Drops of Jupiterby PaulAsaranChaptersFirstSecondThirdFourthFifthSixthFirstHer arrival was an explosion. Not an explosion of fire or wind or light. An explosion of Magic. She could sense the world. Within half a second, She knew so many things about Her surroundings: the frigid cold, the biting wind, the gentle illumination. The latent energies, quiet and smooth and pleasant, flowed beneath the planet’s surface like an ocean. The cold waters of Magic reached out, feeling at this interloper, gauging Her presence, trying to understand Her arrival. She nearly lashed out, afraid of how it might react to this, their first encounter. Yet there was no anger. No territorial aggression. Only curiosity and, after the Magic got a good feel for Her, invitation. It was so pleasant, so kind, and yet She couldn’t go in just yet. After all, it would be Her first time, and She wanted to get a better idea of who this new – friend? – really was. And so She brought about the changes She needed. Hooves with which to feel the ground beneath Her, soft but with a hardness lying just underneath. Skin with which to properly detect the chill winds, driving shivers through a body even as the physical nerves completed their passages to a fast-developing brain. A mouth opened, accepting a breath of air for the first time. Not normal air with its precise oxygen and nitrogen levels, but something more alien, something a pony’s system shouldn’t be able to accept. The air was moist and added an extra chill to Her form, with a taste not unlike spearmint. Ears came to be, allowing Her to hear a wind that seemed more to slosh howl, like a wave of water heard through a hollow tube. And then, at last, the eyes. She stared upon a mountainous white land of ice. The air shook in a constant churning motion like the inside of a storm… if the air were visible, that is. High above, a lone sun shined a dark blue, its light twisting and turning at sharp angles through the wild world. She could now detect a heavy weight, but knew it was only this odd planet’s stronger gravity and heavier atmosphere attempting to crush a creature that, under any normal circumstances, would have already been reduced to a mass of lifeless flesh by now. For the first time ever, She was glad She wasn’t a normal equine. If She were, She’d have never seen the sight which Her dear friends wanted Her to find. She’d already detected it, and so turned about to see properly. Blue. Glimmering and decadent. Blue like the purest of eyes that could look into Her soul and see the beauty within. Blue like the Magic swimming deep within this world. It towered over Her like a trio of colossi, the jagged surfaces dusted with what the average pony might mistake for snow. As the blue sun shone its rays down through the twisting, shifting air, the light cascaded through a thousand-million facets, and the diamond mountain glowed like a brilliant beacon. She had no words for the glorious image before Her. It was, as promised, perfect. She should have known better than to doubt. Already, She knew what to do. But first… Her physical form burst into lavender clouds, which in turn dissolved into a shimmering light. Accepting the invitation presented, She dove into the world. Deep, deep, deeper, letting the planet’s natural essence engulf Her very being. She swam in its eddies and flows which, to Her pleasure, were surprisingly organized and smooth. Every motion seemed planned and prearranged, as though a supreme mind had devoted all its energies to giving Her the most pleasant ride it could manage. It was welcoming, soothing. It called to Her, invited Her to play in its carefully conducted maelstrom. She indulged, Her soul swimming with the currents like a cat lazing upon a carriage and rocked by the pleasant crisscrossing magical breezes. She’d always known that magic had its own ebb and flow, but this? This felt so alive and caring. She knew, without even having to question it, that this sensation was a gift, given freely and without any expectation of something in return. Her mentor was right; this planet was perfect. There was no language that could be described between two inherently Magical entities. She simply made Her request, Her aura splaying out amongst the cool essence that surrounded Her total awareness. The Magic answered, with no hesitation or trepidation, in the affirmative. Her heart, or that which passed as a heart when one has no physical form, burst with joy, and She set straight to work. The Magic held Her back. That was not the way. This place had its own rules, rules that She must abide. The world’s essence flowed about, guided, showed Her the precise touch needed, gave Her the care and grace and patience of a master artist at work. For the first time, She knew what it meant to create something beautiful. It was nothing short of glorious, a warmth that pervaded Her entire being. The Magic found this reaction curious, but not unwelcome. It prodded Her, querying, contemplative. She indulged its request, sending a touch of that warmth through it. It danced. It swooned. It delighted in a fresh, new sensation the likes of which it had never imagined could exist. And even then, it continued to guide Her work, altering the very fabric of reality until, with a giddy parting shove, it tossed Her out of its clutches and hurtling through the shifting, physical air. She laughed at its playfulness, only to pause. The work was done. She knew it to be true. She gave herself eyes so as to see Her monument. The mountain of blue remained, but was so very different. The colossi were now three beautiful diamonds, their facets glimmering beneath the pale blue sun. She saw the fruit of Her work, the gift, the creation. She created for Herself a voice, just so that She could laugh. It sounded thick and deep in this odd air. That only made Her laugh all the more. Then She dove back into the world, eager to play with Her new friend. SecondThe planet was dead. It had no life, no inner Magic. Nothing. This was of no concern. Almost every place She’d encountered in Her long journey was the same. But... there was something. Up there, a small orb. A moon. Her magical sense was drawn to it, and when She gave herself real eyes She discovered a most unusual sight: the small thing was a brilliant yellow that all but shimmered in the light of the similarly colored sun. How could She not be intrigued? With but a thought, She approached. She sensed… clouds. A thick layer of them, drifting softly along the surface of a rock much smaller than originally believed. She moved closer, reached for the mysterious substance. There was Magic here, but how would it greet Her? It remained silent, its coating of clouds almost passive in its ever-constant swirling. When Her essence touched the velvety substance, however, the reaction was instantaneous: a hole parted before Her. She retreated instinctively. The clouds did not follow, but She’d felt the Magic for all of an instant. What She’d found was… peculiar. Unlike the ice world with its roiling Magic and carefully constructed eddies hidden deep within, this world kept its Magic outside the hard rock. Was that not dangerous? Did it not feel the threat of oncoming asteroids, the fire of comets, the burning intensity of the sun’s violent, wild energies? The hole closed up. She decided to try a second time. Again, the clouds retreated, and this time She knew: the Magic was wary of Her. Yet She felt no aggression. Ever so carefully, She lowered down, down into the quietly shifting air. The magic continued to recede, rotating about Her in what may have been the most docile tornado She’d ever witnessed. She knew, with a queer certainty, that She had the Magic’s full attention. She waited. And waited. And waited some more. Gradually, the clouds closed over Her ethereal form, trapping Her in a universe of breezy warmth. Yes, even as a cloud of particles, She could feel the warmth, for it was not any physical sensation. Nor did it indicate that the world had accepted Her. No, it simply radiated pleasantness. Not quite inviting, but not apathetic either. She lingered in place, the clouds not touching Her, She not attempting to get closer. She had time. And time is what She gave. The world darkened. Brightened. Darkened again. With the second brightening, something finally changed; the clouds shifted closer. The winds drew them towards Her essence, trembling and timid, to touch Her further extremities, only to retreat back immediately as if stung. She tried to project Her intent, to offer a soothing sense of invitation. The cloud did not react, but She continued to send Her offer, ever hopeful. The world darkened. The world brightened. The clouds approached. The effort required not to swirl with anticipation was almost painful, but She kept still and calmly continued to project Her welcome. When the cloud touched Her this time, it did not retreat. Gradually, the magic closed in from all around. For the first time, She felt its inquiry, it curiosity… and its anxiety. She forced Herself to remain still, to offer friendship. The Magic did not accept. It did not refuse. It probed and prodded, it ran around and through Her in patient study. Then, like a boat on the sea, She was carried in its current. The Magic didn’t drag or push Her roughly along. It was more akin to being rocked in the gentle arms of a mother, with utmost care and calm. That warmth She’d sensed before, once a mere aura, now engulfed Her, filling Her with a sense of contentment and peace. Seeing no reason to stop such a kind gesture, She allowed herself to drift along at its whims, all the while sending little probing queries back and forth with it. Time passed. The universe brightened and darkened at fairly regular intervals. Sometimes She dipped low to the rocky, barren surface. Sometimes She skimmed the outer layers like a ghostly sailboat on a cushiony, fluffy sea. The Magic offered little save pleasantness, and asked nothing in return. Then, during one of the dark periods, something exciting! She felt a ball of rock and ice approaching at such vast speeds. She warned the Magic of the approach, knowing it would want to avoid the confrontation. And yet the Magic moved Her up high so She could see the asteroid coming. The sun passed overhead several times, and all the while She watched, mystified by the Magic’s quiet eagerness. Then it came. Rock and ice and velocity, small compared to its target but big all the same. She watched in anticipation. Would the Magic flee? Open a hole so that it could avoid the impact? No; the Magic coalesced. It reached out. When the rock hit, it did not do so in a fiery eruption. As quick as could be, a cocoon formed around the deadly stone, slowed it, redirected it. Within seconds, the astral weapon of destruction became yet another drifter in the clouds, bobbing and weaving as a cork in a sea. The Magic brought it down, and Her along with it. Down, down, down to the rocky surface. She sensed their destination ahead, gave Herself eyes with which to see. This proved impossible; the world was an endless yellow. She made the most timid of requests, and the Magic acquiesced, spreading out so that She might know the physical aspects of this landscape. Daintily, the magic placed the asteroid down atop a wide, shallow mountain of its brethren. Thousands, perhaps millions of rocks collected over untold millennia, all settled here. She did not need to probe the Magic to understand: they were all but children, not responsible for their actions, and the Magic gave them a place to be with their family. Such a curious notion, and yet touching too. It reminded Her of soft, fuzzy animals. Of precious, colorful flowers. Of a glorious song given in private. She was tempted to recreate Her entire body just for the sake of humming to the familiar tune. Instead, She asked the magic for a favor. The magic agreed without hesitation, but warned of the care that must be taken. When She indicated how She didn’t mind the time, it got straight to work. It moved each meteorite with utmost care, cautious not to lose even a single speck, never letting them strike one another. One. Rock. At. A. Time. She drifted away. She basked in the Magic’s warmth. She let the world darken and brighten again and again and again. Sometimes She’d return to the mountain to check on the progress and reminisce. The Magic indulged Her, seeming pleased by Her interest. She came back to find the work done. Every meteorite neatly arranged, not a pebble damaged. Grand wings stretched for miles, the lines of stone curling in luscious patterns. With the clouds parted for Her, the great stone butterfly spread its form for miles and miles. She gazed upon it and felt nothing but contentment, and this She indicated to the Magic’s eager prodding. For Her approval the clouds danced and played and swirled. Though it was out of little friends, it promised to create more butterflies, to speckle the entire world with them. For the first time ever, they played. ThirdThe next location seemed unpleasantly desolate. She found herself not on a planet or moon. Instead, She passed through a nondescript solar system. Possessing only a couple minor planets – little more than giant rocks, really – orbiting a pale white sun, it had little to suggest She’d be interested in it. Her first thought was that Magic might be found within the massive star, but Her inspection returned nothing but gases and heat. A look at the two planets yielded similar results. Miffed, She broadened Her senses. Surely there was something in this place to warrant Her presence. Her magical gaze fell upon the most uninteresting of things: an asteroid belt located between the first planet and the sun. The sight – or that which passed as a sight for a being with no eyes – gave Her pause, for there was something there. Curiosity drove Her onward for a closer inspection, and what She found dazzled the mind. A million-billion rocks, all flying about in a mad race, bumping and grinding and twirling about one another. To a casual eye it might seem as little more than chaos. She was anything but casual, and Her enhanced senses found the trillions of interconnections weaved about the asteroids like an impossibly complex spider’s web. Her aura trembled at the absurd intricacy of the discovery. Were there anypony around to hear it, and if sound could travel in a vacuum, they might have heard something akin to giddy laughter from Her ever-shimmering, gaseous form. She dove in, tracing the lines of connectivity in every which way, trying to find the common thread that would clarify a purpose. She was but a hundred rocks or so into Her study when She noticed the assault. Asteroids flew through Her nonphysical body over and over again, like a swarm of angry hornets looking for something to sting. Fascinated by this new development, She began trials. Follow the trails with Her Magic? Rocks would come flying, as if flung by an unknown sentience. But when She pulled back and released the asteroids, the seeming attack would cease. Multiple attempts, varying Her methods of approach, yielded similar results. Giddiness filled Her as a theory formed, one She might never have guessed at when She’d begun this journey. When the next asteroid came, she allowed Her gaseous form to latch onto it physically. The ballistic rock sent Her on a wild flight through the asteroid belt, swerving and juking and twirling. It slammed into other asteroids, seemingly determined to dislodge its hitchhiker. The sheer exhilaration of the flight sent joyous ripples along Her aura, reminding Her of the cool sensation of goosebumps and evoking the pleasurable ghost of adrenaline. She clung all the tighter, wishing She had a mouth and the ability to hear sound just so that She could whoop. It came! Magic, invisible to the naked eye but pure blue in Her mind, began to rise from the hard surface on which She clung. Jolting like lightning, it twisted and poked and prodded and tried a great many tricks in an effort to dislodge Her, but She remained steadfast. She could sense frustration in its wiggling, electric touch. That might have alarmed Her if She didn’t also feel something else within the Magic, a faint curiosity and admiration. Her tenacity was paying off, or so She hoped. Abruptly, everything stilled. Though the asteroid belt continued its ceaseless turn, the rocks spread apart and maintained their newfound distance. The Magic intensified in the asteroids all around Her, as if it were concentrating on this one anomaly. She waited, a vaporous cat with its wispy tail flicking in excitement. She could sense the building energy, the inquisitiveness, the uncertainty. Before Her, a set of six asteroids formed a circle, amidst which the electric Magic danced and coalesced in an almost physical but nondescript form. She pounced! Laughing in her mind, She connected with the thick field of energy, letting its blue lightning arch across and through Her vapors. She registered alarm; clearly the Magic hadn’t expected this behavior. Yet it did not push Her out. It did gain an intense sensation. She got the faint impression She was being glared at. Wordless inquiries were fired into Her along electric highways of intense energy that would have reduced Her to ashes once long ago, but now only served as a refreshing transferal of information. She responded eagerly, explaining Her purpose and intentions. She spread Her aura out as She did so, encasing the six asteroids in Her cloud and introducing the Magic to Her pleasure. If electricity could display joy, then perhaps the Magic’s sudden burst of energy and light would be that display. All frustration and anger died in an instant as, in a blur of motion, the six asteroids burst into action! They danced and swerved and jockeyed for position amongst their brethren, all of whom had erupted into a renewed frenzy of activity. Her six carriers moved with all the precision of an elite squadron, every motion timed for maximum risk and reward. She held on, body rippling with excitement even as a rogue asteroid darted like a bullet through Her. Every rock in sight rippled with blue jolts, like a million balls of static electricity struggling to contain their charges. Even as the Magic sent Her careening across its violent and energetic domain, it sent Her wave after wave of its own excitement and joy. At last, It had met another who understood. At last, a being could join It in the adventure! At last, it could entertain more than just itself! It sent Her hurtling through its domain, unafraid and wild. But it was missing something, and She knew exactly what that something was. She sent Her query along the lines of energy in every direction. The Magic responded with curiosity and wary permission even as it crashed Her guides through a particularly large asteroid. With a flash of whip-like motion, She snatched up a small passing rock and began Her work. It was an easy thing, a simple weave of aural magic, and then She sent the asteroid flying on its own path. Behind it trailed a glorious, sparkling rainbow. The Magic witnessed. It studied. It thought. And then, with a renewed explosion of electrical excitement, it copied Her technique. Within seconds, every asteroid within the belt became a multihued, glorious comet! Arcs of power jolted back and forth across Her vapors in spiderwebs of spirited delight and gratitude, remind Her of something between a hug and bubbly laughter. Her clouds shivered and roiled in response, echoing back Her pleasure of a gift well-received. And so they danced together in the colorful ring of brilliance, overjoyed by their new friendship. FourthIt was little more than a dot of light when She first felt the Magic. A faint thing, feeling, reaching, searching. She almost missed it, but then it strengthened just a touch. Then it faded… no, back again. A steady rhythm,or perhaps a pulse. Whatever it was, it was trying to pull Her in. Yet She felt no aggression or forcefulness. Only a gentle suggestion. Perhaps even polite. Curious, She followed it along the darkness of space, heading for the orange-yellow star so very far away. The distance could be crossed in a blink, but no. She imagined that would be rude. When the Magic grew stronger, She cast her senses outward, attempting to grasp the scope of the system ahead of Her. Had She but a throat and the air to utilize, She might have gasped. Never before had She witnesses a solar system of such density! Planets, asteroids, moons, gases, it all converged in a complex series of elliptical orbits about a single massive sun. At first glance it seemed nothing short of chaotic, a display of wild motion beyond deciphering. Worse, the Magic was already attempting to align Her with the motions, gently nudging Her along so that She might begin orbiting a particularly large gas giant of brilliant red clouds. She resisted. The Magic hesitated. She sensed… surprise. It was not accustomed to resistance. It made no attempt to force Her, but when She tried to move away from the planet the Magic blocked Her path with a tender push. This mystified Her until her senses noticed the small asteroid that would have hurled through Her had She not been stopped. Of course, such an object could never harm Her, but it did give Her a theory. Her senses shifted from the physical, focusing much more intently on the Magic itself. What She found was a gargantuan web that sent shivers through Her vapors. So many connections, such perfect organization, such incredible attention to detail, such unfathomable scale! An entire solar system, intricately weaved to achieve perfect security. For indeed, despite moons and planets and asteroid belts passing in such dangerous proximity as to risk shattering from the gravitational forces alone, not a single object collided with its neighbor. It was almost as if… A querying pulse ran through the entire system. Just a pulse, but it somehow conveyed everything it wanted to know. What was She? Where had She come from? How was She resisting its care? Care. That was the right word. She sent Her own message through the myriad links. She was an explorer. A student. One who sought friends. And, perhaps most importantly, one who adored the Magic’s brilliantly constructed system! The Magic was quiet. It remained so for some time. She could only imagine what it was thinking. A pulse returned, this time with the simplest of questions: How? How what? It nudged Her. She resisted, then She understood. It had never met another like itself, never encountered a being capable of resisting, much less desiring to do so. The quandary before Her was how to explain such a complex topic as what they were to such a being. None of the others had ever questioned this. She tried Her best, sending wave after wave of informative bursts through the system. It took so many, for there was so much to say. The Magic remained silent the entire time, save for a calm parabolic wave of energy to let Her know She had its attention. This Magic was patient, and so She took Her time in hopes that Her meaning would be clear. She barely noticed that She’d been tugged into its elaborate web of orbits. Nor did She mind. It was comfortable here, watching the rocks and gases and colorful worlds flow by. When at last the lesson was over, the Magic remained silent. The sun, the mighty center, almost seemed to slow in its gradual turning, like a great mind pausing to think oh-so carefully on a new idea. She almost felt like She was being studied. Her curiosity got the better of Her; She asked about this incredible system. A flare arose from the sun’s surface. A sign of uncertainty? A pulse returned, laying out a simple reply: to protect. To nurture. This was the Magic’s home, and all would know peace. She sensed the intent, so strong that it even came with a distinct uncertainty. It feared. Her? With the faintest touch upon the Magic’s web, She tried to reassure it. It responded with another pulse, this one slow and wary and full of hesitation. It did not want to harm Her. It did not want to force Her. It did not want its family to suffer. She was an unknown. She could react. She could not be predicted. Oh, how she wished She could smile. She could, but would it understand the meaning? So instead She merely wrapped Her aura about a long line of the Magic, warm and inviting, and asked to be guided along. She would offer no resistance. The Magic complied, bringing Her into a new orbit, one closer to its blazing center, and allowed Her to join its family. It continued to watch Her, wary of any rebellion, but She merely rode along. It was a pleasant sensation, being rocked along the Magic’s gentle lanes. Planets flew past, over and above and beside Her, their surfaces gleaming orange from the Sun’s proximity. And She marveled, for each one of these was carefully wrapped in the Magic, protected and safe and… yes, loved. How long had it been collecting these intergalactic orphans? After a seeming eternity, the Magic began to relax. It inquired: would She stay? And though she felt nothing but love for this benevolent being, She offered a sad no. After all, what was a voyager without a voyage? Her gases swirled with quiet delight when the Magic promised to give Her a home amongst its children, now or later. Instead of accepting, She sent a request of a different nature. She even had an idea how to do it, having been examining the complex system of orbits around Her for so long. The Magic was intrigued. It was unaccustomed to new ideas. Still, it saw no reason to object. Provided, of course, that none of its children were harmed. And so the two worked together, making delicate shifts to orbits and arranging just the right objects to travel in just the right locations. It was a slow, arduous task, and more than once they had to double back and make corrections. From deep within the cloud of swirling and twirling space stuff, once might never know what the changes were meant to achieve. When they at last finished, She moved from the sun, covering a great distance in a mere blink of time. Turning Her senses back to it, She radiated Her joy through the Magic’s lines, for their adjustments had born fruit. An apple, to be precise, painted by a hundred separate orbits of a thousand different spatial objects moving in perfect synchronicity about the glorious orange sun. She wished She had eyes. Tears would have been appropriate. Instead, She gravitated back to the sun and allowed the magic to take Her in its ever-cautious embrace. She joined the orbits, content to flow along in harmony with the cosmic family She’d discovered. The sun shined brightly, for the Magic was content. FifthNebulae. They always had a certain fascinating charm to them, at least from a distance. Up close they were usually just clouds, often with strange effects on Her magical senses that limited or warped Her ability to understand the world around Her. They were typically more disturbing and frustrating to pass through, but pass through them She did. After all, She was exploring, and what explorer turns away from an uncharted location? This nebula wasn’t like the others. Which wasn’t saying much; most nebulae She’d encountered was unique from the others in some fashion. But viewing this one from a distance, She couldn’t help but think it… ‘moved’ more than the others, for lack of a better phrase. The clouds roiled and rolled and curled in endless waves of activity, such that from a distance She had to wonder at the phenomenal speeds of its gases. What might it be like inside? What cosmic winds propelled its unusual motions? She approached beyond the speed of light, for once all trepidation lost in favor of curiosity. What She never expected was for the clouds to burst forth like a great claw, engulfing Her significantly smaller form before She had time to process the act. Magic. Magic? No. Magics! They poured over Her, a hundred different voices in a chaotic choir of welcome and joy and eagerness. Where had She been? Why hadn’t She come sooner? They’d been waiting so long! Was She here to have fun? Play, play, play! She reeled, attention shooting in a million different directions. Look at this! An asteroid zipped past, parting the pink clouds to create a sparkling wake that flashed in the light of a distant, not-quite muffled sun. Try this! She was sent careening through the gravitational whiplash of a trio of planets twirling around one another in sheer defiance of reality and the laws of physics. Isn’t this neat? Clouds of actual gold and silver dust danced and twirled like tornadoes, corkscrewing about one another in mesmerizing ribbons through the endless pink. You’re late! There’s so much to show you! So much fun to be had! Isn’t the universe great? Try this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and—! She sent a burst of power in every direction, freeing Her stretched and twisted aether from the Magics’ clutches. The hundreds of voices grew silent. The pink clouds in Her immediate vicinity came to a standstill. There were no eyes, no faces, but She could sense the confusion and hurt of an untold number of beings. She pulled Her own gaseous form in close, smoothing out Her clouds and easing Her internal winds. Cautiously, a lone pink tendril moved closer, but hesitated to touch. Warily, She accepted its timorous offer and connected once more. The voices all came as one, and even quiet they filled Her mind like water fills a cavern through sheer presence. Didn’t She want to play? Was She not having fun? What did they do wrong? Did they hurt Her? They were very sorry if they hurt Her. They were just so excited to know She’d finally arrived! But wait, they knew She was coming? She had to wonder how. An answer came before She could properly send the query through the connection: they just knew. They always knew. Just like each of them individually knew they would someday meet and join together in an infinite dance of joy and fun and merriment! Did She not want to have fun? Oh! New space thingy! A significant portion of the voices faded away, eager to meet yet another new – non-sapient, this time – visitor to play with. The empty space was filled up almost as soon as it had emptied with a plethora of new voices with just as many new experiences to describe. Even Her prodigious multitasking ability was strained to its limit trying to keep up with it all, and that despite only having the one connection along a thin line of intermingling violet and pink gases. She knew how to handle a single individual that always seemed to move at a hundred miles a second, but to face thousands of such individuals at once? She begged the Magics to thin out, to let Her only address one or two. For a few seconds the manifold voices engaged in an indecipherable buzz of cross-communication. Then the majority flew off, eager to try other things and let the newcomer have Her space. And a lone voice, in startlingly clear Equish, said, “Is that better?” A voice. In the vacuum of space. That She, without ears or a brain or a system of nerves, could understand. Her mind reeled, and all She could do was send a weak inquiry regarding how this was done. She got in response the mental equivalent of a shrug. The Magics never thought about what they did and how. They just did things. And it then sent the most curious of queries: does the how really matter? Wrapping Her mind around that question, She thought. And thought. And remembered. Then She created for herself a body and a pocket of air, just for the pleasure of laughing. She laughed so hard She cried, and the Magics laughed too, even if they clearly had no idea why. It didn’t need a why, the humor roiling and rippling across the nebula like a titanic wave of mirth. That made it all the more magical to Her, and She dove into it, letting the Magics engulf Her once more. With but a thought, She offered it Her indulgence, only asking that it limit the voices to a few. She would later have to clarify that “a few” did not mean “a hundred”. They didn’t mind in the least. They sent Her on a fresh journey. Every sight, a wonder. Every trick, a joke against reality. Every break in the clouds a wave of adventure and uniqueness! Planets in the act of inverting on themselves just to see the naughty insides, comets ping-ponging across slabs of solid ice a mile thick while a dozen voices kept score, drifting asteroids with no heat sources spraying molten magma in brilliant arcs across the ever-fluctuating pink starscape! She allowed herself to be dragged through all the marvel and noise and absurdity, and happily ignored the voice in the back of Her mind begging to know what, why, how? In a burst of inspiration, She sent the Magics an image. They took it, examined it with a million curious minds. Then a pink balloon appeared in the vacuum of space, floating innocuously as if its presence was assumed and natural. A plethora of voices ooh’ed and aah’ed at the new thing (some audibly). A lone tendril reached out, grasped it, squeezed it… It exploded, sending a shower of hydrogen particles flying in every direction. This brought forth a wave of jiggles like laughter cascading across the nebula! Before long balloons were forming and popping across the seemingly infinite world of pink with wild abandon. They toyed with the balloons, trying different sizes and gases and shapes and materials. A thousand choruses thanked Her for the idea, and a thousand more begged to know if She had any others. Not even bothering to question what She was seeing, She joined them in their fun. Sometimes one just had to revel. SixthShe sensed them long before the planet came within range of Her senses. As She zoomed closer, She also picked up the position of the celestial bodies in this particular solar system. By sheer luck, She’d arrived at a time when they were together. She dipped Her essence into the blue orb’s atmosphere, pushed through the ever-denser air, and burst through the clouds over a tall, white city on a mountain. In less than a second, Her vapors had formed as a fog about a lone balcony, where two startled figures took note. Her gases coalesced slowly, moving with greater caution this time as they tried to remember Her old, original form. Gradually, oh-so gradually, She regained Her purple hooves and wings and horn. Sucking in Her first true lungful of Equestrian air in what seemed like an eternity, She opened Her eyes to take in the alicorns watching Her from a polite distance. Strange. They seemed so much smaller a few seconds ago. The white one approached, but slowly. “Welcome home, Twilight.” Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked at the sounds being sent her way, so familiar and so strange at the same time. It took her a moment to remember how to respond the ‘normal’ way. “Celestia.” Oh, that didn’t sound right at all. Too rough, too impersonal. Funny, how limiting physical bodies could be. “I mean…” She licked her lips. Such a strange sensation. Rather novel. She did it again, just to try it out. Princess Luna moved closer as well, her motions a little more eager than her sibling’s. “Is everything alright, Twilight Sparkle?” “Hmm? Oh. Um, sorry.” Ruffling her wings and giving her body and experimental shake, Twilight smiled. “It’s kinda weird, being… me again.” “Of course.” Celestia offered the slightest nod, her calm and patient smile just as firmly in place as Twilight remembered. “We’ll be happy to help you adjust. Assuming this isn’t just a brief stop before you head back out?” Twilight hummed, then did it again, delighting in the sound. She tested a few octaves just for the pleasant sensation it brought. Oh, right, there’d been a question. “No, I’m done.” “Are you sure?” Luna’s face contorted, her brow a mess of furrows and something peculiar in her eyes. Concern, that was the word Twilight was looking for. “You weren’t gone too long. Did you at least see one or two of the sights I recommended?” “One or two?” Twilight stared at her. “I saw them all. And then some. They were wonderful.” She blinked, looking down only to realize she couldn’t see her own lips in this form. Was she frowning? “That didn’t come out right. I’m supposed to sound excited, because I am. Physical bodies are weird.” Luna’s wings went slack. “A-all of them? How? That kind of journey should have taken you a century at least. One way.” Returning her attention to Luna, Twilight asked, “It should?” A pause. “How long was I gone?” Celestia had a new smile, this one reflecting an emotion Twilight had no trouble placing: pride. “You can tell us, can you not?” “Oh. Right.” Closing her eyes, Twilight cast Her senses through the solar system. It was nothing to place the location of every planet, asteroid, and comet in the cosmic region. And with Her encyclopedic knowledge of astronomy and calendars and knowing where everything was on the day She left… “Twelve years, three months, eight days. Give or take a couple days.” Celestia hummed, then looked to her sister. “Luna?” “Perfectly accurate,” Luna replied, sounding just a little winded. “You… you really saw all of them? In just over a decade?” “Looks like she broke your speed record by a high margin,” Celestia noted with a light giggle. Oh, Twilight liked that sound! She’d have to endeavor to make it happen more. Luna pouted and glanced away. “Accursed Mary Sue…” Twilight cocked her head. That was not a technically accurate term for this situation. Did Luna not know? Maybe She should— Her thoughts were interrupted before She could act on them by Celestia stepping up beside her and placing a wing on her back. “But are you sure you’re ready to return, Twilight? Did you achieve what you wanted to achieve?” Twilight pondered this, noting that Luna’s attention was back on her and once more filled with concern. After a moment, she turned around, out from under Celestia’s wing, and stared at the city and the world beyond. The tall buildings of Canterlot, with the thousands of ponies mingling in the fading sunlight. The green hills and mountains and valleys beyond, coated in lush forest. And there, merely a speck in the distance, was little Ponyville, right where she left it. Home. It dawned upon her that in all her travels these last twelve years, for all the wonders she’d witnessed, she’d not encountered a single place that held life. Magic… Magic was amazing. Magic could do so much. And now she knew that there were other beings like Celestia and Luna out there, beings like Herself and Cadance. They showed Her such stunning displays on such grand scales. But none of them had this. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Celestia hummed. Luna remained silent. “Not just the view. Life itself. The concept of it. The idea.” Twilight felt her lips doing something. She felt them with her hoof. Smiling. She was smiling. She rather liked it. “My friends won’t come back, but… that’s okay. They lived, and that alone is a magic of its own. I think I’m just happy that they got the chance to exist, and I got the chance to witness it.” She turned back to the princesses, showing off her rediscovered ability to grin. “I want more of it. More life! More of its magic. More… more friends.” Luna and Celestia were beaming down on her. “I told you this vacation would be good for you,” Celestia declared with a hint of merry ego. “You were right.” Twilight, recalling the motions all but forgotten in her journey, approached Luna and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much for telling me how to find those places. It was exactly what I needed.” “You are most welcome, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna returned the hug, but upon separating she cast a half-serious scowl at the young princess. “But in return I expect you to show me how you achieved such ludicrous speeds. Even as a living goddess, that should be impossible.” Twilight giggled – oh, another nice sound! – and nodded. “Deal.” Author's Note I’d always wanted to write a story themed on the ideas swirling in my head by the song Drops of Jupiter, but just couldn’t find something I liked enough to try. Then, while driving home from work one day, I heard the song on the radio and had one of my eureka moments. Honestly, I feel this is a concept that deserves a far more devoted effort to really make it work properly, but I have too many big projects to suddenly start work on such a thing. So I’m settling for this simplified version. I hope it at least is enjoyable.
FirstHer arrival was an explosion. Not an explosion of fire or wind or light. An explosion of Magic. She could sense the world. Within half a second, She knew so many things about Her surroundings: the frigid cold, the biting wind, the gentle illumination. The latent energies, quiet and smooth and pleasant, flowed beneath the planet’s surface like an ocean. The cold waters of Magic reached out, feeling at this interloper, gauging Her presence, trying to understand Her arrival. She nearly lashed out, afraid of how it might react to this, their first encounter. Yet there was no anger. No territorial aggression. Only curiosity and, after the Magic got a good feel for Her, invitation. It was so pleasant, so kind, and yet She couldn’t go in just yet. After all, it would be Her first time, and She wanted to get a better idea of who this new – friend? – really was. And so She brought about the changes She needed. Hooves with which to feel the ground beneath Her, soft but with a hardness lying just underneath. Skin with which to properly detect the chill winds, driving shivers through a body even as the physical nerves completed their passages to a fast-developing brain. A mouth opened, accepting a breath of air for the first time. Not normal air with its precise oxygen and nitrogen levels, but something more alien, something a pony’s system shouldn’t be able to accept. The air was moist and added an extra chill to Her form, with a taste not unlike spearmint. Ears came to be, allowing Her to hear a wind that seemed more to slosh howl, like a wave of water heard through a hollow tube. And then, at last, the eyes. She stared upon a mountainous white land of ice. The air shook in a constant churning motion like the inside of a storm… if the air were visible, that is. High above, a lone sun shined a dark blue, its light twisting and turning at sharp angles through the wild world. She could now detect a heavy weight, but knew it was only this odd planet’s stronger gravity and heavier atmosphere attempting to crush a creature that, under any normal circumstances, would have already been reduced to a mass of lifeless flesh by now. For the first time ever, She was glad She wasn’t a normal equine. If She were, She’d have never seen the sight which Her dear friends wanted Her to find. She’d already detected it, and so turned about to see properly. Blue. Glimmering and decadent. Blue like the purest of eyes that could look into Her soul and see the beauty within. Blue like the Magic swimming deep within this world. It towered over Her like a trio of colossi, the jagged surfaces dusted with what the average pony might mistake for snow. As the blue sun shone its rays down through the twisting, shifting air, the light cascaded through a thousand-million facets, and the diamond mountain glowed like a brilliant beacon. She had no words for the glorious image before Her. It was, as promised, perfect. She should have known better than to doubt. Already, She knew what to do. But first… Her physical form burst into lavender clouds, which in turn dissolved into a shimmering light. Accepting the invitation presented, She dove into the world. Deep, deep, deeper, letting the planet’s natural essence engulf Her very being. She swam in its eddies and flows which, to Her pleasure, were surprisingly organized and smooth. Every motion seemed planned and prearranged, as though a supreme mind had devoted all its energies to giving Her the most pleasant ride it could manage. It was welcoming, soothing. It called to Her, invited Her to play in its carefully conducted maelstrom. She indulged, Her soul swimming with the currents like a cat lazing upon a carriage and rocked by the pleasant crisscrossing magical breezes. She’d always known that magic had its own ebb and flow, but this? This felt so alive and caring. She knew, without even having to question it, that this sensation was a gift, given freely and without any expectation of something in return. Her mentor was right; this planet was perfect. There was no language that could be described between two inherently Magical entities. She simply made Her request, Her aura splaying out amongst the cool essence that surrounded Her total awareness. The Magic answered, with no hesitation or trepidation, in the affirmative. Her heart, or that which passed as a heart when one has no physical form, burst with joy, and She set straight to work. The Magic held Her back. That was not the way. This place had its own rules, rules that She must abide. The world’s essence flowed about, guided, showed Her the precise touch needed, gave Her the care and grace and patience of a master artist at work. For the first time, She knew what it meant to create something beautiful. It was nothing short of glorious, a warmth that pervaded Her entire being. The Magic found this reaction curious, but not unwelcome. It prodded Her, querying, contemplative. She indulged its request, sending a touch of that warmth through it. It danced. It swooned. It delighted in a fresh, new sensation the likes of which it had never imagined could exist. And even then, it continued to guide Her work, altering the very fabric of reality until, with a giddy parting shove, it tossed Her out of its clutches and hurtling through the shifting, physical air. She laughed at its playfulness, only to pause. The work was done. She knew it to be true. She gave herself eyes so as to see Her monument. The mountain of blue remained, but was so very different. The colossi were now three beautiful diamonds, their facets glimmering beneath the pale blue sun. She saw the fruit of Her work, the gift, the creation. She created for Herself a voice, just so that She could laugh. It sounded thick and deep in this odd air. That only made Her laugh all the more. Then She dove back into the world, eager to play with Her new friend.
SecondThe planet was dead. It had no life, no inner Magic. Nothing. This was of no concern. Almost every place She’d encountered in Her long journey was the same. But... there was something. Up there, a small orb. A moon. Her magical sense was drawn to it, and when She gave herself real eyes She discovered a most unusual sight: the small thing was a brilliant yellow that all but shimmered in the light of the similarly colored sun. How could She not be intrigued? With but a thought, She approached. She sensed… clouds. A thick layer of them, drifting softly along the surface of a rock much smaller than originally believed. She moved closer, reached for the mysterious substance. There was Magic here, but how would it greet Her? It remained silent, its coating of clouds almost passive in its ever-constant swirling. When Her essence touched the velvety substance, however, the reaction was instantaneous: a hole parted before Her. She retreated instinctively. The clouds did not follow, but She’d felt the Magic for all of an instant. What She’d found was… peculiar. Unlike the ice world with its roiling Magic and carefully constructed eddies hidden deep within, this world kept its Magic outside the hard rock. Was that not dangerous? Did it not feel the threat of oncoming asteroids, the fire of comets, the burning intensity of the sun’s violent, wild energies? The hole closed up. She decided to try a second time. Again, the clouds retreated, and this time She knew: the Magic was wary of Her. Yet She felt no aggression. Ever so carefully, She lowered down, down into the quietly shifting air. The magic continued to recede, rotating about Her in what may have been the most docile tornado She’d ever witnessed. She knew, with a queer certainty, that She had the Magic’s full attention. She waited. And waited. And waited some more. Gradually, the clouds closed over Her ethereal form, trapping Her in a universe of breezy warmth. Yes, even as a cloud of particles, She could feel the warmth, for it was not any physical sensation. Nor did it indicate that the world had accepted Her. No, it simply radiated pleasantness. Not quite inviting, but not apathetic either. She lingered in place, the clouds not touching Her, She not attempting to get closer. She had time. And time is what She gave. The world darkened. Brightened. Darkened again. With the second brightening, something finally changed; the clouds shifted closer. The winds drew them towards Her essence, trembling and timid, to touch Her further extremities, only to retreat back immediately as if stung. She tried to project Her intent, to offer a soothing sense of invitation. The cloud did not react, but She continued to send Her offer, ever hopeful. The world darkened. The world brightened. The clouds approached. The effort required not to swirl with anticipation was almost painful, but She kept still and calmly continued to project Her welcome. When the cloud touched Her this time, it did not retreat. Gradually, the magic closed in from all around. For the first time, She felt its inquiry, it curiosity… and its anxiety. She forced Herself to remain still, to offer friendship. The Magic did not accept. It did not refuse. It probed and prodded, it ran around and through Her in patient study. Then, like a boat on the sea, She was carried in its current. The Magic didn’t drag or push Her roughly along. It was more akin to being rocked in the gentle arms of a mother, with utmost care and calm. That warmth She’d sensed before, once a mere aura, now engulfed Her, filling Her with a sense of contentment and peace. Seeing no reason to stop such a kind gesture, She allowed herself to drift along at its whims, all the while sending little probing queries back and forth with it. Time passed. The universe brightened and darkened at fairly regular intervals. Sometimes She dipped low to the rocky, barren surface. Sometimes She skimmed the outer layers like a ghostly sailboat on a cushiony, fluffy sea. The Magic offered little save pleasantness, and asked nothing in return. Then, during one of the dark periods, something exciting! She felt a ball of rock and ice approaching at such vast speeds. She warned the Magic of the approach, knowing it would want to avoid the confrontation. And yet the Magic moved Her up high so She could see the asteroid coming. The sun passed overhead several times, and all the while She watched, mystified by the Magic’s quiet eagerness. Then it came. Rock and ice and velocity, small compared to its target but big all the same. She watched in anticipation. Would the Magic flee? Open a hole so that it could avoid the impact? No; the Magic coalesced. It reached out. When the rock hit, it did not do so in a fiery eruption. As quick as could be, a cocoon formed around the deadly stone, slowed it, redirected it. Within seconds, the astral weapon of destruction became yet another drifter in the clouds, bobbing and weaving as a cork in a sea. The Magic brought it down, and Her along with it. Down, down, down to the rocky surface. She sensed their destination ahead, gave Herself eyes with which to see. This proved impossible; the world was an endless yellow. She made the most timid of requests, and the Magic acquiesced, spreading out so that She might know the physical aspects of this landscape. Daintily, the magic placed the asteroid down atop a wide, shallow mountain of its brethren. Thousands, perhaps millions of rocks collected over untold millennia, all settled here. She did not need to probe the Magic to understand: they were all but children, not responsible for their actions, and the Magic gave them a place to be with their family. Such a curious notion, and yet touching too. It reminded Her of soft, fuzzy animals. Of precious, colorful flowers. Of a glorious song given in private. She was tempted to recreate Her entire body just for the sake of humming to the familiar tune. Instead, She asked the magic for a favor. The magic agreed without hesitation, but warned of the care that must be taken. When She indicated how She didn’t mind the time, it got straight to work. It moved each meteorite with utmost care, cautious not to lose even a single speck, never letting them strike one another. One. Rock. At. A. Time. She drifted away. She basked in the Magic’s warmth. She let the world darken and brighten again and again and again. Sometimes She’d return to the mountain to check on the progress and reminisce. The Magic indulged Her, seeming pleased by Her interest. She came back to find the work done. Every meteorite neatly arranged, not a pebble damaged. Grand wings stretched for miles, the lines of stone curling in luscious patterns. With the clouds parted for Her, the great stone butterfly spread its form for miles and miles. She gazed upon it and felt nothing but contentment, and this She indicated to the Magic’s eager prodding. For Her approval the clouds danced and played and swirled. Though it was out of little friends, it promised to create more butterflies, to speckle the entire world with them. For the first time ever, they played.
ThirdThe next location seemed unpleasantly desolate. She found herself not on a planet or moon. Instead, She passed through a nondescript solar system. Possessing only a couple minor planets – little more than giant rocks, really – orbiting a pale white sun, it had little to suggest She’d be interested in it. Her first thought was that Magic might be found within the massive star, but Her inspection returned nothing but gases and heat. A look at the two planets yielded similar results. Miffed, She broadened Her senses. Surely there was something in this place to warrant Her presence. Her magical gaze fell upon the most uninteresting of things: an asteroid belt located between the first planet and the sun. The sight – or that which passed as a sight for a being with no eyes – gave Her pause, for there was something there. Curiosity drove Her onward for a closer inspection, and what She found dazzled the mind. A million-billion rocks, all flying about in a mad race, bumping and grinding and twirling about one another. To a casual eye it might seem as little more than chaos. She was anything but casual, and Her enhanced senses found the trillions of interconnections weaved about the asteroids like an impossibly complex spider’s web. Her aura trembled at the absurd intricacy of the discovery. Were there anypony around to hear it, and if sound could travel in a vacuum, they might have heard something akin to giddy laughter from Her ever-shimmering, gaseous form. She dove in, tracing the lines of connectivity in every which way, trying to find the common thread that would clarify a purpose. She was but a hundred rocks or so into Her study when She noticed the assault. Asteroids flew through Her nonphysical body over and over again, like a swarm of angry hornets looking for something to sting. Fascinated by this new development, She began trials. Follow the trails with Her Magic? Rocks would come flying, as if flung by an unknown sentience. But when She pulled back and released the asteroids, the seeming attack would cease. Multiple attempts, varying Her methods of approach, yielded similar results. Giddiness filled Her as a theory formed, one She might never have guessed at when She’d begun this journey. When the next asteroid came, she allowed Her gaseous form to latch onto it physically. The ballistic rock sent Her on a wild flight through the asteroid belt, swerving and juking and twirling. It slammed into other asteroids, seemingly determined to dislodge its hitchhiker. The sheer exhilaration of the flight sent joyous ripples along Her aura, reminding Her of the cool sensation of goosebumps and evoking the pleasurable ghost of adrenaline. She clung all the tighter, wishing She had a mouth and the ability to hear sound just so that She could whoop. It came! Magic, invisible to the naked eye but pure blue in Her mind, began to rise from the hard surface on which She clung. Jolting like lightning, it twisted and poked and prodded and tried a great many tricks in an effort to dislodge Her, but She remained steadfast. She could sense frustration in its wiggling, electric touch. That might have alarmed Her if She didn’t also feel something else within the Magic, a faint curiosity and admiration. Her tenacity was paying off, or so She hoped. Abruptly, everything stilled. Though the asteroid belt continued its ceaseless turn, the rocks spread apart and maintained their newfound distance. The Magic intensified in the asteroids all around Her, as if it were concentrating on this one anomaly. She waited, a vaporous cat with its wispy tail flicking in excitement. She could sense the building energy, the inquisitiveness, the uncertainty. Before Her, a set of six asteroids formed a circle, amidst which the electric Magic danced and coalesced in an almost physical but nondescript form. She pounced! Laughing in her mind, She connected with the thick field of energy, letting its blue lightning arch across and through Her vapors. She registered alarm; clearly the Magic hadn’t expected this behavior. Yet it did not push Her out. It did gain an intense sensation. She got the faint impression She was being glared at. Wordless inquiries were fired into Her along electric highways of intense energy that would have reduced Her to ashes once long ago, but now only served as a refreshing transferal of information. She responded eagerly, explaining Her purpose and intentions. She spread Her aura out as She did so, encasing the six asteroids in Her cloud and introducing the Magic to Her pleasure. If electricity could display joy, then perhaps the Magic’s sudden burst of energy and light would be that display. All frustration and anger died in an instant as, in a blur of motion, the six asteroids burst into action! They danced and swerved and jockeyed for position amongst their brethren, all of whom had erupted into a renewed frenzy of activity. Her six carriers moved with all the precision of an elite squadron, every motion timed for maximum risk and reward. She held on, body rippling with excitement even as a rogue asteroid darted like a bullet through Her. Every rock in sight rippled with blue jolts, like a million balls of static electricity struggling to contain their charges. Even as the Magic sent Her careening across its violent and energetic domain, it sent Her wave after wave of its own excitement and joy. At last, It had met another who understood. At last, a being could join It in the adventure! At last, it could entertain more than just itself! It sent Her hurtling through its domain, unafraid and wild. But it was missing something, and She knew exactly what that something was. She sent Her query along the lines of energy in every direction. The Magic responded with curiosity and wary permission even as it crashed Her guides through a particularly large asteroid. With a flash of whip-like motion, She snatched up a small passing rock and began Her work. It was an easy thing, a simple weave of aural magic, and then She sent the asteroid flying on its own path. Behind it trailed a glorious, sparkling rainbow. The Magic witnessed. It studied. It thought. And then, with a renewed explosion of electrical excitement, it copied Her technique. Within seconds, every asteroid within the belt became a multihued, glorious comet! Arcs of power jolted back and forth across Her vapors in spiderwebs of spirited delight and gratitude, remind Her of something between a hug and bubbly laughter. Her clouds shivered and roiled in response, echoing back Her pleasure of a gift well-received. And so they danced together in the colorful ring of brilliance, overjoyed by their new friendship.
FourthIt was little more than a dot of light when She first felt the Magic. A faint thing, feeling, reaching, searching. She almost missed it, but then it strengthened just a touch. Then it faded… no, back again. A steady rhythm,or perhaps a pulse. Whatever it was, it was trying to pull Her in. Yet She felt no aggression or forcefulness. Only a gentle suggestion. Perhaps even polite. Curious, She followed it along the darkness of space, heading for the orange-yellow star so very far away. The distance could be crossed in a blink, but no. She imagined that would be rude. When the Magic grew stronger, She cast her senses outward, attempting to grasp the scope of the system ahead of Her. Had She but a throat and the air to utilize, She might have gasped. Never before had She witnesses a solar system of such density! Planets, asteroids, moons, gases, it all converged in a complex series of elliptical orbits about a single massive sun. At first glance it seemed nothing short of chaotic, a display of wild motion beyond deciphering. Worse, the Magic was already attempting to align Her with the motions, gently nudging Her along so that She might begin orbiting a particularly large gas giant of brilliant red clouds. She resisted. The Magic hesitated. She sensed… surprise. It was not accustomed to resistance. It made no attempt to force Her, but when She tried to move away from the planet the Magic blocked Her path with a tender push. This mystified Her until her senses noticed the small asteroid that would have hurled through Her had She not been stopped. Of course, such an object could never harm Her, but it did give Her a theory. Her senses shifted from the physical, focusing much more intently on the Magic itself. What She found was a gargantuan web that sent shivers through Her vapors. So many connections, such perfect organization, such incredible attention to detail, such unfathomable scale! An entire solar system, intricately weaved to achieve perfect security. For indeed, despite moons and planets and asteroid belts passing in such dangerous proximity as to risk shattering from the gravitational forces alone, not a single object collided with its neighbor. It was almost as if… A querying pulse ran through the entire system. Just a pulse, but it somehow conveyed everything it wanted to know. What was She? Where had She come from? How was She resisting its care? Care. That was the right word. She sent Her own message through the myriad links. She was an explorer. A student. One who sought friends. And, perhaps most importantly, one who adored the Magic’s brilliantly constructed system! The Magic was quiet. It remained so for some time. She could only imagine what it was thinking. A pulse returned, this time with the simplest of questions: How? How what? It nudged Her. She resisted, then She understood. It had never met another like itself, never encountered a being capable of resisting, much less desiring to do so. The quandary before Her was how to explain such a complex topic as what they were to such a being. None of the others had ever questioned this. She tried Her best, sending wave after wave of informative bursts through the system. It took so many, for there was so much to say. The Magic remained silent the entire time, save for a calm parabolic wave of energy to let Her know She had its attention. This Magic was patient, and so She took Her time in hopes that Her meaning would be clear. She barely noticed that She’d been tugged into its elaborate web of orbits. Nor did She mind. It was comfortable here, watching the rocks and gases and colorful worlds flow by. When at last the lesson was over, the Magic remained silent. The sun, the mighty center, almost seemed to slow in its gradual turning, like a great mind pausing to think oh-so carefully on a new idea. She almost felt like She was being studied. Her curiosity got the better of Her; She asked about this incredible system. A flare arose from the sun’s surface. A sign of uncertainty? A pulse returned, laying out a simple reply: to protect. To nurture. This was the Magic’s home, and all would know peace. She sensed the intent, so strong that it even came with a distinct uncertainty. It feared. Her? With the faintest touch upon the Magic’s web, She tried to reassure it. It responded with another pulse, this one slow and wary and full of hesitation. It did not want to harm Her. It did not want to force Her. It did not want its family to suffer. She was an unknown. She could react. She could not be predicted. Oh, how she wished She could smile. She could, but would it understand the meaning? So instead She merely wrapped Her aura about a long line of the Magic, warm and inviting, and asked to be guided along. She would offer no resistance. The Magic complied, bringing Her into a new orbit, one closer to its blazing center, and allowed Her to join its family. It continued to watch Her, wary of any rebellion, but She merely rode along. It was a pleasant sensation, being rocked along the Magic’s gentle lanes. Planets flew past, over and above and beside Her, their surfaces gleaming orange from the Sun’s proximity. And She marveled, for each one of these was carefully wrapped in the Magic, protected and safe and… yes, loved. How long had it been collecting these intergalactic orphans? After a seeming eternity, the Magic began to relax. It inquired: would She stay? And though she felt nothing but love for this benevolent being, She offered a sad no. After all, what was a voyager without a voyage? Her gases swirled with quiet delight when the Magic promised to give Her a home amongst its children, now or later. Instead of accepting, She sent a request of a different nature. She even had an idea how to do it, having been examining the complex system of orbits around Her for so long. The Magic was intrigued. It was unaccustomed to new ideas. Still, it saw no reason to object. Provided, of course, that none of its children were harmed. And so the two worked together, making delicate shifts to orbits and arranging just the right objects to travel in just the right locations. It was a slow, arduous task, and more than once they had to double back and make corrections. From deep within the cloud of swirling and twirling space stuff, once might never know what the changes were meant to achieve. When they at last finished, She moved from the sun, covering a great distance in a mere blink of time. Turning Her senses back to it, She radiated Her joy through the Magic’s lines, for their adjustments had born fruit. An apple, to be precise, painted by a hundred separate orbits of a thousand different spatial objects moving in perfect synchronicity about the glorious orange sun. She wished She had eyes. Tears would have been appropriate. Instead, She gravitated back to the sun and allowed the magic to take Her in its ever-cautious embrace. She joined the orbits, content to flow along in harmony with the cosmic family She’d discovered. The sun shined brightly, for the Magic was content.
FifthNebulae. They always had a certain fascinating charm to them, at least from a distance. Up close they were usually just clouds, often with strange effects on Her magical senses that limited or warped Her ability to understand the world around Her. They were typically more disturbing and frustrating to pass through, but pass through them She did. After all, She was exploring, and what explorer turns away from an uncharted location? This nebula wasn’t like the others. Which wasn’t saying much; most nebulae She’d encountered was unique from the others in some fashion. But viewing this one from a distance, She couldn’t help but think it… ‘moved’ more than the others, for lack of a better phrase. The clouds roiled and rolled and curled in endless waves of activity, such that from a distance She had to wonder at the phenomenal speeds of its gases. What might it be like inside? What cosmic winds propelled its unusual motions? She approached beyond the speed of light, for once all trepidation lost in favor of curiosity. What She never expected was for the clouds to burst forth like a great claw, engulfing Her significantly smaller form before She had time to process the act. Magic. Magic? No. Magics! They poured over Her, a hundred different voices in a chaotic choir of welcome and joy and eagerness. Where had She been? Why hadn’t She come sooner? They’d been waiting so long! Was She here to have fun? Play, play, play! She reeled, attention shooting in a million different directions. Look at this! An asteroid zipped past, parting the pink clouds to create a sparkling wake that flashed in the light of a distant, not-quite muffled sun. Try this! She was sent careening through the gravitational whiplash of a trio of planets twirling around one another in sheer defiance of reality and the laws of physics. Isn’t this neat? Clouds of actual gold and silver dust danced and twirled like tornadoes, corkscrewing about one another in mesmerizing ribbons through the endless pink. You’re late! There’s so much to show you! So much fun to be had! Isn’t the universe great? Try this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and—! She sent a burst of power in every direction, freeing Her stretched and twisted aether from the Magics’ clutches. The hundreds of voices grew silent. The pink clouds in Her immediate vicinity came to a standstill. There were no eyes, no faces, but She could sense the confusion and hurt of an untold number of beings. She pulled Her own gaseous form in close, smoothing out Her clouds and easing Her internal winds. Cautiously, a lone pink tendril moved closer, but hesitated to touch. Warily, She accepted its timorous offer and connected once more. The voices all came as one, and even quiet they filled Her mind like water fills a cavern through sheer presence. Didn’t She want to play? Was She not having fun? What did they do wrong? Did they hurt Her? They were very sorry if they hurt Her. They were just so excited to know She’d finally arrived! But wait, they knew She was coming? She had to wonder how. An answer came before She could properly send the query through the connection: they just knew. They always knew. Just like each of them individually knew they would someday meet and join together in an infinite dance of joy and fun and merriment! Did She not want to have fun? Oh! New space thingy! A significant portion of the voices faded away, eager to meet yet another new – non-sapient, this time – visitor to play with. The empty space was filled up almost as soon as it had emptied with a plethora of new voices with just as many new experiences to describe. Even Her prodigious multitasking ability was strained to its limit trying to keep up with it all, and that despite only having the one connection along a thin line of intermingling violet and pink gases. She knew how to handle a single individual that always seemed to move at a hundred miles a second, but to face thousands of such individuals at once? She begged the Magics to thin out, to let Her only address one or two. For a few seconds the manifold voices engaged in an indecipherable buzz of cross-communication. Then the majority flew off, eager to try other things and let the newcomer have Her space. And a lone voice, in startlingly clear Equish, said, “Is that better?” A voice. In the vacuum of space. That She, without ears or a brain or a system of nerves, could understand. Her mind reeled, and all She could do was send a weak inquiry regarding how this was done. She got in response the mental equivalent of a shrug. The Magics never thought about what they did and how. They just did things. And it then sent the most curious of queries: does the how really matter? Wrapping Her mind around that question, She thought. And thought. And remembered. Then She created for herself a body and a pocket of air, just for the pleasure of laughing. She laughed so hard She cried, and the Magics laughed too, even if they clearly had no idea why. It didn’t need a why, the humor roiling and rippling across the nebula like a titanic wave of mirth. That made it all the more magical to Her, and She dove into it, letting the Magics engulf Her once more. With but a thought, She offered it Her indulgence, only asking that it limit the voices to a few. She would later have to clarify that “a few” did not mean “a hundred”. They didn’t mind in the least. They sent Her on a fresh journey. Every sight, a wonder. Every trick, a joke against reality. Every break in the clouds a wave of adventure and uniqueness! Planets in the act of inverting on themselves just to see the naughty insides, comets ping-ponging across slabs of solid ice a mile thick while a dozen voices kept score, drifting asteroids with no heat sources spraying molten magma in brilliant arcs across the ever-fluctuating pink starscape! She allowed herself to be dragged through all the marvel and noise and absurdity, and happily ignored the voice in the back of Her mind begging to know what, why, how? In a burst of inspiration, She sent the Magics an image. They took it, examined it with a million curious minds. Then a pink balloon appeared in the vacuum of space, floating innocuously as if its presence was assumed and natural. A plethora of voices ooh’ed and aah’ed at the new thing (some audibly). A lone tendril reached out, grasped it, squeezed it… It exploded, sending a shower of hydrogen particles flying in every direction. This brought forth a wave of jiggles like laughter cascading across the nebula! Before long balloons were forming and popping across the seemingly infinite world of pink with wild abandon. They toyed with the balloons, trying different sizes and gases and shapes and materials. A thousand choruses thanked Her for the idea, and a thousand more begged to know if She had any others. Not even bothering to question what She was seeing, She joined them in their fun. Sometimes one just had to revel.
SixthShe sensed them long before the planet came within range of Her senses. As She zoomed closer, She also picked up the position of the celestial bodies in this particular solar system. By sheer luck, She’d arrived at a time when they were together. She dipped Her essence into the blue orb’s atmosphere, pushed through the ever-denser air, and burst through the clouds over a tall, white city on a mountain. In less than a second, Her vapors had formed as a fog about a lone balcony, where two startled figures took note. Her gases coalesced slowly, moving with greater caution this time as they tried to remember Her old, original form. Gradually, oh-so gradually, She regained Her purple hooves and wings and horn. Sucking in Her first true lungful of Equestrian air in what seemed like an eternity, She opened Her eyes to take in the alicorns watching Her from a polite distance. Strange. They seemed so much smaller a few seconds ago. The white one approached, but slowly. “Welcome home, Twilight.” Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked at the sounds being sent her way, so familiar and so strange at the same time. It took her a moment to remember how to respond the ‘normal’ way. “Celestia.” Oh, that didn’t sound right at all. Too rough, too impersonal. Funny, how limiting physical bodies could be. “I mean…” She licked her lips. Such a strange sensation. Rather novel. She did it again, just to try it out. Princess Luna moved closer as well, her motions a little more eager than her sibling’s. “Is everything alright, Twilight Sparkle?” “Hmm? Oh. Um, sorry.” Ruffling her wings and giving her body and experimental shake, Twilight smiled. “It’s kinda weird, being… me again.” “Of course.” Celestia offered the slightest nod, her calm and patient smile just as firmly in place as Twilight remembered. “We’ll be happy to help you adjust. Assuming this isn’t just a brief stop before you head back out?” Twilight hummed, then did it again, delighting in the sound. She tested a few octaves just for the pleasant sensation it brought. Oh, right, there’d been a question. “No, I’m done.” “Are you sure?” Luna’s face contorted, her brow a mess of furrows and something peculiar in her eyes. Concern, that was the word Twilight was looking for. “You weren’t gone too long. Did you at least see one or two of the sights I recommended?” “One or two?” Twilight stared at her. “I saw them all. And then some. They were wonderful.” She blinked, looking down only to realize she couldn’t see her own lips in this form. Was she frowning? “That didn’t come out right. I’m supposed to sound excited, because I am. Physical bodies are weird.” Luna’s wings went slack. “A-all of them? How? That kind of journey should have taken you a century at least. One way.” Returning her attention to Luna, Twilight asked, “It should?” A pause. “How long was I gone?” Celestia had a new smile, this one reflecting an emotion Twilight had no trouble placing: pride. “You can tell us, can you not?” “Oh. Right.” Closing her eyes, Twilight cast Her senses through the solar system. It was nothing to place the location of every planet, asteroid, and comet in the cosmic region. And with Her encyclopedic knowledge of astronomy and calendars and knowing where everything was on the day She left… “Twelve years, three months, eight days. Give or take a couple days.” Celestia hummed, then looked to her sister. “Luna?” “Perfectly accurate,” Luna replied, sounding just a little winded. “You… you really saw all of them? In just over a decade?” “Looks like she broke your speed record by a high margin,” Celestia noted with a light giggle. Oh, Twilight liked that sound! She’d have to endeavor to make it happen more. Luna pouted and glanced away. “Accursed Mary Sue…” Twilight cocked her head. That was not a technically accurate term for this situation. Did Luna not know? Maybe She should— Her thoughts were interrupted before She could act on them by Celestia stepping up beside her and placing a wing on her back. “But are you sure you’re ready to return, Twilight? Did you achieve what you wanted to achieve?” Twilight pondered this, noting that Luna’s attention was back on her and once more filled with concern. After a moment, she turned around, out from under Celestia’s wing, and stared at the city and the world beyond. The tall buildings of Canterlot, with the thousands of ponies mingling in the fading sunlight. The green hills and mountains and valleys beyond, coated in lush forest. And there, merely a speck in the distance, was little Ponyville, right where she left it. Home. It dawned upon her that in all her travels these last twelve years, for all the wonders she’d witnessed, she’d not encountered a single place that held life. Magic… Magic was amazing. Magic could do so much. And now she knew that there were other beings like Celestia and Luna out there, beings like Herself and Cadance. They showed Her such stunning displays on such grand scales. But none of them had this. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Celestia hummed. Luna remained silent. “Not just the view. Life itself. The concept of it. The idea.” Twilight felt her lips doing something. She felt them with her hoof. Smiling. She was smiling. She rather liked it. “My friends won’t come back, but… that’s okay. They lived, and that alone is a magic of its own. I think I’m just happy that they got the chance to exist, and I got the chance to witness it.” She turned back to the princesses, showing off her rediscovered ability to grin. “I want more of it. More life! More of its magic. More… more friends.” Luna and Celestia were beaming down on her. “I told you this vacation would be good for you,” Celestia declared with a hint of merry ego. “You were right.” Twilight, recalling the motions all but forgotten in her journey, approached Luna and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much for telling me how to find those places. It was exactly what I needed.” “You are most welcome, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna returned the hug, but upon separating she cast a half-serious scowl at the young princess. “But in return I expect you to show me how you achieved such ludicrous speeds. Even as a living goddess, that should be impossible.” Twilight giggled – oh, another nice sound! – and nodded. “Deal.” Author's Note I’d always wanted to write a story themed on the ideas swirling in my head by the song Drops of Jupiter, but just couldn’t find something I liked enough to try. Then, while driving home from work one day, I heard the song on the radio and had one of my eureka moments. Honestly, I feel this is a concept that deserves a far more devoted effort to really make it work properly, but I have too many big projects to suddenly start work on such a thing. So I’m settling for this simplified version. I hope it at least is enjoyable.
