Beyond The Harmonious Veil
“Tell me”, Celestia pulled one of her wings around Twilight, the feathers sharing a familiar warmth with the student, “What do you see when you look up in the sky?”
Twilight looked up, her eyes meeting the millions of stars that gave name to the starry night. She always felt something unique to it, a sensation she could only experience when watching the countless stars, each one older than the world itself.
She knew it was a trick question, and she couldn’t answer it with one of her logical assumptions; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a reason her teacher requested her presence.
You must make it hard, eh?
“Magic”, Twilight expressed almost whimsically “The zenith of magic”
“¿And why is that?”
“I would assume it is because of the sheer concentration of energy each star has inside, but that defies the third principle of magic.” She tapped her chin with her fingers. “magical energy always exists in a fixed amount that can not be increased or diminished.”
“So you don’t have an answer to it?” Celestia asked, faking surprise.
“You really like teasing me…” Twilight rolled her eyes bitterly; even so, she had a tiny smile.
“I just don’t know how to explain it with words; when I look at them, there's this feeling that is just right”
It felt right like she was supposed to look up at the sky every night to admire the stars. By just doing it, she would feel how the magic surrounded her like it was the air itself, touching her dark features with such caress, spiralling through her body until it reached her nightglow horn, making it shine in several shades of purple.
It is such a wonderful feeling.
“Well, there might be an explanation.” Twilight looked up curiously at her teacher, her eyes analysing the taller and straight-up divine figure. “Have you heard about the divergence theory?”
The features tensed in Twilight’s face, making Celestia raise an eyebrow.
Then, there was laughter, a rather obnoxious one.
“S-sorry…” she removed a tear from her purple eyes, “But please don’t tell me you believe in the existence of other worlds outside our realm.”
“What would you think if I did?” Her teacher asked, and that suddenly put Twilight’s arrogance in a little vault inside her mind, replacing it with a noticeable blush. It was easy to forget she was talking to the monarch of the sun when she was so confident in her knowledge.
“Forgive me, princess, but I just find it so fundamentally illogic.”
“It doesn’t have to be logical, my little student.”
Celestia walked to the castle's gardens, taking her student alongside her. The guards looked at them passing by, their stares stoic and full of compromise, making Twilight feel a bit out of place.
She was eighteen already, having been Celestia’s faithful student for eight years, and she was still unable to comprehend it fully.
It certainly felt like a dream, a pleasant one. Standing alongside a divinity in the flesh, one that looked up at her with the motherly love she thought only her mother was capable of.
She looked up at her, a little girl that happened to be good at magic.
Twilight glanced at her teacher, having a good look at her figure. She was taller than anyone she knew, easily two heads above her, her body looking both strong and delicate while almost seeming to emit a warm glow from her medium skin. Her dress was full of little golden and beautiful trinkets, leaving her shoulders naked so the sun-shaped mark on her back could be displayed to everyone; it also gave freedom of movement to her sun-soaked wings. Her tri-colour hair waved as if a slight breeze accompanied it at any given time (it was wacky, still waving even indoors), and her golden crown perfectly matched her white horn.
To Twilight, the idea of standing alongside such a divine figure while just wearing glasses and librarian’s clothes made her feel small, really small.
And you still look up to me…
They arrived at the castle’s gardens, and the beautiful nature crafted by the hands of the most talented gardeners shone with the light of the night sky. Being so up into the mountain made the whole capital visible to the eyes of Twilight; she looked mesmerised by the magnificent view; everything looked small and full of life: people walking on the roads, each one having their own little story to tell.
“I enjoy being here in my free time. Even when alone, I can’t feel loneliness while watching so many of my subjects living their lives peacefully.”
“It is… nice.” There was a sad note in Twilight’s voice, quickly detected by Celestia’s
“Twilight?”
“Yes, princess?”
“Do you feel alone?” Celestia looked at Twilight as she flinched.
“me? why would you think I feel that way?” Her strangled voice didn’t go unnoticed by Celestia, “I have my family, spike and you; what more could I ask for?”
“I don’t know, think about it!”
“Well, I just don’t see the point.” She looked below at the city's lights, “needless chatter would just push me away from my studies.”
“Twilight, you are diminishing the value of people you haven’t even got the chance to meet. That isn’t like you.”
She was right. Objective analysis may also be her second name; not getting into the deep core of things wasn’t her way of doing things; it would be a sin against all the brilliant minds she has on the walls of her room. So why was she so pressed about letting new faces into her life?
Twilight sighed.
“But what if I am really like that? Would it be wrong just to want things to stay the way they are?”
“Then you wouldn’t be able to reach the heights you wish for.” Twilight’s eyes widened, unable to understand what she meant with that or how she meant it.
“Firstly, I won’t let my best student study herself into a coma; knowing you, it will likely be the least complicated of scenarios.”
“Is it a compliment to my dedication or…?” Twilight grinned awkwardly, waiting for her teacher’s response, who only rolled her eyes with an amused smile.
“I wish it were, but…” Celestia’s presence changed entirely; a melancholy Twilight never saw from her was now present, “it was that arrogant desire from those who thought they could achieve greatness alone what brought a lot of pain in the past.”
For a singular moment, Twilight felt something resonate in the moon.
“Secondly, our blessings as equestrians don’t work like that; magic grows through bonding between souls-”
“Yes, but it doesn’t specify which type of bonds actually…”
Celestia grimaced without Twiligh’s notice, knowing well what came now.
“The world is comprised of ley lines which allow the free flow of magic across all instances. No living being can generate magical energy by themselves since there's a fixed amount of it in the universe. At best, we are born with appendages like horns that allow a more significant focus of the ley lines through our body and a specific capacity to manipulate it manually. When magic goes through our bodies, it takes a bit of our essence, which ends up arriving at the body of another being. Our senses are tied to the most basic forms of magical connection, so even those species that can be considered magicless can sense things through it. Now, taking into account that our personalities and talents also affect how our essence is received by other beings, it also means…”
“My dear student, would you mind taking a more compressed approach?” Celestia asked with a twitching smile on her face.
“Oh, right…” Twilight blushed furiously at the prospect of her unconscious rambling. “sorry.”
“My point is that relationships can go from complex connections to simple interactions between two individuals. I intend to maintain acquaintances who share a similar interest in academic study. That way, as mundane as it can be, our connection will significantly increase our comprehension and proficiency in magic.”
“Are you describing to me the average relation of two coworkers?”
“Yes? What’s wrong with that?” Her words came as plain as they could, almost as if Celestia asked her a nonsensical question.
Her teacher took a hand into her forehead, sighing at her student's words.
“Why are you so afraid of having more people in your life?”
What?
“W-what do you mean?!” Twilight started sweating, not liking how the words came from Celestia.
“You clearly understand how magical flow works. You Aced all of your exams about ethereal comprehension with ease, so either you cheated on those exams or avoided the answer you already know is correct.”
“W-well, it also can be a matter of perspective…”
Celestia rolled her eyes.
“You must understand that I expect the best from any student of mine, so seeing such flawed logic in your arguments is concerning.”
She was correct; Twilight knew it; any form of reflection would come out as an ignorant ramble. She felt a knot in her throat the moment she saw the concerned eyes of her teacher, who trusted her capacity to discern the truth from any biased logic. The mere idea of not meeting her expectations drowned her mind with dread.
“I… understand, you must be disappointed in my foolishness.” Twilight looked away, ashamed, just to be pulled in front of Celestia by one of her wings.
“My sweet child, there are many words I could use to describe you, and disappointing will never be one of them.” She took one of her hands and placed it on her ashy cheek, making Twilight let out a single sniffle, “I think I understand your issue.”
“You do…?” Twilight asked, intrigued by her words, only to chuckle the moment Celestia booped her nose
“Relationships aren’t things you can predict or control; you fear that.” They both looked again at the city down their feet, watching the scene of two persons arguing. “You fear making a mistake and ruining a relationship you cared about”
“I suppose you are right.”
“Yes, but you must understand that is just as natural to everyone as it is for you. Some may be more pleasant than you, but that fear still exists within them.”
“Twilight, I have lived through an entire millennia, and the people who grew old in front of my eyes, they were the ones who gave a reason to it.”
“But it is just too overwhelming…”
“I know, but if you look at it in another way, a more freely one,” Her horn shone in answer to the bright stars of the night. “You might see that it can be the most wonderful experience.”
Twilight looked above, her eyes connecting with the image that always resonated with her heart. Now, it felt different than any other time; each star felt like an eye watching straight into her.
“As you can see, stars share many similarities with us; they come in many shapes, colours, and forms, and their compositions vary slightly.”
“They have their own stories, their own experiences and their own natures. What can be more wonderful than trying to understand each of them and sharing yours?”
“Yes, I believe in the theory of divergence; within or beyond the stars, there reside beings who are a complete world different from us.” She expressed herself with an almost childlike glee. At this moment, she was nothing more than a little girl expressing her fascination.
“One day, our worlds will have to collide. May I be there or not, we will have to learn to live around each other if we want true harmony. I recommend you to at least try to do it with the people that are already within your world.”
“There are many things you don’t know, many people that could help you to become your ideal version of yourself, many people you could help become their better selves.”
“There are so many possibilities. The mere thought always made me daydream, even if the bad times are fated to be present” Twilight listened to her teacher as if she were telling her the meaning of life itself; nothing in the world seemed to even exist in her head besides Celestia’s words.
“Twilight”
“Yes-s?”
Celestia pulled her student into a hug, catching her by surprise. There were a thousand unspoken words between them; she could feel a certain sadness in her heartbeat. She knew that in her teacher’s mind, there was someone else occupying her thoughts at the moment, but that was just an afterthought; the thing she wanted the most was to return her kindness, and so she did
“I am proud of your growth and will do everything I can to help you go even further.” As both embraced in a tight hug, she said, “It is up to you to decide if you want to go beyond.”
There was it, the ever-shining kindness of Celestia in the whole show.
What did I do to deserve this…
“I want to try.” Twilight freed herself from the hug, allowing herself to be in a straight position. “I must say, I’m still sceptical about it.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” She giggled with her student.
“Thanks for having so much faith in me…” Twilight said, fixing her glasses as a relatively efficient way of hiding her watery eyes.
“I will always believe in you; I hope I make myself clear.” She said as they shared a last hug.
“Yes, you always do.”
Celestia stood up in her royal room, her eyes looking at the figure ingrained in the moon, the silhouette of a woman more familiar to her than anyone could be in the land of harmony.
“Oh, sister… she is like you in many ways.”
There were so many things she wanted to say, cry about, argue, and enjoy.
Because of her sheer ineptitude and arrogance, now none of them were possible, and probably, would never be. She could only hope not to make the same mistake again with her delightfully peculiar student.
The figure on the moon stood solemnly in the moon, watching each of Celestia’s movements, and if she wasn’t wrong, a profound hatred would be imbued within it.
“Loneliness is such a curse, right, sister?”
Author's Note
Well, there goes the first chapter.
The prologue is done, I'm gonna try to do bi-weekly updates of 5-7k words
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this silly story of mine
