Author's Notes:

Audio Version

The medallion tugged gently at the chain around Luna's neck as she stepped out of the massive front doors of the palace. Twilight followed, putting a hoof to the piece of jewelry hanging around her own neck. "I can feel that," the unicorn remarked, sounding pleased.

"Good." Luna shared the sentiment. For the first time, she felt that she was truly contributing to their journey. They were also finally on track, rather than drifting aimlessly. Even with unconstrained divine presence warping everything around them, they had a path to follow.

The spell led them out of the palace grounds, into a green and tree-spotted wild. There was just a hint of a bite in the air, like the first faltering breaths of spring. A few puffs of white cloud rode in the sky, and Luna excused herself to spread her wings and soar upward. She landed on one of the drifting clouds, studying the land spread out beneath her.

The horizon was far too close. Her muscles tensed as she considered the sharp line where sky met ground. It was as if the whole world were shrinking around them - a real possibility, given the nature of the reality they were in. She could only hope that they would be able to leave before she did any permanent damage to Equestria's soul.

There was no sign of the ouroborus, though in truth she didn't know what to look for. The experiences and information she'd lost floated like a vast galactic puzzle, with the occasional infalling piece adding to the picture she knew. The thread of knowledge she'd followed was frustratingly incomplete, fraying before it reached its goal.

In fact, there was no fauna at all. Twilight was the only thing that didn't move with the wind, the unicorn looking upward from far below. Luna wondered idly if her unleashed godhead was focusing the world not around her, but around Twilight, following Luna's own emotions. The palace had helped steady her, but it had also convinced her that she could not return to the same existence that she'd left.

She already knew what lay down that road, whether it took ten years or ten thousand. She needed somepony to balance her properly, to keep her sane and make her whole. She needed Twilight. But that was a selfish desire; even if she could find the words, Luna didn't want to express it to the unicorn and so destroy what rapport they had.

She dropped back down to the ground, hooves whispering on the grass. "I don't see anything," she reported to Twilight. "But I don't think that means too much. I suspect distances are rather uncertain."

"Well, I'm used to walking by now," Twilight gave her a wry smile. "Another day or so isn't going to hurt."

"I suppose not." Luna walked in silence for a time, reflecting on something that had only just occurred to her. "I know how close you are to your friends," she said. "I'm surprised you haven't been more worried about them."

"I was worried," Twilight admitted. "Mostly about Spike. Well, worried about him worrying about me." The unicorn looked down at her guiding medallion. "But I was thinking about it, and I think you were right that we were sent here. So I'm sure Spike's parents are taking care of him, and Scar's told him what's going on, and my other friends aren't expecting me back for a week. Week-ish.

"So I'm hoping that this gets resolved long before anyone has to worry. Spike could be sending letters to Celestia, since I'm sure she's worried about you, but I don't think there's a need to alarm anyone else yet." Luna lifted her eyebrows at this small speech. She knew Twilight was intelligent; she hadn't anticipated that type of analysis from her.

"That's rather... far-sighted of you." The alicorn looked sideways at her companion. "Though given that you're 'Tia's student I shouldn't be surprised. She plans ahead with a vengeance."

"Well, I'm still worried." Twilight gave her a nervous smile. "I just know I really shouldn't be worried."

"I certainly hope not. With any luck at all we'll be out of here in a day or so." The alicorn hesitated briefly. "And when we are out, what are you planning to do?"

"I hadn't thought much of it." Twilight blinked. "Go back to my library, I suppose. I could write a book about this, though." The unicorn grinned suddenly. "I've read so many, but I've never written any. That would be fun!" Her eyes focused on something distant as her mind worked. "Of course I should really begin with an introduction to this underlying world if I want to do it properly. Maybe you could help with that?"

"I'd be glad to." Luna smiled, but she wasn't feeling particularly cheerful. She wasn't sure what answer she was hoping for, but an offer of coauthorship was particularly far from it. The medallion around her neck twitched and tugged, leading them a direct line toward the sun.

The chill disappeared as they day wore onward, the terrain growing rougher and rockier. The sound of water came faintly from somewhere ahead, growing louder until they reached the lip of an enormous depression. It was a circle cut perfectly into the rock, over the lip of which spilled a half-dozen streams. They tumbled downward to swirl slowly in a slowly flowing moat that surrounded an island. The island itself was bare except for a familiar-looking stone pedestal, twin to the one they'd first arrived on.

The medallion wanted to go downward. Luna exchanged glances with Twilight and spread her wings, gliding across the water and onto the bare stone. A flash of light announced Twilight's arrival next to her, the two ponies looking around at the oasis. The unicorn looked around doubtfully, turning in a circle as she studied it. "I don't see anything."

"Hold a moment..." There was something odd about the rock walls surrounding them, some strange texture that didn't seem to fit. Before she could puzzle it out, the deep rumbling of shifting stone turned them both to face one part of the high wall. And as one, the two ponies stepped backwards from the enormous eye that opened there, a serpentine pupil fixing on them. Rock fell away from steely scales, splashing into the moat and revealing that the entire clearing was created by and encircled with steely coils.

.you do not belong here.

The ouroborus could not speak, of course. Its jaws were forever fixed on its own tail in the eternal cycle of the immortal beast. But the words manifested anyway, incarnated into physical force by the simple will of a god. Its eye watched them, framed between two narrow curtains of water.

Luna refused to be intimidated. The god was certainly impressive, but the alicorn reminded herself that she was an equal. A superior, even. As she had told Scar, she was even older than the dragons, and even if she couldn't match power for power she could demand respect.

"We didn't intend to be here. Yet, here we are." It came out more challenging than she'd actually meant, but she couldn't recall the words after they were free. The eye regarded her, the pupil twitching as it focused.

.the moon unchained.
.the night unrestrained.
.this is not your realm.
.what do you intend.

Each set of words was flung down like a gauntlet. Beside her, she saw Twilight flinch back from the ringing impact of the god's challenge. Luna couldn't blame her; even though the words were not sound, they were still too loud.

"All we intend," she told it crisply, "is to return to Equestria. I know that you can perform that task for us."

.a boon is asked.
.a question waits.
.why it is needed.

"I can't do it," Luna admitted freely. She was not proud of it, but there was no point in hiding it either. "I can't reach my power."

There was a stirring of scales, the ground shaking, disturbed ripples running across the water as the god shifted ever so slightly. A tiny spark of light flashed briefly in the depths of the eye and Luna felt shaken, flensed from the brief wash of power.

.you are broken.
.the pieces return.
.the pattern is changed.
.complete and incomplete.

Luna wasn't certain if that was observation or prophecy. She had never been one for divination, but there was no telling what other gods could do. The alicorn refused to be diverted too far from the goal though. "Yes, I know what's wrong with me. But that's my affair. Can you send us back?"

.to do what you ask.
.one might open a door in water.
.push a mountain through.
.neither quiescent nor controlled.
.you are an ocean untamed.
.asking to pass through a keyhole.

Luna's heart sank. If she understood correctly, the very fact that she was regaining her past self was what barred the god from granting her an exit. She looked over at the unicorn next to her and took a breath. "What about Twilight? Can you get her out?"

"What?" Twilight protested. "I'm not leaving if you're not!"

"It's not fair to you that I keep you here," Luna argued. "I couldn't separate you from your friends."

The look on Twilight's face immediately made the alicorn wish she could take it back. But the stunned, heartsick expression turned into one of determination. "No. We're staying together. I am not leaving you."

.the nascent power.
.indeed can pass.
.yet will not pass.
.separation is condemnation.
.she is part of the pattern.

"What?" Twilight frowned at the serpentine pupil, and it swiveled ever so slightly to study her in response. "What are you talking about?"

.the unbound moon.
.binds itself to you.
.you alter the pattern.
.the goddess requires you.
.desires you.
.you are completion.

Luna felt suddenly sick, her mouth dry as Twilight stared first at the god's unblinking eye, and then at her. Of all the ways the subject could have been broached, Luna hadn't anticipated this one. A tense, brittle silence stretched between them, into which Luna finally floated a tentative apology. "I... I'm sorry, Twilight."

"Sorry for what?" the unicorn demanded plaintively. "I don't understand."

"I..." Of all the things Luna had done, as goddess, princess, or pony, this was far and away the most difficult. She marshalled her thoughts and took a breath. "Twilight, I told you before that you made me into a better pony than I thought possible. It's not just that. When I'm with you I don't have to be a ruler, or a goddess, or worry about how I seem. You've seen me at my worst and you're still here." The alicorn blinked away tears that she hadn't realized were there.

"I told you that you scared me, but you keep me honest, honest to myself and to you." She struggled for the words to express what she felt. "Without you I would have given up the first moment we were here, but because of you I'm actually happy, actually feeling alive. I don't know what this is," she told a stunned-looking Twilight, "but you said you wouldn't leave me. I ask you... don't leave me." She swallowed, speaking more softly. "And not just here and now," Luna begged, "but for as long as the moon rises and the sun sets. Stay with me. Please."

•••

Twilight stared at Luna, her world shaken to its very foundations. Thoughts and emotions whirled chaotically within her, refusing to coalesce into anything coherent. She was aware of little else but Luna's pleading face and the thunderbolt of revelation that crackled deep in her bones.

Her study of friendship had made relationships somewhat less of a mystery than they had been before, but this was far more than friendship and in deep and uncharted waters. She enjoyed her time traveling with the alicorn, true, but this was such a radical redefinition that she didn't know how to begin thinking about it.

But she knew, looking at the alicorn's expression, that an unthinking response would be more than just a mistake, it would be devastation. And with that sudden understanding, she realized that was the only truth she could possibly express. "I... I never expected anything like this. I never started to think... I mean, I'm just a unicorn."

.bested gods.
.bound demons.
.approached the liminality.
.mundanity is illusive.

The god's words unbalanced her, unexpected as they were, sending her staggering a step or two sideways. The content of the sudden and unwanted theopneusty had made her nearly forget about its source. She turned to face the god, half-grateful for the interruption.

"That wasn't just me, that was my friends and the Elements of Harmony." She frowned at the eye. "Why does everyone forget about the others?"

.harmony does not empower.
.friends are part of the soul.
.none walk alone.
.attribute to you what is true.
.let deeds speak for your worth.

Twilight took a moment to study that one. The god seemed to be getting more elliptical as time went on, but at least part of it was plain enough.

"It doesn't matter to me what you've done or haven't done," Luna put in softly. "Or that you're 'just' a unicorn. Everything I ask springs from the time I've spent with you."

"Right." The unicorn closed her eyes briefly, clearing her mind of the obfuscation that had swirled in around the central issue. She wished that the two of them weren't under the gaze of an enigmatic god, that they could have some privacy to discuss things. But then, left alone, the subject may never have come up at all.

"Luna," she said at last, with the taut, tense sensation she had before a test or testing a new spell. "I am no goddess, who can commit for eternity, and I am not well versed in anything beyond friendship - and I'm still learning that! But I do like you and enjoy being with you. They say to start as you mean to go on; so - I am not the sun or the moon, but yes, Luna, I will stay with you and see what may come."

The alicorn smiled, an expression of joy tempered by profound relief. Twilight had never thought to engender such an emotion in any pony, let alone the Princess Luna. It was as unexpected as the rest, and yet from her newly granted perspective it seemed entirely natural.

"That is all anyone, even a goddess, has a right to ask." Luna took a pair of steps forward, closing the gap between them. She looked down at the smaller pony, foreleg half-raised and wings half-spread. "Thank you."

Twilight hesitated, then leaned in against the alicorn, giving her a small and tentative nuzzle while those great dark wings swept around in an odd half-embrace. Luna's head rested against hers, and the unicorn briefly closed her eyes. It was a new experience for her, for all the hugs bestowed upon her by friends, whether mutual or not. There was something different to it, and the studious part of her wondered how long it would take to figure this out, given how complicated simple friendship could be.

Then they parted, and she saw in Luna's eyes the same confused, uncertain, awkward interest that she was sure were reflected in her own, and the two of them abruptly broke into laughter. It was more a laughter of relief and emotional release than anything else, but there was happiness as well.

.the pattern weaves closer.
.the heart of magic and the goddess.
.futures remain uncertain.
.present is assured.

Twilight flinched and turned to the watching god, blushing bright red as she realized they'd had a witness to what should have been a private moment. It didn't seem reasonable to be able to ignore a god, but perhaps it was more forgivable when it was in favor of a goddess. Luna was flushed almost as dark as she was, but she lifted her head challengingly. "I suppose," she said, "that I should thank you. Though the help you've given was not the help I anticipated."

.the world must turn.
.the cycle is nature.
.boon or bane.
.only necessity is granted.

"Are all gods like this?" Twilight muttered to Luna in an undertone. "Fey and half-incomprehensible? Other than you and Celestia of course."

"Most gods are restricted to rather odd angles of reality," the alicorn replied with dry amusement. "And the ouroborus is odder than most. I think we can forgive it whatever... circumlocutions it decides to take."

"I suppose," Twilight said, realizing there was a new undertone of casual familiarity to their conversation. The realignment of her world - and Luna's - wasn't restricted to a single moment, it seemed. "But we don't have the way out we thought we would. Not that what happened instead was bad!" She added the last in hasty afterthought, not meaning to impugn their newfound intimacy. Luna grinned understanding, and Twilight let out a breath of relief.

The particular phrasing the god had used struck the sparks of an idea in her mind, and Twilight turned again to face the expressionless eye. "You said you only helped with what was necessary, but we certainly still need a way out. For the world to turn properly, Luna has to be part of it, and not here. Especially not with what her simple presence is doing to this place."

.a hole in the world.
.dangerous passage.
.relic of past enmity.
.inevitable gamble.

Twilight exchanged glances with Luna. That did not sound like a particularly promising option, but how much worse could the danger be than the demons they'd already run into? "I think we should try it, Luna. Unless... maybe you could get us out now?"

The alicorn shook her head regretfully. "I'm feeling better, it's true. More whole than ever." She smiled at Twilight, who felt a thrill from her role in that small and happy expression. "But I am far from the mantle I'm supposed to bear."

Luna took a breath and addressed the ouroborus. "We'll accept the risk. Where can we find this passage?"

.world grows smaller.
.paths converge.
.a beginning and ending.
.the line is drawn.

The god shifted, again shaking the ground with even the slightest stirring. A single drop of blood oozed from between those massive jaws, leaving no trail on the steely scales. It fell soundlessly into the clear moat surrounding their island, and the water instantly turned a bright shimmering silver, frothing oddly where the waterfalls fed the pool.

.drink.

"What? No!" Twilight took a step back in revulsion. Things had taken a strange turn for the macabre, and way out or not, she didn't want any part of it. "That's disgusting!"

Luna nodded agreement, moving closer to Twilight. "What are you playing at?" She narrowed her eyes at the ouroborus. "The blood of a god is a strange and potent thing. I have only just found Twilight. She is precious to me, and I will not have her turned into one of your pawns."

.all is knowledge.
.nothing is control.
.the way is barred.
.only the divine may pass.

The unicorn was nearly distracted by Luna's last statement, but forced her mind back to the incarnated words. "Wait, so this way out she can't use because she is a god, and that way out I can't use because I'm not one?" Twilight scowled at the eye. "That seems awfully suspicious."

.Sun and Moon.
.Earth and Air.
.Fire and Water.
.Mortal and Divine.
.unto all things a balance.

"I don't see what drinking that has to do with any of that, though." The ouroborus had seemed so reasonable initially, but she should have realized that anything to do with Scar would be difficult.

.mortal appears divine.
.divine acts as mortal.
.necessity and balance.

"It cannot actually act capriciously," Luna said thoughtfully. "Which isn't the same as being helpful. And because of its nature, it can only offer options that in some way have a balance. There are probably easier paths out, but it can't help us find them."

That made sense as far as it went. The nature of divine beings hadn't been one of her areas of study, but she'd add it to her list as soon as they got back. Even without all the rules spelled out for her, Twilight had some grasp of the rules the ouroborus adhered to. None of which explained the quicksilver pool. "And the blood?" she prompted.

"I think it's offering to lend you a cloak of divine nature. If there is some barrier to mortals that we must pass, it would grant that much at least. Whether it is more or not, I'm not certain. Knowledge can be a dangerous gift." Luna looked worried, and Twilight gave her a reassuring nuzzle.

"If there's anything I know how to handle, it's knowledge. If this is what's needed to get us back, fine. But do I really have to drink that?"

The alicorn smiled affectionately at her. "A swallow only, if you're sure. That little, and it should fade soon enough if it's a gift, given freely." She turned to give the eye a glare. "Next time I'll make sure to ask for a less visceral method of giving it."

"If this is their god, it's no wonder the dragons act like they do," Twilight grumbled. "All right, here goes." She took a step to the edge of the pool, bracing herself and bending down to take a tiny mouthful. Surprisingly, it tasted like nothing more than pure, clear spring water, but the mystical effects didn't take long to manifest.

Images flashed through her head, strange memories and visions, none of them lasting long enough for her to form more than a vague impression of their content. Dragons, ponies, beings of shadow and light, of smoke and fire, of measureless oceans and indecipherable patterns cut into snow-covered glaciers. A weight seemed to settle over her, draping her from ear to hoof, and she was surprised to see that there wasn't an accompanying outward sign of the god's gift.

"Are you all right?" Luna was at her side instantly, watching her closely, and Twilight gave the larger pony a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine. I can feel an... aura, but that's all it is." Twilight glanced around, not surprised to see that the water had returned to its normal state. But she also saw something else. "Wait... I think I can see where we're supposed to go, too." There was a silver flash on the horizon, as if she were seeing the moon through a tiny crack, only visible when faced directly. It was filtered, she was sure, through her borrowed aura, rather than being a true landmark.

"That had better be all it is," Luna said ominously. "Still, you have helped. So again, thank you." She inclined her head to the enormous serpentine eye.

.what was needed was given.
.neither choice nor virtue.
.gratitude is unnecessary.
.nonetheless appreciated.

"Long-winded way to say 'you're welcome,' isn't it?" Twilight muttered to Luna under her breath. She realized she was being too critical of the ouroborus, and it was mostly her still-lingering embarrassment driving her to comment, so she closed her muzzle on any further sardonicisms.

"You have my thanks too," she said instead, imitating Luna's gesture of respect. She lifted her head back up to look at the eye, glimpsing through her temporary shroud a vast abyss of time and experience invisible to mortal eyes. She shuddered, looking away from that precipice, and was gratified to see it wasn't mirrored in Luna.

She didn't know how the goddess avoided that intellectual distance if she did indeed predate the dragons. Or maybe she hadn't entirely, and that was one of the components of her incarnation as Nightmare Moon. Now, though, those eyes were warm and despite the aeons Twilight knew they'd experienced, still young.

"What?" Luna cocked her head at Twilight, and the unicorn shook her head with a smile.

"Nothing. I'll explain it later." She preferred to wait until they were out from under the unblinking gaze of the dragon's god before she broached so private a subject. They'd almost certainly have enough time to discuss it on their way.

"Is there anything else?" She asked the ouroborus, ready enough to bid the god farewell. If nothing else, the voiceless words were starting to give her a headache.

.path is set.
.pattern is decided.
.only your choices remain.

With that last, enigmatic statement the god closed its eye, dismissing them.

"I guess it's time to go." Luna's voice held a touch of whimsy. "You'll have to lead the way."

"Right." Twilight nodded firmly, eager to be on their way. "I'll meet you up there." Her horn flashed softly, the light subdued beneath the heavy mystical layering that surrounded her, and she appeared on the ground overlooking the god's den. Luna was already in the air, the alicorn touching down lightly next to her a moment later.

"So which way is it?" Luna tilted her head at Twilight, and the unicorn turned until she caught the silver flash again.

"There." She pointed toward the horizon, and they started off together. Twilight kept closer to the alicorn than she had previously in their journey, and Luna responded with a smile and by putting her wing over the unicorn. It was somewhat tentative and awkward, that embrace, as if Luna had only seen it and never practiced it, but it was genuine nonetheless.

Twilight felt a brief stab of regret that she couldn't return the gesture before realizing how irrational a wish for wings was. Instead she gave the larger pony a brief nuzzle and gave voice to the thought she'd had earlier. "When I looked at the ouroborus, it was almost... alien, because it had seen and done so much, been alive so long. But you aren't that way."

"Well." The alicorn looked thoughtful, considering the question implicit in Twilight's observation. "Part of it may spring from the fact that I live - or lived - among our subjects. Of the world, not apart from it. But even then, sometimes the weight is so heavy..." She shook her head. "I suppose it is mostly because I am a god of ponies and it is a god of dragons. They live long enough that ages of experience are part of their nature, so of course that is part of their god."

Twilight nodded, her mind skipping to Spike. He didn't seem at all alien to her - not like Scar, at least - but he was also quite young, and raised among ponies. There was no telling what he would be like after hundreds of pony lifetimes. Of her lifetimes. The unicorn shook off any contemplation of her own mortality; she had no wish to ruin her mood.

"I thought that given how many gods I've been meeting, it might be a good idea to learn about them." Twilight grinned at Luna. "It will probably be pretty important for the future."

Luna giggled. "I suppose it will be at that."

It was a companionable walk through a pleasant countryside. The sun was bright on the lush grass, and the landscape seemed to get greener as they trekked through open fields. Twilight kept the glinting silver beacon in view, but she couldn't tell if it was getting any closer.

The sun tracked slowly through the sky while the land slowly changed around them. It was obvious it was still suffering the effects of Luna's presence, because upon cresting a ridge a forest that had not been visible earlier suddenly stretched out before them. With it, the silver glimmer flashed into a broad swath. Twilight shook her head, squinting to see through her borrowed cloak, and Luna made a soft, surprised noise. They had arrived.