The Pantheon of Harmony

Chapters

Elysium
Apofasi
Apotheosis
Dikastirio
Schema

Elysium

Twilight Sparkle suddenly realized that something was different.

She opened her eyes, then gasped at the sight around her. She'd gone to sleep, as she always did, in her old, creaky bed, nestled in the warmth of tattered quilts and sinking into the softness of pegasus down. Her friends had made it for her, many years ago, and in a sentimental way she felt she could feel their spirit in every scrap of cloth and bit of wood.

Now she was lying among gently rolling hills, looking out on green grass and scattered trees, stretching to the horizon. The sky above was a brilliant blue, scattered clouds dotting the landscape with shadows, yet the sun shone clear and bright from high above. A gentle wind ruffled her coat, enough to keep her from getting too hot, no more.

She didn't recognize any of it.

Springing to her hooves, she looked around for some sign of the familiar, only to be disappointed, seeing only more of the same terrain in all directions; there was no sign that ponies had ever passed this way, much less the streets and buildings of Ponyville. How had she gotten here? And where was here?

Then another oddity came to mind, and she looked down at herself.

She looked... young. Her coat was soft and vibrant, her body free of the lingering aches and pains that had become such a part of her life that she only noticed them in their absence. Her vision was sharp and clear, and a distant bird call let her know her hearing was as well. She was healthy again, in a way she hadn't been in years.

Focusing her magic, she found that flowed without the slightest strain, and with a thought she summoned a mirror, holding it to look at herself, turning it this way and that. The face she saw was familiar, and yet it was one she hadn't seen in so long she'd practically forgotten it. She could be her own granddaughter!

"What happened to me?" she asked herself, gazing into violet eyes.

"The same thing that happens to everypony, my faithful student."

Twilight gasped again, tilting the mirror slightly to reveal her mentor, Princess Celestia, standing on the hill behind her. Then she spun around (and oh, what a delight it was to be able to do so!) and beamed with joy. After all this time, she still felt like a filly whenever she was in the presence of her immortal teacher, and she sank to her knees with an ease long denied her.

"Princess Celestia! Did you do this to me?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Celestia laughed, and the sound was like a chorus of beautiful bells. Twilight had heard her laugh before, but it had never sounded so wonderful. "No, Twilight, you did this to yourself." She paused, and her smile faded, but did not vanish. "I remember you asking me a question once, not so long ago. A question I told you I could not answer. Do you remember what it was?"

Twilight searched her thoughts, one of the few parts of her that had never dulled with age. A memory surfaced, and the implications brought her back to her hooves with a start. "I asked you what happens to ponies when they... die." The memory brought back the sorrow with which she'd asked the question, but there was a strange hope too.

Celestia watched it all in Twilight's eyes, saw the unicorn link the pieces of the puzzle together. "I've always been proud of you, Twilight," she says. "So eager, and so quick, to understand."

Twilight focused again on her princess. "I'm dead," she said. Despite the tone, it was a question. Hypotheses had to be tested.

Celestia inclined her head slowly, her smile fading entirely, but only briefly.

"And this is...?" Twilight said, gesturing about her with a hoof.

Celestia chuckled, looking amused by a private joke. "You little ponies never did much concern yourselves much thinking about it, did you? Our fault, I suppose, for making Equestria a paradise. But yes. This is Elysium."

Twilight looked around, equal parts excited and bewildered. "Where's everypony else? My friends, my family..."

Celestia nodded, spread her wings, then folded them away—and like a conjurer's trick, four faces Twilight had only hoped to see again, and one face she'd seen surprisingly recently, appeared behind them, all restored as she was to the prime of their lives. She gasped yet again, but this time she wasn't the only one; all of them looked as surprised to see each other as they were to see her.

One face in particular drew Twilight's attention. "Fluttershy! What are you doing here? You're—you're still—" She groped for words, not sure how to ask. She realized quickly, however, that the others were as confused as she was by the presence of those who had outlived them.

"Forgive me," Celestia spoke, and six pairs of eyes turned to face her, "but those of you who arrived here first have been here for some time unawares. The relationship you have is so special, I couldn't bear to make any of you wait for your full reunion."

Twilight and the others looked at each other again, the meaning of Celestia's words sinking in. Each of them had, from her own perspective, only just died. Some of them had years of memories together that others had slipped past in an instant. And Fluttershy? The last of them to die? How long had she lived without them? How had she borne it? Twilight felt her eyes tearing up at the thought.

Fluttershy saw her tears, offered her a tender smile. "It's all right, Twilight," she said. "We're all here now, together." The words only made Twilight's eyes sting more, and before she quite knew what she was doing, she rushed toward her friends, throwing her forelegs around them, laughing and crying all at once. Through the tears, she could see colors brighter and more joyous than any she had seen before: the royal purple and pristine white of Rarity, the simple earth tones of Applejack, the bold stripes and splashes of Rainbow Dash, the pale but comforting pink and yellow of Fluttershy, and the color that seemed named after Pinkie Pie rather than the other way around.

They clung to each other for long moments, sobbing and laughing and saying incoherent things, hopes and fears and praises and sorrows spilling out in fragments. None of them knew exactly how long they stood there, holding each other as if they might wake from a wonderful dream at any moment, savoring the presence of friends whether they were long gone or seemingly seen just yesterday. None of them wanted to be the one to end the embrace.

Eventually, though, they did, shuffling apart, wiping at eyes with hooves, clearing throats and swallowing repeatedly. It was Twilight who first broke the silence, as all eyes turned to Celestia once more.

"So... what happens now?" she wondered. "Do we go off together and... do things? Do we get reborn? Or...?" She trailed off, fidgeting under Celestia's gaze. The alicorn looked strangely sad all of a sudden, bowing her head slowly.

"I am afraid that I must ask one last duty of you," she said. "Of all of you."

"No offense, your majesty," Applejack said, "but you sure took your sweet time getting around to asking us."

Celestia laughed; she couldn't help it. "Oh, Applejack. As forthright as ever. Yes, in a way I've been waiting for this moment since you first took up the Elements of Harmony, but I couldn't burden you with the knowledge of this duty in your lifetimes. I wanted you to be free to live as any mortal ponies, without having to worry about the future."

"Well, the future is now," Rainbow Dash said. "So what do you need us for? Somepony causing trouble in the afterlife?"

"Nothing so simple, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said, looking amused by the suggestion. "But forgive me. I should not speak to you of this alone."

There was the slightest suggestion of movement next to her, and then Princess Luna was there. A few of the ponies gasped, Twilight among them, for at her appearance the blue of the sky had vanished, replaced by thousands of twinkling stars, and darkness had swept across the land. Yet the sun was still high in the sky, side by side with the disc of the moon, and each of them seemed to glow with its light.

Princess Luna smiled; though her relationships with the six had started under strained circumstances, she had been granted many years to form friendships with each one, and some of them she felt she knew better even than her sister. "Good evening," she said, and they nodded, murmuring greetings to her with an ease and familiarity Celestia had never successfully cultivated.

"Before we go on," she continued, "we have to explain many things, secrets we have kept from the living. Gather around." The six ponies arranged themselves in a circle with Luna and Celestia, curiosity peaked.

A brilliant light shone in the center of the circle, then expanded into a glowing map of Equestria, its contours exaggerated, great peaks and deep valleys marked out before them. The six ponies realized their vision had become incredibly sharp; if they looked, they could see even the tiniest details, the little houses in Ponyville, the clouds around Canterlot, distant lands only spoken of in legends.

Pinkie Pie had produced not only her customary bucket of popcorn but a pair of odd, flimsy spectacles with gray lenses. "Ooo," she said.

"This is the land of Equestria," Celestia said. "All that it is, that it was, that it will be. Everything you ever knew, and endless reaches beyond." She gestured with a hoof, and the map flattened, taking on the appearance of a page in a book, a fairytale illustration of Equestria.

Then the book itself appeared, the page bound in it. The page turned, and the ponies found themselves looking at another illustration, a map of a place they'd never seen, with great oceans and strangely-shaped islands. Twilight, studying the map, felt her heart jump as she realized the land running off the right side of the map could be joined seamlessly to the land running off the left.

"This is another land," Celestia said, and the page turned again, showing another map, one with four colors advancing from north, south, east, and west to blend together in the center, where civilization lay; the map did not so much end at the borders as gradually fade away. "And this is another." She began to flip the pages rapidly now, the book seeming to have no end of them, showing them world after world after world, offering tantalizing glimpses of places Twilight yearned to learn more about. "An endless procession of worlds, all with but one thing in common." The book snapped shut, then turned to show them the cover, a symbolic sun shining against a gentle curve.

"They all have gods."

The six ponies looked confused. This time, Rarity asked. "Er, what are 'gods'?"

Celestia grinned, looking tempted to giggle, but it was Luna who answered. "Gods are immortals, people with great power who look over a world and the people who live in it. They help people to live good and happy lives, and in return the people offer them praise and thanks."

"Oh, so like you and Celestia!" Pinkie said—then added, "Ooo," as the import sank in.

"Hang on," Applejack said, "you mean there are other princesses out there, looking over all the places you don't? All these different... pages in the book?"

"Well, they're not all princesses," Luna replied, "but yes. Not all of them do it the same way we do, either. Many of them prefer to live apart from the people they care for. Some even go so far as to leave people unsure whether they exist or not. In fact, there are very few things that we all have in common... but one of those things is that we're very important to our worlds."

"Hey, what about the gryphons and zebras and buffalo and stuff?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You don't take care of them."

Celestia replied, "I'm afraid you're wrong about that, Rainbow Dash. To the different people of Equestria, we appear in different forms; it makes our rule easier to accept. Indeed, the form you see before you is not my true form. But your perceptions are still mortal, so this is the form I have made to appear to you in."

"What does this all have to do with us?" Twilight wondered, still dizzied by the thought that there were more beings like Celestia and Luna, indeed a near-countless number if the book were to be believed.

"Nothing lasts forever," Celestia replied. "Worlds, like people, die, and gods die as well, though for no reason as simple as time. But new worlds are also born, and new gods as well. Sometimes, gods come together and give birth to a new god. Other times, the gods of a dead world will choose to die and be born anew. But sometimes... if a mortal is wise, or brave, or clever enough... she can be chosen to become a god."

Silence reigned over the group for a long moment as the ponies stared at the princess. Rainbow Dash broke it.

"What!?"

Luna chuckled. "Yes, Dash. We're asking if you want to become gods."

Apofasi

The six ponies immediately burst into babbling, talking over each other in their excitement.

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh—"

"You can't be serious, Princess Celestia! I don't know the first thing about being... well, you!—"

"Oh my! You mean I'd have to look over... all the ponies, and bunnies, and chickens, and mice, and—"

"I never even imagined that I would be offered such an incredible responsibility—"

"Now hang on a second! It's a long way and a half to go from running a farm to running a country—"

"Ooo, does that mean I get wings? I've always wanted wings. I can be all zoom, and everypony will—"

"—ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh—"

"—have to research government, and land management, and public speaking, and philosophy, and—"

"—oh, but what about the animals that eat other animals? Is that okay? Can I do something about—"

"—pressure would be intense, even if nopony would dare tell me if any of my designs were flawed—"

"—just a simple earth pony! I don't know nothing about princessing, or magic, or any of that sort of—"

"—and then I can be all 'chocolate rain for everypony!' Oh wait, that would be bad. Maybe if I—"

"—ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh—"

Celestia and Luna waited patiently for the ponies to get it out of their system and calm down, at least somewhat.

"We know this is a difficult decision," Celestia said. "Becoming a god brings great rewards, but also great responsibilities. You will have to devote your lives to the people of your world, and it will be up to you to nourish and guide them. Gods who are negligent, or worse, cruel, can have terrible effects on the worlds under their care."

"There's something else you should know too," Luna added. "If you choose to become gods, it means leaving Equestria behind. We'll gladly have you back when you have the time, but..." She fell silent, looking down at her hooves, and the ponies realized that time might be far off.

Celestia spoke again. "But we would not ask this of you if we did not think you could see it through. As the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, you share a special bond, one that has given you the opportunity to repeatedly demonstrate your worthiness for the task... and you have made us very proud."

"New worlds must have new gods," Luna stressed. "We've been given the chance to put you in charge of a new world, and if you say no... I don't know who will get the duty in your place. There are far worse things than Discord that hunger for another chance."

Twilight and the others looked around the circle, considering the words of the princesses silently, expressions shifting.

"You may have all the time you need to come to a decision," Celestia said. "My sister and I will depart to let you consider the issue. When you have decided, you have only to will it, and we will return." She and Luna shifted somehow, and then they were gone, taking the sky with them and leaving behind a strange grayness that nonetheless allowed the ponies to see.

Rainbow Dash, again, broke the silence.

"So are we doing this or what?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded. "This is not a decision to be entered into so lightly!"

"Hey, you heard them!" Dash protested. "If we don't do it, some total jerks might get the job! Besides, what could be more awesome than being princesses of our own country?"

"Gods," Twilight automatically corrected.

"Whatever," Dash said. "Hey, wait, can we pick our own titles?"

"What I don't understand is why anypony has to do it," Twilight mused. "Is there somepony who decides who gets to be in charge of new worlds? Somepony more powerful than the princesses?" The thought felt blasphemous.

"Do you think we'd have to make a lot of public appearances?" Fluttershy wondered. "I mean... I want to help, but..."

"I never really thought about what I was gonna do when I was dead," Applejack said. "I mean, if you'd asked, I'd have hoped to be reunited with all my kin. Maybe there's some sort of... Sweet Apple Afterlife Acres I could help out on. And now they're wanting me to pack up and move straight out of Equestria?"

"Spike," Twilight said, clasping her forehooves together. "Oh, he'll be so sad that I'm gone." Fluttershy nodded solemnly, but Twilight didn't see her. "And when he gets here, if I'm not there to greet him..."

"Whoa, what if they put us in charge of some weird squidgy blob things?" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't wanna be the fastest blob in Blobnia."

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity murmured, sitting down and looking up at the gray sky. "Can I leave her without me? Can I leave without her? Even if she could come with me, for her not to be able to see her friends for who knows how long..."

"What if there are... d-dragons there? Would I have to take care of them too? I mean... I'd be a princess. Maybe they wouldn't be so scary?" Fluttershy twitched her wings, tried to imagine looking as strong and confident as either of the princesses.

"I wish Granny Smith were here. She'd know what I should do," Applejack said. "Hang on, she should be here. Wonder how I'd go about wrangling her up for a chat?"

"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked, drawing the other ponies' attention. "You're awfully quiet." The party pony had, in fact, been sitting perfectly still since the princess departed, her popcorn and odd glasses gone, a serious expression on her face. She turned to look at the other ponies as they looked at her.

"What do you think?" Twilight added, then silently braced herself for one of Pinkie's unique, out of left field answers. Pinkie managed to surprise her anyway.

"We're gonna do it," Pinkie said.

"What," Rarity protested, "just like that?"

"No, not just like that," Pinkie said. "But I figure, we can have a big long argument about whether or not we should do it and spend a lot of time being sad about the stuff we'll have to give up and how hard it's going to be, or we can skip straight to the part where we decide we're gonna do it. Because we're gonna. They wouldn't have asked us to do it unless it were super duper important that we did. There's a whole world out there that needs to know kindness, and honesty, and loyalty, and generosity, and friendship, and laughter. And whatever else we lose, we'll still have each other."

The others were silent for a long moment.

"I've lost a lot of animals in my life," Fluttershy said softly. "And I've always wished that I could do something more for them. If I could..."

Rainbow Dash scuffed at the grass with a hoof, suddenly somber. "I'll stand by you guys, whatever you decide. Pretty sure it's an all or nothing deal anyway."

Rarity admitted, "I don't know if I'm up to the task. I mean, I've always prided myself on my ability to bring out someone's inner beauty, but how useful would that be in a situation like this?"

Applejack looked her way, "Don't sell yourself short, sugarcube. Yer element's Generosity, not Froo-frooness. I reckon you'll inspire a lot of good just by being yourself. We all will." She looked away suddenly, gazing into the distance.

They turned to Twilight, who'd always been the leader of their group, but the unicorn remained silent, looking at the ground.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked. Twilight didn't answer right away, but after a moment she raised her head and looked at the others.

"I won't make any of you do this if you don't want to," she said. "I think... each of you should tell me, privately, how you feel, and if anypony wants out, we'll tell the princesses no." She turned and walked a short distance away, stopping with her back to the group; they looked at each other, then, one by one, approached her, murmured in her ear, and returned to the group.

When the last of them had spoken her peace, Twilight followed, her face showing no sign of the decision they'd come to. "Thank you all," she said softly, then looked up at the sky. "Princess Celestia? We're ready."

The princesses appeared again as suddenly as they'd left, bringing the strange dual sky with them. "What have you decided?" Celestia asked simply, her and Luna's ears pricked in anticipation.

Twilight took a slow, deep breath, letting it out in a ragged sigh. "...we'll do it." The others each nodded, even Pinkie Pie looking nervous but determined.

Celestia and Luna sagged, just a little, with relief. "Thank you, my faithful student. Thank you all."

Twilight fidgeted, then asked the foremost question on her mind. "So what happens now? How do we actually become... gods?"

Celestia replied, "The Elements of Harmony possess a power greater than you know. They cleansed my sister of her insanity, a feat that was beyond my power. They sealed Discord away not once but twice."

"Hey, hang on a sec," Rainbow Dash interjected. "If Discord could stop you, does that mean he's a god too?"

Luna nodded. "We were friends once, the three of us. Many years ago. But his lust for chaos and power forced us, in the end, to stand up to him, using the Elements of Harmony."

"What are the Elements?" Twilight wondered. "If they're powerful enough to do that to a god..."

Luna smiled gently. "Sometimes, if people need a new god badly enough, they can call one into being. The ponies and other people of Equestria cried out against Discord's reign, and their spirit became the Elements. They helped us defeat Discord and rise to the positions we hold today."

"Y'mean, all this time we've been carrying around gods?" Applejack said, eyes wide.

"In a sense," Celestia replied. "But you have not seen them in their full power, just as Luna and I have lived as mere immortal princesses. We never wanted to live apart from our people, as some gods do, and so we have restrained ourselves."

"So how do we become gods?" Twilight repeated.

"The Elements of Harmony will give you some of their power," Luna replied. "Celestia and I will do so as well. You won't be as powerful as us at first, but your powers will grow as you care for your world."

Celestia added, "A god's strength depends on her followers. Whether she rules with love or fear, their prayers are the only nourishment she needs. A god without followers is hardly a god at all."

"Is that how gods die?" Twilight wondered hesitantly. "What happens to a dead god, anyway?"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other uneasily. "...we don't know," Luna admitted. "Some gods choose to die and be reborn, and some of us believe that the power of new gods is drawn from the power of the old, but what happens to us if we die is as much a mystery to us as it is to many mortals. The Caretakers might know, though they claim not to."

"Caretakers?" Rarity echoed.

"The ones who..." Luna sighed. "Some say enforce the rules for gods. They claim they're just manifestations of the way everything works, that they don't choose or decide anything. They're the ones who gave us the chance to pick gods for a new world."

"What kind of rules do gods have?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

"Not interfering with a world that isn't your own, for one. There are some others. You can't steal worshipers from another god's afterlife... um, on some worlds, there's more than one afterlife, and different people go to different ones, depending on the rules the gods set. If you kill a god, you take its power—"

The ponies' eyes widened. "Who would do something like that?" Dash blurted.

"Not every group of gods are as close friends as you, my little—no, soon to no longer be my little ponies," Celestia answered. "Indeed, in some worlds there is eternal battle between the gods. We granted Discord mercy when we fought him, an action I feel is for the best; not only is killing a heavy burden on even a god's heart, but it would have meant his power, his very nature, would have become part of us."

The thought of Celestia or Luna acting anything like that playful yet dangerous lunatic widened eyes even further.

"At any rate, the Caretakers will answer any questions you have about that sort of thing," Luna said. "One will be waiting for you when you get to your new world."

Twilight looked at her friends, then back at the princesses. "Well, I guess we're as ready as we'll—"

"Wait!" Applejack blurted. "Before we... before we do this, I need to say goodbye to my family. They'd never forgive me if I just up and left." The other ponies startled, then nodded; each of them had their own friends and family who'd left the world before them.

Twilight added, "Is there any chance I could talk to Spike? He's going to be alive a long time without me, and..." She looked down again, a lump in her throat.

Princess Celestia smiled sympathetically. "It is a difficult thing for the dead to speak to the living. But not impossible. I will help you."

"And I'll take the rest of you to meet with whoever you want to talk to," Princess Luna added. The ponies walked her way, some of them perking up at the thought of meeting friends long past, others looking bitter at the thought of being reunited only to say goodbye. Only Twilight remained with Celestia, eyes closed, bracing herself for what was to come.

The princesses twisted space once again, and the hill was empty.

Apotheosis

The chamber was a simple one, with a vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows on each of its six marble walls, each one depicting a different bearer of the Elements of Harmony. The floor was covered with a luxurious red carpet, a golden six-pointed star marked in its center. It was reminiscent of any number of rooms in the royal palace, save for one slight detail: there were no doors.

This didn't stop the assembled ponies from entering. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came first, and behind them six ponies walked, looking about curiously. Each of them now wore her Element of Harmony, but that was only the most obvious change that had come over them since they left the little hill on which they had entered Elysium.

They had spent days wandering its fields, or maybe longer; the passage of time was slippery there, with no need to eat or drink or sleep (though all three activities were available to those who chose to indulge). At first, they had traveled individually, seeking out those they had left behind, but as time passed they had begun to group together once more, talking to friends and family they had in common, sharing not only their experiences in Elysium but tales of years gone by, the highlights of life that one or another of them had missed.

They had known each meeting would be a farewell, but they were surprised to discover just how true that was. Each pony who entered Elysium did so with a number of ties to the world of the living, friends and family who remembered them. One by one, those ties were broken as the ponies involved entered Elysium as well, and for a few ponies, one of the Element-bearers had been the last tie left.

Applejack had been the first to learn what happened next.

"You're going to what?"

Great-grandma Honeycrisp smiled indulgently at her. "Oh my, did you think everypony just sat around these fields forever? That's no life for an Apple, dear. I've had enough rest now, and I'm ready for a new start."

"But..." Applejack said, slowly absorbing the true impact of what she had just learned. Now that Honeycrisp had met Applejack, the last of her relations to visit (though not the last to die, thanks to Celestia's meddling in the timing of the farmer's arrival in Elysium), she was going to leave those fields, to be born anew somewhere in Equestria.

That wasn't the true shocker, as Applejack had only vague memories of her great-grandma, who died when she was still a foal. "But that means... by the time I can come back, all my friends will be—"

Honeycrisp's eyes widened, and her smile faded. "Oh... I hadn't even thought of that." She reached out, put a hoof gently on Applejack's shoulder. "Don't you fret none, dear. You've got ties too, don't forget that. I'm sure they'll stick around at least long enough to hear how your new job is going. Just don't take too long, all right? I'm sure they'll be itching to have a fresh start by the time you get back."

Applejack nodded, but she fretted nonetheless. She wasn't sure if she would still have ties once she became a god, and even if she did... did that mean Apple Bloom would spend years, decades, centuries waiting for Applejack's return? Waiting while all her own friends arrived, spent time with her, and then moved on? Applejack wasn't sure that was fair to her, or to any of Applejack's friends.

She'd come to terms with the news as best she could, shared Honeycrisp's comfort with the other five. There was a melancholy in her heart, but also an excitement; she'd had the chance for closure, after all, a chance she had only vaguely hoped to have, and now she was setting out with her friends on the biggest adventure they'd ever have, could ever hope to have.

The others felt the same way, she could see, buzzing with nervous energy. All but one. Twilight Sparkle had been somber ever since she'd been reunited with the group, unwilling to talk about what had happened when Princess Celestia had taken her to speak with Spike. Applejack wondered what Spike's reaction had been. She'd found a moment to pull Fluttershy aside and ask her what became of Spike after Twilight's death, discovering that Spike, bless his heart, had stood by Twilight until the very end, then left Ponyville for parts unknown. He was still young as dragons went, having grown no bigger than a pony himself, and Applejack found herself fretting that he'd done something rash—though it couldn't have been too rash, for Spike still numbered among the living the scant years later that Fluttershy had finally passed on.

"Each of you, take your places around the star, and we'll begin," Princess Celestia said, snapping Applejack out of her thoughts. The six ponies glanced at each other, then moved into a circle, matching the stained-glass windows by silent agreement. Celestia stood behind Twilight, while Luna stood opposite her, behind Rarity.

"If you have any second thoughts or anything you want to say, now's the time," Luna said. None of them did.

"Very well," Celestia said. "Call forth the power of the Elements of Harmony and turn them on yourselves. We will guide you."

Twilight Sparkle looked at her friends, forced a smile. "This is it, girls. One last duty. For..." She hesitated, realized she'd been about to say 'for Equestria'. "For lands anew," she finished.

One by one, the ponies activated their Elements, the light of their power shining, building in the air. Twilight was the last, the focus for the rest; she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, revealing the blazing light shining within. Then she let it loose—

The Elements of Harmony dissolved away, gold and gems blowing away like sand, leaving only the central stones to hover in the air. They melted into a fine powder, which began to whirl around the ponies, surrounding each in the characteristic color of her Element. Celestia and Luna flared as well, Celestia's light the blazing of the sun, Luna's the sparkling of uncounted stars and the gentle warmth of the moon. They focused their energy on the six in the circle, and the light in the chamber became so bright that any mortal eyes, any mortals, would have been seared away.

Twilight felt only the briefest moment of pain, and then she was gone.

Slowly, Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes.

She was still in the chamber, that much she could see, and she could see Princess Luna across from her; in the center of the room, the stones of the Elements of Harmony sat arranged in a circle, their glow dimmed but still present. She couldn't see what had happened to her friends, though.

Then she opened her other eyes.

Before her, five presences glowed, each instantly identifiable as one of her friends despite their greatly changed form. A tender pink radiance looked about the room timidly; that would be Fluttershy. An amethyst shimmering, reflecting every facet of the room to best effect, could only be Rarity. Rainbow Dash, energetic as always, blazed ruby red, while Applejack's heart cast a warm orange light over the chamber. And the swirling, chaotic blue? Just looking at her made Twilight want to giggle.

"Ooo!" Pinkie Pie said, and Twilight realized she was hearing her with other ears, the chamber remaining silent to her mortal senses. "What happened to us? What happened to you?"

Twilight glanced at the Elements of Harmony and realized they had changed as well—or, rather, Twilight was now capable of perceiving their true form. They pulsed with incredible power, and yet they lay dormant... like the delicate workings of a watch, yet capable of moving with a strength that could crush a dragon in their gears. This was a thing that lived, a dichotomy that caught her attention and held it for a moment.

She looked up at Princess Luna and gasped softly. She was beautiful and terrible, striped with regret and splashed with thankfulness, and if Twilight had seen her true form in life she would have wept and screamed and thrown herself at Luna's feet, begged her to accept her undying love and devotion. Then, reluctantly yet inevitably, she turned and looked at Celestia—and realized the sight of her most beloved mentor and teacher in her full radiance would have annihilated her utterly, left only a hollow shell obedient to the princess's slightest whim.

"Ooo, something else is happening!" Pinkie said, and Twilight felt it, a surge of new power entering her, her mind, her very self expanding as it absorbed the fullness of her new existence.

For a moment, she was but a leaf on the wind, her thoughts whirling through the maelstrom of becoming other. Then she spoke.

"I know... everything," she murmured. Then, with a laugh, she said, "I know everything! Everything about everything! Every book that's ever been written! History and magic and philosophy and literature and... and I know what's right and what's wrong! I know—" Suddenly, she stopped, staring at Celestia... who bowed her head and knelt before her.

"Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, eyes downcast. "Sometimes, to achieve a right, one must do a wrong."

Twilight stood and stared for a long moment, then felt a presence engulf her—Fluttershy, come with comfort and unconditional love. She turned from Celestia, looked at the others present.

"Whoa," Rainbow Dash declared. "I can see these, like, lines connecting all of us. Hey, Twilight, try some of this!" Twilight felt another surge of power, Rainbow Dash's loyalty becoming manifest in a tangible way, and she leaned on that strength for a moment.

Pinkie Pie started to laugh, and just kept laughing, her essence doing the equivalent of rolling around on the floor. Rarity and Applejack said nothing, but they appeared to be absorbing their new-found abilities as well.

"Hey, princess!" Rainbow Dash said, looking Celestia's way. "How come we're all invisible glowy... things?"

"You need not stand on ceremony, Rainbow Dash," Celestia replied. "Indeed, you earned the right to call me Celestia well before this day. As for your forms, your mortal selves were burned away in the fire of your apotheosis—"

"My what?" Dash responded. Twilight made the slightest of gestures. "Whoa. I know what that means now."

"You can choose what you want to look like," Luna added. "It's up to you."

"Seriously?" Dash replied. "Huh. So how do I do that anyway—wait, hang on." There was a flash of light, and Twilight could now see Rainbow Dash as mortals would, unchanged from her prior appearance. "Well, that was easy." Applejack appeared as well.

"Darlings, we have certain responsibilities now, and those come with an image to keep up," Rarity said. In another flash of light, she appeared—but she was taller, more elegant, her mane rippling in an unseen breeze, her coat shimmering like a pearl. She greatly resembled Princess Luna now, except for the lack of wings.

Twilight focused as well, appearing in the chamber—and ruefully reflected that the revelation she had realized hadn't reduced her respect for her recent ruler. Her form was near-identical to that of Princess Celestia, including the wings, different in only her own coloration and cutie mark. She'd even recreated the tiara of the Element of Magic, though in its center was not that magenta stone but a crystalline version of the six-pointed star on her flank.

Fluttershy flickered into existence, matching Rarity's height and general build, but she was slenderer, more delicate, her wings broad and beautiful, her fetlocks unshorn. Her hair was wilder than its former gentle waviness, rolling like the sea. Rainbow Dash, not to be outdone, changed her form to match, though where Fluttershy was delicate and Rarity elegant, she opted for lean muscle, a body optimized for speed and power, her mane almost razor sharp.

Applejack let out a little snort, yet changed her form to suit. Her new body was strong and stocky, bigger even than Big Macintosh's yet somehow retaining a feminine touch. The strength of the earth seemed to fill her, and yet she was far from unapproachable, as the simple hat she continued to wear would attest.

And Pinkie Pie—

"Hee hee hee hee haah! Ahh ha ha ha! Hihihihihihiheeee!"

—couldn't seem to settle on a design. One moment, she was a pony made entirely out of party balloons; the next, she was some sort of creature that looked like a pony but stood on her hind legs, forehooves replaced with soft, flexible fingers; the next, she was some bizarre amalgamation of body parts that reminded Twilight uncomfortably of Discord, and the moment after that—

"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted. "If any ponies see you looking like that, they'll go insane!"

"Awww," Pinkie Pie replied, then folded herself back into more-or-less Euclidean space, following Applejack's general model but opting for a plumper, cuddlier design, reminding Twilight of a plush toy.

"It appears you are all ready for the task ahead," Princess Celestia spoke. "But before you go, a final gift to you." A book appeared before her, the same book she'd held before, and hovered over to Twilight, who made it vanish with a flash of her horn. "That book contains all of the knowledge my sister and I have gained of godhood in our own long lives. I hope that it may be of help to all of you in your own adventure."

Princess Luna stood proud. "I have a gift for you as well, though not one you can take with you. I shall place a new constellation in the sky, a star for each of you, so that Equestria will never forget your names." Her brief formality faded, a wistful smile forming on her face. "It's my way of saying you're always welcome back." The six smiled and nodded to Luna.

"I wish you all the best, little gods," Celestia said, making a slight gesture; a door invisible to mortal eyes opened, only darkness visible beyond it. "Through that door is your new world. Treasure it as we have come to treasure Equestria."

Twilight took a slow, deep breath, even though technically she didn't need to breathe anymore, and turned to her friends—her sisters now, in a way. Princesses? Fellow gods? They'd have time to decide what they should be called, she hoped. "Everypony ready?" Five heads nodded. "All right. Follow me."

With that, the six walked through the door, leaving Equestria behind.

Dikastirio

In the beginning...

...well, there wasn't a beginning. Not yet. There was, however, a place, and it was that place that Twilight Sparkle and her friends walked into, the door behind them swinging closed and vanishing, though they could still sense it with their other senses, still open it at need. There were other doors, an uncountable number ringing the place, visible only to their godly eyes and comprehensible only by their newly expanded minds. Other than that, though, the place had no features; the floor, ceiling, and walls were not simply blank but nonexistent, only a convention of floorness giving their hooves purchase.

There was also a being, though what sort of being Twilight wasn't certain. It looked like a god, but at the same time it didn't; where even the Elements of Harmony had given her a sense of life, this seemed more like a thing, something that... functioned, rather than acted.

"Ooo, what's that?" Pinkie commented, unconsciously mirroring Twilight's verdict. They were both surprised, then, when it reacted.

I am the Caretaker. Twilight shook her head; it hadn't actually spoken, but for some reason she felt that she knew what it would have said if it had. I have awaited your arrival. I am here to assist you, in what ways I am permitted, in the creation and development of your world.

"Hang on a sec," Applejack said, stepping forward, looking confused. "I thought the whole reason the princesses wanted us to do this is that you had a world that needed gods already?"

Indeed, the world exists, the Caretaker responded. Yet it is without form or substance, filled only with the energy of potential. It is up to you to tap that energy, to bring the world into a form that worshipers can inhabit.

"Can we start by bringing this room into form?" Rainbow Dash wondered. "I can't even see!" It was more true to say that there was nothing to see, with mortal eyes at least.

Of course, the Caretaker replied. You have been allotted seven chambers; this one, which you will all share, and one chamber for each of you. You may decorate them however you see fit.

"Sweet," Rainbow Dash said, taking the initiative and throwing her will at the place. Immediately, it became something resembling her former home writ large, a mansion of clouds filled with gaudy yet comfortable furniture, keepsakes and trophies, and images of Wonderbolts old and new. (Somehow, even upon finally becoming one of their number, Dash's hero worship had never let up.)

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity gasped. "Once again, you demonstrate your utter lack of fashion sense. Clearly I should be the one to design our new home." A hall that would have been at home anywhere in Canterlot flowed out from her, marble and gold, soft carpets and delicate light fixtures—only to meet a barrier between unicorn and pegasus as Rainbow Dash resisted the change.

"And how come you get to pick, huh?" Dash demanded. "I don't wanna live in some stuffy castle my whole life, especially now that it could be practically forever!"

"I refuse to dwell in a... a monument to your own ego!" Rarity said, beginning to strain with the effort of pushing against Dash's design philosophies. She wasn't sure gods could sweat, but she felt like she was exercising, at least.

"Girls!" Twilight yelled, hopping between the two with practiced ease, her own will shoving their energies apart and leaving nothingness in its place. "Each of you gets your own room, and you can do whatever you want with that! Can we at least try to agree on a theme for this one?"

"I figure we should choose something simple. Without a lot of knick-knacks or froo-froo." Wooden paneling flickered around Applejack's feet, though she declined to get into a celestial shoving match.

"Um, some flowers or plants or something would be nice." Fluttershy tried to hide behind her mane, which proved tricky with its added waviness, as grass grew at her feet.

"I know!" Pinkie said. "A balloon castle!" The others looked blankly at her as the floor beneath her turned yellow and somehow rubbery.

"Rarity really is the expert on this sort of thing," Twilight said, leaving Rainbow Dash to look at her in a moment of hurt. "But she's designed outfits for all of us that brought out our beauty, not just hers. I'm sure she can do the same for a space that we can all call home." She turned to look at Rarity, her expression flat, the words "can't she" unspoken.

"Of course," Rarity replied, smiling abashedly. "If you could all just let me know what it is you want, I'll—oh! Oh my." The five had begun to simply will their desires to her. "Well, this does make things faster. Now let me think..."

A new room rippled out from her, a white marble pavilion with a vaulted roof and a smooth tiled floor. Twelve pillars, evenly spaced, supported the ceiling and held sconces casting a warm glow through the pavilion. In every other space between the pillars, there were matching marble walls, while the remaining spaces led into more formless void. On the two pillars framing each void, Rarity placed their cutie marks, designating a space for each of them to call her own.

In the center of the room, Rarity added a soft, luxurious carpet whose hue subtly shifted, taking hints from the former Element-bearers' signature colors, and atop that she placed a broad, circular table—carved from sturdy oak and ringed with six old-fashioned benches. A checked tablecloth covered most of it, but for the moment it was bare of other ornament.

After a moment's thought, and absorbing the impressions of the others on viewing it, she added a few more touches. A smaller, decorative pillar was used on each of the six walls to divide them, and the space on each wall closest to the voids was given over to personal touches. For Fluttershy's, large marble planters, ready to receive seeds, appeared; for Rainbow Dash, twin empty fountain baths came into being.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time willing them to fill with self-replenishing rainbow juice, but Rarity was already moving on, giving Pinkie Pie two niches, which the party pony immediately set to stuffing with balloons and streamers. Twilight received empty bookshelves, which groaned a moment later as Twilight recalled her favorite books. Applejack was trickier; after considering and discarding a few possibilities, she settled on large wooden plaques carved with pictures of apple trees... but a closer inspection revealed that they were family trees, with cutie marks instead of apples. Applejack smiled, made a few corrections, and stood proud.

Last but not least, Rarity framed her space with elegant tapestries, though the designs on them began to flicker as Rarity considered options: her cutie mark? Her silhouette? The carousel pony from her boutique? She wasn't sure what felt quite right. She settled on a single amethyst for one banner and a silhouette bust for the other; she could always change it later if she felt the need.

"Well, what does everypony think?" she said as she turned toward the room—only to find Fluttershy peering into her potting soil and muttering to herself, Applejack tracing her hoof along the family tree, Pinkie Pie dithering over combinations of colors and shapes, and Rainbow Dash already off in the void that was her private space, rapidly turning it into a fantasia of cloud and sky. "...well, don't all thank me at once," she muttered.

"I think you've done a wonderful job," Twilight Sparkle said, blinking across the room to do so. "Though I think you missed a spot." She turned and looked, and Rarity followed her gaze; the Caretaker was still invisible, merely a presence in the room.

"Well, I didn't want to presume," Rarity said. In return, the Caretaker 'bowed'.

You may give me what appearance you wish, it replied. My function is to guide you in your duties to the best of my ability. I have no preferences or desires to be satisfied.

"Hmm," Rarity said, tapping a hoof thoughtfully. "Twilight, what do you think?"

Twilight Sparkle looked distant for a long moment, then shook her head. "No, that wouldn't be fair to him," she said, which confused Rarity, but only briefly. "I want to make it something, but I'm not sure what." She frowned, looking around the room as she thought. "Well, this is embarrassing. An entire world to create, and I'm drawing a blank before we've even started."

If I may be so bold, the Caretaker said, perhaps you should focus on the task of defining the world. Once that is set in motion, you will have time to attend to other needs.

Twilight nodded. "Good thinking." She turned, raising her voice. "Girls, we've got work to do. You can finish decorating later."

The ponies gathered around the table, taking their seats; Pinkie Pie turned hers into an inflatable sofa, which briefly surprised the others, then inspired them to make similar modifications to their own chairs. Fluttershy went with a cozy loveseat, while Rarity opted for an antique chair; Rainbow Dash turned her chair into a fluffy cloud and settled in. Only Twilight and Applejack declined to make modifications, Applejack because Rarity had largely used her preferred aesthetic anyway, Twilight because she didn't much care what her chair looked like as long as it was comfortable.

"So how do we do this anyhow?" Applejack asked, looking to the Caretaker.

Once you have settled on a definition for the world, you will combine your powers and will it to be so, the Caretaker said. It 'gestured', and a formless mass appeared above the table, pulsing with potential.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rainbow Dash said. "Let's get started!"

Twilight raised a hoof. "I think we should think this through carefully. Whatever we make, a lot of ponies are going to be stuck with it for a while."

Pinkie Pie chimed, "Oooh, do they all have to be ponies? Because I've got all sorts of ideas for people we could make!"

"That's a good question," Twilight said. "My primary concern is that we not recapitulate Equestria." Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, blinked, gave Twilight an odd look, and closed it again. "At best, our world could only be as good as Equestria, and I feel like it would be both a dishonor to Princess Celestia and... well, lazy."

"We haven't exactly had a lot of other experiences to draw on, sugarcube," Applejack replied.

Twilight smiled. "That's where this comes in." The book Celestia had given her appeared before her, then flashed and sextuplicated, the copies zipping around the table and stopping at each seat. "The book contains information on a bunch of different worlds; we should all look through it for ideas."

"A marvelous idea," Rarity said, flipping her book open and beginning to page through it. Rainbow Dash groaned, but did likewise, and the other ponies opened their books as well.

The next few hours, for lack of a better word, passed quietly. Twilight summoned a stack of parchment and a quill and begun taking notes on the worlds she studied. Applejack opted for a simpler method, sticking bookmarks into her book at various places, while Rarity simply read and absorbed, ideas shifting and forming in her mind. Rainbow Dash, initially unenthusiastic, perked up considerably when she realized that she could make the pictures pop out of the book and examine them in minute detail; she spent some time just zooming about different worlds, taking in the sights. Fluttershy, taking a cue from this, focused primarily on the plant and animal life of each world, making soft noises of approval or dismay as she searched. As for Pinkie Pie, she held her book open sideways and just flipped through the pages as quickly as she could, giggling as she watched worlds blur by like some sort of infinite animation.

At last, Applejack spoke up. "Well, I think I've got some pretty good ideas. How about the rest of you?" The other ponies looked up from their books, then at each other, then at Twilight, who was still staring into her copy of the book. "Twilight?"

Twilight jerked and looked up. "What? Oh! Sorry. It's just so easy to lose track of time in here."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Like you were any different before. Come on, whaddaya got?"

Twilight glanced at her notes. "Well, I've noticed that the worlds in the book vary greatly in size. Some are much smaller than Equestria, while some are much, much bigger. And their shapes are quite different as well. Some of them are flat like Equestria, but some of them are spherical, some toroidal—"

"Beg your pardon?" said Applejack. Then she blinked. "That's a mite disorienting, Twilight."

"—and some have very strange topography indeed," Twilight finished. "Any thoughts?"

"I like the idea of a big world," Rainbow Dash said. "Like, super big. With lots of stuff for ponies to explore."

"On the other hoof," Rarity retorted, "a smaller world would allow us to focus our attention on making our... followers' lives as ideal as possible."

"If you don't give 'em room to grow, they're not gonna be healthy," Applejack said. "I say we go big and wild, let 'em work to settle the land."

"Ooo, can we make a donut world?" Pinkie wondered. "People will be all 'what's off this way'? Surprise! It's you!"

Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy. "...um, whatever you want is fine," she said.

Twilight sighed, leaning over the table and massaging her forehead with her hooves. "This is gonna take a while."

Schema

"Hang on a second," Rainbow Dash said, breaking up the brief squabble that had broken out across the table through volume and force of personality. "Why do we all have to agree on everything? Can't we, like, each do our own parts and glue 'em together?"

Rarity, as usual, spoke out against the idea. "We are not making a... a collage!"

Twilight Sparkle held up a hoof. "No, I think she's got the right idea." Rarity looked shocked, but Twilight continued. "Rainbow Dash, what's your favorite part of Equestria?"

"Duh! The sky," Dash replied, rolling over on her cloud chair.

"Then you can be in charge of the sky on our new world. Fluttershy can handle the animals, and Applejack can handle the plants."

"Begging yer pardon, Twilight," Applejack cut in, "but I mainly know about farming." She paused, looking surprised. "A lot about farming. You been putting stuff in my head again?"

Twilight shook her head. "I think it's part of becoming a... a god. What about the rest of you?"

Dash looked thoughtful. "Huh. I do know a lot more about the sky and weather and stuff. Did you know you can set the weather up so it works by itself? Like in the Everfree?"

"I know all sorts of interesting things about animals," Fluttershy said, animated by the thought of her favorite subject. "There are more than a million kinds of bugs in Equestria!" She cowered again, adding, "And some of them are kind of mean."

"How are you on plants?" Twilight asked. "Do you think you can handle plants and animals?" Fluttershy considered, then nodded timidly. "Okay. Rarity, how do you feel about handling the earth?"

Rarity looked confused and offended. "You want me to work with dirt?"

"No, the earth. Rocks and gems and mountains and volcanoes. The foundation of the world."

Rarity considered this briefly. "I admit, I have a talent for gems, but if you're talking about foundations, I think that would be Applejack's department." Twilight looked over at the farm pony, who considered the matter as well.

"I reckon I could give it a go... if'n you wouldn't mind giving me some advice now and again." She looked to Rarity, who nodded.

Twilight considered. "We'll need someone to handle the water... rivers, oceans, that sort of thing. Rainbow Dash, think you can squeeze that in? It's sort of a weather thing."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Dash replied. "But Fluttershy has to do the fish and stuff."

Rarity looked pensive. "What is there for me to do? I can't demonstrate haute couture before we've even made any people."

"Then you can make the people," Twilight suggested, only to be interrupted on two fronts simultaneously.

"Now hold on a second, Twilight, I ain't lettin' her fill our world with a bunch of upper-crust socialites!—"

"—Hey, how come Rarity gets to make the people? I totally had some cool ideas!"

Twilight raised her hooves in surrender. "All right, we'll work on the people together. Rarity..." She paused, thought carefully. She was having trouble thinking of a contribution the unicorn could make, and from the look of it, Rarity was having the same problem.

"What about you, sugarcube?" Applejack asked Twilight. "What're you gonna do?"

"Oh, I thought I'd do the basic framework. The shape of the world, how gravity works, what the sun and moon do, that sort of thing." Twilight looked over at Pinkie Pie. "And Pinkie can, uh... Pinkie?"

"Yes, Twilight?" the two-dimensional shape that looked like a cut-out portrait of the earth pony with simple shades and darkened borders wondered.

"...never mind. You can be in charge of all the weirdness in the world."

"Woo hoo!" Pinkie declared, raising her flattened hooves.

"Oh! Ideaaaa!" Rarity suddenly sang out. "I'm already giving advice to Applejack; how about I help all of you with your ideas as well?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash protested. "No way I'm letting you near the sky. You'll style the clouds. Clouds don't need styling!"

"Um, maybe you could help me make the animals... pretty. If you don't mind." Fluttershy offered her best supportive smile, which looked a lot like her timid smile.

"You can help me out, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie offered. "How much lava do you think goes into a lava cake?"

Twilight forced a smile, looking to Rarity, who looked like she was beginning to have second thoughts. "Well! That's certainly generous of you, Rarity. Moving right along..." She gestured, and a three-dimensional drawing appeared in the center of the table, near the blob of worldstuff. "I'm thinking of going with a spherical world. It's self-contained, but offers avenue for expansion—"

"Wait, won't stuff just fall off the bottom?" Applejack asked.

"No, 'down' is at the center of the sphere, so everything falls inward," Twilight replied.

"How do you expand something like that?" Rainbow Dash added. "Wouldn't you want it to be flat so you could stick more bits on the sides?"

"Some of the worlds I looked at in the catalog are joined to other worlds," Twilight said, flipping her copy of the book open and indicating an illustration. "Each of the lights in the sky is its own sun, very far away, and ponies can travel from one to the other by using specially modified... well, they're something like fireworks and something like hot air balloons."

"Well, why don't we just make something like that to start, then?"

"I was thinking, instead of us making absolutely everything, why don't we find other gods who've made their own worlds and let our ponies meet their ponies?" Twilight paused, then looked to the Caretaker. "We can do that, can't we?"

With the agreement of all involved, two worlds can be joined, the Caretaker responded. It is difficult to sever such a bond, however, even if the gods agree. I note that such a bond exists between your world and Equestria.

"So our people could visit Equestria someday?" Pinkie said. "Ooo, we could throw them a Welcome To Our World party! Y'know, we should really come up with a good name for it."

"Well, how're they gonna get here? Equestria ain't no fancy ball with stuff stuck to it," Applejack asked.

Twilight admitted, "I'm not sure. But other worlds in the book are joined by special gates or passages. We'll figure something out."

"Ooo! Ooo!" Pinkie raised a hoof and waved it, the motion causing her hoof to blur and leave lines hanging in the air. "Can we have a donut world? I want a donut world!"

"No, Pinkie," Twilight sighed. She'd seen toroidal worlds in the book, and technically there was nothing wrong with them by themselves, but trying to extend 'up' in such a way that other worlds could be meaningfully connected would be a headache. As for the idea of a world in rectilinear space actually shaped like a donut...

"How about a layer cake world? We could have a world here, and a world here, and a world here..." Pinkie began stacking her hooves atop each other, which was especially disturbing once she got up to five.

"No, Pinkie."

"Oh, a cupcake world! People could live on the icing and dig their way down to the cake underneath. They'd have to be careful of the cream filling, though—"

"Pinkie!" Twilight barked.

"Aww, you're no fun," Pinkie pouted, folding her (many) forelegs over her chest.

"I must admit," Rarity said, "I'm a bit uncertain about this... 'sphere' idea. I saw a rather charming ring design in the book—"

"Why do we even need ground?" Rainbow Dash said, perking up. "Just make the sky go on forever. We give everyone wings—"

Applejack glared at Dash. "I must be hearing things, because if you think for one second I'm gonna let you get away with not having good, honest dirt—"

"Girls!" Twilight yelled, glaring around the table. Fluttershy, despite being the only pony not to contribute to the chaos, hid her eyes behind her forehooves. "Deciding this is my job, and I'm going to do it." She paused, then sighed. "If you all think a sphere is a bad idea..."

"All I want is sky, and lots of it," Dash said.

"And ground," Applejack added.

"And cupcakes!" Pinkie chimed.

"Pinkie, we need ponies to make cupcakes," Twilight groaned.

"Ooo, right, we have to invent the universe first," Pinkie agreed. Twilight looked oddly at her.

"Pinkie Pie. Can you come up with one idea—just one! That makes any sort of sense?"

Pinkie Pie adopted an intense look of concentration, appearing to tap her hoof to her chin. In her current state, it looked fascinatingly surreal, as if one portrait were being switched out for another faster than even godly eyes could see.

"How about..." Pinkie said. "We make a world that's a big ship. Big enough to have land and sea and sky inside. And when the people are ready, we can show them how to sail the ship into other worlds... so they never have to leave home to go exploring!"

The ponies blinked.

"That sounds... pretty cool, actually," Rainbow Dash said.

"It'd have to be an awfully big ship. And what would it sail in?" Applejack pondered.

"Well, there is a sort of space between worlds," Twilight murmured. "It could travel through that. Somehow."

"Oh my! A vessel eternally sailing the sea of nothingness... so romantic!" Rarity enthused, eyes wide.

"As long as there's room for animals, um, I don't mind," Fluttershy said.

Twilight grabbed her quill, began sketching in the air, replacing the spherical design. "If it's going to travel, it should have a front and a back..."

"Make it a big tube, with all the stuff on the inside!" Pinkie suggested.

"What about the sky?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"A big hollow tube, silly! There's plenty of room for sky."

"How will the ponies get out to meet other ponies?" Applejack wondered. Twilight suddenly looked excited, beginning to sketch more vigorously.

"We can divide it into wedges," she said. "Imagine we take a ring-shaped slice of it, like this. If we divide the ring into six pieces, we can make every other piece land, and the pieces in between can be... well, a sort of clear wall, like glass. We make down out and up in, and when you look up you can look through the glass and see out."

"But there'll be nothing to see!" Dash protested.

"There'll be other worlds to see," Twilight said. "We'll arrange things so that they're... well, like stars. And the ponies in our world can steer it to whichever one they want to visit."

"That doesn't answer how they'll get out," Applejack pointed out.

"Duh!" Pinkie answered. "They'll just make a tunnel down! And they can have smaller boats to fly from our world to the other world and back!"

"It sounds way too complicated," Dash said. "Wouldn't it be simpler to put everything on the outside?"

"It'd make down... complicated," Twilight said. She'd seen some rather elegant formulas of gravity and centrifugal force that she was already toying with using.

"And making the world a ship wouldn't? Ponies'd fall over sideways every time the thing started or stopped! And where you gonna put the sails, huh?"

"It'd be more like a firework," Pinkie chimed in. "With one end going whoosh!"

"You want to make the world a big firework?" Rainbow replied, looking aghast.

"No, silly! Then it'd explode!"

A brief silence fell over the table, broken by Applejack. "Well. That certainly is a... Pinkie Pie idea."

"It wouldn't re-ca-pit-u-late Equestria," Rainbow Dash admitted, looking at Twilight.

"I do think we can do better than some sort of tube," Rarity chimed in.

Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, who'd fallen quiet. "What do you think?"

"Well, um, I—" Fluttershy began.

"Fluttershy," Rarity snapped, fixing her gaze on the pegasus, who flinched, then drew a deep breath.

"Well, you haven't considered what you're going to do about a sun and a moon, up and down are going to get very confusing near the center, and I don't think we'll be able to explain how to make everything work to the people without going down and doing it all ourselves, and I think it'd be much more exciting if they could work that out without having to ask us to do every little thing. Not to mention, if the glass cracks or breaks, it'd be a huge problem for everyone." She paused. "But, um, whatever you want to do is fine."

Twilight let her head sink to the table again, covering her eyes with her forelegs. Rainbow Dash's bright idea hadn't actually solved anything.