creature of chaos like Cerberus or Discord. Tirek shouldn’t have been able to escape, even with the guard dog distracted.
But escape he had, and that had left Twilight and her friends to clean up the mess.
Her train of thought stopped as she did, right in front of the door of Celestia’s throne room. One final, deep, steadying breath, and she went in.
The great white mare sat ready for Twilight, bright smile on her face as always. Two dark Royal Guards flanked the steps to her throne, as always. Twilight walked up and bowed in front of the Princess. “Hello, Princess Celestia.”
“Twilight, please, no need for that. After all, you are a Princess now, too. We are equals. You can just call me by my name now, especially after everything you’ve done.”
Twilight stood upright again. She hadn’t bowed since sprouting wings. Must have been the surroundings. “Sorry. Old habit, I guess.”
Celestia quirked an eyebrow ever so slightly. “Now, what did you wish to speak to me about, Twilight? You seem troubled.”
Twilight gulped. “I wanted to talk about my battle with Lord Tirek.”
“What about it?” Something shifted in Celestia’s voice. Twilight caught a hint of the same tone of urgency Celestia had spoken with regarding Discord, or the Crystal Empire.
She had to ask.
“Did you really give me all your magic to hide from him?”
There, she’d said it. A great weight fell off her back at last.
Celestia cleared her throat ever so gently. “I did what I thought was best, Twilight. I’ll admit I do not always make perfect decisions, but-”
“Not that,” Twilight interrupted. “I mean, did you really give me all your magic? You didn’t hold anything back? Anything at all?”
A sigh went through the room. “Guards, leave us, please.”
Without a word, the two stallions departed. Celestia stayed still as the grave until the sound of hoofsteps out the door couldn’t be heard anymore.
Celestia took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking. “I take it you noticed a discrepancy between what you assumed was my power and what you felt was my power?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I did notice. Or rather, I noticed it afterwards, when I gave it back.”
A shudder went through Celestia’s body, settling all the way at her wingtips. “And what part of my power did you find lacking, then?”
Twilight steadied herself. She had to take a deep breath for this one.
“Your immortality.”
The monarch let her head hang. “Oh.”
Twilight nervously bit her lip. “See, the funny thing is: I didn’t feel immortal. I was expecting something a little more substantial, something, I don’t know, different. Now, I know magic, I think I have some idea of what immortality is supposed to feel like, and I didn’t feel it. I felt more powerful, less vulnerable, sure, but I still felt mortal. I didn’t feel any different compared to my normal self, and when I gave it back, I didn’t notice anything like that passing on to you either. So that only leaves two options: either you didn’t pass on your immortality to me, or I was already immortal and I never knew it.”
Celestia rose up from her throne and led the way through the corridor. “Come, I have something to show you.”
Twilight cringed. “I hope I wasn’t out of line asking?”
Celestia turned and gave her a warm smile. “No, Twilight. As my equal, and fellow Princess, you have every reason to ask, and I promise you will not be punished. I just want to show you. Please, follow me.”
Twilight scampered behind her mentor to keep up with those big steps she took. As they walked through the palace, Twilight recognised their path as the one leading to the Canterlot Library, her former home, or rather, student home. She’d learned her trade as a librarian there, as well as most of her knowledge on magic. And it was where Spike had learned to fill in for the librarian when she was too busy. Spike had done a lot of learning in that field.
Celestia opened the doors and strode in. She didn’t even look back to close them once Twilight had entered. “First and foremost, I apologise for not telling you everything I should have when you needed me to. There have been times that I knew your future and knowingly withheld that information. I’ve been meaning to have this conversation with you for a very long time now, but I kept putting it off and you have had to suffer for it. For that, as one mere pony to another, I am sorry.”
“It’s okay, Your Highness. I understand.”
Celestia shook her head. “No, you do not, and that is my fault and my fault alone. However, we can discuss that another day, when there is nothing else weighing down on your heart.”
Twilight looked around. They’d entered the main hall of the library without her even noticing. Strange how the smell of books had become so familiar to her that it was the scent of home, of normalcy. It made her yearn back for her old library home, and angry at Tirek for his crime against literature. The view here was still nice, though, with those huge windowed walls.
“For now, let me just assure you that no, you are not immortal. You have not become immortal, you have never been immortal, and neither has Cadence. Myself and my sister are the only immortal alicorns in the world.”
Twilight felt the words hit her like a hammer. “Then… you didn’t give me your immortality when I fought Tirek?”
“No.”
“You let me fight him when he was immortal and I wasn’t?”
Celestia shook her head. “He was already immortal, Twilight, it didn’t make much of a difference. And if I recall correctly, I told you to stay away from him. You chose to fight to protect your friends, not because of anything I asked of you.”
“But then… you became mortal because of Tirek? Even for a little while?” Twilight winced at the very thought. Celestia could have died if Twilight hadn’t restored her powers.
Celestia sighed. “No.”
“But that’s impossible. You said Tirek would come after alicorn magic, that he’d drain you of your powers and then become too strong for anything to defeat him.”
A solemn nod answered her. “Yes, I did. However, you seem to be mistaking Tirek’s powers for something else entirely: he never had the ability to steal magical prowess. He could steal the mass of power, yes, and in order to perform certain feats he needed a certain kind of magic to feed on, but he never stole anypony’s abilities. He could steal mass, but he could not copy the material the mass was made of.”
Twilight nodded. “Steal the substance, but not the essence, I get that, but there’s just one flaw in that logic: I was able to raise the sun with your powers. I had the substance of your magic, and its essence. And I gave that to Tirek willingly.”
The great alicorn chuckled. “Yes, you acquired my abilities, because you are the Element of Magic. You could wield my power properly when it was given, Tirek didn’t have anywhere near your skills, as I’m told he found out the hard way. I knew I could trust in your skills to take over my responsibilities, that’s why I gave you my power in the first place. Tirek could only do crude things with the magic he stole. Did you not find it odd that he never used any of Discord’s magic?”
“Well, that did cross my mind, but that’s not really what I was worried about, Pri- umm, Celestia.”
“Then what was?” Celestia tilted her head.
As much as she wanted to remind herself she was Celestia’s equal, it was still hard to accept it. “You gave me all your magic, yes?”
Celestia nodded. “All of it.”
“But I didn’t become immortal because of that? Even for a little while?”
“No, you did not.”
Twilight felt her throat tighten. “Then I have to ask, if giving someone your magic doesn’t mean they get your abilities… doesn’t that mean you still gave up your immortality? If Tirek didn’t get it, then doesn’t that mean you put it where he couldn’t find it?”
Celestia let her head hang. When she raised it back up, she smiled. “I think it’s high time you learned the truth about my ascension, Twilight. No, I never lost my immortality, neither did Luna. The source of our longevity is not innate.”
Twilight felt the blood drain from her face. “W-wait. What are you saying?”
Celestia turned to look out the window overlooking Canterlot Park. “Seeing as we are… equals now… I have to ask, in your long and extensive studies of magic, did you by any chance ever learn about the field of, ah, necromancy?”
“You’re undead?!” Twilight half-shouted.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, then.” The great white princess rolled her eyes ever so gracefully.
Twilight hadn’t realised how much she’d backed up after that. She moved closer to the mare again, if only because she couldn’t imagine Celestia being a threat to her. Then again, the option of Twilight getting her brains eaten was now very much possible. “Umm, well, I have to admit, that’s a bit of a shock.” She sniffed the air. “You’re very well-preserved for a mummy that old.”
Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Who said anything about me being a mummy, of all things?”
Twilight shrugged. “Well, you said you were undead, and there aren’t all that many kinds of undead with eternal life. I just figured, you still smell nice, so obviously you’re perfumed and, since you are as, umm, tall and slender as you are, maybe not all of your organs are in the same place?”
The white alicorn chuckled. “No, Twilight, they are very much in place, and still working.” She patted her belly to illustrate.
“Sooo… you and Luna are wraiths, then?”
“Wraiths? Do I look like a wraith to you?”
“Not really, but that’s the point, isn’t it? I’ve seen Luna change shape, and she definitely looked like she was an astral creature at the time. It would explain the glowy things in your mane.” Twilight pointed up at those little star-shaped glittery things.
Celestia glared at her former student.
Twilight cringed. “You know, now that we’re being so frank with each other and all.”
“I suppose. But no, that is not because of any astral powers. Luna and I mastered transmutation on a very high level, she just uses it more often than I do.”
“So you’re not a nightgaunt either, then?”
Now Celestia was properly confounded. “What, pray tell, is a nightgaunt?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s like a shadow, only more evolved, and sharper. But if you’re not one of those either, then that only leaves one option.”
Once again, Celestia sighed. “I know this is hard for you to accept, Twilight, but believe me when I say it is not an easy thing to admit to, either.”
“You’re one of the living dead?” The purple mare took a careful step back, just in case.
“No, no, Twilight, that would be silly. I could never rule this land as a living dead. The very notion would be preposterous.” Celestia let out of her hearty chuckles that she reserved for the most private moments.
Twilight felt a load fall off her chest at that.
“The living dead are vampires. My kind is known as the walking dead, or trotting dead, but generally we prefer to be inclusive to all races.”
And there was that load again. “This is a joke, right? Like that time your pet phoenix got loose? You can’t possibly be a zombie.”
“I am, technically. Though I am considerably more powerful than the shambling undead that beset our city five hundred years ago.”
Twilight gave it some thought. “Wait a second, I think I see it now. You’re not a zombie; you’re a lich. You just couldn’t tell me because of your phylactery, right?”
“Well, it is an embarrassment, Twilight. I’ve ruled over this land for so long, the very thought that my life depends on a simple object remaining intact is… it’s demeaning.”
“But you are a lich, then? No tricks, no joke?”
Celestia mulled it over for a bit. “Oh, I wouldn’t know, to be perfectly honest. I suppose that all depends on your definition of the word. We really should agree on some terms here.”
Academic debate, that was something Twilight could wrap her head around. That would surely lead to some satisfactory answers with no unfortunate implications. She tried her best to remember the exact words from the few books she’d read on the topic.
Once she had all the pieces ready in her mind, she presented them. “A lich is an undead creature whose existence and lifeforce are bound to a book, called its phylactery. The phylactery imbues the lich with the ability to act as if it were alive, as well as a magical talent, the likes of which can only be acquired by linking one’s soul to the spells written in the book. They are, in effect, walking corpses with magical powers.”
A content smile settled on Celestia’s face again. “Right, then, that settles that. As you can clearly see, I am not a corpse. I eat and breathe and sleep, still.”
“But you still have a phylactery?”
“Yes.”
“Then technically, I think you do still qualify as a lich, actually. There were some theoretical cases presented by the Council of Eurepona when they banned all forms of necromancy… wait a second, if you’re undead, aren’t you technically breaking the law?”
“Of course not, technically. Necromancy’s been legal for centuries, it was one of my first acts as ruler. Of course, I did put so many rules about it in place that most ponies just can’t be bothered to learn it. But no, I am not breaking any laws by prolonging my life.”
Twilight rubbed her head, which was now, once again, throbbing. “Wait, I’m confused.”
With a mere thought and a gesture from her horn, Celestia brought forth a hot cup of tea. Twilight took a careful sip, before looking up. “You knew what I was going to ask when I wanted to meet you. You knew we’d end up here.”
“I told you, Twilight: I’ve been meaning to have this conversation for some time now.”
Twilight sipped her tea some more. It was the same she’d drank before every important exam, the same herbal mix that always calmed her nerves. “Why?”
“Look outside.” Celestia nodded her head towards the window.
Outside, ponies were enjoying yet another bright and sunny day. Colts and fillies were playing together, Earth ponies flying kites while pegasi flew next to them, and right near the pond Twilight spotted Moondancer reading stories to the local kindergarten children again. It certainly brought back memories.
“I wanted to apologise, Twilight, but most of all I wanted to explain.”
Twilight looked up. For some reason, Celestia’s seemed older than usual. Not that she wasn’t old to begin with, it was just better hidden most of the time. She always looked so vibrant and alive, it was easy to forget she wasn’t anywhere near as young as she looked. It made her moment of weakness look horrible in comparison.
“My phylactery, as you accurately assessed, gives me certain powers, and immortality is one of them. Premonition is another, as you may know.”
“It depends on what book you use, but yes, I did catch that in the literature.”
Celestia closed her eyes to bask in the sunlight for a moment. “I have visions of the future sometimes, but in the end they do not allow me to actually change things. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I think or try, in the end I am but a pawn in the grand scheme of things, not a player.”
“That’s not true. Look at all the times you stopped disasters from happening, even before I was born.”
Celestia smiled. “That’s very kind of you, Twilight, but the truth is… the truth has always been that the only way I can ensure my little ponies can live out their lives is by doing nothing.”
“Now you’re just being silly, Princess Celestia. Raising the sun every morning is hardly nothing.”
“Perhaps. But it’s certainly less than going out right now, right this very second, and burning down a hive of parasprites in the Everfree Forest. It’s less than going out towards the mountains near Ponyville, finding those Diamond Dog miners, and sending them straight back to their homeland with a stern warning. It’s less than imprisoning Trixie Lulamoon for what she did to your town.”
Twilight caught her breath. She almost dropped her teacup then.
“Oh, yes, I know all about those. I could do so much more, Twilight. I could make life so much easier, for every single pony in Equestria. I could have told you the entire truth of what little I knew about your destiny, about my sister, even Discord and the Crystal Empire, right up to Tirek, and it would have saved everypony so much trouble. And I am sorry I did not.”
Twilight finished her tea, and thankfully that was enough to keep her calm. “Then why didn’t you?”
The mare’s wings drooped, and the waves in her mane dropped, before rising again. “Because it is my place to protect the lives of my little ponies, and that is what I vowed to do. Not to change them, not to dictate them, merely to protect. And if I were to ever forget that, I’d become the very thing I’m trying to protect them from. I want you to be free, Twilight, all of you. That includes being free from my tampering. That is why I wanted to apologise to you especially: I have tampered too much with your life, and I’ve taken away your freedom of choice once too often. But I only did so because of what I saw, and I cannot say for certain what would have happened if I hadn’t.”
“Apology accepted, Princess.”
Celestia’s wings drooped for the briefest moment, before standing proud again. “It’s not enough to be forgiven, Twilight. I wish to make amends, and that means relinquishing my power over you. That is why I wanted you to know my true nature, and Luna’s. We both decided that you should no longer be subject to our designs, but get a fair say in our plans, as an equal. And we both want you to have at least a modicum of power over us as compensation for the power we exerted over you. You now know how I remain immortal. What you do with that knowledge is beyond our power.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I have kept it a secret for many years. Now you are free to with it what you will.”
Twilight thought it over for a second. “I think I’d rather keep it a secret, then. I mean, I’m not angry with you, or Luna. Sure, things changed kind of radically.” She unfolded her wings and gestured towards them. “And I didn’t always get a say in it, but… I’m still happy. I’m glad I got to do all the things I’ve done, and I’ll keep doing whatever needs doing to keep Equestria safe. I don’t see how revealing your secret would help that at all.”
“Thank you, Twilight. Now that we have that out of the way, I suppose you’ll want to go looking for it?”
Twilight let her cup levitate towards a nearby table. “Look for what?”
“My phylactery, the source of my power, well, the part of it that’s not innate, at least. The thing that is keeping me alive this very instant? Go on and look, you know you want to.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “You keep your phylactery in a public place? In a library?”
“I keep my phylactery safe. And, let’s be honest, Twilight, if you had a phylactery of your own, where would you hide it?”
Twilight looked around. Books littered the walls, the racks, even a few in chests. The hall was big enough to host a Wonderbolts derby, a fact which Twilight then resolved to never bring up around her friends, particularly a certain rainbow-maned one. There was no telling how many books were there, even for someone who’d lived there for years. “Well, I suppose the best place to hide a book is in a place full of books. And it does make sense to keep it in the last place anyone would look.”
Celestia let out a private chuckle. “That it certainly is.”
“But there is one tiny problem: this is a library. All the books are organised by topic. All anypony really needs to do is figure out what powers you get from your phylactery and which ones are innate. Sooo…” Twilight scanned those familiar bookcases. “I got the power to move the sun from you, so that’s innate. That means it’s not a book about astronomy.”
“What makes you sure it’s a book in the first place? How do you know it’s not the kettle I used to make your tea, Princess Twilight?”
“Ah, very shrewd, Your Highness, but I know the rules. Liches can only bind their souls to books. The process that binds their essence is the same as a hypersigil: it needs to be a work of art that they can pour their energy and soul into, a work of art with a dimension in time, usually their life story. Paintings can’t evolve the same way the written word does, and any mundane object would require an inscription, and that’s pretty much always too small to hold anything substantial. Besides that, books can contain any number of spells before they’re bound to the lich’s soul. Other objects can’t hold that many, or anything that complicated.”
“It could still be that silver platter over there,” Celestia teased.
“No, no, it’s definitely a book. I read the oldest book on the topic, and it clearly stated that only a book preserves the knowledge and essence of magic. A book is the only thing that can keep that information intact, especially considering how your body hasn’t decayed at all. Even if you managed to do it with a normal object, your body would start to decay after a few decades, and you’d look like a skeleton. The same thing happens if the book itself decays. No, it has to be a book in pristine condition, even after several millennia. That means it’s one that’s been treated for preservation, a real classic. So, I’m guessing, since you did mention premonitions, something in the scrying section, perhaps?” Twilight flew over to the section. When she poked her head out from between the bookcases, she was met with a shaking head.
“No, too easy. Somepony would have found out if it was as obvious as that. Something in the realms of science, then? Some of the older science books still had spells in them.”
Celestia smirked. “Warmer.”
Twilight flew back and forth from case to case. “Let me think… Ahah! Is it a book about gravity?”
The smirk grew wider. “Warmer.”
“Science, but not gravity, then. A history book, maybe? Something about the oldest forms of magic? You intertwined your life story with the history of magic, that’s why you could wield the Elements of Harmony.”
Again, that smirk grew. “Warmer.”
Twilight hovered in front of the history section. “Okay, so it has to be one of these…”
“Twilight,” Celestia called out. “Come down and I’ll give you a clue.”
Twilight rushed down to a smiling princess.
Celestia chuckled. “I do not keep my phylactery in the library itself. I keep it above the library.”
“Oh, you mean it’s in the attic? Very clever, if a bit dangerous. What if there was a fire?” It was only now Twilight realised that the book keeping Celestia alive had, for a few years, at least, been in the same building as a baby dragon who breathed fire when he sneezed.
“Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem. It is high above the library.”
Twilight looked up. “Oh, so it’s hidden in the roof? That’s very safe.”
Another chuckle, and Celestia leaned in to whisper. “Twilight, you misunderstand. When I say ‘warmer’, I do not mean you are getting warmer. I mean you need to think of something warmer.”
“Your book is in the roof, and it’s made of metal plating, then? That’s the only way a book can get hot without destroying it.”
Celestia gestured towards the sky. “Think bigger, Twilight. And much, much, higher.”
In the end, it really was in the last place Twilight would ever look, or anypony else for that matter, if they valued their eyesight. It was right where everypony could see it, but not in a place where everypony would look.
Twilight felt the blood drain from her face. “T-that’s your phylactery? But that’s the-”
“Yes, it is.”
Something in the former unicorn’s mind had gotten jammed. By the time it was fixed, she still couldn’t think straight. “But the book said all phylacteries were books. That is most definitely not a book. How does that even work?”
“The great thing about being a part of history, Twilight, is that you get to write history. I laid claim to my phylactery a long time ago, and while the powers it bestowed upon me were not quite what I expected, they did give me the opportunity to develop the ones I needed. And if you must know the mechanics behind it, let’s just say that if ponies ever figure out how to look at the surface of the Sun, they’d see some very interesting patterns in the flames. They’d almost look alive, even vaguely resembling ponies from my past.”
Twilight rubbed her head as that bit of information sank in. “So… Princess Luna?”
“Exactly what you are thinking of right now, yes. She learned to scatter her power over the stars, as a reserve in case she’d need it, but her life story is engraved on the dark side of the moon. Well, more like a movie made of cracks, actually. It’s much more effective if the art can move.”
Twilight would have asked another question, but thought the better of it.
“And as for Luna’s banishment,” Celestia started.
“I don’t need to know,” Twilight interrupted. “That’s personal.”
“Please, Twilight. I have seen you as a child, and as an adult I’ve seen you in your weakest moments. We are equals now, so I cannot deny you knowing my weakest moment. Do you not want to know, or do you want to not know?”
Twilight nervously dragged a front hoof over the floor. “I think I do want to know, actually. I still don’t understand how that happened, or why.”
Celestia smiled sadly and shrugged. “It’s simple, really: my sister was better than I was. She still is, you know, in many respects. She was stronger, more understanding, and she took upon herself duties that I could never take over. Unlike me, she always knew how to guide her little ponies without disturbing their lives. And yet I was the more beloved of us. There were many demons haunting her mind, some of them literal, even. She went quite mad, but not just with anger. The sadness, and the loneliness, that’s what did it.”
“I saw the fight between you two, in a vision. The fight where you locked her away. She struck you down.”
Celestia nodded solemnly. “The part of our power that comes from our phylacteries depends partly on how they are aligned. She fought me on the day I was weakest. And, as you know, either one of us can move both the Moon and the Sun. She was going to start an eternal night, just to harm me.”
Twilight could see the guilt welling up in Celestia’s eyes. There was one tiny, rebellious tear trying to break out, but the monarch held it back, still. It didn’t need to escape to be seen.
“You did the right thing, Celestia. Everything worked out in the end. You don’t have to feel guilty anymore.”
“It’s not guilt that plagues me,Twilight; it is fear. You have to understand, I trapped my sister in her own phylactery. I imprisoned her in the one cage I knew she could not destroy unless…”
The implications finally dawned on Twilight. “Oh.”
Celestia let out a private gulp as the very memory of what happened seemed to drag her down. “For a thousand years, every night I would reach out to the Moon to raise it, and for a thousand years, every night there would always be that one moment of terror when I couldn’t quite find it. It was my fault that she went mad, and it was my fault that she was not helped when she could have been. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d ended her own life.”
“Why are you telling me this? Just so we’d be equals? Did you tell Cadence about this, too?”
Celestia nodded. “I did. And the reason why I am telling you this is so you would know that if ever you should find yourself questioning your place, or your worth, know that you can ask me. I took away too much of your freedom, so now your happiness is part of my responsibility. Please, if something ever starts haunting you, let me know. Do not let it lie and eat away at your heart, these things can drag down even an immortal pony. There’s been more than enough suffering because of my foolishness.”
Twilight could almost see the images of Sunset Shimmer and Nightmare Moon in Celestia’s eyes. Then she realised those were just the ones she knew of. Celestia was immortal, she had had a lot of days to make mistakes, and a lot of nights to dwell on them.
“It’s okay, I will. I’m not going anywhere, Princess Celestia. Things can get rough, but I’m still okay with how things are. If I’m ever not… I’ll try to remember.”
The Princess smiled.
Twilight smiled up at her former mentor. “And, you know, since we are equals and all… that goes both ways. If you ever need a pony to just talk to about things you can’t discuss with Luna, like, Luna, I’ll be right there. I know I don’t have the thousands of years of experience, but, you know, every little bit helps.”
“That it does. Thank you, Twilight.”
“Your Highness!” A dark grey pegasus Royal Guard rushed in. “Trouble in Ponyville! Some kind of giant slug is eating all the floats for the victory parade, and all the salt has disappeared!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Guess I’m needed.”
“We’ll catch up some other time, Twilight.” Celestia winked at her former student.
“I’ll send a letter when I can!”
With that, she was off, the pegasus guard leading the way. The library was quiet as the grave.
“A giant slug? Really? You’re getting stale with age, Discord.”
“And you’re getting soft in your old age, Celestia,” the dragonequus appeared next to her, sipping some tea.
“Hmm, I have to wonder, how is making a giant slug eat the floats for a parade something a reformed dragonequus would do?”
Said dragonequus shrugged nonchalantly. “I only let it eat the ugly ones.”
The princess grunted. “What is it you want?”
“Want? Moi? Honestly, Celestia, I should think that after the horrors I went through, it should be obvious: I wanted to talk to a friend.”
The white mare let out a dejected sigh. Discord floated up next to her. “Does it really bother you that much, Celestia? I could just make that slug disappear, you know.”
“You mean you could send it back where it came from, making it someone else’s problem.”
“Tomater, tomato, Tom ate you, whatever.”
“In all seriousness, Discord, why are you here?”
“Oh, can’t I be here out of all seriousness?”
Celestia shot him a glare. It was the one most immortals had learned to interpret as ‘That vault of mine had more than one set of magical artifacts in it. Care to see what I’ve got in there now?’
Discord grunted. “Fine, be that way. I was actually wondering if now was a good time to finally introduce me to that friend of yours. What was his name again?”
“Hmm? Oh, Zack, right. His grave is right outside Trottingham.”
“Ah, it’s a dead friend. I’ll bring some flowers, then.” With a gesture, he conjured up some poppies.
Celestia rolled her eyes. “He’s a vampire.”
“Flowers and sunblock.” He brandished a bottle in his free claw.
Celestia sighed.
“Come now, what’s really bothering you, Celestia? You can’t just make a big speech to little Twilight over there about talking about your -- ugh -- feelings and then shut out one of the few immortals in this world who’s still on speaking terms with you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that I keep finding myself thinking, that’s all.”
“Thinking? Goodness, no wonder you’re upset. Only horses think, my dear: that’s why they have such long faces.” To illustrate, he pulled on his snout and deformed it to make him look like Big Macintosh with a goatee.
Celestia groaned. “Good one. Perhaps you should have used it last millennium, when it was still funny.”
“Psh, balderdash and gobbledygook. Are we going to see this vampire fellow or not?”
“Luna should be coming back from her covert mission any second now. We’ll leave together.”
Celestia looked up towards the sky.
“Oh, I see what the problem is now. You’re worried about your phylactery, aren’t you?”
“If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you be?”
Something flashed next to her, and next thing Celestia knew her horseshoes had eyes and mouths.
“What do you mean ‘if’? I am in your shoes, and I must say, Celestia, you’re far overdue for a hooficure. I know a very good spa near Canterbury. Royal quality, I assure you.”
“I’m serious, Discord. How would you feel if someone found the source of your power? Wouldn’t you be stricken with fear, even if it’s not a phylactery?”
Another flash, and he was next to her again. Discord sighed. “I suppose I would. I am sorry, Celestia, I really shouldn’t be poking fun at you when my time on this world can be cut off so easily as well. Still, at least I know where I’d end up if I did. But you, with the threat of death hanging over you? I honestly don’t know how you do it. Having your life tied to the sun, not knowing when some silly gang of rebels tries to cut off the ties to your immortality.”
“You heard about that, did you?”
“I did, and I must say, I think you handled that very well. Why, I’d have been just livid to think any family would spend three generations casting the same forbidden spell every day for eighty years. All that effort just to destroy you, and you’re not even as fun as I was!”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. Took me all day to undo it, too.”
“And that’s not even the worst of it. Not knowing if those sweet little ponies would still love you if they knew what you really looked like, I can imagine that’s stressful.”
“I beg your pardon? I do not need to hide my true appearance, Discord.”
Discord chortled. “If you say so.”
Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Just that? No witty response, no magic to distract or annoy me? No debate?”
“Now why would I go and do a silly thing like debating with you, Celestia? We both know nothing good can come of it.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Besides, everyone knows it’s pointless to beat a dead horse.”
The end.
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Wow, all that to set up that horrible pun? I applaud you.
5127194
Actually, that horrible pun was added last-minute. Originally there was a red dwarf/white giant joke, but then I realised the accuranazis would kill me if I got it wrong. So I went with the more obvious one.
Glad you liked, at any rate
Yeah, this is pretty much spot on how I've always considered the Royal Sisters.
Also, Discord, you are incorrigible.
5127334
She's not really the embodiment sun itself, but her soul is bound to it, at least. What that means exactly, depends what paradigm you're using. I leave it to reader interpretation on that front. And interesting and character is what I was aiming for, so that's worth a lot, thanks
5127346
So, if she uses a lot of power all at once, can it lessen the output of the sun? Is that why she doesn't just blast everyone?
Actually, never mind, drawing directly on the sun that way, even if she only used it in extreme emergencies, would be stupid. Just think if Tirek had gotten ahold of a nuclear furnace to power his spells.
5127351
Again, it depends on the paradigm being used. Word of God on that is: when it's a book, the spells intertwined with the life story become part of the caster's essence. That means the spells are easier to cast and boosted in power.
Given how it's set up here, I'd sooner say that the end result for an offensive spell is one that is fairly weak in and of itself, but never runs out of power, so perfect for attrition wars or sieges. Think of D&D At-Will spells vs the daily or encounter ones.
I just realised the phrase "I can keep this up all day" has a new meaning in this headcanon.
Keep in mind, though, the things granted by the phylactery and the things attained naturally or through practice are separate, that's the whole point. Everything Tirek stole was purely from the princesses, not their phylacteries. You'd have to drain a phylactery to steal all a lich's powers.
Well, that was enjoyable. Celestia certainly got a better deal out undeath than Sombra. Poor fellow. Necrosenility is always terrible to see, but sometimes the mind just doesn't do well, and one of those times is being trapped in incorporeal sensory deprivation for a millennium.
In any case, certainly a fascinating take on the royal sisters. Not necessarily one I agree with for general use, but still interesting. Thank you for it.
Good story, though early on when Twilight was asking about Celestia not passing her immortality to Celestia, I'm surprised she didn't come to the conclusion that giving Twilight her immortality would have caused Celestia to die. I've just seen enough times in fiction where an immortal character losing their immortality suddenly has their age catch up with them...
--arcum42
5127582
That did cross my mind, but by the time I fleshed out all the consequences for Celly and Luna, I was already in deep territory, I didn't want to bring in more references to death. Not that early in, at least. My main concern is that Twilight wouldn't think Celestia was set for a swift death because all the princesses were still looking fine after the power transfer. Besides that, if she really thought that, she'd have told the princesses to flee from Tirek, instead of taking the risk of dying from him stealing immortalities and killing them in the process.
Anywho, glad you like
Keep on Truckin's coming along one scene a day, so should be done by late December. Not counting the time needed to make cover art, because dammit, I want to make better cover art 
5127194
Agreed. Well done!
I now know more than I will ever need to know about liches. I'll file this away in case we run into library zombies in my D&D campaign.
5127692
quick tip, DnD liches don't have to use a book as a phylactery
So what if Twilight's phylactery was the element of magic?
Clever.
I would very much like to see a sequel.
I died again.
Dunno why, but I just really loved that whole scene with Celestia talking about Luna. Great mentions with the Stars.
But anyhow, this was a great piece on psycho-semantics. In this case making great use of DnD style demonology lore and crafting some wonderful and believable talks that explore the Two Sisters in a way I've sadly not had the pleasure of reading so well as this here presented it. Something the 'canon' book was sorely lacking in imo. I'm glad you tossed all that stuff out in favor for creating some kickass original headcanon here.
Glad to see this get made. It certainly managed to fit in certain themes while making it all about how those affect the ponies, and the pony world as a whole. How relatable some parts became and how others led to encourage the use of one's imagination.
I can't fully articulate how happy I am you managed to do what you set out to do with such class. I'm pretty impressed. Way to kick butt!
I for for always thought of their immortality in the way "Rick Riordan" wrote it in the Percy Jackson series. In the books he explained a god is immortal as long as people believe in their existence and what they represent remains intact. In the PJ books because the forests and wildlife were severely destroyed pan died, the only thing keeping alive if barely for awhile was the belief in his existence. With Celestia it is the belief of herself being a great immortal ruler and her connection with the sun; in this sense if you were to destroy Celestia or the sun, the other would go with them.
The reason why Discord is so scary is that that you can't destroy chaos since it is a fundamental force of the universe. This also applies to Cadence with love and Twillight with magic. The reson why Cadence or Twillight are not immortal is that they are in basic terms infants as alicorn and yet to fully understand and master their powers. I also believe that they are MANY times more powerful than they let on and not use their full power only because of the sheer amount of damage and casualties it would cause. In other words Celestia could have beaten chrysalis but would wind up destroying the entire castle and likely all of Canterlot.
With this logic I do not believe that Celestia or Luna are not Liches since if they were this would kind of apply to just about all other deities in the mlp universe and others as well.
I still very much enjoyed this story; I just wanted to say what I thought about the question of their immortality.
Great story, I hope to see a sequel if at all possible.
5127781
Based on the rules outlined in this story that wouldn't be possible unless there were some kind of microcosmos within the jewel that could then be manipulated to contain the necessary spell matrix. Which if that were possible with any object then it would be much more common for a phylactery to be on objects just as easily as books. However, since Twilight enjoys books so much it would make a lot of sense for her to have a more traditional one, but then her life is tied to the condition of the book.
For her to have something that would have the same longevity, size, and be as manipulatable as possible to allow for the spells to move and act as the sun does for Celestia. It would have to be something more akin to a planet, or even something more abstract that would allow some flowing movement that would go unnoticed by the populous.
What would be very interesting to see, but still not as good as the sun, would be a phylactery library. In which each book that enters the library is integrated into the phylactery and once a book was checked out it would then disconnect. Through this Twilight could have all of the knowledge that resides within her library, as well as any spells within existence.
In addition to these factors, since the library itself would be her phylactery it could be subject to her will and changes as well, so new wings and growth to accommodate more books would just appear to be an act of magic upon the library structure. On the shelves and walls behind the books could then be the spells and life of Twilight Sparkle, thus hiding it within plain site.
The last line of this was a thing of beauty, but the rest of it felt a bit uh... what's the word for it?
Like you vomited headcanon out all over the place? Or rather, vomited explanations for something, without actually putting a story around it.
It wasn't really a story, in that sense, as nothing really, ultimately happened.
5128017 I actually thought that Celestia's phylactery was going to be the library for a few moments
5128093
What happened was characters talking to each other about stuff. If that's not a story worth telling than I don't know what is.
All I thought of was the Walking Dead graphic novels/tv show.
And soulbounding to the Sun and Moon is what I think the Princesses did- though without the lich aspect, nice.
An interesting read, and awesome to see some rather unique headcanon on the subject. It is rather appropriate that I read this as the next chapter of my big, bloated fanfic is about to come out, because my next chapter has a small section addressing Celestia's immortality, too. However, it's a conversation between her and Luna rather than her and Twilight.
One thing that lost me, though, at least in the beginning of this fic, was the fact that Celestia's immortality was being referred to as an ability. Twilight thought that the immortality would pass onto her when she took Celestia's magic. As a premise, I was really shaky on it. I am not sure why Twilight would have thought that. Other than that, it was an enjoyable conversation that took a little bit to get rolling, but once it did, it was very interesting.
5128160
Well, I would be a terrible hypocrite to say that I can't enjoy this sort of thing - I often do - but this one didn't end up really pushing it over the top for me.
Maybe it was because it kept referring to undead out of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. I mean, Nightgaunts, really?
Clearly she's a demilich. I mean, Luna can turn to a bunch of sparkly smoke...
Goddammit. I spotted, from the comments, that there was a pun at the end of all this, but it still caught me by surprise and made me facepalm-laugh. It's so obvious, how in the world did I not see that coming?
I enjoyed this story immensely, though I think you could have gone without the disclaimer. A writer's work is just that, a writer's work. Let it stand on its own!
A good read that could definitely be a plausible answer to the princesses immortality.
One thing that stood out to me as being a little oddly put in was Celestia's claim that Luna is a better ruler/stronger than she is. Its not the first time I've seen it put in a fic and I'd honestly like to hear how you came about this idea?
Luna with a power boost as NMM with the intent to destroy Celestia shot her in the chest and then she fell from a good 50-75ft only to get up seemingly unscathed. NMM seemed to fully believe she had ended her sister as she didn't even bother to go and look. Only when all this had happened did Celestia finally decide to fight back. Celestia is obviously not unbeatable though seeing how a single shot from a love boosted Chrysalis was able incapacitate her (although this was probably meant to be a love conquers all type of thing.) Then there was an entire episode based on Luna understanding a situation where one was overshadowed by a sibling being better than they are.
My headcannon is that Luna is physically the stronger of the two seeing how she held the elements that coincided with RD, and AJ. Additionally I think she is the innovator of the two as she held pinkie's element whom has come up with crazy contraptions which would explain Equestria's somewhat stagnated technology. Celestia on the other hand is magically the stronger of the two seeing how she held the element of magic itself, Kindness and generosity are both traits which not only make a good leader but also tend make them beloved by their subjects which makes her the better ruler of the two.
You, sir, have a very good bit of head canon.
Bravo!
The story meandered a lot and I kind of missed the point. I feel like I missed a lot of the point of the story. Also, very good Discord ending pun. :)
Raphael...A Vampire.....In a European-based location (At least in name)...
...You play Soul Calibur V, don't you.
5128017 I...
I am going to steal this idea, and I am going to beat my DM over the head with it until she uses it somewhere.
My god, that is an amazing concept.
5128410
Too much of the body left. And how would they imbed a book into their skulls?
And at least he didn't reference the mohrgs. Although the princesses pretty obviously aren't...
5128017
...I must use this idea.
That is all.
The reason this is so popular and well accepted is the fact that it does something the show does not. It explains A LOT of stuff and the explanation makes sense. Espescially for those who have not read the comics or don't find the comics canon.
I have not read them but even if I did I probably wouldn't find them canon.(Emphasis on probably)
Though I don't particularly want this to be true, I still like it very much.
***SPOILER***(The part about Tia being a lich, but of course it still makes sense. I always criticize this in the show or in fanfics that don't accept or agree with the idea that Celestia has some sort of permanent connection with the sun. Same for Luna with the moon.)***SPOILER ENDED***
So I applaud you in this great fanfic with great writing. Have a Like and Favorite.(I already liked, I was the 450th. But i'm commenting and favoriting this now.)
That was really interesting; I'm used to the idea of Celestia and the sun being so interconnected to kill one means the death of the other, but this is a great explanation of the mechanics behind that idea.
And let's be honest, Liches are always cool.
One thing does bug me however, it's stated Liches change appearance based on the condition of their phylactery yes? So, since her's in the sun is she constantly, but slowly getting smaller as the sun fuses it's elements into larger elements? Also, I have to wonder if she'd technically die if the sun supernova'd/collapsed. Technically it still exists, but it changes shape into something new. Does she continue on in a new shape, or does she die? And if she does continue on in a new shape, can she only be destroyed by a black hole since they're theoretically the only things that can destroy information?
As a GM, I want to slap Celestia for power gaming so hard right now.
5128858 The Sun is her phylactery
Ps. Liches are best undead.
tia better start nosing into the goings on in House blueblood
Headcannon accepted. faving and up voting now.
5128922 Yes, but that doesn't exactly answer any of my questions.
5129007
1:Yes they change with their owner.
2:I don't know if she would get smaller actually.
3:Yes she would die along with the thing she has connected too.
4:If the Sun changes instead of dieing she would too. BLACK HOLE TIME!!!
Sun as a phylactery - Celestia certainly qualify for a munchkin ;)
-----
Nitpick:
Myself and my sister are the only immortal alicorns in the world.
- "I and my sister are" or if emphasis is needed something like: "Only I myself and my sister are " ?
Then… you didn’t give me your immortality when I fought TIrek
- (tiny tiny typo) Tirek
Then you’re not a nightgaunt either, then?
- maybe remove/change one of "then"?
How is Rarity being enslaved by diamond dogs more free than Rarity not being enslaved by diamond dogs? I mean, I guess if Celestia doesn't give Rarity the choice she'll be a little less free, but she didn't give Rarity the choice.
If Celestia doesn't want to have power over the ponies, shouldn't she abdicate the throne?
Why isn't Lichdom more common? I find it difficult to believe that after a thousand years she couldn't convince the ponies that it's not good to kill somepony for trying not to die.
5127759 thx
I like this! I totally want to steal this concept!
But you did it better than I would've. . .
5127880
As did I
I read this, and even with Discord showing up I didn't see this coming.
Is it bad that the ENTIRE time i was waiting on twilight to talk about magic to celestia as being what the entire world is written out of just like a giant book....
5129007 i would guess yes. she would be killed by a technicality, as technically the Sun exploded, which would mean that it was destroyed. one must be careful when becoming a lich, as phylacteries are very fragile. anything that could technically be seen as destruction would end the lich connected to it, else a gem that was shattered would still hold his soul in the fragments, or melting Sauron's Ring would mean nothing. (it would have just changed it's physical state)
and that is why Sauron made absolutely sure his phylactery (The One Ring) could only be damaged in the very heart of his domain, and had a built-in system to prevent people from wanting to destroy it. that's right, Sauron was a lich, just think about it.
That end pun.
Brilliant and painful, you magnificent bastard, you.
Don't quite agree with her being undead of any stripe, but meh, it works for the story. And it's nice to always see some good ol' fashioned friendshipping between Twilight and Celestia. Lord knows I wish the show had some of that.
Good jorb, have a thumbs up, and a cookie.
5129098 First of all, in all aspects of lore that include it, Lichdom is only attainable after a lifetime of research and practice, and only by beings of extraordinary power. So unless you have a level of power equal to or at least close to Twilight, for example, you're not getting far.
Next, like it was stated above, you need a decent phylactery, one that won't decay after so long. The reasons are already stated in the book.
Finally, just think about the aspect of living for so long. That alone is enough to discourage most from trying. No one is meant to live forever. The only reason Celestia and Luna did was because they have dedicated themselves completely to helping Equestria and every pony in it.
5129518 The lifetime of research could be decreased significantly if they had schools for it. They don't all need to work it out from scratch. Power would be more difficult, but I suspect they could figure out a method with enough time. They might make it more efficient, use an artificial source of magic, find some kind of drug to increase magical ability, use eugenics to increase magical ability (eventually), etc.
It's not hard to find a phylactery that lasts longer than a pony, which is the minimum to make it extend your lifespan. The books in the Crystal Empire still seem fine, so they apparently have the capability to make books that last over a millennium.
If you get tired of living, you can always destroy your phylactery. I don't think that would be a huge problem, though. We may not be meant to live forever, but we are meant to try.
That's not necessarily true. She could be a Jew.