Chapter 1
Gosling awoke to the sound of a page being turned. His eyes were almost crusted shut. There was a painful throbbing deep within his ears and the pressure inside of his head threatened to make his eyes pop out of his skull. His vision was blurry, but he could make out the vague outline of Celestia beside his bed. He guessed that she was reading.
“Whatcha reading?” he asked in a raspy voice that made Celestia look up from her book.
She did not reply, not right away. She filled up a small plastic cup with ice and water from a pitcher by the bed and then slipped a straw into it. She held it up to Gosling’s lips so that he might drink. As she assisted him by getting the end of the straw between his lips, she replied, “It is a book about animancy.”
After drinking about half of the water in the plastic cup, Gosling let the straw slip from between his lips. He let out a feeble cough, cleared his throat a few times, his ears twitching as he tried to get rid of the tickle in his throat, and he asked, “Is that animal magic?”
“No.”
As the word was spoken, he could see Celestia’s rose coloured eyes staring into his own. He saw compassion, kindness, there was so much emotion in those timeless, immortal eyes. He saw her lips move and her nostrils flared as she inhaled.
“Animancy… soul magic.”
Gosling shook his head. “I don’t understand. I’ve never heard the word before. Teach me. I am ever your student.” As he spoke, he saw Celestia’s smile widen and he knew that he had said the right thing. He had touched her.
“Little is known about animancy. I am one of the few capable of such magic.” Taking a deep breath, Celestia’s barrel expanded and her wings twitched against her ribs. “After Luna fell, I begin to study animancy… I studied souls. I had a theory that Luna’s soul had become corrupted, and that her physical body had changed to reflect the changes done deep within her being.”
Struggling to understand, Gosling maintained eye contact, but said nothing. Now did not feel like the time for questions or talking. Now was the time to listen and to learn. He waited for Celestia to continue.
“There were others, of course, such as Sombra. Those with the darkest souls became corrupt and oftentimes, though not always, their outer appearance changed to reflect their inner darkness. But this wasn’t always true. I spent a thousand years observing, studying, watching, and trying to understand.”
The cup was placed up near Gosling’s lips once again and he drank while Celestia spoke.
“I tried to understand the very nature of the soul… the best and the worst. I wandered the astral realms, trying to understand how astral projections formed. In the astral realms, I appear very much as I do in my physical body. But other creatures can look very different. Evil creatures take on a very twisted, distorted, and some might even say evil appearance. There are ugly creatures that are very beautiful in the astral realms. I tried to understand the hows and the whys.”
“I have a hard time believing that any version of you could ever be ugly,” Gosling said in a low, scratchy whisper as the straw remained tucked into the corner of his mouth. He saw Celestia’s cheeks take on a faint shade of pink, a rosy warm glow, as she blushed through her fine white pelt.
“I made a mirror that showed creatures for what they really are… as one might see them in the astral realms. A former student of mine looked into this mirror and saw herself as an alicorn… she failed to understand what the mirror was really showing her…” Celestia’s words trailed off and she looked sad. She turned away from Gosling and stared at the wall for a minute, and then, with a slow turn of her head, she returned her attention to him.
“After all of my studies, I learned that souls can be shaped… that unlimited potential can be unlocked… it can be tapped into and molded like clay.” Celestia’s smile vanished and she sat there, looking hesitant. “It is like cultivating plants to obtain better yields, or trimming the shrubberies until they become topiaries.”
“Is this how Twilight became an alicorn?” Gosling asked.
“Yes,” Celestia replied, looking surprised. “So quick to catch on… but the first was Cadance. I tapped into Cadance’s limitless potential. I reshaped her soul, gave it new purpose and form, and when I did, Cadance’s body changed to reflect what she was on the inside. She was not born an alicorn, but by removing everything that held back her full potential, her inner alicorn revealed itself.”
“Are we all alicorns inside?” Gosling watched as Celestia filled up the plastic cup once again with more ice and water.
“Some more than others.” Celestia held the cup up near Gosling’s muzzle and slipped the straw between his lips. “I learned so much from Cadance. It gave me new directions, it gave me ideas, it confirmed so many things that I held as theories or suspected. It was proof of what I was seeking.” As she spoke, Gosling sucked water through the straw, his cheeks bulging in and out as he sucked down the cold, refreshing liquid.
Drinking the water and this short conversation left Gosling feeling exhausted. His eyelids felt heavy and his whole body felt like lead. He yawned, making a low whining sound as he did so, and then smacked his lips as Celestia sat the half filled cup down on the bedside table.
“All ponies have potential,” Celestia said in a low whisper as she began to tuck Gosling’s blankets around him and tried to make him comfortable. She lifted his head for a moment and fluffed his pillow. “Some ponies have more potential than others. They rise above difficult circumstances and become extraordinary individuals. I hope this doesn’t sound sinister, but I even created an agency that would allow me to study those with extraordinary souls. Perhaps I will show you sometime. These are ponies that I know for certain will change the world, and some of them already have. Wonderful ponies who have marvellous stiff upper lips…” Her words trailed off and she smiled as Gosling yawned again.
“But those with the greatest potential, ponies like Cadance and Twilight, I have unlocked their potential just to see how far they might go. I have to be careful, Gosling. I cannot be reckless. I have to elevate those I know I can trust. I’d like to see everypony live up to their full potential…”
As Celestia paused, Gosling took the opportunity to say something. “A lot of them would squander their potential… plus, if we all became alicorns, it would take away our greatest strength as ponies.”
“And just what do you think that is, Gosling?” Celestia asked.
“Diversity,” Gosling said without hesitation in a soft voice. “I see it in the guard. We’re better for having all three tribes in the guard. I see it when I look at Seville and think about him as a reporter. He’s bound to have perspectives that are unique to him being an earth pony. He can’t use magic like unicorns and he can’t fly. He has a lot to offer by virtue of who he is and what tribe he comes from. Having wings or having magic might take away what makes him special, which is his unique perspective.”
Ears perking, Celestia’s eyes narrowed. After a moment of looking thoughtful, she nodded. “Well said, Gosling, and how very true. It certainly gives me a little something to think about. Some ponies will live up to their full potential by virtue of who and what they are.”
Unable to stop himself, Gosling yawned and then his eyelids fluttered as he struggled to keep them open. He was fighting a losing battle. He focused on the sound of Celestia’s breathing, the regular, steady sound of her inhaling and exhaling. It was soothing, but it also made his drowsiness worse. After another yawn, he slipped away into a comfortable slumber, going to where pain could not reach him.
Reaching out her wing, Celestia stroked Gosling’s cheek. “I wonder what sort of potential you have, my little pretty peacock pegasus… so many questions.” Her whispered words had no listeners and Celestia shook her head as she lifted up her book.
Holding up her book before her muzzle, Celestia returned to reading.