Dreaming
They were both nervous.
It was palpable, that nervousness. It was the sort of feeling one felt on the eve of a test, or the day before a wedding, the aching knowledge of some potentially important change in the world right around the next corner.
Twilight and Celestia handled this in their own way. Specifically, by pretending it didn’t exist.
Celestia mused that they were like each other in this and in other ways. Up to a point, Twilight would panic and cast about for some immediate response. But beyond that point, she simply filed the problem away and pressed on in defiant ignorance of it. Celestia did the same. Some problems could be solved and should be solved. Some problems weren’t so much puzzles as they were solid, mildly frustrating realities, and the best answer was simply not to be too dismayed about them.
So they found themselves together on Celestia’s wide bed, with a bit of space between them, each with their own book. It was quiet, peaceful, and absolutely a facade.
Celestia wasn’t bothered by this. If anything, she was relieved that Twilight’s silent freaking-out gave her space to do her own swift, quiet panic.
It would be alright. Luna wouldn’t have assented if she thought even for a second it would not be okay. Right? Celestia felt like that was a sure thing. She hoped it was.
And it wasn’t bad. It was just…
She shook her head, and on impulse shifted closer to Twilight.
Twilight looked up at her, smiled, and then leaned in. Celestia nuzzled the top of her head gently and hummed. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Twilight said softly. “Your sister is a very strange mare, Celestia.”
Celestia chuckled. “She can be, yes.
Twilight continued, still nuzzling into her side. “But she told me that you’d never let anyone but her visit. I guess I hadn’t really thought about it, but… that’s both… it’s like…” she sighed. “It’s both wonderful and a little intimidating. I wonder what it will be like.”
“She probably made a point of telling you how dull I am.”
Twilight giggled, and Celestia felt it against her side. “Yeah, she did. A few times.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Typical.”
“What do you say it’s like?”
Celestia hummed. “Reasonable,” she said after a moment before resting her head on Twilight’s mane. “I happen to think that my court is reasonable. It makes sense. Coherent and compact. My court is a structured one, where all things happen in decency and in order. Or, so I would like to say.”
“Hm?”
The Sun’s shepherd could not help but smile at how soft Twilight’s voice grew as she began to inch towards the oblivion of sleep. “It has been rearranging itself of late.”
Twilight stirred, but only to stretch. Her book floated away to land neatly on Celestia’s bedside table. “So they change?” she asked, after a yawn.
“Indeed they do.” Celestia kissed her head, and Twilight stiffened slightly.
It was vexing. Not intolerably so, but annoyingly so. She was not quite sure how to be with Twilight yet. Celestia had had many lovers. She knew the ways of two dozen intimacies, each unique, and yet Twilight was an enigma. Of course, they had all been, at first. Love’s glory was also its central problem: there were two ponies involved. What did Twilight like? What did she dislike?
Perhaps Twilight sensed her hesitation, for she shifted onto her back. Celestia looked down at her, and wondered if Twilight’s flushed face mirrored her own.
“Why’d you stop?” she asked.
Celestia smiled and kissed her forehead. “I wish we had longer stretches of time to ourselves,” she said. “It is useful for figuring each other out.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, propping herself up.
“Well…” Celestia slipped in swiftly and kissed her on the lips. Twilight’s flustered, surprised reaction was predictable, but still highly enjoyable. Celestia pulled away, and allowed herself a smirk. “Like that, for instance. Sometimes, I wonder if I have been too slow. Sometimes I wonder if I move too fast.”
Twilight looked away for a moment, and then back to her eyes, grinning sheepishly. “I guess I’ve just been following your lead. You’ve… I mean, you’ve done this before. You have way more experience with, uh, this.”
Celestia chuckled to herself. “In a way. Shall I ask you a question, then, Twilight?”
Twilight hesitated, and Celestia couldn’t help but enjoy the sudden shyness around the edges of her voice as she answered. “I, uh… of course.”
“Do you like it when I do… this?” She leaned in and nibbled on Twilight’s ear.
Twilight gasped, and let out a little whine, and Celestia almost forgot herself. She pulled away again. “I’ll take that as a yes. But what if I were to, oh, I don’t know…” She paused. “I wouldn’t want to scare you off,” she said lightly, laying down on her back with a laugh. “My sweet, sweet Twilight.”
Twilight filled her field of vision in an instant with the most precious indignant look. “You can’t scare me off! I’m not a foal, you know!”
Celestia huffed. “I never said you were.”
“Well…”
“Alright, alright. Tell me, how do you feel about chains?”
“W-what?”
Celestia laughed, not just a chuckle but a deep belly laugh, and turned her head before Twilight’s blank confusion could send her into further peals of laughter. “Forgive me! Forgive me, Twilight, but I had a lover once who enjoyed such things.”
“Oh my gosh… You can’t be serious.”
“Chains!”
Twilight blanched. “Oh stars.”
Celestia composed herself. “I assure you, it was far nicer than you’re no doubt imagining.”
“Ah, no. I mean… I wasn’t… I…” Twilight shook her head. “I didn’t, ah… I didn’t say… Oh, stars, now I’ve forgotten how to speak.”
Celestia giggled and nuzzled against her girlfriend’s cheek. “Sh, none of that. My point was that every pony is different. We do not like the same things, and we are not the same.”
Twilight nodded, covering her face partially as if mortified. “I understand. I mean, I think.”
Celestia settled down. “Come lie with me? You seemed to be growing weary earlier.”
Twilight nodded, and they laid close, Twilight safe and comfortable as Celestia curled up around her. Celestia laid utterly still at first, only moving to ask Twilight softly if it was alright if she played with her mane, to which she was told yes--it was very alright--and her horn glowed softly as an invisible thaumic brush ran through Twilight’s mane.
“What were you reading earlier?” Twilight asked.
“An old volume. Laurel Leaves’ Georgics, in fact. Have you read it?”
Twilight shook her head carefully. “I haven’t. Um, I think I forgot my horn cover…”
Celestia nibbled on her ear, causing another little pleased but embarrassed whine, and she pulled her nightstand drawer open and retrieved a soft sleeve. Twilight took it and placed it over the tip of her horn. Celestia smiled into her mane. “I always have a few spare. I tend to misplace them.”
“Huh,” Twilight murmured as she adjusted herself, snuggling closer to Celestia. “It’s not too big. Just my size.”
Celestia smiled sheepishly.
“What about you, love?” Celestia asked. “What were you reading? I never caught the title.”
Twilight squirmed. “It’s, uh… Well. It’s not quite the same, uh…”
“Is something the matter?”
Twilight swallowed. “It’s, uh, one of Fluttershy’s.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow as she continued to play with Twilight’s mane idly. “Fluttershy? Why, Twilight! I wasn’t aware you had a writer in your circle. I can only imagine what sort of tales or verse one such as gentle Fluttershy might spin. What is the title?”
“Lady Connemara’s Lover,” Twilight said. “Which wasn’t the one I suggested, but it’s good enough, I guess.”
“Ah, I think I might know what it is about. What is it like, hm?” Celestia tried to envision what a romance written by Fluttershy would read like. So shy, barely able to speak up on those rare occasions that Celestia had had to interact with her. It was hard to think of her as knowing enough to make a proper story! Which was, she thought, a bit of a mean thought to have.
“They’re…” Twilight sighed. “Fluttershy writes saddle rippers, to be honest with you. Very, very good ones. They are scandalous and she’s been using Rarity and I as beta readers for the last year. Her pen name is Fanny Hill.”
Celestia was quiet for a moment.
And then, the book floated over towards her from the table. Before Twilight could stop her, Celestia had opened it up to the beginning.
“Now this? Now this I have to see.”
Twilight came to in a very different place.
She came to, in fact, as not quite the same Twilight she had been.
She was flat on her stomach. Her head felt fuzzy, as if she’d woken up with a hangover. Body felt… heavy. Damp. Damp? Wings were gone, and--
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and jumped to her hooves, only to stumble and fall over on her side. She tried flapping her wings once, but they were gone. Panicked, she continued trying to do the impossible, babbling worriedly and looking everywhere, as if wings were a thing that could just fall off and be picked back up.
It wasn’t until somepony cleared their throat above her that Twilight stopped her frenzy. She whirled around on her back, horn ready to meet whoever it was that had made the sound…
And found Luna with a devilish grin above her. “Hello there, Twilight. You seem to be having a spot of trouble.”
“My wings! My wings are gone!” Twilight cried, sitting up. “Where are we? What happened? Where’s Celestia? Why are you here?”
Luna simply rolled her eyes and held up a hoof. “Peace, Twilight. Calm thyself but a moment, and I’ll explain. You are dreaming.”
Twilight slowly lost some of the tension in her back as Luna continued. “Furthermore, to answer the rest: We are in a dream I created apart from your court and my sister’s. Think of this as neutral ground, or a waiting room of sorts. What happened? You fell asleep, of course. Celestia is still awake, which does not surprise me in the slightest. She always was one to linger on. And as for myself? Why, Twilight, I am here merely as your guide and chauffeur. I shall perform for you the service I have performed for others over the years, and ferry you across.”
“Ferry me… across?” Twilight shivered at a sudden remembered passage. “You make it sound like death, Luna. It’s a bit morbid, isn’t it?”
Luna chuckled, but offered a hoof and helped pull Twilight up. “Indeed, and I quite like it that way. Though I have met passengers bound for what lies beyond the moon more than once, you know. They flit about here in the aether awhile before they continue on. Dreams are a resting point for them.”
Twilight shivered again, for a slightly different reason. “So ghosts are definitely a thing here?”
Luna sighed. “I wouldn’t call them that.”
Shrugging, Twilight looked about her. Without the panic of losing her wings, she could focus at last on her surroundings. Not that there was much to focus on, truth be told. All around her was a heavy fog, impossible to see through and smelling faintly of rain. The ground beneath them was… well. It was. It was perfectly featureless, and simply trying to look at it for more than a moment made her head hurt in a somewhat frightening way, so she didn’t spend much time looking.
“Why fog?” she asked.
“I like fog,” Luna said and shrugged. “Not everything is a grand secret.”
Twilight stuck her tongue out at the moon’s shepherd and sat back on her haunches. “Well… so I guess we just wait for Celestia to fall asleep?”
Luna came and sat beside her. “Indeed we do. She will any moment now. It’s been a long day. I figured she might be a bit too nervous to fall asleep easily, so I had Hyacinth deliver a bottle of Moon’s Draught to her after dinner.”
“I didn’t see that.” Twilight glanced over at Luna and saw her smirk.
“You wouldn’t. She is quite talented, far beyond any other pony I know. She has no more peers.” Luna looked away, and continued softly. “At least, she does no longer.”
“I thought she was just a maid.”
“Oh, she is.”
“Then… what?”
Luna chuckled. “Hm. Shall I tell you all my secrets?”
“You certainly don’t have to,” Twilight said, cocking her head to one side.
“Ah, I certainly do now that you’ve said it just so. Hyacinth is the leader of my Dusk Watch. You’ve no doubt heard of the Nightshades.”
“Your personal guard,” Twilight replied. “And before you returned, my brother used to say that they did the work nopony else could do, and they did it quietly. I wasn’t sure what he meant at the time.”
“Poetic. Well, not quite, but it does sound nice. Captain Armor is quite correct. But the Nightshades are not a secret, even if sometimes their feats of valor are obscured. If the Nightshades are tightlipped, but quite real, then the Dusk Watch are a rumor that you only talk about deep in your cups.”
“Hyacinth? But…” Twilight frowned. “I am having a bit of trouble reconciling the Hyacinth I met and what you are hinting at.”
“And that is why she is the best,” Luna said. “Or at least, part of why she is the best. There is always some deeper layer, some darker… ah, but Celestia is beginning to waver.” Luna looked away, towards something Twilight could not see. “There. She will be with us any moment now. Or, I suppose, you shall be with her. Are you prepared?”
“I suppose. Though now I’m stuck trying to figure out how your maid is also some sort of shadowy assassin.”
“Hm. I shall have to tell her you said that. She will be quite amused. Ah, there she goes! Celestia, not Hyacinth. Her court shall be ready to receive us both presently.”
Twilight took a deep breath, and then paused. “Wait. Before I go… my Court.”
Luna cocked her head to the side, as if waiting for her to continue.
“It’s… well. It’s quiet,” Twilight said. “Not entirely gone, I don’t think. But I don’t hear the whispering in my ear like I have since Celestia and I dived into my dreams.”
Luna snorted. “If you wish to call my sister’s floundering a ‘dive’, that is your prerogative. But yes, separated from the dreaming of your Court, you will be as close to alone as an Alicorn can be, Twilight. Cadance asked me some time ago to give her normal dreams from time to time. Did you know?”
Twilight nodded. “She told me.”
“Is there anything else? I believe it’s time.”
“I guess so. I guess I’m ready.”
Luna grinned--and Twilight was taken aback for a split moment as that playful grin revealed sharp canine teeth and then she felt her body, her mind, her sight pulled forwards. It was like being stretched, till her body felt infinitely long and Luna became a long streak of light going on and on into the darkness and Twilight’s sight melted into something else.
It did not come back all at once.
Twilight herself did not all come back at once.
Her senses were broken. Fractured. It was like being born again, and with it all of the anxiety and the agony of birth. First came sensation, like tiny points of fire all along her body. The fire spread, as fires do, until it was a great blaze from head to dock. Beneath her was something cold and hard and unforgiving.Above her, the air was stifling hot.
Again, like before, she was flat against whatever sort of ground there was now. Nothing she did could lift her, for she could do nothing.
Next came sound. There was the scuffling of hooves against whatever her cheek was pressed against, and the distant thrum of voices. She heard the wind pick up, and the scattering of dust and rock. She gradually heard her own heartbeat, still strong despite her dreaming, and the sound of her own labored breath.
Luna spoke from somewhere above her.
“She seems to share some things in common with thee, sweetest sister.”
“Luna! Honestly, can you not put aside your foolishness? Did you warn her?”
She heard more hoofsteps.
“I didn’t,” Luna said. “I apologize. I was distracted by our conversation and... “ she sighed. “It is of no importance, now. She will be fine. She can no doubt already hear us.”
Twilight had, by the point, regained enough of her agency to let out a scratchy groan of affirmation. She felt something soft and warm rub against her cheek, and heard Celestia’s voice in her ear.
“Hello, love.”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, as it always did in such circumstances. “H-hello,” she managed, and then coughed.
She felt Celestia kiss her cheek and then the strange tingling sensation of magic enveloped her. Twilight fought it at first, trying to squirm, but movement took so much energy and she simply surrendered to whatever it was. Celestia would take care of her, after all.
And in a moment, sight began to return, and she saw that there was nothing to fear.
First: the sun, and Celestia’s mane. Not the flowing mane of color she was used to, but a soft pink. Shorter but still flowing down to her withers, bouncing with curls. Upon her head, Twilight saw the tip of a circlet peaking out between her locks. Above that blessed head, beside the tall towering horn, the sun in its blinding glory. Twilight grimaced and looked away.
All around them was a rocky expanse and a clear blue sky that strangely she thought had never seen a cloud. Great jagged boulders stabbed at the sky, and between them small creeks begirt with wild greenery. Beyond those tiny peaks, Twilight saw a many-pillared building, but it was hazy and indistinct, like a sketch that somepony had left unfinished.
Before her, around Celestia’s head, she saw a building which was more of a circle of marble pillars with a domed roof, and perhaps the beginning of steps leading down into something. Within the shade it cast there was a soft sort of glow, but she could not see what was there.
Twilight Sparkle was parched. She wasn’t sure it was even possible to be thirsty in a dream, and yet suddenly she was.
Luna, who walked beside the two of them, hummed, and Twilight realized that Celestia was humming along. And then, startlingly, she found that she herself had joined them, though she did not know the song. It simply happened. The notes simply happened, whether she willed them or not.
“Where are we?” she asked, but it came out as music.
Celestia, whose voice she had always adored, sang back to her and Twilight wished she were standing, if only to swoon. “I am come at last, when I least expected it. The others are waiting.”
Luna did not sing. “May I say hello before I depart, sister? I do not wish to intrude.”
Celestia laughed and drew closer to plant a kiss on her sister’s brow. “Of course, Luna, you needn’t even ask.”
“Thou art quite certain that I speak to Celestia, my sister, and not Dusk, her better third?”
Celestia chuckled. “Aye, and I am quite certain that I speak to none other than Luna, that harrier of misfortune and woe! Thy tongue is sharp as always, and I am glad to bear its wounds.”
“They are cut, of course, in love.”
Twilight stirred, and Celestia stopped. “How art--ahem. How are you feeling?”
“A little more like a pony,” Twilight said. “A little… confused? Fuzzy? Not quite sure how to say it. But I think I can walk. As much as I appreciate the ride.”
“Of course, Twilight.” Celestia kneeled slightly and Twilight slipped off her back. The song still hummed in the air around them, but Twilight managed to keep her mind relatively on track. Doing so felt like swimming against the current, but she managed. “So… where is home?”
They continued walking. “This is the plateau of Jannah, or rather, Jannah came after. It had no name you would know before the mother of cities,” Celestia said softly. Passing between two rocks that formed a sort of arch, Twilight could see clearly now the ancient tholos glowed.
“What is that?” she asked.
“If I said home, would it satisfy you?” Celestia said, and Twilight glanced over to see her smiling. She rolled her eyes, and Celestia chuckled. “I thought as much, love. It is a well, I suppose you could say. A pool of water, but very unlike what you know.”
“I wonder if it would be the same, here,” Luna said.
“Were anypony to know, t’would be thee, I would suspect,” Celestia said, raising an eyebrow.
Luna shrugged. “I know enough of time and space to know I do not know much. Which is to say that there are mysteries even here, and I’m not sure I’ll reach the end of them.”
They stood before the steps that led up into the tholos proper now. Twilight marvelled at it all. This was an ancient structure, even as it was in the dream. She had not ever in her life seen such a thing. Similar structures in books, yes, but those had been child’s play and foal’s blocks before this archetype. She tried not to lose herself in the intricate carved pictures that ran along the pillars, and was helped by the arrival of another alicorn.
The newcomer was… Well, to be honest, Twilight wasn’t sure at first. They were certainly beautiful, androgynous, like Celestia but not quite. Their eyes shone with a light that almost seemed to burn, and their mane blew in an unfelt wind and was fire. Their hooves were armored in gold and atop their head sat a crown of swords.
“Twilight! Luna.” The voice was definitely male, a fine rich tenor. Twilight settled on “he” for now as the newcomer continued. “It is good to meet you, Luna. It is also good to meet you at last, Twilight. I am the Sun Triumphant. You knew me once as Noonday.”
Luna blinked. She squinted, and then her mouth fell open. “By the song, truly? Where went that burnt out bitch, and from what gardened heaven did you walk out of, and shall I call you the Sun?”
“Noon is acceptable,” he said, almost a purr. And with that, he turned to Twilight and bowed deeply. Twilight, for her part, felt a bit embarrassed and mimed a curtsy she was still rusty at, having avoided it for most of her term as princess with a skillful ease. “You may call me whatever you wish, of course.”
Celestia stepped forward, as if she had forgotten her guests, and circled this strange male alicorn with a look of bewilderment. “I do not recognize you,” she said slowly. “I… it… I do not remember what it was like before, when one of you came into being.”
“It is alright,” said the Sun, and to Twilight’s shock, he nuzzled her cheek. “Dear Celestia, what is pony to you is not alien. What is you, I might say, is not alien. You and I shall palaver. But I have been eager to meet Twilight since I was born.”
Celestia nodded, and managed a smile as she stood beside her new twin. “Twilight, meet Noonday. Or the Sun, I suppose.”
“It’s an honor,” Twilight said, still reeling. She stepped forward, awkwardly extended a hoof, put it down, and then sputtered a bit. “I’m not really sure what the right protocol is here.”
“It’s quite alright,” the Sun said with a laugh. “My sisters and I are all Celestia, but we are also not her. We love her as you do, and we love you as she does. A hoofbump is fine with me. We are navigating this as well.”
Twilight smiled slightly and offered her hoof again, and the Sun tapped it with apparently ill-disguised glee.
But that glee faded a bit as the Sun straightened himself up and sighed. “Well… now that I’ve done that… I do believe it is time.”
“Time?” Celestia asked, and then paused. “Something is down there that I have trouble seeing. I don’t…”
“It has been some time since everything was not clear, yes?” the Sun shrugged. “Luna, Dawn and Dusk have asked that I pass along their regrets that they cannot meet you in person this time, and to pass along their love.”
Luna seemed taken aback, but as Twilight watched with open curiosity, she seemed to come to some conclusion and stiffened. Luna swallowed, looking like a filly who’d been caught coming home past curfew. “Yes, of course. My apologies. Send them my love and my wit. Twilight, Sister, I will take my leave here. If aught troubles thee, I shall be about my work.”
Luna vanished without ceremony, and Twilight startled. “Wait, what--”
“I think perhaps we should move along,” said the Sun.
“He’s.. right,” Celestia said carefully.
As the aspect turned and descended the steps down into the tholos’ center, Twilight and Celestia shared a look. Twilight wasn’t sure what her own face revealed, but Celestia’s was nothing like the careful mask Twilight had seen so many times. Instead, her expression was one of naked curiosity mixed with perhaps the slightest bit of trepidation.
“That was weird,” Twilight ventured. “And not normal, I’m guessing.”
Celestia nodded slowly. “In the waking world, the Court manifests primarily as suggestion or perhaps a voice. Aspects do not have much agency there. But in the dreaming they are very different. Far more separate, far more willful. There is no equal footing, I think, with the self. Not for us, at least. Either we are in charge or they allow us agency in an environment they rule.”
“That’s… a bit disconcerting.”
“Perhaps. Of course, temper this with the knowledge that aspects are still never divorced from you. Even misguided, they seek only your good, for it is their own good as well, and they care for you.”
Twilight nodded. “Shall we go?”
They descended the steps together.
In the center of the great divot in the rocky plateau, sheltered by the marble roof, the steps led down to a pool of crystal clear water. No, not quite clear, but crystal seemed to be appropriate, for the water seemed almost to shine like a mirror. There were no others in sight--the Sun was absent. There was nothing else but the pool.
Twilight heard the slightest sound as Celestia’s breath caught. It was a beautiful sight, to be sure, and the whole structure had a sort of calming effect that was pleasant, but when she turned to say this she found her love transfixed as if she had seen a ghost.
Celestia walked ahead, as if Twilight had never existed. The air around Twilight shimmered, and her throat closed up. This was not normal. This was…
Well. Awe-inspiring.
Celestia changed all at once and yet part by part, her whole body seemed to be change and light, until she was a bit shorter and dressed in ragged battlegear. Atop her head laurels, and then a burnished helm, and then her hair in a complicated sort of braid. Now in armor, now in a flowing robe, now naked as the sun’s light, now…
It was hard to keep up, but as she stopped by the water and sat, Twilight was relieved that she maintained a single visage. She looked younger, somehow. Her face bore a long scar across it from Twilight knew not what, and her flowing rainbow mane was simply a long pink again, tied up in a Prench braid. Her wings were folded against her, and she wore a small ornament on her horn--a ring with a chain that ended in a strange stone.
Twilight blinked, and with a start she recognized it. A Focusing Amulet. She’d read about them, but the old artificers had only known of such things secondhand, as relics of another land. Focuses these days were certainly useful, but none of them were quite as powerful as the artificers suggested the amulets had been. The Alicorn Amulet was the closest she’d ever come to finding such a thing.
But she did not mention it. Celestia seemed too focused for that. If anything, Twilight suddenly felt small and alone. Whatever was going on here, it did not seem to be for her.
And yet, Celestia turned to her with eyes that shone with as of yet unshed tears. “Twilight, my love,” she said, or rather she sang the words. “Come here. Come sit with me.”
Silently, Twilight walked to the pool and sat beside it.
Now she heard the water sing. Trying not to think too deeply about the impossibility of such a thing, she listened and was lost in the sound for a moment. It was… it wasn’t quite singing in words she knew. It certainly wasn’t Equestrian. She wasn’t sure if it was a language at all, for it seemed almost to be sound as primal and unadorned by attributed meaning as could be.
Eventually, Twilight pulled her mind away. “What is this place? What is this… this pool?”
Celestia wiped her eyes, and Twilight felt as if she’d blurted out her question in the middle of something solemn. Yet Celestia smiled. “This is the Well of the Firmaments. This is where I was born. I have not been back in a very, very long time. I do not know why I am here now. But… But this is home. Welcome to my home, Twilight.”
“The water, it--”
“Sings, yes. It doesn’t really sing itself. Think of a cave where you might hear your own echoes. The Well is like that, but the song it heard, the song that made it last before it withdrew westward, was far more present than any call you or I could make. The echoes of the Song linger still, and will for a long time. Perhaps until…” Celestia shrugged. “I’m sorry, I am not all here, in this moment. I was simply…”
Twilight reached over and touched her shoulder lightly. “I think I understand. I mean, I can’t completely, but I can understand some of it.”
Celestia stroked her foreleg and smiled at Twilight. “Thank you.” With a sight, she looked around. “Though, I am not sure why exactly you and I are here now. My court has not been of Jannah in almost a thousand years, Twilight.”
Twilight resisted the urge to let out a low whistle. “That’s a long time.”
Celestia smirked at her. “Hard to imagine, isn’t it?”
“Very.”
“Yes. It has been before.” Celestia’s voice fell off and she gazed back into the water. “Twilight? I think… Are you up for an experiment of sorts?”
Twilight chuckled. “Do you really have to ask?”
Celestia joined her. “I suppose not. I’m going to test what happens if I enter the Well. I know what happens in the material world, but… I have a feeling that this was placed here for me to touch or enter. I need you to tie your magic to mine.”
“A lifeline.”
Celestia nodded. “Exactly. Any disruption and you’ll know before I do, probably. You can pull me back and I won’t resist it. Is that alright?”
Twilight nodded, setting her jaw. “I can do that.”
Twilight called up her magic and found it strange. It was there, yes, but it seemed… The only comparison she could think of was like seeing a familiar pony through a thick fog. Her magic felt the same, and yet it also felt borrowed.
But she did not have time to dwell on it. Celestia needed her and this was a task Twilight felt prepared for, so she found Celestia’s own aura and powered through her customary awe reaction--god but it was like the sun lighting up the world!--and latched herself on.
Being tied thaumically was always an odd experience, no matter how well you knew the other pony. Flitting images and feelings and thoughts haunted you, in this state. Experience was soft and malleable, and diffused between two poles.
Celestia flared her wings and then tucked them back against her side. She nodded, more to herself than to Twilight, and then walked calmly into the water.
She sank quickly, far more quickly than Twilight had expected, and before she could even think to open her mouth and comment on it, she felt a tug on her connection. The tug became a pull, the pull became irresistible, and as Celestia’s head was fully submerged within the sparkling waters, Twilight was pulled to the brink.
A flash of insight burned through her mind in Celestia’s voice.
Jump.
And she did.
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So, psychedelic drugs?
i suspect that is what Luna had delivered to Celestia before bed.
8250833 no, just sleeping. Basically magical melatonin. The Courts are naturally there, tho usually not like this.
..........moremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremore..........
In both ‘Ageless’ and this story I love the lore and the uncovering of mysteries. Twilight is a great audience surrogate as we learn about the “real secret truth” of the mythic structures of the world and the histories of Celestia and Luna. These stories have a very strong “sense of wonder”.
In a blog post, you asked how much readers know about the common lore in your stories. Rather than describing that lore in your blog, you could use this story to highlight your “greatest hits”. Then if someone asks, “what are the main elements of the Songverse/Nightverse”, you could say, “read ‘Love’, it covers most of them.”
Because I am a fan of Twilight above all other ponies, my selfish hope is that we also continue to find that Twilight has her own hidden depths (like her unique court) that we, she, and the other princesses can also uncover and marvel at as the story goes forward.
Exquisite in its mythic and, well, dreamlike tone. The new Noon is especially intriguing to me, even beyond seeing Celestia's home and the mystery of Twilight's missing wings. The theme here seems to be the past. Now to see where the water leads...
(Also, I don't know why horn covers make me happy, but they do. Likewise Smuttershy.)
8251959
I got horn covers from Silfoe, one of my favorite artists. She runs a lovely tumblr blog called Royal Sketchbook
8251972
They're much, much classier than corks.
8250837
can you call anything normal in a dream? Honestly the strangest thing about the courts is their... solidity.
Trippy stuff, but at least it hasn't gotten needlessly dark.
8255327 whilst the tone of this story will be at times different from Ageless, it will never be a dark-tag sort of story.
This brings back memories. :)
Jannah really is everywhere, eh?
The intrigue increases!
Liked the beginning scene with Twilight and Celestia relaxing together.
Very interesting that Twilight was without her wings...
Even more interesting is that most if not all of Celestia's earlier trepidation seemed gone once they all arrived in the dream realm. Now I'm trying to recall Celestia's court scenes from the previous fic, whether her appearance changed there as well, or if that is also new.
Jannah...that was mentioned earlier on in this story I think but I can't recall the context, or if it was spoken of in the previous story, which it probably was. I hate forgetting important details like this.
Lies!
Thank you Celestia, Luna's inability to take anything seriously was beginning to annoy me.
Whaaaaaaat.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAT.
8388476
When you fear a thing sometimes there comes a threshold beyond which fear does not follow, and you are in the thing, and the burden of trepidation leaves you and the rest is focus and raw experience.
So, Jannah is the homeland of the Alicorns? Heaven, sort of? Has Celestia been "re-accepted" by the Gods after an absence or argument of some sort?
9415132
Jannah is a plateau in the middle of a city which is also called Jannah, a city miles wide in the far west. Not as far as Sarnath but beyond Valon. The alicorns were "born" from the well there in the Singing, where song created the world. It's home. When the singing faded the Well and the plateau remained.
Oh I love that term... Oh dear! Author, it's the little details like these that make it so much better than simply 'good'! :D