Something for Everyone

Twilight tried not to slip into panic as she waited for Princess Celestia. She told herself that just because she had been called to the castle did not necessarily mean that something had gone horribly wrong. It was not certain - yet - that a horrible disaster was befalling Equestria, or some twist of fate would take her new-found princesshood from her. It was entirely possible that instead of giving her a stress-induced heart attack, today would be nice and calm and lovely. Celestia (she really did have to get into the habit of calling her by name now) probably just wanted to chat. She wouldn't get hauled before a committee of ponies with jobs she'd never heard of to be scrutinised and judged, she would just have a chat. Over tea. Nice, calming, relaxing tea, never steer you wrong, all is right in the world-

"Her Majesty will see you now."

Never mind that PANIC PANIC PANIC PANIC

***

Princess Celestia looked up from her book (a romance, and if she was perfectly honest not a particularly highbrow one either) to greet the newly crowned princess Twilight, who was flanked by rather more guards than she thought strictly necessary. "Oh good, you made it without any trouble. Tea?"

She pretended not to notice Twilight doing her best to contain a nervous twitch. "No, Pr-Celestia, even. No trouble at all. Though I will have a cup, please."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." She motioned to her guards almost imperceptibly, and they turned and left the room. "To tell you the truth, what I'm about to tell you will probably come as quite a surprise - though not the kind of surprise I'm sure you're suspecting." As she spoke, she poured Twilight a cup of chamomile and passed it over.

"So it's not that an ancient evil has resurfaced and once more threatens all of creation?"

Celestia giggled. "Am I so predictable? No, it's nothing like that. It's difficult for me to know where to begin explaining this, but I'll start with the events immediately preceding your ascension. You will recall that you spent some time in a strange, ethereal place." She had been meaning to give a name to that place for some time now, she remembered. Oh well, one of these days something suitable would occur to somepony.

"Yes. If I'm perfectly honest, I thought I might be dead." As soon as the word left her mouth, she distracted herself with her tea, as if that might change the topic for her.

Celestia could only blink. Whatever she had been expecting, it most certainly was not that. "Dead?" The word sounded strange in her mouth, as though she were tasting something she encountered but rarely.

"I've read theories about a so-called realm of perfect forms, where the ideal prototypes of all things reside, and where living beings go after they leave the living world. I thought perhaps I'd gone there. It came as something of a surprise, I must say."

"I can imagine. Well, to the best of my knowledge no such place exists - although obviously, being alive, I'm not really in a position to judge." She gave a shrug. "In any case, where you actually were was no kind of afterlife, although you should probably keep the idea in mind. It will help to explain what I mean."

"Whatever it is, it certainly must be complicated. I've never known you to take this long to reach a point."

"You're right, I'm dithering. So, in the interests of being brief: when you vanished from your library, you went to another plane of existence." She wished there was some other way of saying it, some less blunt way of changing Twilight's entire perception of the world. But as Twilight had pointed out she was meandering, and she feared that she might meander all day if she gave herself the opportunity.

"Another...as in, another world?"

"Not just world. That was its own little self-contained universe, separate from ours but connected to it."

"Another universe? How can there be another universe? Uni means One, for Faust's sake!"

"First afterlives, now Faust? You are in a spiritual mood."

Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. "Well, Fluttershy's been on a bit of a religious revival kick recently. It may have rubbed off on me."

"Do I predict a letter in my near future?"

"Possibly, but I don't think things have gotten that bad yet. Fluttershy's taking everything a bit far, and Applejack has been a little upset by it all, but things may calm down on their own."

"I live in hope. Still, I'm sure you can see why I thought you'd be surprised by what I had to tell you. It's not every day a pony learns that there are multiple universes." Twilight was right, she decided. Making the word universe a plural really was awkward. It just seemed to be another of those cases where nobody could think of a better alternative.

"You say multiple. Does that mean there are more than two?"

"Precisely. How many there are in total I don't know, and I don't think anyone does, but there are certainly more heavens and earths than are dreamt of in the philosophy of your average pony."

"Then do any of the other universes have people in them?" Twilight seemed almost embarrassed to be asking the question. Perhaps, thought Celestia, it reminded her a little too much of the bizarre theories about space aliens and suchlike that one occasionally heard floating around.

"Yes, quite a few of them do." She sipped her slowly cooling tea. "I notice you didn't ask about ponies specifically."

"Well, you just told me there was more than one universe. I don't think I can afford to make assumptions right now."

"A very wise way of looking at the world. Twilight, I must say that you're taking this with all of the scientific dignity and grace that I could hope. You really are the best student I could ask for." Internally she chided herself for once again attempting to change the topic. She wondered vaguely why she was so reluctant to discuss this particular subject. Certainly there was nothing shameful about walking the planes.

"That's very kind of you to say. So if there are other worlds, and other people...is it possible for people to travel between them? Without being vapourised, I mean. I think I'd like to avoid that if at all possible."

"Entirely understandable. It is indeed possible for individuals to travel between worlds, though such people are born only very rarely. One in one million sentient beings has the potential to have the potential to travel between the planes. You, Twilight, happen to be one of that infinitesimally small number. The ability - the spark, as it is often known - only manifests itself under supreme magical or emotional circumstances."

"And I happened to be in both at once. So at the same time as I became an alicorn - wait! Are the two connected?" Twilight cast her eyes around for a notebook and quill, only to be disappointed.

"Yes, in a way. The ability to walk the planes is linked to powerful magics, old magics, and when these are awakened in a pony they change the body into a more fitting form. I was once an earth pony, though that was a long time ago."

"In that case, I can reach only one logical conclusion. You didn't call me here alone just to tell me about all of this in theory. You called me here to teach me how to move between worlds."

"Precisely. As a Princess of Equestria, it is vital that you know all you can of the wider world - and it certainly doesn't get much wider than this."

"Then where will we go? How will we even know where we're going?"

"As it happens, I am scheduled to spend this afternoon at a kind of summit of people like us. We have all been around for some time, and in our travels we have found that we share common interests and goals. Once in a very long while, we all get together -or as many of us as possible, at any rate - and we discuss the multiverse and what is happening in it. This year, my good friend Sorin Markov will be playing host to us at Castle Markov atop Mount Markov, surrounded by Markov Forest. He is, it must be said, rather fond of the sound of his own name." Twilight giggled. "It used to be a rather horrid place, in my opinion - a very LUNA place, if you catch my meaning - but from what I've heard it's been brightened up wonderfully in recent years. The fellow who informed me mentioned something about a woman's touch, though I'm not sure exactly who he was referring to." Sorin certainly had not struck her as the marrying type.

"Well then, what good will I be to a summit of strange people and creatures? Why should they care a fig about some second-rate politician who joined their number by accident?"

"Oh Twilight, don't speak of yourself so. We planeswalkers are few and far between, and even if you're hard on yourself I'm sure the others will love to meet you. Nobody ever deliberately becomes a planeswalker. Almost nobody, at any rate, and most of the few who try end up failing. At least, I hope Yawgmoth failed. If I'm honest, I'm not 100% clear on the details. Time manipulation, you know, wonderful stuff but it makes keeping the facts straight an utter nightmare."

"Even if they do like me, what purpose do I have being there? In fact, if there are a thousand worlds or whatever it ends up being, is Equestria itself all that important to them? Is it even important at all, if there's another world out there with other people and other princesses and everything else?" Twilight looked as close to absolute dejection as Celestia had ever seen.

"Well, for example, it's been long enough since the last one that none of them yet know that Luna has returned to us. As she too is a planeswalker, they will all be eager to hear of her return. In fact, she's off in some nether realm or another right now, looking for some old tutor she used to know. I'm sure they all have news that is equally monumentous, though it may not be so happy." Her pupil seemed to have perked up just a little at the reminder of Luna's wondrous return and all that it had entailed. In truth, she was holding off the post-awakening existential crisis far better than Celestia had done at her age. She lifted Twilight's chin with a hoof, and looked her straight in the eye. "Twilight, I would be honoured if you would accompany me to this summit. I can think of no greater pleasure than introducing you to my other friends. I can imagine no more perfect joy than bringing my greatest student into a new field of study, and I am certain beyond all doubt that you will excel."

"You're unbelievable, Celestia. You've taught me darn near all I've ever learned, you're the wisest and most loving pony I've ever met, you're revealing the great secrets of existence to me...and yet YOU think that I am doing you honour. Of course I'll go. I wouldn't miss it for the world, or any other."

Celestia could only smile. She hooked one of her forelegs around one of Twilight's and, with a surprisingly unladylike grunt, conjured up a portal of swirling magical energy. White, blue, black, red and green spiraled into each other, and Twilight could almost have sworn that she could feel pure energy sparking off of it. Celestia turned to her with a bow, and said "Shall we?"

Twilight giggled and returned the bow. "We shall." They stepped into the portal together, though what happened when they stepped out the other side is a story for another time.