I settled into my throne after a quick stretch. Court was proceeding slowly, and thankfully quietly. Not to mention Twilight had offered to keep me company today, so in between the snobbiest of nobles, and whiniest of the Canterlot elite, we found ourselves enjoying delightful conversation that branched from astrophysics, to arcane science theories that would have baffled all but a few other students of mine, or some of the professors at my school.
Time had grown on in the late of the day, the nobles had thinned out and most of my time was spent briefly snacking and sipping tea, in between traded words with Twilight. “Princess Celestia, if you don’t mind my asking, just how old are you?” Twilight asked.
I blinked, shifting my gaze from the grand hall down to her, she was sat aside my throne, her wings primed and properly seated at her side, and her tiara balanced perfectly on her head.I tilted my head slightly, “Why?”
She looked up, matching my gaze. “Just curious. I’ve read stories referring to you and Princess Luna long before the pony tribes had even met, going all the way back to near the beginning of history itself,” she looked at me in that beseeching way. Like when she can't find the right book to sate her curiosity; she gets this little crease in her brow and a slight frown. "So... when were you born? Is there a record of it somewhere I've missed?"
I chuckled, “I regret to inform you that no history books date back to my and my sister’s birth, Twilight. We’ve been around far longer than the pony tribes, or the roaming zebras from the far east.” I glanced up, regarding the beams of light that shone through the stained glass windows.
“How long though?”
“Oh, a long, long time. We were each born from a great being that lumbered high above the skies themselves, long before Equus was born as we know it today.”
She seemed to regard what I said. “So… You’re saying you saw the death and rebirth of life on our planet? That you were the first new life on Equus?” I nodded, looking down a little in thought. “What was it like? Do you even remember?”
I sighed with a smile. “Do I even remember… Do I remember the endless sea of oranges and reds, that dissolved the boundaries between oneself and another? Do I remember watching our mothers collapse and crumble to dust in the span of mere days?” I sighed, leaning back in the golden throne. “Do I remember the final words they spoke to us as they died to give us a brand new world, free from the hatred and violence the last one held?”
She didn’t respond as I continued to reminisce. “Right as we were born, their combined consciousness came to us on their dying breath, and spoke to us. ‘You, white child with a heart of gold. To you, I give the great orb of power, and life, the Sun,' my mother said to me. ‘And with this gift, I name you Celestia,’” I thought to my sister, slumbering in her quarters. “And to my sister, her Mother said, ‘And you, blue child with the determination of a thousand bulls, I give the satellite of hope in the darkness, and the light of the night sky: the Moon, and the world of dreams and consciousness. And with this gift, I name you Luna.’”
“‘Together you two are to rule this world, benevolent and kind, but powerful beyond comparison to the other creature who will eventually grow in your image,’ they said.” I glanced at the ceiling, as though to stare through it. “‘Together, you children will grow and bring a world of peace and love, from the ashes of a world full of hatred and war. Together, you will usher the phoenix of life; never stopping life from beginning, and never allowing it to end if it’s within your power...'” I trailed off.
Twilight sat in silence as I sighed, closing my eyes as I tried to remember them. “But… that isn’t what the history books said.” I opened my eyes and tilted my head down to Twilight, as the gears twitched and worked around in her head against the rust of rationality. “They all say that life evolved from microorganisms after an asteroid hit near the Zebrian Isles. If they were wrong, why didn’t you correct them?”
I smiled patiently, “Because they’re not entirely wrong. While the microorganisms didn’t come from an asteroid, we all evolved from it. They came from Mothers' blood, and their lives came from the souls of the old ones.” I glanced to my own hoof, bringing it up to my gaze and contemplating it with a slow eye. “Even me and Luna. Granted, our evolutionary rate was accelerated and modified by our Mothers, but we have continued to change and evolve over the thousands upon thousands of years we’ve been alive.”
She nodded slightly, not as a sign of agreeing, but as an acknowledgement. I chuckled, breaking the short silence. “Please, Twilight, lets change to a simpler, more carefree subject.”
Twilight sighed, smiling slightly as her shoulders sagged. “That’s probably a good idea. I don’t even have anything to take notes with right now anyway.” She giggled a little, trying to make light of what was likely an actual tragedy to her.
I smiled, our conversation soon returning to other things. Smaller things. Like the Cakes being exhausted as new parents, especially with their babies first birthday coming up soon. Or about Rainbow Dash doing three Sonic Rainbooms in one day. Simple things.
«♦»
I twirled my wing in its socket, joints popping from being held stiff against my side for the last eleven hours. But the eleventh hour is over now, and the clock is striking twelve’s. Meaning… “Ah, sister.” I turned and smiled to my sister as she walked up along side me. “I heard that Princess Twilight Sparkle visited you today. Has she already left?” She said.
I nod. “Afraid so, Luna, you missed a rather interesting debate on the morals regarding trans-morphing creatures and biologically tampering with them through use of magic. Twilight had some rather good points in moral favor for both of those, surprisingly.”
Luna smiled, chuckling. “As… fascinating as that sounds, I needed my sleep for this evening. As you need your sleep for the morning ahead.” She looked me over, “Though, you’re not looking exceptionally tired this evening, perchance we can eat our meals together? Your dinner and my breakfast?”
I nodded, “I wouldn’t see a problem with that at all, Luna.” We changed course, aiming for the dining hall.
She followed, keeping in perfect stride aside me. “Any other interesting topics come up in the almost dozen hours you had with her?"
I hesitated, then nodded after a moment. “We spoke about the beginning.”
“The beginning?”
“Yes. The Beginning.”
Realization dawned on her, “Oh. Did you tell her everything?”
“Not everything.” I smiled beside myself, “But enough to sate her curiosity for now.” I pushed open the large door with my magic, letting Luna and myself slip through it before closing it.
Luna trotted around and sat off to the side of the table, as I settled into the chair next to her. “Interesting indeed. Do you think she’ll take it to heart and properly explore the idea like Starswirl? Or reject it?”
I hummed to myself. “Perhaps. She has already taken further steps than Starswirl ever did in other fields, but I wouldn’t want her to be a mere copycat of him. I want her to be somepony even better: herself.” I smiled and thanked the servant who brought our food out to us. “Then again, she worships the stallion almost as much as she does me.” I chuckled and sighed, the poor mare needed to stop treating me as a god.
“Perhaps that is who she is then? A successor to him?” I started on my dinner, slowly chewing it as I listened to Luna. “Is that how ponykind is meant to evolve I wonder… Simply reproducing until a Starswirl or a Twilight crop up, and taking bits from them to make an even better one down the road? Is that their only importance? And if so... What is the next Twilight likely to be? Beyond an alicorn even?”
I swallowed, “No. They’re so much more than that. Every mare and stallion is so unique and wonderful. Not just the exceptional ones, like Starswirl and Twilight, but the 'plain' and 'ordinary' ones too.” I took a sip of the wine that came with my dinner. “Even if Twilight and Starswirl stood out among the others, there have been so many other important ponies in history. Every one of them were just normal ponies though, not an evolutionary marvel, not some sort of thriving sub-species, but just… ordinary.”
“Ponies are ordinarily extraordinary so to say?”
I shook my head, “No. Individual beings are ordinarily extraordinary.” I took another bite. “People were extraordinary, in their own, twisted way. And so are ponies.”
«♦»
I stood, pushing my empty plate to the center of the table. “The meal was good, it felt nice to have some personal time with you this evening, Luna, we’re much too busy lately.”
She nodded. “I agree, it was enjoyable. I will see that you have pleasant dreams this evening, Celestia.” She smiled and I returned it. “Try not to dwell on things too much.”
I nodded. “Of course.” I turned and started away, “Good luck with the night, Luna. Hopefully nothing world-ending will happen.” She chuckled as I opened the door and exited into the hall, closing it behind me.
I trotted down the hall to my quarters. I wondered if Twilight spent that evening scouring the library, reading through every book for even a hint of the Mothers. It wouldn’t be beyond her for certain. But I do worry for her health sometimes, staying up studying almost every other night.
I pushed through the door, slipping in and locking it behind me. Perhaps I simply worry too much; at least she’s an alicorn now, so she isn’t in as much danger of the dangerous effects of sleep deprivation. I sighed, trotting over to my desk and opening that certain drawer. I smiled slightly, glancing through the old drawings and doodles; illustrations of my Mother I had drawn centuries ago, of her towering over the tallest mountains and clouds, her wings spanning around the planet as though to cradle it from the bad in the universe. Her lengthy long arms, and slender fingers, as I had learned they were called by the other creatures in the mirror world. And her eyes, those deep, blood red eyes that I will never, ever forget.
She smiled, even as her flesh rotted and fell from her bones within seconds, as her blood arced from her throat, past the heavens and sprayed across the moon. It took Luna decades to gather it all from the surface and hide it away, lest somepony could harness it for evil purposes. We never knew what killed, Mother, but we still fear, to this day, whatever it was will return and wipe out life as we know it.
I sighed, putting the pages back in the drawer and stepping away from it. Luna was right, dwelling on it wouldn’t help. I turned and flapped my wings, lifting me up into the air for a moment, before settling on my bed, and laying my head to sleep.
«♦»
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
—Keel
Author's Note
Author's Note
The End
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
—Keel
«♦»
I sighed, putting the pages back in the drawer and stepping away from it. Luna was right, dwelling on it wouldn’t help. I turned and flapped my wings, lifting me up into the air for a moment, before settling on my bed, and laying my head to sleep.
"Celestia?"
I blinked. "Mother?" I turned over, screaming as a wall of crimson slapped me across the surface of the moon. I shifted my strange weight around frantically and landed semi-gracefully, confusion being pushed to the side by urgency. I threw my gaze forward and saw Mother, looking down at me. I opened my mouth to talk-
All the oxygen in my lungs escaped, flooding the space around me as my vision thumped red around my eyes.
"Princess?"
I opened my eyes and gasped. I shook slightly, glancing left, hallway. Right, more hallway. Then down at my young pupil. I exhaled and took another breath, blinking the red around my eyes away. "...Twilight?"
"Are you okay Princess Celestia?" She asked, tilting her tiny head in worry.
I gulped and shifted slightly lest I fell. "I..." I croaked and cleared my throat. "Yes. Yes, thank you, Twilight, I'm fine." I furrowed my brow in thought.
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
"That's nice, Tw-" I paused, actually looking at her. "What did you say?"
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.” I heard from behind me.
I turned, the halls changing to a crater. I gaped, looking around in confusion. "Twilight?!" I called, holding a hoof to guard my eyes from the dust in the air.
I turned again and saw her, once again an alicorn adult, though much older. “The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
I coughed, closing my mouth to wet my lips, "Twilight, what does that mean? Where are we?"
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.”
I shook my head. "I don't understand!"
“The beginning and ending share the same moment.” I blinked, the oxygen leaving my lungs again, painlessly. Mother. I flexed my jaw, trying to form words as oxygen deprivation punched me almost everywhere. "I'm so sorry, Celestia." I furrowed my brow, mouthing a question to her. What did she mean?
She shifted, rotting away and turning to dust. “The beginning and ending share the same moment.” I turned, hearing a voice through the silence of space. I found myself staring right back.
«♦»
I yelped, tumbling out of bed. My horn seared, like somepony had sat it on fire. "Twilight!" I cringed, Spike's voice sounding louder than it likely really was.
I whined quietly, holding my head. "What...?" I whispered as the door slammed open.
Spike slid into the room, the crystal floors not really allowing for much friction. "Twilight!" He yelled, causing another wince from me. "Quick, something's wrong with Canterlot!"
I furrowed my brow, "I... Wha..?" I blinked, trying to discern what was giving me a killer headache.
"C'mon!" He ran over and helped me to my hooves. "You gotta see this!"
I nodded. "Yeah... Oof.."
He frowned, "You okay?"
I nodded and trotted over. "Mhm, I’m fine… I think. Lets go see what you're talking about, okay?" He nodded and led me and my aching horn through the Castle of Friendship. I tumbled a few times, tripping on corners and even my own hooves. My ache sending a strange haze across everything I saw. I felt numb, suffocated; like I was drowning in the air itself. Everything seemed to prick at me, like a thousand needles were stabbing into me. "Spike... I think something's really wrong."
He grimaced, looking back at me. "Yeah, me too..."
I shook my head, the ache lagging behind as it seemed to follow my horn. "No I mean I think I have to go to the hospital. I think something's really wrong with my horn." Did I crack it when I fell off the bed or something?
We exited out onto the front step, "Tw-Twilight, I think that might have to wait..."
I winced at the light, it was morning already? I felt like my head had just hit the bed a moment ago. Feeling deaf and blind, I blinked once, then twice; clarity returned in waves from each blink. The wind was howling, like a feral dog caught in a trap; and the prickly sensation seemed to have doubled. Looking down, it seemed even Spike felt it now as he lightly rubbed his arms with her claws. I gulped, my head throbbing harder with each moment I was standing in the obviously magical winds, before looking towards Canterlot.
The mountain was being torn apart, a tornado of pure white magic sending tendrils of destruction through the earth. And at the center was Canterlot. "Twilight!" I looked over slowly; my head gone numb from the pain. I saw my friends, Applejack had called my attention to them as they ran up. I noticed Rarity's face, she felt the pain too. "What's happenin', Twi? First Canterlot started explodin', then Rare's horn started hurtin' like somepony done came and tore it clean off her noggin!"
I nodded numbly, looking back at my home, my old home anyway. What happened? Did they evacuate the city before it happened? Were... Mom and dad okay? "I... I don't know, Applejack." I tried to use magic, and the throbbing headache returned. Magic withdrawal, that's what this is. Is this what Earth Ponies and Pegasi felt like every day? Numb and dull? "...We need to get to the Tree of Harmony." They stared at me. "Applejack, Rarity, go get your sisters and families. Rainbow, go tell everypony you can find to gather in the center of town, we can lead them to safety after that."
"...We're not going to help stop this?" Spike asked. I turned slightly and looked at him, behind me I heard mumbles of agreement from my friends.
I bit my lip before bending down. "Of course we're gonna stop this, Spike. I have a plan that involves everypony in town. Just trust me, okay?"
He stared before nodding. "I'll... I'll help Rainbow Dash and tell ponies to go to the center of town."
I smiled and pat his head. "There's my good baby dragon. Hurry ahead, I gotta tell everypony else what to do."
He nodded and ran off. "...Twilight, you don't have a plan, do you?" I peeked back at them. "You're just suggesting we run down the valley and hide, right?" Rainbow said. I looked down. "Twilight, we can't just run away. What about the rest of Equestria? What about the Griffon Kingdoms if whatever is causing that," She trotted over and pushed my head towards the mountain. "spreads?"
"I don't have any magic." I said.
She blinked. "So?"
"Are you just going to fly up and kick it like a cloud?" I shook my head, pointing at it. "Are you suggesting we go try to be friends with it? It's not a pony we can reason with. It's not a villain we can defeat. That is a spell of some pony or some thing’s design that is already activated and I don’t think I can do anything to stop it." I put a hoof on her shoulder, "The only chance we have is the Tree of Harmony. The keys and the box. And if that doesn't work... Maybe the magic protecting the tree will protect everypony we can take there."
She frowned. Buck it, they were all frowning. But what else should I have expected? "...Fine." She huffed, her wings erecting straight from her side before throwing her into the air with a single beat.
I watched her fly for only a moment, before looking back at the other. "Please. Hurry." I nodded to Rarity and Applejack, who nodded in return and bolted. "Fluttershy, can you fly around and try to usher your woodland friends to safety?" She nodded.
I smiled and looked at Pinkie. "Pinkie can you-" I look at Pinkie. ...I looked at her again, then I realized she wasn't there. I sighed. "Right..."
«♦»
"I built a sand world, Mother!" I smiled and cheered to her. She reached down and pet my head, running her fingers through my mane. "Do you like it?" I stared down at it with pride. Everything was just like I wanted it.
"I love it, Celestia. It's beautiful and perfect, almost exactly what I wanted." She said with a small smile that I returned in droves. "But I'm afraid you have to destroy it." I blinked, my mouth opening and closing. "...What?" I looked from her to it, "Why?!"
She bent down and held me in her arms, my hooves dangling over them as she lifted me high into the sky to her chest. “'The beginning and ending share the same moment.' Do you remember that, Celestia?" She rocked me gently back and forth. "It's time for us to go home now and stop playing. So we have to get rid of the beautiful thing you made properly. Then the next time someone shows up to play, they won't destroy it the wrong way, and make it something you would hate."
I frowned, glancing the long way down to the mound of carefully constructed sand. "But... Maybe we can stay just a little longer?"
She laughed quietly. "I'm afraid not, Celestia. It's time to go."
«♦»
"It's time to go." I said as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash landed next to me. "Everypony! Please follow us, we'll make sure you get to safety until this whole thing blows over, okay?!" I yelled, trying to make sure they could hear me over the ever loud, growing winds.
Everypony nodded, then the winds stopped in an instant. I turned and stared at the small black orb floating where the Canterlot mountain used to be. It twitched and bulged, like something was stretching from the inside of it. "Princess Twilight?" Somepony mumbled worriedly behind me.
I felt watched as it bubbled and expanded, stretching and distorting white as limbs grew out of it. "Princess Twilight?!" A mare cried as I stared in mild awe and complete horror. Eyes stared at me from the morphing play dough-like unicorn that grew bigger and bigger in the sky. Her limbs phased through the earth and distant towns and cities. A strange moaning filled the air as she expanded further.
"Twi'!" Applejack grabbed onto my shoulders and shook me frantically as I watched her tower further over the planet, wings sprouting from her back and arcing around the horizon. "What should we do?!"
"S-Sis?! What's happening?!" Applebloom yelled at her sister behind me. "I'm scared!" Applejack's hooves left my shoulders and I watched as the mare in the sky looked down at me. Directly at me. I felt tiny and insignificant, like the ants young unicorn colts scorch with magic.
But at the same time I felt at ease, and comforted. I knew the mare above me and trusted her without rhyme or reason. A name came to me, nay, a title. "Mother." I said.
Rarity trotted up next to me. "Dear I... I don't think we're gonna make it to the tree." She said. I heard sniffling which I presumed was Sweetie Belle.
Rainbow trotted up, "Rainbow Dash!" I heard and I looked, Scootaloo ran up and looked between Rainbow and the sky. "I... What..."
Rainbow shook her head and wrapped a wing around the filly. "It'll be okay, Squirt." No tone to her assurances. No honesty. And in the distance I saw Pinkie, her mane as straight as the streaks of tears curling down her cheeks as she held onto the cakes and their twins.
I looked back up and wondered. Will whoever's next have to experience this again? Or is this the last time life will ever exist on this planet again? "Everypony..." I whispered, but they heard. I just know they heard. I looked back at the town, a tear curving down my cheek as well. "I'm sorry. I failed you, all of you, and I'm so, so, sor-"
«♦»
I cried over the mound of mushed sand, my tears dripping down and turning it to mud as I weakly put parts back together before mushing it under my hooves again. I don't know why, but I felt so guilty. I felt so horrible and mean, like some kind of monster. A hand rested on my back, "It's okay, Celestia. It had to be done." The hand slid up and scratched my scalp under my mane. "You're a good little filly and Mother loves you very much."
I sniffed and nodded, looking at my hooves like they were coated in blood. "I-I-I don't know why b-but... I feel so sad, Mother..." I bit down a sob. "I-I-I..."
"Shhh..." She shushed me as she picked me up away from the sandbox. "It's okay, don't worry... Mother's got you."
As she rest my chin on her shoulder, I sniffed and sobbed while burying my muzzle into her. "I'm s-s-sorry!" I cried, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I had to do it!"
Mother shushed me again, "How about we go home now, okay? Everything will be okay then."
«♦»
“You’re just another story I can’t tell anymore.”
―Anonymous