"Are you still alive, Twilight Sparkle?"  The voice in Twilight's head seemed to call out to her, athough she had lost track of where she was for a little while.  Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself laying on the ground curled into a ball, with the bright blue sky visible through the window to her right.  She had lost consciousness and slept there all night, though her memory of the past day or so was only coming back in waves.  "It would be a shame for you to have gone through all of that for simple oblivion."

The unicorn gasped and pulled her forelegs up to look at them, worried that she may have come close to bleeding out from her incident the night before.  She wasn't quite awake yet, so as far as she was concerned (based on the way her sleep-dazed mind was working at the time) she had died and was currently experiencing whatever afterlife was awaiting her, but her wrists seemed to indicate otherwise.  The wounds had completely healed, leaving no scar as a matter of fact, and even though the light was dim her coat looked shinier.  She stood up, not saying a thing but still receiving a response from the new voice in her head.

"You cut it very close there, Twilight.  You prefer Twilight over 'Twilight Sparkle', right?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I do..."  Twilight slowly regained her consciousness and looked around.  She realized that she had been out cold all night on the floor, but was surprisingly loose for having slept on concrete for several hours.

"Don't be alarmed, but you may look a bit different.  As much as I personally admire the walking corpse look, I didn't think it quite fitting to one as powerful as yourself."

"You changed my body?"  Twilight was speaking out loud to the voice in her head.  The act was brought on by the daze of waking, but she didn't think enough of it to stop

"I don't think 'changed' is quite the right word...  I prefer 'augmented'.  Being that you've now given yourself entirely to magical practice, I saw it only fit to give you a magically illustrative vessel to reside in."

As Iago spoke directly into her mind, Twilight wandered over to a small closet in the corner of her basement.  Somewhere in storage she had a floor mirror, and so she threw things aside in searching for it.  She didn't actually touch anything but the floor, using her telekinesis to toss aside large groups of clutter.  She realized just how much more powerful she had become after the ritual by the way one small figurine embedded itself in the wall next to her.  She could see the glint of reflective glass toward the closet wall and took a step back.  She figured she'd break it if she kept throwing everything around, so she pulled a few things out.  Then a few more, and then more and more.  She flitted her eyes back and forth, targeting every single little object in her closet.  Wood carvings, glass figurines, metal sculptures, mementos and the like all flew out and floated beside her.  She didn't even need to focus very much to keep everything in her grip.

Once the closet was empty, save the floor mirror, she pulled the thing out and set it right in front of her.  Her vision was blurred by well over two years of dust coating the thing, so she took a second to reorganize her closet before she dusted it off.  She placed each of the dozens of objects into the closet in their own little group, marveling at how quickly everything moved at her whim; all she had to do was think, and they would go exactly where she wanted them to.  Once everything was back in its place (leaving the closet with much more space than before) she flame-dusted the mirror.  The thing ignited intensely, though it extinguished after a few seconds of worry.  Lucky for Twilight, the stand was metal and the fire didn't quite reach high enough to set the ceiling ablaze, so she simply ended up with a dust-free (if not smokey) view of herself.

The unicorn's mouth dropped open at the sight, leaving her more or less speechless as she sat and comprehended the figure that stared back.  She was stunning, thin as a model but retaining enough weight to still seem healthy.  Her shoulders seemed like they had grown a little less stocky (something she was silently self conscious about since she was young) and her mane had even grown out a little.  She hadn't even thought about growing it out, but it seemed to compliment her sleek and thin body nicely.  Her coat had regained a very healthy shine, and her hips seemed to have just the perfect curve to them that she'd always envied certain ponies from Canterlot over.  

"Damn..."

"Do you like what you see?"

"I'm... sexy..."

"I suppose that's one way to say it, yes.  I've never truly been attracted to ponies, so I don't particularly know the difference.  I just pulled from your memories of what you thought was beautiful and decided to give you that appearance, while still keeping you identifiably you, of course."

"So... you have the power to cha--... augment bodies...  why didn't you stop me from wasting away earlier?"

"I had the power to do so, easily, but I didn't have the connection.  What you did just last night bound us together as spirits.  We're two souls in one body, you could say.  Before we were bound, I could only control the direct things, like pushing a little energy into you to keep you from having to eat or sleep, and preventing the water in your system from evaporating out of you.  From within I can assume control of every system, every organ, every tissue... every single cell.  Though I certainly promise I won't do it again without your permission.  Consider this little change a... gift of good will.  You welcomed me into yourself, after all, so I may as well have given you everything you've ever wanted for yourself to be."

"I suppose it's not much of a surprise that since you're in my head you can read my thoughts...  But I guess I'm amazed that you could go as deep as you did."

"It's not just the ability to read thoughts, Twilight...  I can teach you to do that if you like, but what I have access to isn't quite as elementary.  I can see patterns, Twilight, and from my position at the edge of the living I can see everything at once.  You've bound me to you, so your very existence is crystal clear.  Everything you've ever done, I can see, and everything you've impacted, I can see."

"That's a bit frightening..."

"Don't have any reservations about that, my dear.  So long as you don't cross me, I'll only use that knowledge to benefit you.  To benefit us I should say.  This may be your body, but I've taken up residence in it, and added some new wiring, if you will."

"What exactly did you do to me?"

"As of exactly three hours and fourty-two minutes ago, you're running entirely on energy from the Aether.  The purest, most limitless energy in every possible reality, coursing through your cells.  Without moderation, this could easily destroy you, and me too, as a matter of fact.  With the proper moderation, however, you will never need to sleep, never need to eat, and never need to drink, nor will you ever feel the effects of such.  Wounds that are done to you can be undone in time, but with a strong enough flow of energy time doesn't even seem to matter.  Cut your wrist again, I'll demonstrate."

Twilight still hadn't pulled her gaze away from the mirror.  The pony staring back was so beautiful, she could hardly believe it was actually her.  "Uhm...  Okay."  Twilight obliged by looking over to the window at the scalpel embedded in the wall.  Somehow she found it easier to recall minor details in her memories as well as big-picture type things, (assuming this was Iago's doing) and immediately pulled from her memory the scalpel being thrown aside and under the window.  She pulled the scalpel out of the wall and brought it over to herself, drawing some moisture out of the air and scrubbing at the blade with a telekinetic manifestation of something abrasive.  She managed to clean the thing off of wood and concrete particles (as well as the remaining blood that had clung to it) and then sanitized it by igniting the blade for a few seconds.  

Once she was satisfied (and after a few more casual glances in the mirror), Twilight lowered the blade to her wrist again.  She dragged it across her foreleg and watched as the wound formed from the slicing motion, only to heal along the fissure and bind closed, following the scalpel's trajectory across her skin.  Less than a second after she pulled the blade away, her wound had shut completely, leaving no trace of its existence, nor any kind of blood having fallen from her body.  "Okay, that's pretty neat."

"'Neat' would be an understatement, Twilight.  But yes, you've been given a very special gift.  You're greater than mortal now, my friend.  Age will not effect you, nor will malnutrition or thirst.  You're biologically immortal."

"Biologically immortal, and have the ability to heal my wounds at an extraordinary speed."

"Why yes, but don't mistake that for true immortality.  You can indeed be killed, in any number of ways as a matter of fact.  Many of which are only accessible to myself, though, so I'd suggest you stay on my good side."

"Don't worry, Iago.  I've every intention of being the best student you've ever had."

"Quite the set of horseshoes to fill, I must say.  I personally taught someone who you pride yourself in the knowledge of: Starswirl the Bearded.  He was my last student, in fact."

"Get out!  You taught him?!"

"Haha, why yes I did.  He was a talented one, and very bright, though he seemed to have to work a little harder to get many aspects of the elements that came perfectly naturally to you.  I have no notion in my mind that you can't surpass him, Twilight, instead I hope you do.  It would be nice to teach some of the greatest secrets to a student and have them survive for a change."

"I take it many of your students die?"

"So far... all of them have."

Twilight couldn't help but give a gulp at this revelation. "S-so what chance do I have, then?"

"Why, you're proving to be the fastest learner, I assume you'll pull through, and if not I may at least learn something new.  I've died in the pursuit of my research, as I deemed it necessary to sacrifice everything.  Many of my students have agreed with me on this, and have helped me progress even in death.  Should you help me find the truest secrets of this universe, then you will have surpassed even my life's accomplishments.  I expect you'll take this responsibility seriously?"

"Will I take it seriously?  Hah, as long as the sky stays blue and the sun continues to rise in the morning, I'll take it very seriously, Iago."

"Well... should something happen to Celestia, perhaps the sun may cease to rise.  What then?"

"It was only a figure of speech... but I guess in that situation I'd take it even more seriously... the entire world would be in danger if the sun stopped rising, I do believe."

"Right you are, I apologize for missing the jest.  Either way, It's the early morning and I'll be needing to do some rearranging up here."

"Uhm... 'Rearranging'?"

"Forgive me, archiving is probably a better term.  I just need to peruse your memories and find out what you know, what I can teach you, and what would drive you mad if you tried to learn.  Take a day to yourself, enjoy life while you still have it, and get to know your new body.  I feel everything you feel now, and I've been lying alone in that forest since Starswirl the Bearded died.  Needless to say, so long as you enjoy yourself, it'll be appreciated."

"So...  When you mentioned that 'wounds' I receive will heal immediately..."

"Yes, Twilight, I know you've never engaged in sexual activity.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure what will happen there.  You're the only female student that I've taken on thus far."

Twilight blushed at the fact that he picked up on her meaning so quickly, but knew that the lack of privacy in her thoughts would be something she needed to get used to.  "R-really?  I'm the only one?"

"As I said: Starswirl the Bearded was my last student, and back in his day women like yourself were discouraged from practicing magic past only that useful for cooking, cleaning, and the like."

"Why is that?"

"Back then females were far more scarce than they are now.  While empowered as far as knowledge of practical things went, they were more or less put off by the pursuit of magical aptitude.  Much of the population was biased to the point that females were far too frail to handle such things, but from what I've seen, a stallion is broken just as easy as a mare."

"Well...  Make yourself at home, I suppose.  Not that you need me to say that."

Iago gave a little huff in response, but didn't actually continue to converse with the unicorn.  Twilight started to wander upstairs, realizing that she wasn't used to being undirected for the day.  Her first order of business, she decided, would be to go give Rarity back the remainder of her thread.  At least that way she could dispel any rumors about her being terminally ill.

The unicorn moved upstairs, tripping on the way up as she wasn't quite used to her slightly longer legs, and unlocking the doorway when she finally reached the top.  She slowly pulled it open with her hoof (only doing so to get a look at the graceful, slender movement of her new foreleg) and saw that Spike had fallen asleep just outside.

"Spike...  You awake, buddy?"  Twilight softly cooed, leaning down and nosing the snoozing dragon.  He rolled over and opened his eyes, nodding and yawning audibly.  He hadn't quite gotten his vision focused, and simply started trying to explain himself.  

"I heard you scream last night and then go quiet... but the door was locked.  I was waiting outside but..."  He yawned again, interrupting his sentence and causing him to rub his eyes and stretch out.  "... but you never came back up.  I was so worried."  

"Well don't be worried, Spike.  I'm feeling great, see?"  Twilight kneeled down next to the dragon as he woke up and let off a soft smile.  

Spike finally woke up and actually looked at Twilight, almost not recognizing her for a second there.  "W-woah..."  

"Heh, surprised?"  

" What the hay happened to you? You look... Different."

"I feel wonderful!  Don't you think I look great too?"

"Well... Yeah, you really do look a whole lot better."

"You seem like you wanna say something."

"Well...  You just look different is all.  Like some kind of Canterlot supermodel.  Yesterday you looked really sick, though.  How'd you manage that?"

"Nothing really... just a bit of a magical remedy and a little rest and relaxation downstairs is all.  Speaking of which, I think I'm gonna head out today.  D'ya think you can hold down the fort until I get back?"

"Sure, Twilight.  Good to see you getting out of this library again...  I was really starting to worry."

"It'll be good to get some fresh air.  I'm sorry for worrying you, but I just had some important things that I needed to get done.  Don't think anything more about it.  Need anything while I'm out?"

"No... No I think I've got enough to keep me occupied.  Have fun, Twilight."

"Thanks, Spike!  I will!"  Twilight flicked her mane over her shoulder and trotted out the front door with her head held high.  She already felt better about herself, and walked happily through the streets of Ponyville.  She conversed with Iago about some of the features of this new situation as she showed herself off; many of the patrons gawked at Twilight, especially those that knew her in passing.

So, Iago, you told me to go out and eat, right?  Her conversation was entirely in her mind, this time.  She didn't need to look like she was talking to herself while walking down the road.

"Yes, you can if you like.  Goodness, it certainly is a mess up here...  Anyway, you won't ever need to use the restroom since you won't be digesting the food in the same way, but you'll still get the satisfaction of indulging in the tastes and feeling full."

Alright, and I assume drinking will be the same.

"Do you mean alcohol?"

Well...  I didn't, but I suppose we may as well cover that topic.

"Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on your attitude, since your body will not be metabolizing anything that you put into it, you'll simply drink whatever alcoholic beverage like water, and it'll be consumed by the energies of the Aether, never to be heard from again.  Simply put, you can't truly get drunk, but you'll be able to enjoy tastes and that familiar burning sensation that many of you ponies seem to enjoy."

Okay... and I suppose certain other... cycles will be stopped too?

"Aging is halted, you'll never experience menopause, you'll never feel the effects of bone degeneration or the like, and your menstrual cycle will cease, yes.  You also will never be able to bear children, I'm sorry to admit.  It comes with having your body essentially stop in time."

Is there any way to change that?  N-not that I want children, just if I should so change my attitude...

"None that I know of, Twilight.  At this point you could create a child from the stones in the ground if you should so desire, however, so don't feel too lost.  Let me make this very simple for you: you can do just about anything with no consequences.   Anything that alters your bodily functions will have no effect, and anything that could kill you is far less threatening.  Go enjoy yourself in all the carnal pleasures that you can, because after tonight you'll be far too busy to even consider your body as anything more than a prison to some higher form.  It's an opportunity... do with it what you will."

Twilight felt almost as if a door was closed in her face; Iago had gone silent and refused to continue the conversation.  She simply kept walking, glancing around the town and taking everything in.  Where she saw things through simple eyes before, Twilight was analyzing parts and pieces of everything she saw.  She picked apart the shell, nuts, bolts, and nails of a nearby wagon, finding any weaknesses and analyzing the whole structure at once.  She saw a building, glancing into the window and catching the sight of a support beam that must have been holding up half of the weight of the entire thing.  The best part is that she was hardly thinking about these aspects, they all just came naturally to her.  A pair of ponies walked in front of her, chattering on about some coltfriend issue or other and inadvertently giving off their own insecurities.  Twilight was loving this, and trotted along the side of the road with that intense air of confidence that she'd so recently picked up.  Things were finally looking her way.