The Collective

“Hey, Twilight?”

“Hm.”

Silence. The second derivative of the total amount of magic offered a second before the spell is cast, went through Twilight’s head, but after a few moments, she slowly detached her eyes from the book in front of her. It was precisely the lack of a second call that brought her to pause.

Spike seemed stunned, holding his tail in his claw. Apparently he hadn’t expected her to react so quickly.

“Um.”

Now Twilight stood up. Around them, .............

A nine year old unicorn and a four year old dragon in a hall that suddenly seemed much larger than before.

“What is it?”

“I... Twilight, I heard ponies says that Celestia not get old.”

“Say,” Twilight corrected automatically. “Several ones, remember?”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“They’re right.”

“But others do?”

“There are exceptions,” Twilight said calmly. “Luna does not age, either. And dragons take much, much longer than ponies.”

“But .............

Twilight nodded.

“And what happens after that?”

Slowly, Twilight stroke over her lips with her tongue, concealing the turmoil inside, whilst a well-known memory made its way to the surface.

“You know me not to be almighty, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “So there is nothing? Nothing you can do, and nothing that follows? I’m prepared for that.”

“I must not.”

“What?”

“I must not,” Celestia repeated calmly. “The number of ponies Equestria can supply is limited, Twilight. This is why we give and demand allowances for couples to have children. The thing I am hated for most is what is necessary to preserve the lives of us all.”

“But-”

Celestia shook her head, raising Twilight’s chin with a hoof so that they looked directly into each other’s eyes.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “You know of my oath. It would count as murder.”

Realization sunk in like a bag of ice.

“Then there’s only so much,” Twilight murmured.

“I was once traveling,” Celestia said, sounding almost absent, “through a region wider than any empty stretch of land still existing today. I was accompanied by two guards, and I could sense a snowstorm coming that neither of them would survive. As I revealed the truth, one of the guards said that there was now no reason left to travel further, and he paused right there to make a fire that would warm himself in his final hour. But the other guard just said that now he had to find an animal living under ground, that would offer him shelter from the storm. Lemuas and canines were both possible candidates. I told him there were was no knowledge of either of them living in this region, but back then our records were incomplete, and I couldn’t be sure. He was insistent to dig, and had me help him do it.”

“How did it end?”

“The storm caught us in time. I suffered greatly, yet I survived.”

“And the guards?”

Celestia blinked.

“Both of them died. They were truly unfortunate.”

Twilight swallowed. “Yeah, they were.”

“After all, the population of animals living under ground was less than half of what it is now.”

Only later had Twilight realized that that story probably wasn’t true. Celestia’s first and .............

............. but now was the moment.

“I don’t .............

“Spike,” Twilight said, her own voice sounding loud in her ears, “do you know the real reason why I study so much?”