Celestia was thankful she had gotten to appreciate the air in the garden before this conversation began, because now there was no chance of enjoying it. Stale and ever so empty; her heart felt much the same.

Twilight was no longer gazing at her with the admiration she used to, the warmth that flowed from the mare since she was a filly. Now her gaze was filled with a vast emptiness the diarch could only cast guesses upon. Perhaps the words had rendered Twilight into a state of shock; it would not have been the first time. The assumption fell away, however, when the lavender alicorn spoke.

“Princess... This… I-I can’t…”

The words felt like cold venom, a bleeding wound that Celestia dare not acknowledge. The problem was the wound still existed, and Twilight could not stop herself from gawking at it.

This was that knowledge, this was that information she abhorred to tell a single pony. Now, now Twilight knew. Now was not the time to stay silent. There were a hundred and one questions Twilight would doubtlessly ask. Celestia knew it was her duty now to answer them. For fulfilling her destiny, Twilight deserved as much.

All that was left was to answer what questions came next. And there would be questions. Such information needed no pondering.

“If… If you are a spirit…” Twilight began, her voice shaking as she did so. Celestia did not fault her. If anything, she empathized with the newly crowned princess. “Then… where did you come from?”

The obvious question, the first question. Where did life begin?

Celestia had long ago abandoned the search for the source of all life, of all things, magical or not. It was pointless to search for a beginning she wasn’t a part of. It made more sense to prepare for the end she would likely see. Her own origins, however, were not a thing she was unfamiliar with. Both she and Luna, together, remembered well where they had come from. The ponies of millennia past had told the tale as many a times as they had worshiped their names.

“Back before the time in which my sister and I ruled, the ponies were only just beginning to form Equestria, to build the foundations for the world to turn. Peace was a very shaky platform, as stable as mountains built over clouds. In spite of the unity the leaders tried to forge, factions of the ponies bickered with one another.” Twilight could see the displeasure in her former teacher’s eyes. It was not a memory she held close, but it was one she remembered well.

“The pegasi refused to see the earth ponies as their equals, too sure that their ability to command the skies meant their superiority to those bound to the earth. The earth ponies were stubborn to even converse with the unicorns, so set that those with magic at their horn’s end could make simple every task they themselves struggled to perform. And the unicorns were too haughty to appreciate the work of the pegasi, seeing ponies that ruled through might as barbaric and ancient.”

“It sounds as if the leaders did little at all.” Celestia was thankful her former student sounded so at ease with those few words. Distant from the information the diarch had given her only moments before. She dare not address it. Twilight would doubtlessly fall back to shock and disbelief as Celestia’s story continued.

“They did more good than any book could give them credit for,” Celestia defended, giving the alicorn across from her the smile she wore so often on her mask. “Without them, food would not have grown, weather would not have changed, and the sun and moon would not have turned. They ensured that life continued, but it was a difficult task for mortal ponies, ponies that were subject to stress, to fatigue, to forces around them. They could not do everything that was needed, so instead, they chose to do what was needed most. For the circumstances they were born under, it was the wisest move they could have made.”

“That does make sense.” Twilight nodded with her words, looking up at Celestia as she finished. The diarch watched the lavender eyes of her faithful pony churn as the thoughts continued to work through her mind. There was no smile over her lips. “But it wasn’t enough.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Celestia shook her head. “It was only so long before the already tentative harmony began to decay. The leaders, as I said, were not foals. They saw the signs, but knew not what to do. Desperate for a solution, they sent out their wisest pony in search of a solution. He was a wise stallion, gifted in finding solutions that satisfied all sides, the initial proposer of the Equestrian System, in fact.” The diarch waited for recognition to dawn over Twilight’s features. It did not take long. Her ears straightened and jaw nearly dropped as the information processed through her mind.

“Star Swirl?” Twilight asked, nearly in disbelief of her own words. Celestia however, nodded in approval. It only made the young alicorn’s eyes widen further. “What… What did Star Swirl do? I never read any record of him settling a dispute among the ponies.”

“I assure you he did Twilight,” Celestia spoke calmly, favoring this side of the mare, the pony that sought knowledge wherever she could. “But what he found, and what it did, overshadowed his mark in history, at least, that specific mark. He left more than one imprint of his work behind.” The alicorn likely shook her head before continuing.

“He spoke to us only lightly regarding his journey, out of his own preference for preferring the destination to the trip itself. However, his exploration of the Equestrian land took him to a mystic place, a small portion of land that was far more magical than any other area in all of Equestria. So saturated in Ley Lines was this place, that needed the hooves of no pony in order to live. It maintained itself and, it was here, here in this place, that he found the most powerful and magical objects Equestria has ever seen.” As with mention discovery of the unicorn’s name, Twilight was easily able to conclude where and what Star Swirl had found. Celestia suspected the mare’s eyes were close to rolling from her skull.

“The Elements?” She questioned lightly, waiting for Celestia to nod before she continued. “Star Swirl the Bearded, one of the most magically gifted ponies in all of Equestrian history, found the Elements of Harmony, within the Everfree Forest?”

There were a great many of times Celestia felt pride for her young pupil. Now was no different, though a pupil she was no longer.

“Once more, you are correct.” The diarch nodded once before speaking on. “He found the Elements of Harmony within those enchanted woods, bringing them back to the Canterlot capital as quickly as he could. It was only shortly upon his arrival, and presentation of the blessed stones, that they began to react the disharmony around them.”

“Wait,” Twilight spoke up, her mind theorizing what happened, guessing at the likely possibilities. “Did the Elements induce an enlightened state in the ponies, showing them what it meant to be in harmony?” Celestia lightly chuckled at Twilight’s words, much to the young princess’s embarrassment.

But the laughter was short lived, because what the dairch spoke next reminded Twilight of how this conversation began.

“No Twilight,” Celestia spoke, leaning over the table as she did so. “They created something. The Elements of Harmony created the spirits to use them.” Twilight’s ears fell as her eyes widened in recognition.

“They created Luna and I.”

For the second time now, Celestia felt her heart stiffen at the gaze Twilight casted upon her. She hated that look, that empty stare of confusion and disbelief. She hated it most when it was directed at her.

“So that’s…” Twilight began, her voice rolling off as she spoke. “That’s why you’re a… a s-spirit.” The diarch did not imagine the difficulty with which Twilight spoke, nor did she wistfully dream the avoiding gaze that followed the mare’s conclusion.

“Yes, a spirit.” Celestia would have mused on how odd it was to be so uncomfortable with the word, describing what she was. She would have, if she were not so fixated on easing all the fears the mare in front of her had.

“I am different only from the likes of Discord by the goals we each pursue. He was formed from the need to twist and bend the order of harmony, the opposite to everything the ponies had built and formed. Luna and I, together, were, or more appropriately are, the representation of harmony, as our creation from the Elements was declared to be symbolic of.” Celestia watched the wings on Twilight’s back fall at her sides. Either the alicorn was still not used to controlling them or she was only more clearly wearing her emotions on her coat.

The diarch hoped for the former, but she suspected the latter.

“I…” Twilight began, licking her lips as her eyes blinked. “Then, you and Princess Luna are the Elements?”

“No,” Celestia corrected, holding up her crystal hoof at the question. “We are not the Elements of Harmony nor sources for their power. My sister and I are instead the spirits created for those stones, beings made corporeal to harness the power needed to protect the lands of the ponies, to guard Equestria from those who would see her harmed.”

“I…I-I still don’t understand.” Celestia did not fault the newly formed alicorn for it. She doubted most ponies would even begin to comprehend what she was saying. “I-I’m sorry but… but even if you were made to use the stones, how… how is that any different that me or my friends?” The Princess of the Sun, odd even to her own mind, found herself smiling at the mare’s words.

“Because, my precious student,” Celestia leaned over the table, doing her absolute utmost to appear as kind and gentle as she wished to be. “You six were born as any other pony was, destined to lead your lives as you saw fit. You all have families you hold dear, goals you still wish to achieve, and daily tasks you need to complete. My sister and I do not.” A slow breath came and left the diarch’s lungs, eyes fluttering as she did so.

“We do not have a mother or father, ponies that we can call our parents. We had only one reason to exist, one purpose in our sudden lives. And, there is little either of us needs to do, aside from watching over our land.” Celestia focused her pink gaze on the alicorn across from her, doing her absolute to make sure she was nothing but calm and warm to the mare.

“As you very well may have guessed, Luna and I both represent different Elements of Harmony. Three for me and two for her. It was the only reason why we agree I was the elder and she my younger sibling.”

“You’re magic then…” Twilight spoke with a dumbfounded tone. To be honest, Celestia was surprised the mare was still able to stand and listen to her. She could recall more than one lecture where Twilight would collapse in shock of elder knowledge being passed down to her.

“No, I am not.” The diarch spoke with a small but slow shake of her head. “I am the kindness that ponies need to see during their day, to know that a benevolent leader is watching down upon them. I am the generosity that does not care for age, gender, or race of the ponies beneath me. And I the loyalty that will not turn against those who are close to me, and I am close to all ponies who are in need of me.”

Celestia could almost hear Twilight’s mind absorbing the information she was speaking, taking in every syllable and taking to heart every word. She was every bit the studious mare now as she was nearly a decade ago.

“My sister is the laughter that is meant to keep the night alive, to show the near born fillies and colts the beauty, not the fear of the dark. She is also honestly, for there is no light to blind the eyes of her followers, and she hides nothing within the dark.” Celestia let herself stop, awaiting a question she knew Twilight would ask. It was an inevitable question to any who listened.

“Then, what’s magic?” Despite her own foreshadowing, the diarch smiled briefly at the question.

“You know what magic is Twilight.” The alicorn spoke with a warm smile. She had yet to feel the same warmth from Twilight since their talk reached its pinnacle. “You were able to solve such a mystery in the midst of a terrifying struggle, with the aid of your new friends.” Celestia saw the spark in the mare’s eyes.

“Magic forms when all the elements are brought together,” she spoke from memory, her eyes shifting as she did so. “A spark will form and the sixth element will appear. And that… that’s because no one thing by itself can create a spark. There have to be opposing forces contacting one another to create a spark.” Celestia watched the epiphany birth itself within Twilight’s mind.

“That’s why there are two of you, because harmony is the coexistence of unlike things, and no two things are more opposed to one another than night and day.”

“Absolutely correct, my astute and wise student.” For the first time since their private meeting began, Celestia felt the warmth of adoration flow from Twilight’s words. It was quick to depart, however, as Twilight’s mind began to work again.

“If that’s true then… then how come you can’t use the elements now?” Celestia could not coat the truth, and therefore, she would not try.

“Because I failed Twilight.” The words felt harsh to admit aloud, but they were no less honest than they were the night Celestia spoke them last. “Because my sister and I failed to maintain balance, we failed to uphold harmony together.” Something dawned in the mind of the lavender alicorn.

“Nightmare Moon…” she whispered, almost hesitant to bring up such a memory. Once more, Celestia could only nod at her student’s astute mind.

“Yes,” the alabaster diarch admitted. “Though Luna and I ruled together for a time, it did was not long before the needs she required began to go unfulfilled. Ponies were not honest with her, often ducking their heads and insisting against their own hearts in her presence. Laughter rarely came to her, thus driving her into the world of dreams, where she hoped to find more joyful memories.”

“Then… then the Miasma took her.” Celestia always found it hard to compliment her student on correctly guessing such painful details.

“Yes again, my precious student,” The diarch spoke nonetheless. “When Luna fell into the curse of the Miasma, her bond to the Elements faded. And as her strength with them fell, I took it upon myself to burden up my back the five elements we collectively represented. And with the five at my side, I was able to use Magic, for just long enough to banish my sister, my only family, from the land she was created to protect.”

The silence that fell between the two was as unwanted as the memory that floated through Celestia’s mind. Something she had to do long ago that continued to haunt her to the current day.

“Then there was no harmony. And without harmony, there were no elements.” Celestia looked at her student with the ghost of a smile, proud of her student’s intellect, but still burdened by the reminder.

“Correct again.” It was rare for Celestia to feel pain for acknowledging correct conclusions, but this was a rare and delicate situation. The chances of what could and would be were different than a normal conversation. Celestia briefly pondered if she would ever have one of those again with Twilight. A part of her wished that she would, but a larger part of her doubted it.

“With Luna gone from the world, and only I remaining, the Elements lost their magic, as the spirits that represented them were cut in two. I continued to rule regardless, a ruler as I am. I remained loyal, I remained generous, and I remained kind. But I did not have the magic I once shared with my sister. I lost that the night I lost her.”

“Celestia… Princess…” It was difficult for the diarch to hear Twilight speaking the way she was. It was kind, thoughtful to hear somepony expressing sympathy for her own sorrow, despite the centuries past from when it had occurred. But the Celestia felt guilty nonetheless, preferring the sympathy of Twilight over the dubious stare from before. She spoke quickly to rid herself of the assorted feeling.

“But you know of what happened next. You came, starting a chain of events I had long waited to begin.” Celestia did all that she could to make her smile honest, at least different than the one her mask so commonly bore. “You found friends that you made perfect harmony with. You were able to save my sister, using the Elements that both of us were made from. You, Twilight Sparkle, my once but forever faithful student, brought true harmony back to the land.”

Celestia was sure of one thing, as he words slowly came to an end. She much preferred the humble blush that decorated Twilight’s cheeks than any other look the mare had given before.

“That… Thank you Celestia, but you… you know that was destiny.” And it was here Celestia needed only reminders to form her thoughts. Destiny was, after all, a part of her everyday life.

“There are many things about destiny that ponies assume, Twilight.” Celestia carefully raised her teacup to her lips, savoring the sweet liquid that moved down her throat. It parched her thirst and loosened her throat. “It is not a book that directs our life, or chooses for us the actions that may come. I find it easiest to think of destiny as what it is, the destination.”

“I’m… I’m not sure I understand.” There were few ponies who would so quickly, but Celestia wanted Twilight to leave her with answers, not questions.

“One’s destiny may be a sure thing, but the path by which it is reached is never told. We decide what mountains to climb or forests to traverse. It is us who find the paths that lead us to our destiny, and we are the ones who pave those roads, not a force unseen.” Celestia smiled down at the pony across from her as she spoke on. “And we are the ones who decide what paths to take when our destiny has been fulfilled, and there is no longer any ‘destination’ for us to search for.”

Twilight’s blush was illuminating her face like Celestia’s sun in the sky. It made the diarch giggle, momentarily forgetting just what they were discussing. Any brief escape from the conversation was one she enjoyed. But as Twilight’s flush settled and her eyes returned to the alabaster mare, Celestia knew that it was going to continue.

“There is… one more thing I don’t understand.” Twilight was being careful with her words, Celestia could tell. “You said that you and Princess Luna don’t have daily needs. What does that mean?”

And this… this was question Celestia abhorred answering the most. Not because it was a great revelation that would shock the mare, or carry some horrid truth that would disgust all of her subjects. It was a simple thing, an easy answer that, despite its size, would easily make clear the difference between Twilight, the mortal princess, and Celestia, the spiritual princess.

“Daily needs are needs of the flesh, Twilight,” she began just as carefully as every subject thus far. “Food for your body, sleep for you mind, and love for your heart. They are three things that every life, no matter the race or age, needs.” Her eyes slowly closed and reopened, focusing her thoughts before she spoke. Dictation was key here.

“Luna and I may practice these needs, as the ponies around us take comfort in seeing us having mortal ties, but we do not need them. I could go for days without food or water, I could walk for weeks without the need for rest, and as my creation was not from the love of two ponies in union, my heart needs just as much love within it.” Celestia averted her gaze from Twilight’s drooping ears. It served to only trap her pink eyes on the lavender mare’s tearing ones.

“I…” The alicorn swallowed before trying again. “You… Y-You don’t feel… love?”

Celestia’s wings ruffled themselves at the question, her eyes widening in horror.

“No.”

The diarch wasted no time in rising from the table, walking around until she was just before Twilight. She wrapped the mare in her wing, embracing the smaller pony against her underside. Twilight easily fell into the warm hold.

“No Twilight, no.” Celestia spoke on. “Because I do not need them does not mean I do not have them. I eat for enjoyment, as my sweet tooth will confirm. I sleep during nights, as the castle keepers will attest.” Her chest shook before she spoke on.

“And I do love Twilight, I love the ponies for whom I lead, and I will never be able to rid myself of the love they have for me. For I will never be able to forget the ponies that have loved me throughout my long life.”

Celestia felt Twilight lean against her soft underbelly a bit harder, pushing into the white coat of the diarch with a need Celestia could understand.

The silence cloaked the garden for a time, leaving both princesses in the vacuum of noise. Celestia let the time slowly slip by as she held her wing around the young mare beneath her, savoring their closeness with a selfish desire she could not battle. Twilight did little more than lean against her, neither fighting nor moving from the embrace of the elder alicorn.

Celestia’s wing was soft, her touch gentle, and warmth heavenly. It took the sensation of all three at once for Twilight to soothe her throat long enough to speak again.

“Celestia?” She spoke the elder’s name, careful to keep her voice from croaking as she did so. The mare hummed in response. “May I ask you… one more question?” The spirit smiled tenderly at the request.

“You may ask me as many questions as you need and more.” Celestia flexed her wing a bit more, holding the lavender mare closer to her chest. “I hold no secrets from you now.”

“What would you if… if I were to…” The alabaster mare heard Twilight swallow on something.

“Yes?” Celestia leaned down as she questioned her former student softly, gentling pushing her to speak. It took little for Twilight to answer the call.

“Would you mind if… if I said I love you?”

Celestia felt the breath leave her lungs.

Her eyes widened considerably as she gazed down at the mare in her embrace, looking at the top of her lavender mane. Twilight twisted her head up to gaze at the alicorn looking down at her. For the first time since their conversation began, Celestia saw something other than doubt or fear.

She saw compassion.

Celestia had seen as many kingdoms rise as she had seen those eyes focused upon her. A gaze filled with a desire for something greater than words could ascribe. The want to share blessings, the desire to craft an amalgamation future, they were things far beyond the now common desire to aid her. It was a stare that no member of her court or guard had ever given to her.

“Twilight…” Celestia spoke breathlessly, genuinely struck dumb by the question.

“I’ve loved you for some time Celestia,” Twilight spoke on, lowering her head until it fell against the princess’s chest once more, their gazes of one another broken. “I’ve always admired your strength, your wisdom, and your magic. You are everything every pony could ever wish to be, but you only chose to help others, always putting yourself last.” Celestia said nothing as Twilight spoke on.

“When you said… when you told me I was going to be a princess, when I was given my wings, I thought… I thought that I was immortal, too.” A damp breath of air was taken in by the smaller of the two. Celestia instinctively pulled her closer. “But when Cadance, a-and Shining told me I wasn’t, I was so confused. I thought that… I-I thought the one chance to be with you was taken from me, the hope I had that I could finally confess to you was gone before it was even there.”

“So that is why you inquired of me.” It was not a question. It was a logical conclusion that a mind as adapt and trained as Twilight’s would conclude.

“I didn’t know,” Twilight whispered the words. “I didn’t know why you were immortal. I-I didn’t know that… that it was so important. I… It’s stupid. I just wanted to know.” The mare scoffed before she spoke again. “I always have to know, don’t I?” Celestia could not bare the bitterness of the words.

“I have never faulted nor insulted your desire to learn, Twilight.” Celestia held only certainty on her words. “I knew one day I would speak to you of this, as I suspect one day even Cadance will wish to satisfy her own curiosity, whenever that may be. If you are concerned why I keep this secret close, it is of fear for what it will do.”

Celestia took the silence of the young mare in her wing’s embrace as sign to elaborate. She doubted Twilight could speak at the moment.

“The ponies of this land see me as a symbol of what they can achieve. They see me as great, powerful, even omniscient at times, but always as a pony. Always as something matching what they are. They do not wish to follow a spirit, an entity they can only dream to fathom. They want to be lead by a pony, but a mare or stallion like themselves. I am not that, Twilight.” Celestia almost tripped over her own words.

“I only pretend to be what the ponies need.”

“That’s not true.”

“Twilight, you-” Celestia’s words were silenced in the oddest of ways.

Lips pressing over her own.

She barely realized they were there until Twilight shut her eyes. Without anything else to focus on, Celestia was left with the sensation of lips pushing over her mouth. It warmer than she remembered any fleeting peck from before.

It was difficult for Celestia to decide if it was the kiss itself or the mare delivering that filled her form with the heat of the sun.

Her wings extended to their greatest length, her legs freezing where she sat. Here attention entire was directed at the mare, the kiss, and the love that enveloped her.

When Twilight leaned away, Celestia found herself leaning forward, stopping only when her mind caught up to her actions. She was sure now that a blush adorned her own pale coat, or so the innocent smile over Twilight’s own heated features told.

The silence returned once more, far thicker than when it had come during their previous embrace. However, once more, Twilight took action into her own hooves.

“Celestia, please never say you’re pretending.” The words were filled with an emotion that shook tears from the elder alicorn’s eyes. Twilight did not stop.

“You do so much for everypony, more than anyone could ever hope to ask. You brought peace to ponies in the midst of chaos, you forged alliances with the different species through Equestria, you even took it upon yourself to endure a thousand years of solitude, all just to help us.” Twilight’s eyes were brimming with tears as well.

“Please don’t say that was just pretending. I fell in love with you because of who you are and what you have done, not because of what you are.”

“Twilight…” Celestia whispered, unsure of what to say.

“Please,” Twilight spoke once more, leaning in towards her former teacher as she did so. “I love you, Celestia. So please, please don’t say that.”

Celestia knew of only one way to ease the fear of her student. It was only by coincidence that it also fed her now unnourished desire.

The Princess of the sun sealed her lips over Twilight’s, surrounding the two within her wings.

The world around them fell away.