Observations and Preservations

by Tolerance

Zero-Six

Upon the departure of The Transcendence, Twilight was only slightly surprised to find that Princess Celestia was coming on the expedition as well. When Twilight questioned the reasoning behind leaving a still-distraught princess in charge of the kingdom, she was only supplied with the fact that Luna is not the only capable pony in Canterlot, besides they would be hard-pressed to find somepony else who could guide them to the Null Tether's location. The discussion also provided Twilight with a reply from Luna, in the form of a letter, regarding her thoughts on the new spell.

As twilight returned to her quarters, which still held the requirement that she be under constant supervision, she levitated the letter open to read it.

~@~

Twilight,

I too apologize for some of my behavior these last few days, and you are right, I did blame myself for having failed you somehow. I still don't quite forgive your transgressions just yet, the reason for my apology is mainly due to the fact that I also know how it feels to be pulled along by mysterious forces. Your motivation behind your actions was caused by your inability to leave something unsolved. My attraction to the forces of darkness all those years ago was caused by my desire to be recognized for who I am, instead of being referred to as my sister's shadow.

I'm not sure if, or when, you'll be able to earn my trust again, but saving entire worlds will be a good start, I think. I've looked over your spell, and I can only see how far you've come to mastering your abilities. I can't see anything wrong with it. The Null Tether's capabilities are largely unknown. My sister knows more than I, but I am able to inform you of this: The Tether is very, very old. Older than even I am, Twilight, and what may lie on the other side is wholly unknown to me.

If our world truly is in danger, I implore you to not dwell on things past and put forth your best effort to do what's best. It's all I can ask of you now.

Princess of the Night,

Luna

~@~

Twilight magicked the letter away. The writing within seemed distant, yet informative. At least the princess had looked over Twilight’s spell and found no flaws, and to top it off, she no longer had to worry over the princess’s immediate well-being. Twilight figured that she should chalk that up to a small success and try to move on.

Deciding it best to pace herself for the long trip, Twilight figured she could wait to ask Celestia what she knew about the Null Tether, just so long as she did it before their arrival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Between the distractions of witnessing some of the oldest ruins from the Old Lands pass below the airship, and the fact that Celestia was assisting with the navigation, Twilight still hadn't asked the princess what she knew about their destination. When they started to fly over some particularly barren landscape, however, Twilight decided it was time to pay Celestia another visit.

She found her former mentor on the observation deck, looking over the passing, featureless landmass below.

"Amazing, isn't it." the princess started, acknowledging Twilight's presence. "Even after all of these centuries the land here is finally starting to return to it's natural state."

Twilight squinted into the distance to try and discern what it was that the princess was talking about, but she could only see that the land beneath her was very much a barren wasteland. "What do you mean, there's nothing here?"

"Over there," the princess indicated, pointing to a small copse of trees, "the trees are starting to form forests again. When the Windigo pushed ponies from this area, they did more than just lower everything to freezing temperatures. You saw some of the ruins earlier, the cold biting winds only left small portions of their foundations untouched. Anypony that stayed was sure to perish. The flora was also affected, but now I can see that things are finally returning to their natural states. It's one of the few things that an immortal gets to look forward to Twilight, to see the natural cycle of things continue on. Now then, is there something on your mind?"

Twilight pulled her gaze from the tiny forest that had held her attention while the princess had been speaking, "Oh, well, Luna said in her note that you might know more about the Null Tether than she did. I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit more about it before we arrived."

"Certainly, Twilight. Luna is correct in the fact that I should know more than she does about it, seeing as I was around it for a longer period of time than she was. There are some other things you must know before I can try to explain exactly what the Tether is, however. My sister and I are immortal, this much is common knowledge, but have you ever wondered where we came from? I'm still not entirely sure of the answer to that question myself, but what I do know is that my first memories consist solely of that place. From what I've managed to gather, the Null Tether is a place of instruction. Guardians of the world such as myself are brought there, and from the Tether we learn of everything we need to know about the world. I had been around the Tether for some time before Luna just appeared before me one day. I've still no idea how she arrived, but I can only assume that her arrival was similar to my own."

"She just appeared out of thin air?" Twilight sarcastically questioned.

"As far as I know, she did. I wasn't exactly looking directly at the spot she appeared in. I only noticed another presence inside the room while I was studying the Tether. When I went to investigate, I found Luna. You should have seen her as a filly, Twilight, she was probably the cutest thing you could imagine. She, of course, had yet to learn to care for herself from the tether, and while those first few moments seemed to be quite an inconvenience, for the first time in my life I was no longer alone. From that day I've considered her my sibling, and while I can no longer say that we've been together ever since, I still consider her to be a member of my family."

Twilight pondered the implications of what the princess had just revealed to her. "Does Luna know about any of this?"

"I'm afraid not. She only knows what the Tether tried to teach her, just as it tried to teach me before her arrival. I've avoided any questions she may have had regarding our origins simply because I have no answers to give."

"Then that brings me to my next question. How does Starswirl know so much about the Tether?"

"An excellent question, Twilight, but I am afraid I have no answer for you. It is something that you will have to ask him yourself."

Comments

[bahatumay]

Well, that doesn't sound foreboding at all. Nope.