The False Goddess

by Zoura3025

Act III, Part VI: Respite

It was a strange feeling, really. Gustopha woke up with a relatively free day. She wanted to give Sonata and Requiem a bit more time to recover, and had no surgeries lined up for the day. Or the week, or even the month. It was oddly liberating.
Gustopha spent a fair amount of time writing in her room, clarifying and rewriting her notes on her observations of Requiem and Sonata’s behaviour. The ability to trade spirits jumped out to her the most; if an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn all shared spirits, would they effectively be a mock-alicorn? It raised too many questions in her mind; questions that she couldn’t answer. Not responsibly, at least.

As she re-(and re-re-)read over her notes, and checked out some history books on pony magic, what stuck out the most to her was that the spiritualization seemed to interact with pony magic constructively; instead of replacing a pony’s existing magic, it inherited a portion of it, and worked in tandem with it. A proper theory began to crystallize in her mind, and it eventually came out on paper:

“As these are still basic observations, it is hard to draw a conclusion on the nature of ‘Spiritualization’. However, it stands to reason that such a state of being exists alongside a pony’s tribal magic; in the same way that crystallization can coexist with a tribe’s magic (as observed by Prism Lens et al. circa 96 After Unification). The similarities in the supposed ‘weakness’ portrayed by both crystal ponies and spirit ponies suggests that what may be perceived as a ‘normal pony’ is actually a third state of internal magic, which will be nicknamed ‘might’ for simplicity.”

“In the same way an earth pony’s magic lies entirely within their flesh and blood, a ‘might’ pony’s magic belongs entirely to them, unlike a crystal pony’s, whose magic is bound to the crystal heart, or a spirit pony, whose magic lies partially externally. The first spirit ponies were made by partially removing their ‘might’ via magic, and thus it could be theorized that ‘might’ is a natural state of magic, with other core magical states existing as a result of external tampering.”

Gustopha read over the theory one more time. Perhaps a bit verbose, but she considered it decent enough for now. Something she could show to a potential pupil or peer, should she have one. In fairness, Gustopha did have Celestia, but she was more of a peer in rank rather than academia. A wise ruler, but not a particularly experienced thaumatologist.
Admittedly, the thought did cross Gustopha’s mind; the idea of finding herself some peers. Perhaps then she’d finally be able to reign in her rampant curiosity…

Those were thoughts for later. Gustopha let herself move with a lack of urgency today; she greeted guards, kind of meandered her way to the dining hall to get something to eat, then just meandered her way out into the castle courtyard to get some fresh air. She couldn’t remember the last time she had just kind of coddiwompled like this.
It was enough of a change that a few of the castle staff started asking each other if she was sick, or hurt. Gustopha didn’t pay them much mind, at least until Celestia caught up with her.

“There you are,” Celestia said with a small chuckle, seating herself next to Gustopha in the grass. The earth alicorn was laying on her back, cloudwatching with her wings half-flayed.
“The castle staff have been worried about you; are you feeling alright?” Celestia asked.
“I’ve done nothing today,” Gustopha replied, “Well, aside from polishing some notes.”
Celestia nodded slowly. “...So you aren’t feeling well, then,” She teased with a small smile.
“I’m taking your advice,” Gustopha replied with a soft giggle, “It’s an unusual feeling, but not an unwelcome one… Liberating, really.”
Celestia lightly nudged one of Gustopha’s wings aside and laid next to her in the grass. “It is, isn’t it? Everyone needs some time to themselves… Even I grant myself a few days of a cleared schedule now and then.”
Gustopha allowed her wing to lazily drape over Celestia, still idly gazing on the scant few clouds in the sky.

“Realistically, I have many things I should be doing, surgery lined up or not,” Gustopha remarked, “Visiting the Groves to check on Halley, scheduling more future surgeries, checking on Requiem and his wife…”
“Tomorrow’s problems,” Celestia interjected, “You’ve already done a lot. Your guard is out cleaning Equestria from a blight we didn’t know was curable, you’ve progressed the field of thaumatology further in a year than we’ve since since the pre-unification days…”
Gustopha laid in contemplation for a moment.
Celestia, however, beat her to the punch in continuing the conversation. “...I do miss the golden days of our magic and sciences,” The elder alicorn admitted, “I used to have a school, right in this very castle, for pupils like yourself; those who sought knowledge, and displayed efficacy in doing so.”

“Future princesses?” Gustopha asked.
Celestia shook her head. “No. Luna and I were plenty at the time. This was a school where our best researchers could impart their wisdom upon promising fillies and colts. We had thaumatologists, thaumaturges, alchemists, enchanters… Perhaps biased towards unicorns, but the odd pegasus or earth pony who displayed aptitude for potion- or artifact-related work would very occasionally slip in,” She explained, sighing wistfully, “Of course, when Luna left and took many of those talented researchers with her, the war breaking out very quickly quashed any possibility of rebuilding it.”
Gustopha now sat on a mountain of thoughts. Different questions she wanted to ask, all for different reasons. One question, however, rose to the forefront, and left her mouth before any other could think of doing so.
“Was Thanamus among the students?” Gustopha asked.

Celestia tensed, her breath catching in a barely audible grunt. After a deep breath, she shook her head. “He was our head Thaumatologist. He hid his instability well; especially in his younger years. Then, he met a stallion from the north, named Sombra. Sombra was a powerful thaumaturge, well-versed in dark magic. Thanamus and him grew quite close for a time; they shared the secrets of their lines of work. Thanamus always had such great glee on his face when he returned from his visits, often bringing with him tomes about dark magic. I never understood what Sombra hoped to gain from the visits…” Celestia sighed deeply.

“Until it was too late, and he left, right?” Gustopha asked.
Celestia shook her head. “I never found out what Sombra wanted or received from Thanamus’ visits; while the Crystal Empire he now has imprisoned technically lies within our kingdom, we always permitted it a degree of autonomy… That is to say, we did not regularly check in on it until we were asked for aid directly,” She explained, “When Luna and I banished Sombra, and the empire along with it, we assumed that was the end of their trading.”
Gustopha nodded slowly, taking this in.

“Thanamus, however, began to change as the war broke out. He recluded, and he began to get these delusions of grandeur. He became obsessed with the idea of making alicorns, and other such divine beings,” Celestia continued.
Gustopha bit her lip. “Leading up to me, right?” She asked.
“Slowly,” Celestia stipulated, “It started as small experiments. Pushing the limits of overcharging; macrodosing ponies on raw magic to force their bodies to improve in output. Then, direct modifications to flesh, like bolting thin metal armor directly to the skin to improve durability. Many of my best soldiers were altered by his magic… And a substantial portion of those went on to become heroes. For a time, he was the only researcher of mine producing any sort of effective results, as Luna’s army only redoubled in the ferocity of their tactics.”

“Why did he leave, then?” Gustopha asked, “I know he took up residence in one of the forts from the war, but your relationship seemed strained from what I remember.”
Celestia let out a hard sigh. “Success is a terrible teacher. He was decorated for his efforts, and that emboldened him to continue following his lines of research. Every success made him push further, and then he started the trials that, after the war ended, led to your creation.”

Gustopha nodded a little. “Right… It was by your request that I was created; you both mentioned that,” She expressed, a hoof over her own chest.
Celestia sighed again, her eyes falling shut. “He did horrible things in the early days of those trials; no doubt a product of his growing ego mixed with his experimentation with dark magic. He regularly raided graves, abducted subjects, and even killed when he could not find an otherwise suitable match for a candidate he liked,” She explained, “It was those crimes that I pardoned, in exchange for you. In essence, he bargained with my desire for a sister, and I paid out in full.”

Gustopha slowly nodded; a contemplative, though slightly absent action. The idea that Thanamus was still out there, possibly attempting to recreate the trials sent a shiver down her spine. If she had her way, what happened to her wouldn’t ever be repeated. The pain she was subjected to, though short, still clung to her in some ways.
Celestia sighed deeply. “Goodness… I haven’t had a chance to speak to anypony about all that in a long time,” She expressed, “I hope I didn’t bore you with all that backstory, hah…”
Gustopha shook her head. “Not at all,” She replied, “It was informative, if nothing else.”
Celestia let out a small chuckle. “Informative for what? Blackmailing me in the future?” She joked dryly.
Gustopha shook her head. “I never studied history much… Hearing it directly from you, however, is much more interesting than trying to parse pages of text,” She reasoned, “Plus, most of it was new, save for the end.”

The two alicorns lied in thought for a long moment, sharing the view of the almost-clear sky. Gustopha wanted a breather, to absorb all of the information she had been given, but her mind drifted back to her earlier question.
“...If someone on the castle staff were to, say, attempt to rebuild the school, would you oppose it?” Gustopha asked.
Celestia thought for a long moment. “No, no, I wouldn’t,” She replied, a small smile on her face, “Oh, to see some fresh hearts and minds in the castle… How I’d love that. Another thing on the itinerary perhaps, but something that would bring some joy nonetheless.”
Gustopha nodded a bit. “I’ll see what I can do,” She replied softly, “I’ll ask the terran guard to scout some talent for me.”

Celestia blinked. “You want to rebuild the school yourself?” She asked, looking at Gustopha with widened eyes.
“At the very least, I’d like to look into it… I believe I might have a good case for myself, given that I’m an academic myself,” Gustopha reasoned.
Celestia thought for a long moment. “Well, alright,” She supposed, “But I think it’s best for you if you don’t do anything major before the verdant trials are complete. You have been known to overwork yourself.”
Gustopha sighed gently. “Very well,” She replied gently, “At the very least, I’m closer to the end than the beginning… One hundred and eighty nine more surgeries.”
“Just pace yourself, Gustopha,” Celestia requested.
“I will. I learned my lesson about that last week,” Gustopha promised.
The two alicorns bantered for a bit longer, then through dinner, and then parted ways.

Gustopha’s next few weeks went by somewhat uneventfully as she took time to herself. She organized her room (in particular, her piles of notes), spent some time tending to her guard, and other such productive puttering. She even joined Celestia in day court, and confessed her mistake to the court. It resulted in some noisy discourse, but otherwise, little came of it. Ultimately, there was little opposition to slowing the pace of the remaining verdant trials. It was decided she’d do them in ten batches of nineteen, with one batch being eighteen interspersed to accommodate the disparity.

While she scheduled the first batch, Gustopha made plans to visit Full Cart’s Hollow between batches one and two. She also spent a bit of time tending to Requiem and Sonata as they finished their recovery, though she received some surprising news.
“We’ve decided to move into one of the farming villas in the suburbs around the castle town,” Requiem explained with a small smile.
Sonata nodded. “We’d like to be closer to the capital, now that we’re some of the Princess’ personal subjects,” She detailed.
Gustopha gave a hesitant smile. “Well, that would make further potential research easier, but please, you don’t need to move closer for my sake,” She expressed.
Requiem shook his head. “We thought about it, and decided we want to live a bit closer to everything,” He expressed, “Your sake has nothing to do with it. Just us and our daughter… Plus another on the way, potentially.”

Gustopha simply nodded. Her “adventures” with Stoneheart, Aerated Turf, and May Showers had wisened her up to some of ponish’s euphemistic terms. “I wish you all the best in the move, then. Of course, don’t be afraid to contact me if you think something’s wrong.”
Sonata nodded. “Of course,” She replied, “We won’t forget you, Princess.”
Gustopha smiled a bit. “And I, you, Latent Requiem and Restful Sonata,” She replied.
The two ponies bade farewell one more time as they were escorted out of the castle, and Gustopha sighed softly. She wasn’t sure why she sighed this time; a mix of satisfaction and worry for the newest set of Equestrian anomalies, perhaps.
However, she still had travel plans to finalize, so she didn’t let her mind dwell on it for too long. “They’ll be okay,” She promised herself quietly.

The next month or so went by fast. Almost twenty surgeries did get a bit monotonous, but it wasn’t the horrific, tedious grind that doing hundreds of surgeries, month after month, without rest, had been. Perfectly doable, as Gustopha had explained it to Celestia.
Gustopha had decided that this time, she’d visit the Groves with only one guard. She didn’t like bringing a large guard, and most of her most trusted guards were now either departed for greener pastures or taking care of their fresh young. Thus, April Showers would be her only company.

“Are you sure you want to take me, and me alone, Princess?” April asked softly.
Gustopha nodded. “Stoneheart, Aerated, and May are all busy with their new families,” She explained gently, “You remain one of the few guards whom I trust enough to handle the Groves with the love and respect they deserve.”
April nodded a bit, and bowed her head respectfully. “Then I will accompany you,” She said dutifully.
Gustopha nodded, and they set off for Full Cart’s Hollow.

When they got there, they were welcomed with much excitement by the Grove family. The past ten months or so seemed to have brought quite a bit of change among the youngest two members of the Grove family.
Dogwood was starting to hit the growth spurt part of his adolescence, and was noticeably taller; he also now sported a cropped tail, like his father.
Halley was now much larger, herself; not quite to the size of a typical schoolfilly yet, but big enough that she could now comfortably walk, and she was learning to talk, if slowly.

“...Goo-stoff-uh,” Halley repeated, as the alicorn laid on the floor before her.
Gustopha smiled. “That’s right,” She replied gently, “That’s my name.”
Halley giggled happily and hugged Gustopha’s snout. Gustopha huffed a bit from the sudden weight on her nose, but smiled wider.
“Gustopha!” Halley giggled excitedly.
Dogwood smiled. “Now you’re not gonna go a minute without hearing your name until you leave,” He remarked with a small laugh, “She likes learning new words.”
“Dog-wood…” Halley huffed, giving the colt a small scowl.
“It’s a good thing, Halley,” Dogwood reasoned with a smile.
Halley’s scowl immediately turned into a small smile. “Okay,” She replied simply.

Gently, Gustopha lifted her snout, letting the filly slide off of it.
April gave a small smile. “You’re a good foalsitter, Princess,” She complimented softly.
“I’m just keeping her busy until dinner’s ready,” Gustopha excused with a small chuckle.
Halley tilted her head back and forth a couple times; a habit she still seemed to have not grown out of. “Food?” She asked.
“Yes, food,” Gustopha replied with a gentle smile.

Halley giggled excitedly and waved her hooves in the air; water flicked abruptly from her toes, and both Dogwood and April yipped as they were splashed with small flecks of water, whereas Gustopha just chuckled as a streak of water splashed across her muzzle. “Yay!” Halley cried joyously, “Yay food!”
Dogwood huffed a bit. “H-hey, Halley! Watch where you’re sprayin’,” He yipped.
Gustopha and April just laughed a bit more, but Gustopha did note down the moon pony’s apparent abilities over water.

After dinner, Gustopha went upstairs to check on Willow. The eldest daughter of the Groves was still a good deal more quiet and reclusive than the rest of her family, though she had come down to visit for a bit when the princess had first arrived. Gustopha smiled gently at her as she entered the kids’ room.
“Hi Princess,” Willow greeted softly.
Gustopha walked over and took a seat next to her. “Hello, Willow,” She greeted gently, “How are you?” She asked.
Willow leaned into Gustopha’s side. “I’m better, Princess. I’m a lot better,” She expressed gently, “I talked to ma and pa about Everglade… You were right about them missing her.”
Gustopha gently wrapped a leg around Willow and nodded.
“We cried a lot, but it felt good afterwards… It doesn’t hurt as much to think about anymore,” Willow expressed.

“That’s a good thing, Willow. It’s important to let those feelings out,” Gustopha expressed, now hugging the filly fully. “I’m very proud of you,” She added gently.
“Thank you, Princess,” Willow murmured gently.
The filly then perked up. “I tried writing some more of my story,” She explained.
Gustopha nodded a bit and smiled gently. “I’d love to read some more of it,” She replied.
Willow fumbled in her binder, pulling out a set of pages bound in a thick folder, flipping through them and eventually landing on a couple pages. “Here,” Willow said, “These ones are a good sample.”
Gustopha’s horn illuminated to carefully take the binder, not wanting to damage any of the filly’s work.

The passages in question were about Medium and Vie heading into a forest after dark, and getting into assorted shenanigans. Though the prose tried to illustrate the two were in some amount of danger, nothing ever actually posed a threat to them.
Gustopha smiled as she set the binder down. “It’s lovely,” She hummed contently.
Willow smiled a little. “Thank you, Princess,” She replied softly.
Admittedly, the characters in Willow’s story reminded Gustopha of Requiem and the incident. It felt oddly… Prophetic, perhaps? Not that Gustopha was about to go blabbing that to everyone, though; much less a child.

“Keep at it, okay?” Gustopha added.
Willow nodded a bit.
Their conversation was interrupted by Dogwood, Sequoia, and Halley coming into the room.
“It’s time for the kids to go to sleep,” Sequoia said with a small chuckle.
Gustopha nodded a bit, stepping aside to allow Sequoia to sort out her daughters and sons, heading down the stairs to rejoin the other couple adults in the house.
After some more visiting, and some sleep, Gustopha and April would leave for the castle to return to their normal duties. On the way, the two talked about how things were going.

“Blight activity has gone down noticeably since we started making housecalls,” April explained, “We used to get multiple calls to action a week, now it’s more like one a week on average.”
Gustopha smiled. “That’s excellent,” She replied, “The Blightsbane is doing its job, then; and the terran guard along with it.”
April nodded a bit. “Equestria’s safer than ever, thanks to everything you’ve done,” She expressed gently.
“I couldn’t have done that alone,” Gustopha expressed, “The valiant ponies, yourself included, who have given their lives to science and the kingdom, shoulder much of the success. I’m not here to absorb all the credit.”
April smiled a bit. “That’s why you’re so respected, Princess: You’re humble. You treat everyone like a pony, whether they’re your equal, your soldiers, your subjects…” She sighed softly, “Transfering to the terran guard is the best thing that could have happened to May and I.”

Gustopha nodded gently. Admittedly, while the praise did feel good on a surface level, the princess felt a faint sickness growing in the pit of her stomach as April went on. Something about being praised brought her back to that one scenario: The doctor, standing beside her imposingly, demanding a stallion thank and praise her before they were allowed to eat. It made Gustopha sick to think about it.
Gustopha nodded gently. “That humility comes from the heart,” She admitted, “I don’t want to be treated as superior, alicorn or not. I’ve made mistakes, put things at risk… A ruler doesn’t play with the lives of their subjects to sate their own curiosity.”

April shook her head. “Well, then, you’re a pretty darn good ruler,” She reasoned, “Because the Gustopha I know, despite her mistakes, has made a better Equestria for her new subjects, verdants and everypony else alike.”
Gustopha sighed gently. “Thank you, April. If you don’t mind, I’d like to drop the subject now,” She expressed.
April simply nodded. Most of the terran guard knew by now that Gustopha had an aversion to excessive praise; though the earth pony didn’t realize she’d apparently crossed into “excessive” herself until Gustopha very overtly said so.

Once she was back at the castle, Gustopha would continue her work on the verdant project. Months passed as the batches ticked down. By the start of winter, she was down to eight. By the end of winter (a birthday included), just three remained. As summer began to bless Equestria with its full warmth, the trial was done. Five hundred verdants (plus a few dozen foals revealed by the semi-annual census), now walked the earth, both as Equestrian military and civilians.

To commemorate the occasion, Gustopha did something she tried to not do very often anymore: Sleep in. Gustopha had finally managed to regulate her studying enough to attain a somewhat regular sleep schedule; she still stayed up later than Celestia on average, but rarely stayed up truly late. Her body was almost a bit confused with what to do with all the rest she'd permitted it!

Her period of rest, however, was not one spent idle. She opted to practice some magic that befitted her as a healer; in particular, perfecting a spell that would allow her to share magic at a distance further than touch. She also put some serious time into studying diplomatic procedures, and started drafting up some boilerplate letters for any talented educators or scientists the terran guard happened to find: Invitations to an audience with the princesses, with intent to recruit for the potential school Gustopha wanted to establish. Gustopha didn't let herself grind herself down with that task, however; it was a long-term goal, not one that needed to be done immediately.

Comments

[Zoura3025]

11754787
Close. I imagine the voice reference for Dr. Thanamus to be something like Dr. Steiner from Call of Duty: Black Ops.