Genesis

Chapters

Prologue
Core and Crust
Air and Water
Memorial Temple
Geothermal Activity
Plants

Prologue

Twilight gazed out over the bustling city of Canterlot. She basked in the gentle morning light as Celestia's majestic sun crested the horizon and warmed her soul.

A small sigh escaped her lungs. As beautiful as it was, she could not deny that it had been the same sight she had seen every morning for the past thousand years or so.

It is so hard to keep track of time when one must live forever, she thought. It still pained her to think of her friends, though the grief had largely passed. She was glad for the company of Discord, Celestia, Luna and Cadence.

With a refined sense of habit, she levitated a tea tray which was laid out specially each morning and selected a pouch of chamomile. She dipped it in the hot water and began to stir. When she felt it brewed enough, she took a sip. She was given a small shock when the tea tasted nothing like chamomile, but instead like peppermint. She didn't feel like rebrewing the tea, so with a quick spell she changed the peppermint to chamomile.

She blinked. She had just performed a liquid conversion spell, an exceedingly difficult spell, like it was nothing. She thought hard to the days of her youth. She had struggled to perform even as simple a spell as an age spell back then. She blinked again. Age spells. Reserved for the highest level unicorns. She considered them simple?

She closed her eyes, tea forgotten. When was last time she had legitimately felt challenged by a test of magic? She cast her gaze far back into the past, but only one memory surfaced, the memory of her battle with Trixie. Had it really been that long?

She set down her tray and teleported into the main throne room. Another 'simple' spell, she thought. Princess Celestia was just setting about opening her Solar Court for the day. She smiled when she saw Twilight.

"Twilight, my dear, good morning. Is there anything I can help you with?" asked Celestia.

"Celestia, what is the most challenging feat of magic you have ever performed?" asked Twilight.

Celestia looked at Twilight with wide eyes. "Why would you wish to know that?"

"I was thinking about how easily I perform difficult spells, and how simple I consider them. Are there any more advanced forms of magic?"

Celestia regarded Twilight with curiosity. "If I had to guess, I would most definitely say that it was when Luna and I created Equestria."

"Created Equestria?" echoed Twilight.

"We didn't create the rock that made the base of Equestria, but we did craft the flora and fauna that inhabit it."

"Wherever did you find the power to do that? Did you make it from scratch? Did you need raw materials? Did you make the sun and moon too? Did you—”

"Twilight, calm down. All alicorns inherently possess strong enough magic to create life, though it is extremely difficult. We did make it from scratch, for the most part. We took inspiration from creatures of a different world when designing our ponies. We also based ourselves on them—before that we were merely balls of gas and heat in my case, and in Luna's case, rock and ice. We needed no raw materials. And as for your last question, we were the sun and moon, in simple terms," explained Princess Celestia.

"Interesting..." brooded Twilight. "All alicorns, you say? Does that include me? Would I be able to make a world?"

"Twilight, you can't seriously be suggesting—”

"Does it?"

The elder alicorn sighed. "Theoretically, yes, it does include you, Twilight. If you're looking for a magical challenge, don't you think that this might be a little bit extreme?"

Twilight ignored her. "Can you call the others to a meeting later? I need to make some plans."

Celestia sighed deeply and fixed her gaze on the ceiling.

"So why have we been called here, sister?" asked Luna.

"I think Twilight wants to tell us something," offered Cadence.

"I hope it involves chaos!" said Discord, rubbing his talon and paw together.

"I doubt it," said Luna, glaring at the draconequus.

The group was gathered in the conference room; a large open room with a long, horseshoe-shaped table in the centre.

"I don't know, Luna, Twilight's plans have really gone over the edge of the cliff of logic this time," said Celestia. "It was my fault, too. I let something slip, and now we have some, uh 'world-building' on our hooves."

"Dare I even ask?" deadpanned Luna.

"Whether or not you do, Twilight will tell you anyway. Here she is now."

Twilight strode into the room, carrying a stack of sheets and wearing a dark expression.

"Hello everybody. I was wondering, when was the last time any of you really felt challenged in the art of magic? I asked Celestia, and she told me that it was when she and Luna created Equestria. Luna, can you confirm this?" she asked.

Luna nearly fell off of her chair. "Good going, sister," she whispered in Celestia's ear.

"Can you?" asked Twilight again.

"I suppose, yes, I can. It was very difficult."

"Twilight, are you seriously going to do what I think you are?" asked Cadence, her face set in a small frown.

"How delightfully random and out of nowhere!" exclaimed Discord. He summoned a thermometer-like gauge out of thin air. "Where does it land on the chaos meter?" he asked. He watched as the gauge filled with bright blue liquid, until the ball of glass at the top burst in a shower of flower petals and bouncy balls. "My my, it's off the scale! Well done, Twilight, quite impressive," the draconequus remarked.

All four alicorns rolled their eyes.

"To answer your question, Cadence, yes. I do intend to create a new world. I'll watch over it, and make sure that it becomes as peaceful and prosperous as Equestria, if not more so," said Twilight.

"But, I need your permission to do so. I wouldn't want to go doing something you all disapproved of."

"Why do you want to try and do this, Twilight?" asked Cadence warily.

"Because I've gotten slightly bored with Equestria, and the other lands on Equus. I haven't felt challenged in years, and I can't even make new friends to help pass the time, because their lives end in the blink of an eye for me now. If I had something to do, something to focus on, I feel like I could become a better mare than I am now," explained Twilight.

"But you are already a mare among mares," said Luna. "Why do you feel the need to improve?"

"Like I said, boredom. That, and the fact that I haven't done anything worth doing in centuries. I want to do something important and memorable again, Luna. Once I have my new world created, I can set up trade with Equestria. Then we would both prosper," said Twilight with a smile.

"Sounds fun!" said Cadence. "Just be careful, ok?"

"I personally think you should go right ahead! Then come back and tell us all about how difficult it was!" said Discord.

Luna looked doubtful. "Are you still sure it is a good idea? The two of us working together barely managed to create Equestria. What makes you think that you alone could do much the same?"

"Belief, determination, and a lot of books," replied Twilight with a small grin.

"Somehow, I doubt that it will go as smoothly as you think it will," said Luna darkly.

"I say we hold a vote!" said Discord. "All in favour of Twilight's plan, say 'Aye'!"

"Aye!" said Discord and Cadence together.

"All not in favour of Twilight's plan, say 'Nay'!" said Discord.

"Nay," said Luna.

She turned to her sister, sitting a fair distance away from everypony else.

"Tia? You have remained quiet for quite some time. What say you in this matter?" asked Luna.

Celestia looked up from the ground she had been staring at. Slowly, she looked around.

She sighed, and spoke. "Aye."

"Thank you, Celestia! I won't disappoint you!" squealed Twilight, hugging the elder alicorn.

"And, Luna, I'll prove to you that I can do it," she added.

"I hope you do well, Twilight," encouraged Cadence.

All of those in the room converged in large group hug, with Luna getting caught unwillingly in the middle. Only Celestia hung back, staring into the distance at something only she could see.

Arrangements had been made for Twilight to begin her task. All had agreed that Twilight's new world should be close to Equus, so that it could benefit from the sun and moon, and keep a fairly similar day and night schedule.

Left completely unequipped, wearing only her boots, chest plate and crown, Twilight charged her horn. The public had been informed of Twilight's departure, and were sending her off from the very same balcony where she had first addressed the public as a newly ascended alicorn.

She had said her goodbyes. Now all that was left was to depart.

Casting one last look at her companions, Twilight's horn flashed brightly.

Twilight suddenly found herself floating weightlessly in a near empty black void. Soon, stars began to pop up around her. She turned, and saw a beautiful blue and green gem suspended in space. She smiled. She stared at her workbench, the empty space before her, littered with clouds of dust and gas, rocks hovering here and there. In the distance, she cold see an asteroid belt looping around a far-off gas giant planet.

Twilight smiled.

Twilight's Genesis Project had begun.

Author's Note

Like I noted in the description, this story concept originated from a brainstorming thread. Then I took it, with permission from the OP obviously, and wrote it. Enjoy!

Core and Crust

Twilight smiled at the empty void. This was her canvas, the gas, dust and rocks her paint.

Her horn lit with a bright magenta glow. Particles floating before her glowed and converged in a seething mass under the influence of her magic. Soon a minuscule planetary core sat before her.

The magic field around her horn expanded. It extended to reach the asteroid belt in the far off distance. At a speed that would have given Rainbow Dash motion sickness, large lumps of rock began hurtling through space. Clouds of gas robbed from the gas giant came flying along, and joined the core, expanding it.

Twilight continued her process for what could have been hours, or could have been days. Out here in space, it was difficult to tell.

She now hovered in space before a mass of gathered space debris. She glanced back at Equus. Her core was smaller, but not significantly so. She was no more than an insect when compared to her creation; which was a hulking behemoth and an example of true telekinetic mastery. But it lacked a few properties...

She lit her horn once more, casting a powerful gravity spell at the centre of the soon-to-be planet. She released her hold on the matter, and was elated to find that it stayed in place.

Telekinesis: completely mastered, she thought.

Now to set it alight. She turned to Celestia's glorious sun, a blazing inferno of raw power and energy.

I'm sure she won't mind me borrowing a bit of her flame...

Twilight's horn sparked to life once more. A looping arc of solar fire was caught and dragged across space. Twilight hovered back from the ball of rock and gas. This would be dangerous.

In a burst of magic she flung the flame, which had taken on a magenta colour, at the core, and threw up a shield around herself. The gas within the core combusted violently, creating a gorgeous fireball not unlike the sun. Flames were thrown out across the surrounding space, but split harmlessly around Twilight's shield.

Shields: mastered, she thought.

The difference between her core and the sun, however, was that rock was involved in her project. The searing heat of the solar flames soon melted the asteroids and her other rock.

She now had a burning ball of molten rock. But she wasn't done.

She lit her horn once more, the familiar magenta aura changing to a dark blue colour. The very tip of her horn glowed iridescently, before a bright beam of ice-infused magic came streaking from her horn, striking her core.

The outer layer of the ball of magma began to harden into rock once more, creating an oddly smooth surface.

Ice magic: mastered, she thought

To check that it was safe, Twilight descended from above and stood on it. It was as hard as the rock in Equestria.

Still, she thought, it's very featureless.

She decided to remedy that. Lifting off into the air on her great wings once more, she decided to shape her landscape. Gripping the entire newborn planet in her telekinetic aura, she created cracks in the base rock. The crust had been split into tectonic plates.

Choosing a pair of plates, she smashed them together like cymbals. The still-malleable plates folded upwards, creating a long spine of rock along the borders of the plates.

Twilight smiled. The first mountain range of her new world. The peaks were tall and the bases wide. They seemed to stretch into infinity, angled in such a way that Twilight truly believed they were trying to grab the sun.

It took little effort for her to come up with a name for them: The Celestial Range .

She flew across her vast landscape until she found another tectonic boundary. She repeated the process, crashing the two plates together to form a mountain range. This range was different. Instead of being sharp, tall and proud like the Celestial Range, these mountains were smooth, the tips more rounded. Not as tall as its sister range, but far wider.

Twilight had no trouble naming this mountain range either: The Lunar Range.

She teleported to the other side of her planet. While it was daytime near the Celestial and Lunar Ranges, it was nighttime on this half of the planet. She decided to sculpt this area too.

Once more taking two plates and banging them together like a foal with building blocks, she created a third mountain range.

This set of mountains looked as though they were made of crystals. Jagged spires rose up oddly and stuck out at pointed angles. Twilight briefly wondered why each formation looked so different, but passed it off as her own technique differing from mountain to mountain.

Again, she found it easy to name this line of mountains: The Amorous Range.

Flying off, she decided to create two more great mountain ranges, for now, before stopping.

For her next range, she decided to have a little bit of fun. She made sure to crash the stone together in odd ways, with no point being the same in terms of how she hit it.

The result was a strange combination of the other three ranges, tall and pointed in some places like the Celestial Range, smooth and rounded in others like the Lunar Range and jagged and angled in others like the Amorous Range.

She was finding it incredibly easy to name her creations; this one would be named the Chaotic Range.

She teleported to a section of her world which she had not transformed yet. Here it was evening.

She gripped the last two plates she would mould into a truly massive mountain range and struck them together.

This mountain range was a simple one. It was tall, but not too much so, and it was wide, but not truly expansive. It was keeping to itself, not affecting the landscape around it in as many ways as it could. It reminded Twilight of herself in an odd way.

In an odd homage to herself and the time of day she had moulded it at, Twilight named this spine of mountains the Dusk Range.

For a few hours, maybe longer, Twilight went about creating lesser mountain ranges, scattered around. She left them nameless—the ponies she would create later could decide their names.

She hovered in the atmosphereless sky, gazing down at the world she had sculpted. She still had a lot to do. But this was a truly impressive start.

Author's Note

So sorry for those of you who thought there was an update when there wasn't. My computer trolled you all by hitting the Publish button early. Please don't have my story taken down!

Air and Water

Author's Note

This chapter and the following chapter were guest-authored by Kapuchu, the original poster of the idea for this story. So, any style changes are as a result of this fact.
Therefore, your nice words should be directed to Kapuchu!

Air and Water

Twilight let out a breath and looked around. She had returned to the Dusk Range and stood at the foot of the eastern-most mountain. She glanced around and sat down, for the first time noticing how it was starting to tear at her. The adrenaline that had coursed through her body had kept exhaustion at bay.

She tried to breath in but found the action impossible. It was only then that she realised the lack of oxygen. She hadn’t really needed any oxygen in the time she’d been working. A perk of being an Alicorn and nigh on immortal.

Though, she thought, I may not need it, but the ponies will. For a few moments she thought of how to go about it, trotting along the base of the mountain for a while. Suddenly, she looked up and smiled, her horn springing to life with a bright glow of magenta. Her horn flashed and she disappeared from the surface of her own world, reappearing briefly in some remote part of Equestria. Her visit was only brief, however, as she summoned a small bubble beside her and disappeared again.

She reappeared at the foot of the one of the smaller mountain ranges, the bubble still hovering beside her. Her horn flared briefly, its light increasing for a fraction of a second causing the bubble to become transparent. The atmosphere, for the time being. She closed her eyes and drew upon her near bottomless font of power, guiding it through her horn and into the bubble which then began to expand.

It started out slow, but quickly took speed and soon surrounded Twilight. It kept growing and growing, letting anything it impacted pass through without any resistance. Her brow creased in concentration as she poured yet more power into it, accelerating the speed at which the bubble grew. A minute later and she could not longer see it, but she knew that it had yet to encompass the entirety of the planet.

A smile made its way to her lips, the corners curling upwards in a pleased little smile despite the strain she was putting herself under. Celestia and Luna had not been lying when they said that creating a world was difficult. But she was doing it.

Twilight’s next few hours were occupied with expanding the bubble and constantly multiplying the air molecules within the bubble. The air she had taken from Equestria would not be enough for the entire planet, obviously, but that wasn’t all. Expanding the bubble was foal’s play, the multiplying of the molecules somewhat difficult. What gave her trouble, however, was her tinkering. She had set out with a goal. A goal to make her own world that was not Equestria, so of course it needed to be different.

She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her muzzle as she looked up, finally letting go of the spell when she judged that there was enough air present, and the bubble would hold firm for the few years it would undoubtedly take for nature to make a proper atmosphere. Albeit helped a little via magic. Her eyes were fixed on the sun, its light shining down on her, making her only smile wider.

Its light was the same as that of Equestria. It painted everything in its natural colour, but the sun itself was different. It wasn’t the yellow and white colour that one could see from Equestria. Her tinkering had brought about a harmless gas in the atmosphere which made the sun appear a light cerulean.

“That’s for you, Rainbow,” she whispered, saluting with one of her wings at the sun. Much like Rainbow had done once when she pretended to be her personal guard all those years ago. A little over a millennia had passed, and she still chuckled at the memory. She couldn’t help but think that it was a wonder that she still remembered them all so clearly. How or why she remembered them wasn’t important. What’s important is that I remember the five most important ponies in my life. Immortal or not.

She turned around and pushed off of the ground with all four legs, giving her wings a hard flap at the same time which propelled her into the air. The addition of air to her world had allowed her to fly again. She soared past mountain tops and between the narrow gaps formed in some places. Already she was getting ideas for what to do next.

For hours she flew, just letting the air rush through her mane as she scouted the ground for a suitable place for her next plan. A large area of flat ground came into view. She angled her wings and flew downwards, touching down moments later. The area was usable, but not quite ready for what she had in mind. Her horn flared to life again and she reared up on her hind legs, spreading her wings behind her to keep upright.

For several minutes she stood like that, horn shining and bipedal. Then she smashed her hooves down onto the ground, the blow enchanted by the magic from her horn. When she looked around, she no longer saw only rock and sand, but she now saw soft and fertile dirt upon which plants could grow. But she was only half finished. She took to the air again and hovered thirty or so feet above the ground, wings flapping lazily.

Bending so that her horn pointed towards the ground, she let loose a bolt of ludicrous telekinetic force. The following boom rocked the ground around her, creating several smaller cracks in the dirt and the rock below, but the main goal had been achieved. There was a large hollow in the ground now, one whose edge she touched down beside. Again, she lowered her horn, this time at the edge of the hollow and let her magic flow. She neither pushed or manipulated her magic. She let it flow in a silver stream towards the bottom which then filled quickly.

It took but a few hours for it to fill. While it filled quickly, it was incredibly large; easily as large as Ponyville had been in her youth. The silvery appearance of the liquid faded after a short time, leaving behind sparkling, clear water. She drank from the water, finding it as refreshing as that in Equestria. She straightened and stretched her limbs, hearing cracks and pops from her joints. Immortality or not, standing still for a long time still affected her a little.

A thought made its way to the forefront of her mind, and she took off with no warning, flying low and fast. Behind her, created by her magic, a large trench was carved into the ground, the water following slowly behind. She stepped suddenly and angled her wings upwards, bringing herself into a near vertical ascent before she tipped backwards, letting her horn flare to life.

A white light shone from her eyes as an orb of energy appeared at her horn. Milliseconds passed yet they seemed like hours. The world moved in slow motion. And then the orb fired.

A tremendous force hit the ground near where the newly created river ended, cracking up the ground and forcing several hectares of it to crumble in on itself. Another, much smaller, orb was sent towards the massive hole, hitting only a portion of the side of it. A small indent was then formed, allowing a small lake to form at the base of the new waterfall.

A large grin formed on her face yet again, an immense feeling of satisfaction coursing through her body. And with it, joy. For the first time in centuries she had cut loose and really used her magic. No restraints, no boundaries. If she so desired, she could blast the planet with everything she had and obliterate it. She wouldn’t, though. No true artist abandoned their work, and she wouldn’t either.

With a pop and a flash of purple, Twilight appeared far above her planet, looking down on it from so high that she could see the curvature of the planet. When she looked down, she could see several small splotches of blue, long lines of the same colour snaked themselves between mountain tops and across plains and through valleys. One even wound its way through a mountain, a small round hole boring its way through one of the smaller mountains.

For the past several days, she’d flown all over her world creating lakes, rivers, waterfalls and other things. She had raised and lowered pieces of land, covered empty plains in green sprouts of grass in some places while giving other places red grass.

There was one place in particular that she was proud of. It was a giant ravine located just south of the Lunar range. It spanned several kilometres in length, and several hundred metres in width. It was so deep that the bottom of it was invisible from the top. The sunlight simply did not reach it. It wasn’t impossible to pass through, though, but it was slightly dangerous for a mortal. In the western end of it was a small decline that allowed a pony to walk down it. It was wide enough to camp on in some places, and made so that one would not be able to see the crystal walls until you were already past the place where stone turned to crystal.

What made her proud of it, however, was not the size nor how she had made it by slicing the ground with her wing --it having been coated in magic. No, what made her proud of it was the bottom. Just past the point where it was impossible to see the bottom, the walls were made not of ordinary rock but of solid crystal. It shined with its own light, compensating for the lack of sunlight making its way all the way down. The crystal was so pristine that one might mistake it for diamonds. It was, however, not. While it was certainly a valuable type of gemstone, it had a purple tint to it. It was a new type of crystal. One of her own.

“For the most generous of ponies,” she whispered, finding herself standing at the bottom of the ravine after a brief teleport. Without truly realizing it, she had paid homage to two of her friends; the sun for Rainbow, a steadfast companion that would always be there. This ravine for Rarity, a one-of-a-kind place in the world, a truly rare place.

She cast a curious glance at the crystal, brow furrowing in concern. The place would be digged out in only a short few centuries once ponies, and other sentient races she might create, came up with the idea of money and the likes. She had little problems with the world being changed, but this was a place she wanted unchanged.

She suddenly chuckled, having been inspired by the very pony that this place was a gift for. Her horn lit and the glow grew to encompass the entire ravine.

She closed her eyes. “Let the spirit of generosity live on in the Belle Stones. Let this be a place free of greed, and let generosity rule. Let only purity remove the pebbles.” The glow faded and her eyes opened. She smiled. The spell she had cast would remove any desire to take the Belle Stones, the crystal - named after Rarity’s family name. The spell she had cast would deter any greedy ponies, or other, from taking any of the crystal, but it would allow the ones who wanted it for nothing but the purest of purposes. A wedding ring, for example. If they developed that custom, that is.

Memorial Temple

Author's Note

This chapter and the previous chapter were guest-authored by Kapuchu, the original poster of the idea for this story. So, any style changes are as a result of this fact.
Therefore, your nice words should be directed to Kapuchu!

Memorial Temple

She flew across an expanse of emptiness. It was rock and rock as far as the eye could see. She glanced down. Lakes and rivers had been created aplenty: Brooks and canals, lagoons and streams. There was a lot of water on the planet, but not yet enough. She thought back to the size of the oceans of Equestria, trying to calculate the time it would take to create an ocean. The answer she came up with was, ‘a long time’.

Must’ve been some asteroids among the rocks that shaped the planet, she thought. Already her awareness stretched itself into the crust of the planet, digging ever deeper in search of something. Moments passed and finally she found what she was looking for. A mountainous block of rock with moisture seeping from every crack in it. It was far underground, but it was there;. the remnants of an asteroid coated in kilometer thick ice.

Grasping the moisture deep in the earth, she condensed it and pulled it upwards. The ground cracked, splitting apart as the earth beneath it was pushed upwards as well. Like giant molerats the water pushed up earth into small hills, the hills spanning farther than she could see. More and more hills rose from the ground until, finally, the first one erupted and water spilled from the maw of the earth with an ear-splitting roar, soon followed by many until a cacophony of rushing water, breaking rock and earth vibrated through the air.

More, she thought and started powering a spell. A purple beam shot from her horn, hitting the slowly-growing amount of water. The speed at which the water levels rose increased. Going back to drawing up water from underground, she witnessed more hills and holes appearing in the ground. The ground’s becoming unstable. Hardly had the thought been finished before the earth shook and the air vibrated with the sound of rock and dirt collapsing in on itself, leaving behind a sinkhole of massive proportions. Surprised, she let go of her spells and just watched.

The collapse continued for about an hour. The ground had caved in, leading to the water collecting in a more central area rather than spreading too far. It wasn’t just a hole that went straight down, either. Unlike how it was with the place where she had created the first waterfall, the collapse made it seem more like a gigantic bowl. And sparkling blue water filled it, waves already being stirred by the winds. It wasn’t quite an ocean, but it was a lake the size of which she had never seen.

She flew off again.

How long had passed? How many times had the sun passed over the horizon, with the moon following close behind? How many times had the constellations shifted? How many times had they disappeared and returned?

Water and air, soil and stone, wind and rain. The seasons were passing like the ticks of a clock, passing by so quickly that she hardly registered them at all. How many weeks, months and years had passed? One, two, maybe ten? She had spent the time creating, shaping the world. Canyons and ravines scarred the earth. Hills rolled in the horizon and gave form to the bleak sandstone that otherwise could be seen over to majority of the planet. There was much to be done, and she was far from done. She had made brief visits to Equestria, a single day here and there to catch up on events with her fellow immortals. She may have been engrossed in her work, but even she was prone to loneliness.

In the time that had passed, she had wanted to create three additional wonders. Each of them a homage to her friends. Much like the first four mountain ranges were created in the name of Equestria’s other immortals, these were special things or places that could not be found elsewhere, and were unique in their own way. Or would be. She had small plans for what she would make for Fluttershy, Pinkie and Applejack, but she couldn’t yet. She wanted to finish shaping the world before bringing more life onto the planet than the small errant patches of red and green grass. Making anymore would be redundant should she decide to level an area, killing the life immediately; whether it be trees or small animals.

While she couldn’t quite do what she had planned yet, she did have one thing she could, and would do. It was a gift, not only to her long lost friends, but also to future explorers. It would be a wonder without equal, one that only the most foolhardy and adventurous would find.

She stood on the side of a mountain to the north. It was one of the lesser ones, not yet named. But she was sure it would be named something grandiose once it was discovered. In front of her was a steep incline, nothing interesting unless one counted several centimetres of snow as interesting. It wasn’t so far north that the snow in the lower side of the mountain was more than half a meter deep at most.

She took a breath of frigid air and watched the steam rise as she breathed out. Drawing from her wellspring, she channeled magic into her horn and sent it forward, her magic eating away at the stone almost as quick as a parasprite ate. She trotted forward, eroding more and more stone as she pressed on, soon creating a small hollow that became longer and formed a tunnel.

Several long minutes later and she stopped. She was far enough in that she could no longer feel the chill wind’s bite, nor hear the crunch of snow beneath her hooves. While it was still cold, it was not so much as outside.

“To the adventurous and daring, I give you this,” she said, and her magic spread.

The spell she had used to create the tunnel now formed a perfect half-sphere around her. At her beckon, it spread and shaped the place into a small dome that quickly grew. Stone was reduced to dust and small particles. Gems were shattered and reduced to mere sprinkles on the grey stone floor. The room had grown to a size that would be able to accommodate twenty ponies easily.

She conjured a small orb of light and glanced around, the floor and domed roof of the small room was still rough. Given what she wanted this to be, that was not good enough. Her eyes closed and her horn flared to life. An ethereal wind blew through her mane and tail, softly first then with more force. It wasn’t long before arcane winds and raw magic flew around her in a small tornado filling the entire room, with Twilight being the only thing untouched.

The wind cut at the domed roof, at the rough floor, and smoothed out any uneven part of the surfaces. Some time later and the wind died down, Twilight stood in the middle and gazed around, smiling at the mirror polished room. But it was not yet done.

Reaching out with her magic, she grasped six small areas on the four with her magic. As she did so, six circles of purple appeared in line at the far end of the room, each on wide enough for a pony to stand on and half a pony’s width between them. With a flex of her will, she yanked at those six areas, creating six stone platforms risen directly from the stone floor. Each one as polished and perfect as the walls.

A breath escaped her lips. Years of constantly pouring magic into the world was starting to tear at her wellspring. She may be immortal, a pony possessing cosmic powers, but she wasn’t omnipotent. She trotted over to the six platforms, nearing the one on the left first. She smiled and touched a hoof to the wall behind it. Magic poured from it and shaped the stone, drawing a little of it out and remaking it. When she removed her hoof, a blue balloon shaped gemstone half the size of a pony’s head sat embedded in the wall behind the dais.

She walked to the next one in line, this one was an orange apple-shaped gem with a green gem on top, mirroring a pair of tiny leaves. For the third time she put her hoof to the wall behind the third dais. A pink butterfly sprouted from the wall, the same size as both the apple and the balloon.

She continued like this, making a gemstone replica of the elements of harmony: A pink butterfly, a deep pink, six pointed star, a red lightning and a light purple gem, shaped exactly like one of the gems on Rarity’s cutie mark. Satisfied, she stepped back to the middle of the room and just looked. She was close to done, only a few things remained before this place was done.

Digging deep into her memory, she called forth some of her oldest and most precious memories. They were memories so precious, that she would never want to forget, no matter how much they would hurt. She smiled and let her magic take hold, bringing forth the memories into the real world. Where the daises had been empty before, now stood ethereal versions of each of the her old friends and herself. Way back when she was still only a unicorn.

Pinkie Pie stood with a large smile on her face, eyes sparkling, and just looking happy. She also looked like she was mid-jump, hovering just a few inches above the dais, her legs bent in such a way that it also looked like she had just jumped. Applejack stood with her two right legs crossing the left ones, a proud smile on her lips. Next was Fluttershy. She stood with her wings spread and a small smile on her lips that so looked like Celestia’s serene smile. Or was nothing short of peaceful. Fitting for the pegasus, really.

She had made her own apparition stand normally, head tilted a little to one side and with a friendly expression on her face. Smiling like the rest. Rainbow stood on her hind legs, wings flared wide and turned sideways, head turned just enough to face the entrance. Twilight chuckled. It was just like she had posed back when she had tied to bridge up for them in the Everfree, just hours after they had met. She looked so proud back then, just like her image did now. Last was Rarity. She, too, was standing side ways, her head turned to look at the entrance as well. Her eyes were half-lidded and one front leg was raised, her chest pushed forward in the most fabulous pose she could do. Always a beautiful pony, right to the last second, Twilight mused. Smiling.

Each of the apparitions were transparent enough that one could see through them, but still corporeal enough that they almost looked solid.

There were only a few things left to do before this place was finished. Her horn lit once again, and spells poured out as magic was drawn into it and pushed outwards. Layers upon layers of protective spells were cast in the tunnel and small dome shaped room. No one would be able to take anything, but anyone would be able to enter. Furthermore, the place would be warm and with enough light to see effortlessly. No chill would be able to make its way into here, warmed and lit by the gems behind each dais.

And lastly, if anypony ever entered the memorial room itself, she would know. She smiled and turned around, chuckling, and headed down the tunnel towards the outside again. She looked forward to teleporting back here and tell them about why it was there when somepony found it. Finally reaching the exit, she sighed and took flight. She was not yet done with her world.

Geothermal Activity

Twilight rested near the Dusk Range. She heaved a breath, the strain of creating her world getting to her. Still, she knew she must continue. She was finicky by nature, and under no circumstances was she going to leave a job half-finished.

She opened her wings and shook them out, flapping them hard. She took off into the air, Rainbow's cerulean sun shining its gorgeous light on her and warming her wings.

She felt that she was nearly done with the landscaping. Glorious lakes and vast oceans covered her planet. Majestic waterfalls fell from cliffs high in the mountains. The ravine containing the Belle Stones scarred the land, adding a touch of character to her world. If she squinted, she could just about see the mountain range where she had erected the Memorial Temple.

The atmosphere was coming along nicely, and Twilight knew that her world would soon be ready to support more life than simply a few patches of stubby red and green grass.

She did, however, notice the lack of geothermal activity on her planet. There were no volcanoes, nor geysers nor hot springs. Twilight's scholarly mind instantly took note of the danger. If too much pressure was to build up with no way to escape, the results could be extremely volatile. She wouldn't allow that to happen and destroy the life she would create.

Soaring over one of the more remote mountain ranges, close to the North Pole, Twilight focused her strained magic. She concentrated her telekinesis in a way she'd never tried before. Her magic condensed into an opaque magenta cone, ridged along the sides and almost solid to the touch.

Twilight drove the cone downwards into the summit of a mountain, rotating it rapidly. The drill of pure magic began to burrow deep into the rock that formed the mountain. Gritting her teeth, Twilight continued to drill into her mountain.

Suddenly, she felt something give. She dispersed her drill and flew clear as a violent shaking built up around the mountain.

A pillar of molten rock, mud and smoke came billowing out of her brand new volcano. The heated matter began to fall, lava oozing down the side of the mountain and incinerating the patches of grass in its path.

Twilight smiled. She would allow other volcanoes to form naturally, but this one would satisfy the ground's geothermal needs for now.

She condensed her magic into a smaller drill and flew around, drilling holes in the ground, creating vents. She placed them strategically, attempting to avoid areas that would make for good farmland.

Future volcanoes would grow up around these vents. She didn't want to leave them too close to anywhere that her ponies might settle.

She alighted near a lake's edge, taking a drink of the clear, cool water. It was somehow immensely more satisfying, knowing that she had created this water with her own magic.

Sweat dripped down her mane and into her eyes. Twilight shuddered. It had been quite a while since she had bathed herself. She looked at the lake again.

Well, no time like the present.

With a very un-princesslike whoop, she dove into the chilly lake. A part of her felt ashamed for sullying the water, but the more rational part of her told her that the lake would clean itself, as water does.

She ducked under the water, and paddled leisurely with her wings, just enjoying her surroundings. The lake looked lonely. It was merely a rock basin filled with water. There was no pondweed. No wader birds pecking for shrimp, or true water birds diving for fish. She made a mental note to make sure that her underwater kingdom was just as full of life as her land-based one.

She noticed an indent in the side of the lake. She swam over to investigate it. It was just a short hollow, nothing spectacular about it, but it reminded Twilight of adventure stories she'd read. Stories where there were underwater tunnels that would lead to caverns.

Twilight formed her drill once more. She dug it into the hollow, angling it downwards. Water rushed in the fill the space. Twilight followed her drill into her tunnel, the light from her horn guiding her. When she felt it of sufficient length, she angled her drill upwards. Gravity opposed the water's attempts to fill the gap, and it remained behind.

Twilight folded her dripping wings and walked along the tunnel, which was gradually getting steeper. She made sure not to make it so steep that any non-Pegasi who were daring enough to attempt to follow the tunnel would not be able to traverse it.

Feeling once more that she had gone a sufficient distance, she enlarged her drill. She began to cut a cavern into the rock. The fallen scree piled up, and Twilight levitated it off to the side. She would deal with it later.

When she had a sizeable cavern dug out, she picked up the scree. Her horn glowed brightly for a moment before the scree disappeared in a flash. She had teleported it to some place near the Lunar Range.

Standing on the edge of the cavern's spacious basin, Twilight sighed and lit her horn, beginning the arduous process of creating water from scratch.

After several hours, she cut off her magic with a groan. She fell back on her haunches and wiped her brow with a wing. She was exhausted, but when she looked at the sparkling underground lake she had created, she knew it was worth it.

She had lined the ceiling with luminescent gems. Like the Belle Stones, they could not be removed. But whereas the Belle Stones could be removed under certain conditions, these gems were completely immobile. They cast a soft light on the lake's water, their many colours dancing on the small ripples.

Twilight smiled. She was not done with this lake. But she would have to wait before her plans for it could come to fruition.

Deciding that here was as good a place as any for a nap, Twilight curled up and fell into a deep sleep.

Twilight soared once more. She wanted more geothermal activity. She wasn't sure that a few vents and a volcano would be enough.

She landed on the ground and walked until she noticed a place where the ground was heated beneath her hooves. She deduced that the crust must be thinner here.

The perfect place for a hot spring. She created her drill and burrowed into the ground. Not so deep as to reach the core, but deep enough that the ground was even hotter than before. She didn't even want to think about creating more water from scratch, so she grabbed an amount of water from a nearby river and dropped it into her pool.

After a while, the water grew lukewarm. After that, it became pleasantly hot. Twilight soaked herself in her new hot spring. She let the warm water soothe her tense muscles, in particular her wings, which had seen more use these past few years than they had in the rest of her millennia long life.

The hotspot stretched further, so Twilight idly drilled a few more holes. She wasn't sure why she did it. They weren't deep enough to be vents. They weren't wide enough to be a hot spring.

Maybe they would be warm wells? She borrowed more water from the river and dropped a small amount into each hole. Warm wells didn't seem right. Maybe they would just be a mystery? Maybe she would just leave them, and see what her ponies did with them.

As she sat contemplating the purpose of these holes, she heard a bubbling sound come from one of the holes. The small amount of water in it was boiling. It was both shallower in volume, but further down in the rock than the hot spring.

Suddenly, a plume of steam and water droplets burst from the hole in front of her. Another hole shot a similar spray into the air. All around Twilight, the holes were erupting.

She smiled. Geysers.

She had made geysers. Even when their initial water supply ran out, water seeping into the ground from the spring and river would have a place to escape the pressure via the newly formed geysers.

Twilight found great joy in watching them. So much so, in fact, that she drilled a few more, in a different area of the hotspot.

As her second set of geysers began to erupt, Twilight couldn't help but compare them to a pony she once knew.

They were odd. To somepony less knowledgeable than her, they didn't really make much sense. They were random. They were spontaneous. They erupted whenever they felt like it.

They were a perfect mirror of Pinkie Pie.

Smiling, Twilight grasped the water supply in the second set of geysers with her magic. She cast a conversion spell, but an altered one. Instead of changing it to a different liquid, she changed it to the most fitting thing she could think of. The water slowly solidified and changed shape. Soon, it was not water that Twilight held in her magic field. Instead, she held bits of confetti, long streamers and balloons, some filled with air, some deflated.

She lowered the party supplies into the geysers once more. She lit her horn, still gripping the supplies, and said, "May these objects never run out. May they always be here, eternal. May they not catch fire, nor be destroyed in any way. Their presence shall be a harmless one. They will not contaminate the ground. Instead, they will bring new water to the world upon touching the ground. May they bring joy to the hearts of those who see them. May they be freely taken by those who need them to bring happiness and laughter to others."

Smiling as she completed her spell, she gently placed the party supplies into the geysers. She sat and waited.

Within minutes, one of the geysers erupted. With the sound of a party horn, confetti, streamers and balloons flew into the air. They began to slowly fall, fluttering and twirling in the air. The balloons floated upwards slowly. As the confetti hit the ground, it melted back into water.

A streamer wound itself around Twilight's horn. She picked it up and put it on the ground, watching it dissolve harmlessly. She smiled.

Pinkie would approve, she thought.

As much as she would have loved to just stay there and watch the Party Geysers, Twilight knew she had further business to attend to.

She took off. Her next destination would be a large plain near the Chaotic Range. It was spacious, even ground. There was a large lake, perfect for fresh water.

It would be the perfect place for a city. But, Twilight wanted the place to have a bit more personality. She wanted future settlements in this area to be located on something impressive. Like the mountain Canterlot was built into.

A plateau. She couldn't recall creating any plateaus in all her time here. Gripping the landscape, dotted with patches of red grass, she gently pulled upwards. A section of land was lifted with her magic, expanding so as not to become ripped from the core entirely.

Gently teasing the plateau up from the ground, Twilight let her mind wander. She wondered what her ponies would create on the world she gave them. She wondered what she would do when she was finished. Would she rule the world like Celestia and Luna? Or would she stay out of it, an impartial observer? Perhaps she would assist the crown of the future, but not directly rule herself.

Twilight decided that she had probably raised the plateau enough and refocused her attention on it. What she saw shocked her.

While she hadn't been paying attention the shape of the plateau she was building, she had inadvertently created it to be in the shape of a six-pointed star.

She wasn't one for egotism, but she found herself enjoying the shape, and how similar it was to her cutie mark. It was a symbol of her part in creating the planet. Rather than change it, she decided to leave it as it was. She would return here later. There was still space for more plateaus, after all.

And she had ideas for the shapes of them.

Author's Note

Sorry that this took so long to get out. Writer's block and procrastination, bleh. Originally, this chapter was going to also contain Twilight's creation of plants. But then I realised that this was already the longest chapter so far, though admittedly not by much (and Kapuchu wrote a 4K chapter--we just split it up), and decided to leave it. But hey, at least that means there probably won't be as much of a delay between chapters.

For the record, I know that that is not how geysers work. But it seemed fun.

Plants

Twilight hovered above the star-shaped plateau, and looked at some of the grass growing on and around it. It was short, spiky, and—as she had learned the hard way—tasted foul. It was inadequate, and Twilight knew that she would have to push her magic harder than ever before to create something beautiful and truly alive. Her world was ready to support a more diverse range of plants now, she knew it, but she wouldn't quite start yet. After all, the area around her newly created plateau was a bit open for her tastes.

Gliding to another spot above the ground, far enough away from the star-shaped plateau that they wouldn't be too close to one another, but close enough to be within walking distance of each other, she lit her horn.

Grasping the land once more, she gently pulled upwards, sculpting it with more care and attention than she had with the first one. She raised the plateau to a height that was more or less level with the first one. The irregularly shaped plateau was long and thin. With expert control and strength, Twilight brought the end of it into a fine point. Moving further along, she created jagged edges and corners, slowly moulding it into the shape of a lightning bolt. When she was finished, she flew up to admire her own work.

She had created a perfect replica of the Element of Loyalty, and thus, Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. She smiled and moved onto another space. There, she repeated the process, this time creating a butterfly. She moved around the star-shaped plateau in a circle, creating an image of each Element of Harmony as she went.

When she was finished, the plateaus looked wonderful from the air. An image of the six Elements together, her own in the centre. A small tear pricked the corner of Twilight's eyes. She blinked it away. She would stop by the Memorial Temple later, but for now, she had a planet to fill with life.

She flew until she found a place with a wide open space that she had left open on purpose. She had planned for it to be an open plain. She alighted on the edge of the future plain, crushing some stubby grass beneath her hooves. She smiled and folded her wings. She wouldn't be needing them at all for her plant-making. She cut off all magic flow to her horn. She wouldn't be needing that either.

Her unicorn and pegasus magic had both taken a beating over the years. Her wings were far more muscular than they had ever been, and were being used more often than they ever were in Equestria, and her horn ached a little. But there was one part of herself that Twilight had left alone.

Earth pony magic manifested itself passively as longevity, strength, stamina, and a connection with the earth. But, with the right know-how, and a sufficient amount of it, earth pony magic could be harnessed to accomplish far more than even unicorn magic. Earth pony magic had the unique ability to bring life to barren land. Twilight had earth pony magic to spare, and she was going to put it to good use.

Twilight closed her eyes. She breathed in, calming herself, and pushed her hoof away from her chest, exhaling as she did so. She squared her hooves on the ground, and reached deep inside herself. There, buried deep within her, was a near-boundless supply of untapped earth pony magic. Twilight drew it out, and forced it into her hooves. She opened her eyes and looked at her hooves. They were glowing a soft magenta tinged with green. She forced more and more of her earth pony magic into her hooves until the green glow overpowered the magenta. Tall, green grass began to spring up around her hooves. Flowers grew on long stems and opened, adding a much-needed dash of colour to the world.

Twilight grinned. She was ready.

With a joyful shriek, Twilight bounded forward into a gallop. Behind her, a trail of fresh green grass and flowers was springing up, bringing life to the barren soil. Her mane flapped behind her in the wind as she ran, smiling wider than she thought was possible. She galloped joyfully across the lifeless plains, her magic's influence spreading out behind her to fill more and more of her world with plants. True, life-filled grass and beautiful, crisp flowers followed Twilight, filling the world with beauty.

When Twilight reached the other edge of the plain, she paused for breath. She turned to look at her work. The once empty plain was now filled with long grass and flowers. Twilight ran back into it, laughing as grass tickled her belly and got caught in her tail. She stopped to smell the flowers. She hadn't seen anything like them before. They were white, with petals that were long and rubbery, with brown speckles on them. Near the centre of the flower, the petals faded to a creamy butter yellow that reminded Twilight of a certain pony's coat.

She ran around the plain some more, more life growing behind her as she ran. She stopped and lifted a forehoof. She stomped down hard. From her hoof grew a thick, thorny shrub. She moved around growing more and more shrubs as she went along. When she was satisfied that she had put enough plants into her plains, she switched off the magic and galloped towards the nearest mountain range. It happened to be the Chaotic Range.

At the base of the mountains, she resumed the flow of magic. She changed the amount and strength of the magic, trying to create mountain wildflowers. She looked at the plant life growing up around her hooves. It was thorny, but had an interesting fluffy coat on the stem and head. It had lavender coloured petals. It looked like an average mountain flower, but unique. Twilight was pleased with herself.

She slowly began to climb the mountain range, unable to gallop up the steep terrain. Where the soil was suitable, Twilight's mountain flowers grew outwards to fill the gap. She altered her flow again, and a different mountain flower, this one red, began to grow. The two species mingled together. Twilight returned to the flow she had used to make the grassland, but changed it slightly to create dry mountain grass. There wasn't much in the way of soil past a certain point, so Twilight left it barren. If plants wanted to colonise it, she would leave them to do it themselves.

She skidded back down the mountain. Not too far away from here, if she remembered correctly, was the huge lake she had made. She had a vow to fulfil. She needed to fill her underwater kingdom with just as much life as her land based one.

She trotted over to the lake at her own pace. There was no danger to her after all. And she was in no rush. When she reached the lakeshore, she stopped for a moment to ponder what type of flow she should use. She wasn't sure if her magic would even work underwater, never mind what type of flow she should use. She opted for something that would have created moss on land. Moss and algae were quite similar to one another in appearance, so she hoped it would work.

She dove in, lighting her hooves with life-giving magic as she went. She watched as the magic bled off of her hooves in spiralling green tendrils, seemingly doing nothing. However, as she swam, paddling with her hooves, the water gradually grew murky as it filled up with algae. A smile crossing her face, Twilight dove to the lake floor and began to walk along the bottom, changing her flow as she did.

With each step she took, dark green weed sprung up, waving in the lake's current. The long leaves and snakelike vines attempted to catch hold of Twilight as she walked by, but she brushed them off with one of her hooves. As she walked, altering her flow occasionally for variety, Twilight began to think about what type of creatures she should fill her world with, and how she would do it. The plant life she was creating was unique, she had noticed. She'd never seen it on Equestria. It was probably something to do with her magic signature.

She swam through the lake, filling it with life, for over an hour. She was still nowhere near the centre of the lake, but it was filling up nicely. When she was done, she climbed out of the lake, now on the opposite side, and shook herself. She looked around.

She galloped around a bit more, spreading life around her wherever she went. She smiled, enjoying the freedom of just running around with no nobles to tell her she was acting 'un-princesslike'. She hadn't been running for years, but she was certainly making up for it.

After almost a full week of running around, filling her world with its first form of life, Twilight sat halfway up a lesser mountain range, panting, with aching legs and sore hooves, but a wide smile upon her face. Lush green vegetation covered her planet. Long rows of shrubs, unique, colourful flowers, and young saplings that would one day become massive trees filled the ecosystem. Some plants were blooming in odd colours. A field of blue grass was kept company by a row of red shrubs. A sapling with an indigo trunk was trying to establish a foothold for itself in a patch of neon yellow flowers.

As fulfilling as it was to finally have accomplished the daunting task of creating life, Twilight knew that she now had a time limit. She had to fill her world with animals soon, lest the plants grow out of control. But that could wait. For now, she had a special task to complete.

Twilight found an open space that had become a plain. It wasn't a large space, but the soil here was good and fertile. Perfect for what she was planning. Twilight withdrew the magic from her hind hooves and redirected it into her forehooves. She would need extra strength for this task. She called forth a collection of memories, memories that, despite being a millennia old, were still fresh in her mind. She tried to get the memory as vivid as possible, and altered her flow to become as close to her memories as possible.

Confident that everything was perfect, Twilight reared up, her glowing forehooves waving in the air. With explosive force, she brought them down. She stepped back and waited. A sapling poked its way out of the soil. It quickly began to grow, shooting upwards and widening. Leaves grew from its lengthening branches, and fruit began to grow and ripen. Twilight smiled. It was perfect. Exactly how she remembered it.

Walking along in a straight line, Twilight grew more and more trees. When she was confident that her row was long enough, she started on another. Twilight had grown seven rows of trees before she decided it was large enough. It was nowhere near as large as the original, but it would do.

Twilight trotted to the nearest tree and plucked a fruit from its branches. The red apple was sweet, and delightfully crunchy. It was not as perfect as the original apples from Sweet Apple Acres, but they were fairly close. It had been a long time since Twilight had eaten any food at all. The food that she had eaten was the type of overly complex food served to royalty. Twilight relished in the taste of fresh, organic, unaltered fruit.

Finishing her apple and tossing away the core, Twilight cut off her earth pony magic. She allowed magic to flow into her horn once more. It didn't ache as much anymore; it had been given a rest these past few days, but Twilight still winced slightly as a powerful spell began to weave itself in her horn.

"May these trees stand here always. May they be impossible to destroy, by fire, disease, felling or otherwise. May their fruit always be ripe, may there always be fruit upon their branches and may they be impossible to grow anywhere else. May they feed weary travellers and villages, and may they always have the quality taste of homegrown food. May their fruit always be free from disease and parasites, so that all may enjoy their taste and benefit from them always," she said.

With a small flash, the spell was in place, and Twilight knew that the Apple Forest would always stand. She levitated another apple down from the trees and bit into it. She didn't need it—alicorns didn't need to eat—but she ate it anyway, enjoying its taste and the memories it brought forth.

She lay down under a tree, eating her apple and watching the sunset. Soon, she would not be the only creature on the planet. But for now, she was content to sit in the shade of the apple tree and think of days gone by.

A small tear rolled from her eye.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out, but I was so indecisive. I had three different ideas for how Twilight could go about creating plants, and I didn't like any of them. Then, on an airplane yesterday, I was struck with inspiration, and wrote this. If any of you thought of Okami, then I did my job right, because that's what I was going for. Like the previous chapter, this was going to contain more, but I stopped because it was getting a bit long, and I prefer short chapters.